S3E13 - GaSo Recap With TJ Aiken and Nick Felton
CB, Gary and Coach Finny recap a 4-0 week with a sweep of Georgia Southern. Monarch outfielders TJ Aiken and Nick Felton hop on to talk about the weekend, Nick's walk off win and what's considered the south.
Transcript
This episode is brought to you by the Old Dominion Athletic Foundation.
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Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Welcome Monarch fans to the Hudson Homers podcast.
Speaker:Coming to you after a four in O week.
Speaker:A sweep of Georgia.
Speaker:Let's Southern.
Speaker:Let's Amazing.
Speaker:Amazing week for the boys.
Speaker:Got CB here.
Speaker:Here.
Speaker:Baseball.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Cb.
Speaker:How's it going?
Speaker:Man, let me tell you.
Speaker:I think I was telling you, uh, on Saturday, I was like, man, it's
Speaker:so much better, uh, feeling to win a series than to lose a series.
Speaker:It's a, it's a great, a little while.
Speaker:Yeah, it's been a minute.
Speaker:So that was what a, what a week.
Speaker:I mean, it was just a lot of good baseball playing play this week.
Speaker:It was, that was cool.
Speaker:Well, and, and
Speaker:when we, you know, got down, got behind whatever it was, we were, we, we were able
Speaker:to play from ahead a lot, which is nice.
Speaker:But yeah, when we were down, they responded and, you know,
Speaker:won a couple, couple close games.
Speaker:You know, three out of those four games are pretty close.
Speaker:So
Speaker:yeah.
Speaker:Nice to be able to win some of those.
Speaker:And that usually come means that guys, you know, coming outta the bullpen did a
Speaker:good job and you got a couple timely hits.
Speaker:And we did, we did both of those this week.
Speaker:You know, just couldn't be a. Prouder of the, the pitching
Speaker:over the weekend in particular.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, I thought was, you know, that was by far our best weekend pitching of
Speaker:the year, uh, as a staff, you know,
Speaker:for sure.
Speaker:Kuskie gave us a good start on Friday.
Speaker:Um, GA gave us a good start on Saturday and we, you know, and Lanny
Speaker:gave us a good start on Sunday.
Speaker:I mean, we only needed what we got from 'em to get us into the game.
Speaker:And, you know, you, you're thinking both teams are gonna, you know, give up
Speaker:some runs on Sunday, uh, after the first two games I spend the history anyway.
Speaker:And, uh, we, we, those guys did the job, man, and it was a day that you needed to
Speaker:pitch 'cause it wasn't a great day to hit.
Speaker:Um, you couldn't walk a bunch of guys and, you know, give a bunch of free bases.
Speaker:And, uh, we didn't, we did, we did a good job with that.
Speaker:So.
Speaker:Um, and, you know, sw the bats just enough, a little better than,
Speaker:than the week before, I think.
Speaker:Um, but you know, it's just, and sometimes the other team's pitch has something
Speaker:to say about it, but we gotta be, get better with, with the timely hits because
Speaker:mm-hmm.
Speaker:You know, Friday for example, man, I kept coming into dugout going,
Speaker:we're just wasting too many chances.
Speaker:And I mean, yeah.
Speaker:Game should be, we should have 10 runs right now, I think.
Speaker:And
Speaker:I know Sunday in the eighth inning, I know you were, had to
Speaker:be pretty furious about that.
Speaker:One base is loaded.
Speaker:No out, said nothing.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And, and if I had to do that over hindsight, I, I try to never do this,
Speaker:but we had some righties available.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:I probably should have hit for Jack there.
Speaker:Um, of course we get to hit, I'm not sitting here saying this.
Speaker:I know.
Speaker:Or hit stack fly, right?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Which he's been good at here.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, and.
Speaker:You know, then we try to squeeze and that didn't work.
Speaker:And then it was just, you know, just didn't work out.
Speaker:But we had, we had put all our lefties in the game at that point.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Uh, whether it was 'cause of defense or, or pinch hitting earlier in the game.
Speaker:And, you know, they're just so happened they had a lefty come in and
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And
Speaker:we did a good job getting the bases loaded, but then you just gotta,
Speaker:you know, I thought Jack's won, get two breaker balls that were clearly
Speaker:balls, and then he took one right down the middle for strike three.
Speaker:So that was unfortunate.
Speaker:But, um, yeah.
Speaker:O other than that, on, on, on, you know, yesterday, you know, we put together some
Speaker:good at bats when we needed to and took advantage of them making some mistakes.
Speaker:I mean, the, the bottom line to the, the Saturday win.
Speaker:Where we, we walk it off was, you know, they made two big errors and
Speaker:gave us, gave us a couple runs.
Speaker:So that's not our fault.
Speaker:Uh, you gotta play clean baseball.
Speaker:And that was the difference in the game.
Speaker:We played really good defense turned a couple double plays.
Speaker:I thought Will Johnson had another good weekend defensively?
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Um, shortstop and you know, so that was the difference in
Speaker:that ball game, um, for sure.
Speaker:And, and the Friday game, I mean, will, you know, has five rbis, it's
Speaker:the grand slam, but turn a four one game into an eight one game.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, and you know, that game, you know, we kind of, you know, after
Speaker:that it was, it was kind of over.
Speaker:So, um, so at disappointed part of that game, and I think it hurt
Speaker:us on, on Saturday, um, was having to bring Davis into that game.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Up eight to one.
Speaker:And I just, Matt, you know, Ben Tanton did a good job and we still.
Speaker:I treat him a little bit with kid gloves 'cause you know, coming off
Speaker:the arm injury and all of that.
Speaker:So, you know, he had three up downs.
Speaker:He threw two and a third.
Speaker:Um, and Maddox came in and struggled.
Speaker:I mean, he got out of the bases load gym, his first game inning, but then,
Speaker:you know, went out and walked a couple guys and I was just like, you can't
Speaker:in, in college athletics in general, and certainly in college baseball,
Speaker:you guys have seen it, man, when that ball starts rolling down that hill,
Speaker:it's avalanche.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Into a boulder in a hurry.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And then it becomes hard to stop.
Speaker:And I just didn't want to get to that point.
Speaker:Um, which is why we, we brought Davis in and he did a good job, you know, um,
Speaker:you know, you, you'd love to not have to throw him, but I've also seen people
Speaker:wait and then all of a sudden it's double, double and it's a one run game.
Speaker:Well,
Speaker:it's like you told us last week, you said the plan is we're gonna
Speaker:do everything we can do to win on Friday and win on Saturday and
Speaker:then let's Sunday sort itself out.
Speaker:And that's, you saw that in how you were managing, particularly
Speaker:on Friday and Saturday.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, and, and I thought Kuskie did a really good job.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:That was his third good start in a row and GA's fourth, good start in a row.
Speaker:And
Speaker:yeah,
Speaker:those guys are, you know, they're getting better and, but you're still
Speaker:building them up because they just, you know, you were getting one inning
Speaker:and, you know, that kind of stuff.
Speaker:And so it's not like they've been used to throwing seven.
Speaker:We, we'd love 'em to get more.
Speaker:Um, and maybe they will, you know.
Speaker:We'll, we'll see.
Speaker:You know, I guess the one good note, they, you know, since they both
Speaker:struggled early in the season, they, they don't have a, a ton of miles
Speaker:and they're fresh
Speaker:50 innings.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:On the, on the tread, you know, right now.
Speaker:So the tires are, are pretty fresh and maybe, maybe that'll
Speaker:help us down the stretch.
Speaker:Uh, one thing that I know Gary and I were talking about watching this weekend, uh,
Speaker:for Georgia Southern, and, and I don't mean this in a complimentary way, but
Speaker:watching them seemed a lot like watching ODU for large chunks of the season.
Speaker:It felt very similar.
Speaker:A lot of like shooting yourself in the foot, you know, making errors,
Speaker:walking guys, not necessarily playing with energy, not necessarily
Speaker:having competitive at bats.
Speaker:I mean, it was, it was a little eerie.
Speaker:I mean it, and, and it makes sense coming into the, into the series
Speaker:we have two, five, and 10 teams.
Speaker:It kind of made sense that it was a similar kind of style of play.
Speaker:So it was nice to see us not do that and be the team we all know we can be.
Speaker:I would completely agree.
Speaker:You know, and that's just what, and, and you know, we won all three
Speaker:games and that's great, but we, we still have to be a lot better.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, absolutely.
Speaker:You know, especially our guys in the middle of the line of
Speaker:like cash and runs in and.
Speaker:Having better at bats.
Speaker:I mean, you know, it's, it's time for, for, yeah.
Speaker:I told Zedalis before the weekend, you know, I said, man, it's, it's warming up.
Speaker:The wind starts to turn around.
Speaker:It's time for you to like start trying to drive balls.
Speaker:You know, he, he is very conscientious of, you know, ha
Speaker:having a good stroke and all this.
Speaker:And I said, that's great, but let's, let's turn that thing loose
Speaker:a few times this weekend, you know, especially in advantage counts.
Speaker:And to his credit, I mean, you know, got his hands back a little bit.
Speaker:Um, and, and he did drive the ball.
Speaker:So I, I thought that was, that was really good.
Speaker:We need that,
Speaker:that that first home run you hit on Saturday landed on top
Speaker:of the Jim Jarrett building.
Speaker:Yeah, I know.
Speaker:I haven't seen that one yet.
Speaker:Yeah, that was a bomb.
Speaker:And you know, the one yesterday when he hit it, it had the makings,
Speaker:I thought of maybe hook and foul.
Speaker:And because the wind was blowing so hard, the right field, I think
Speaker:the wind kept that fair and it went off the fair pole right there.
Speaker:So,
Speaker:well, I love, I love a fair pole dong.
Speaker:Like it's just dawn.
Speaker:It's such a great sound.
Speaker:That's right.
Speaker:The best sound ever when you're on.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Worst sound ever when you're on defense.
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:When he hit it, I was like, come on, come on, come on.
Speaker:And then it looked, it was straightening out and then, yeah, I was like, hit
Speaker:the ball, hit the ball, hit the ball.
Speaker:And then Mav, you know, he hit a moonshot man and
Speaker:yeah.
Speaker:And so the update on him, you know, he had to come outta the game.
Speaker:Maverick Stallings had to come outta the game yesterday.
Speaker:Craziest thing, you know, he's adjusting his, putting his elbow
Speaker:guard on and the Velcro on it broke.
Speaker:And it hit him in the eye.
Speaker:Oh
Speaker:man.
Speaker:In the eye.
Speaker:That may because Hana wouldn't tell me what happened.
Speaker:I just heard that he got scratched his eye.
Speaker:It sounds like it must have been something silly
Speaker:he couldn't see and it was just a freaking thing.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I mean, who expects that to happen?
Speaker:You know?
Speaker:But so he, we had to take, he tried to hit one more time and struck out
Speaker:just probably 'cause he couldn't see,
Speaker:can't see.
Speaker:No, he, he was not having a good time.
Speaker:He was sitting there with it covered and he looked, he looked unhappy and in pain.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:He
Speaker:wrapped up like a mummy.
Speaker:He, he went to the eye doctor today.
Speaker:Everything checked out.
Speaker:He's gonna be fine.
Speaker:He is just got some discomfort from the, you know, the trauma that hitting.
Speaker:So I, I don't know if he'll play tomorrow, but he should be fine
Speaker:by the weekend at, at the worst.
Speaker:So That's good.
Speaker:Alright.
Speaker:That was a little Cole.
Speaker:You know, Cole came in and made an error and then he made a
Speaker:couple nice plays and got a hit.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:There go.
Speaker:Um, so that was good to see, you know, him, him be able to do that for us.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Made nice double play.
Speaker:Yep, yep.
Speaker:Yep.
Speaker:He did a good job right there and got a two strikes, single to, you know.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Start a rally.
Speaker:We, we didn't end up scoring on, but.
Speaker:Um,
Speaker:yeah, Saturday it kind of got lost in the shuffle of the excitement of the
Speaker:walk off, but the double play there in the top of the 10th, you know?
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:First batter of the inning gets on base, then you roll up.
Speaker:I mean, just a sick globe flip ball.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Turning two, I mean that, I think that kind of just put out Georgia
Speaker:Southern's fire it felt like
Speaker:at that point.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:We had a couple big double plays this weekend, man.
Speaker:That was good to see.
Speaker:Um, you know, just one making a pitch to get it and two, executing it.
Speaker:Uh, for sure.
Speaker:So we, uh,
Speaker:it's fun that our dugout realize that, uh, if we have a double play that goes,
Speaker:uh, Maverick number six to will number seven, that it's, it's a six seven.
Speaker:So that's, that's, that's a good one.
Speaker:Did not, did not get that.
Speaker:Of course,
Speaker:course,
Speaker:of course they would know that, right?
Speaker:Of
Speaker:course they would.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:It only took 'em like half a season to figure it out, but that's okay.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Hey, update on schedule.
Speaker:Um, the ri the Richmond game in a couple weeks is being moved
Speaker:from Wednesday to Tuesday here.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Um, exams, it's probably, it's probably my fault.
Speaker:We, we, I'm sure it's my fault.
Speaker:We, we, you know, that was a, you know, an added game since both of us had a
Speaker:rain out and I for some reason thought we could play Wednesday, but we actually
Speaker:start exams Wednesday, so we need to play that Tuesday, which they're fine with.
Speaker:So, um, that's good.
Speaker:That game will be Tuesday evening at six, uh, whatever.
Speaker:What's the date?
Speaker:May May 5th.
Speaker:May the fifth.
Speaker:May 5th.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So, so the ends of the fifth
Speaker:after May.
Speaker:The fourth.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:P people updating their schedule on that.
Speaker:We'll, we'll get it updated on our.
Speaker:Website and all that, but I wanted to make sure everybody knew that.
Speaker:Excellent.
Speaker:Um, and, you know, we'll get back to talking about the baseball and, um, some
Speaker:things that I think are pretty cool.
Speaker:You get to this part of the season and sometimes some freshmen have started to,
Speaker:you know, come along and I think Nick Felton is certainly in that, in that boat.
Speaker:You know, he, he is the premium defender from the get go.
Speaker:Um, the bat's certainly been a work in progress, but I think, you know, over
Speaker:the last couple weeks he's had much more consistent at bats making mm-hmm.
Speaker:Harder contact even on his outs.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Staying in the middle of the field, not rolling over and chopping balls
Speaker:and hitting a bunch of popups.
Speaker:The other way is his, you know, contact and swing has, has gotten better.
Speaker:He is really working hard at that party.
Speaker:He is, you know, bunting the ball well.
Speaker:Um.
Speaker:And I mean, gosh, they don't, they don't score that first run.
Speaker:He, he runs that ball down in the gap on Friday when, you know, caught it
Speaker:and then it, it, you know, ground, knocked it out of his glove and then
Speaker:mm-hmm.
Speaker:You know, I told him, I said the thing about, you know, diving for
Speaker:balls, you gotta make sure that when you catch it, you keep your
Speaker:hands out like you're mm-hmm.
Speaker:Like a headfirst slide.
Speaker:'cause what guys do is they let their body and their elbows hit,
Speaker:and then it jars the ball loose.
Speaker:And so yesterday he made a, a, you know Right.
Speaker:Dive play kind of coming in and over and he came in the dugout
Speaker:and said, I did it that time.
Speaker:Yeah, you did.
Speaker:That's
Speaker:great.
Speaker:I mean, he's, he is fun to watch play defense man, because
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:He catches most all.
Speaker:If he can't catch it, then I don't know who can.
Speaker:So he gets a lot of them.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:He goes and gets them.
Speaker:He really does.
Speaker:Do you think that
Speaker:look easy?
Speaker:Do you think that the bunting has helped the hitting?
Speaker:I mean, you have to imagine that staying in there and kind of getting
Speaker:your face down in it and seeing the pitches has had to have had an effect.
Speaker:It helps you be like, okay, kind of slowed the game down.
Speaker:You're making contact, you're doing some running, you know, playing some
Speaker:baseball instead of like just going up and striking out, walking back to the plate.
Speaker:I think so, and I've had some freshmen, you know, that for whatever reason they
Speaker:had to play or they, you know, needed to play and we're playing that just
Speaker:were really good defenders, um, and weren't just quite there with the bat.
Speaker:And we needed production from offensively.
Speaker:So the, the way to get it is to buckle the ball, you know, move guys up.
Speaker:And we've bonded Nick before with one out, just to move a guy in scoring position
Speaker:and hope the next guy can get him in.
Speaker:I, I'm never afraid to do that.
Speaker:If we don't like the, the matchup, I mean, it's better for.
Speaker:You know, f to hit with a go second and then a go first and two outs.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Uh, so if you don't like the way it's going, then just move the guy up.
Speaker:And, um, but I do think it does help.
Speaker:Um, CB I, I think it, you know, it keeps your head still.
Speaker:You, you see the pitches don't usually bun at balls.
Speaker:Like you might swing at balls.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Music, take those.
Speaker:And, um, it seems to have, have helped him.
Speaker:And I remember I had a kid and he was one of my favorite players
Speaker:when I was at Western Kentucky.
Speaker:And our first year was a big recruiting class.
Speaker:And the second year we played all these young guys and,
Speaker:uh, Matt Peyton was his name.
Speaker:He was a football baseball kid from Louisville, Mayo High
Speaker:School and played second base.
Speaker:He was left-handed hitter, could really run, um, fantastic defensive player.
Speaker:The swing was just.
Speaker:You know, like a broken lawn chair as a freshman, kinda like Nick's was.
Speaker:Um, and I made him bun all the time and his dad would get so mad killing me.
Speaker:And I probably one day I said, Hey Matt, can you tell your dad to just stop,
Speaker:man, like you're playing every day?
Speaker:Would you rather be sitting on the bench?
Speaker:He'd rather me playing and bunting.
Speaker:He grabbed me playing a button.
Speaker:He goes, I'd rather be playing a button.
Speaker:So he ended up, that kid ended up being an all-conference player and
Speaker:got drafted by the Phillies and played a few years, and now he's a fire,
Speaker:fire chief, uh, in, in Louisville.
Speaker:So that's a, that's a neat story.
Speaker:But yeah, I mean, it's just something that you have to do sometimes, you know, it
Speaker:makes you realize guys like Andy Garla.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Um, Kenny, LaVar.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Carter Trice.
Speaker:Nick
Speaker:Walker.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:It gives you an appreciation.
Speaker:Nick Walker, uh, Vinny Patino, Kyle Battle.
Speaker:How good those guys were as fresh.
Speaker:Yeah, because you didn't have to do that with them.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:They could just play, uh, Bryce Windham was a little bit like that as a freshman.
Speaker:We, he didn't play a lot, but we bunted him a lot and he was a good defender.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:But he became a good veteran.
Speaker:So, but yeah, it gives you an appreciation for how talented those kids
Speaker:were, even as true freshmen for sure.
Speaker:Um, so
Speaker:yeah.
Speaker:Well, one change to the lineup you made this weekend.
Speaker:Putting Ef in that lead off spot, I thought that paid off really well.
Speaker:I mean, he had, I know he went oh, for four on Sunday, but man, he was scrappy.
Speaker:He got a couple hits in the other games.
Speaker:I feel like he just sets the tone for that lineup of mm-hmm.
Speaker:You're gonna have a problem with us tonight.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And Ef's done about, you know, we talked about that.
Speaker:I mean, it's, Hey, just had many conversations with him, man.
Speaker:Like, you can't hit a league off if you try to hit everything.
Speaker:Like I know you think you can, but you have to like get more patient.
Speaker:Hitting lead off, especially the first at bat.
Speaker:And so we'll talk about it, you know, uh, leading off the game.
Speaker:I'll tell him, Hey, the first one's yours, but make sure it's in one spot, or you
Speaker:gotta take the first one just to see it.
Speaker:Um, and you know, TJ's going through a little bit of a lull,
Speaker:uh, since conference place started.
Speaker:He, he struggled a little bit.
Speaker:We had him in today and we're showing him some things.
Speaker:Um, just on his spray chart and where his heart contacts are and he got
Speaker:off to such a good start this year, you know, and I said, man, everybody
Speaker:goes through little dips like this.
Speaker:I mean, Max's going through it right now.
Speaker:You just gotta keep going, keep going, keep working.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Keep trying.
Speaker:It'll, it'll come back around, you know?
Speaker:And maybe,
Speaker:I always think for TJ is just be an athlete.
Speaker:I think he is the most successful.
Speaker:You just go up, play, stop thinking too much.
Speaker:Don't do the thing all hitters do where you think too much
Speaker:and you screw yourself up.
Speaker:Just go up, be athletic, see ball, hit ball.
Speaker:And I think he'll, he'll be fine.
Speaker:Have fun.
Speaker:I, I tell, I tell him about 15 times a game.
Speaker:Have fun.
Speaker:You having fun.
Speaker:Like, I just keep asking.
Speaker:That's, that's how he's gonna be successful,
Speaker:no doubt.
Speaker:Something we did notice with tj, even though he is a guy that hits the ball the
Speaker:other way, his heat maps, his hot zones in the, in the strike zone of the balls.
Speaker:He hits hard, are not away from.
Speaker:Um, because he bails a little bit, they're on the inner half of the plate.
Speaker:And so we said, you know, probably for you then you need to get on the plate more.
Speaker:And that's something, you know, we're gonna work, we worked on
Speaker:today and we'll work on tomorrow.
Speaker:I think, uh, showing him that.
Speaker:So yeah, hopefully he'll get it back figured out.
Speaker:You know, same thing with Mac.
Speaker:I think some of the other guys are, are, you know, starting to, to look pretty
Speaker:good late, had a few more, you know, late should had a home run Saturday.
Speaker:I thought that he, he whacked that ball and the wind knocked it down.
Speaker:He'll double yesterday.
Speaker:You know, he is just gotta get more balls in the air, especially on the pulse side.
Speaker:So hopefully as it warms up, you know, I mean, uh, Georgia, Georgia
Speaker:State's a, a great example like.
Speaker:Mm, it's a hitter's park.
Speaker:I mean, it's a small park and you gotta hit some home runs to win there.
Speaker:Um, and we have, the last few times we've gone down there, we won the series.
Speaker:Uh, and usually because of Homers.
Speaker:So, you know, two years ago Stallings was the Sunbelt player of the week that week.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:We had a bunch of, I
Speaker:remember that.
Speaker:He was
Speaker:dynamite.
Speaker:He was hitting to the track every bet I felt like.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Hopefully we can get, get some of that going on.
Speaker:And it's a, it's an interesting place to play 'cause it's, you
Speaker:know, an old junior college field.
Speaker:Not much atmosphere, which we're kind of used to.
Speaker:Um, it's long ways away from any, anything.
Speaker:Um, yeah.
Speaker:So you just gotta go down there and play and you're, again, you're playing
Speaker:a team, you're tied with, so, yeah.
Speaker:You know, uh, and then the following week, Arkansas state's
Speaker:a game up on us right now.
Speaker:I mean mm-hmm.
Speaker:You're gonna be around them, so you gotta just keep winning these series and.
Speaker:Getting ahead of people, especially with the tiebreakers
Speaker:as they start to come into play.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I mean, two games outta third place like that tells you how bunched up it is.
Speaker:I mean, which is again, that's what why this weekend was so huge.
Speaker:Come out and do what you just take, like I I, I think we talked about last week.
Speaker:Just take it one pitch at a time and just win the pitch in front of you.
Speaker:And it seems like that's what everybody focused on this week.
Speaker:And just keep doing that.
Speaker:Don't, don't think about the bigger stuff.
Speaker:Just get back to just playing good baseball.
Speaker:Get 'em on, get 'em over, get 'em in.
Speaker:Throw your pitches.
Speaker:Yep.
Speaker:Like play some good defense.
Speaker:Like it was, this was a really fun weekend to watch and not
Speaker:just because we won the games.
Speaker:I think the winning the games is kind of incidental to the way we played.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:We played a better, better brand of baseball for sure.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And um, you know, we got East Carolina coming in tomorrow and Yeah.
Speaker:Um, they, they just lost a couple of Wichita State, so.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:They've had, you know, some, some stuff with, you know, they, they
Speaker:really beat us up bad down there, you know, a month or so ago we did not
Speaker:play well and Mm. You know, they did.
Speaker:And so, you know, it's, again, it's gonna be, you know, guys that haven't
Speaker:pitched a ton, we, we will have some guys that need to throw an inning,
Speaker:you know, that have been in our up, up quote unquote bullpen, so.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Um, but Ocon is gonna start, he was not good over the weekend.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Uh, but we'll get him back out there and hopefully we can get
Speaker:some stuff worked out kind of one time through the order type deal.
Speaker:You know, his whole thing is he has to, he's gotta figure out a consistent
Speaker:off speed pitch, like mm-hmm.
Speaker:He should have a change up by now.
Speaker:Disappointing that he doesn't because he's, you know, he's more
Speaker:of a pronator than a supinator.
Speaker:Supinator guys are your cutters and your, your sliders and usually can
Speaker:figure a breaking ball out pretty easy.
Speaker:Um, Jackson's a big time pronator, like he's got so much life on that
Speaker:fastball 'cause of that, but it makes it a little more difficult to get
Speaker:your hand on this side of the ball.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:But he should, but those guys should have good changeups and he
Speaker:hasn't done it yet, and he needs to.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Um, and it's something like, it's been the difference for Nick Opio.
Speaker:He started throwing the change up more and breaking guys down with it.
Speaker:Um, and he, he broke up some pretty good hitters in their lineup, uh,
Speaker:with, so, uh, instead of forcing the breaking ball, which has been, you
Speaker:know, inconsistent for him, he just started throwing fastball change up
Speaker:and it made a big difference, man.
Speaker:I still say, you know.
Speaker:It's the best pitch in baseball.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Because you throw it with the same intent and arm speed as your fastball
Speaker:and then it, it could really mess up hitter's timing because of that.
Speaker:So, um, and
Speaker:he throws, he throws his fastball so hard.
Speaker:I mean, if he gets that changeup pitch, he's deadly.
Speaker:And I think the times he's been most effective this year is when he is been
Speaker:able to mix those speeds up a little bit.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Like, we watched JJ do it on Saturday.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I mean, he threw that slow curve a couple times.
Speaker:First pitch, he threw it for strikeout pitch.
Speaker:I mean, he had those batters dancing in the box.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker:JJ's been pitching, you know, like
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Not a hard, super hard thrower.
Speaker:He is his other, his off speed pitches really have been protecting
Speaker:his fastball, so to speak.
Speaker:And then he mixes that in.
Speaker:That's like his change up.
Speaker:The fastball just goes up instead of down.
Speaker:Um, but the other off speed pitch is kind of, you know, it can muddle,
Speaker:muddle the rest of it up for the hitter.
Speaker:So, and if you can upset hitter's timing, that's what pitching's about.
Speaker:You know, hitting's about being on time and pitching's about upsetting the timing.
Speaker:And the better you know you are at that, then the more successful you gotta.
Speaker:Chance to be as a, as a pitcher.
Speaker:I was giving JJ a hard time, uh, 'cause he had that ball, that
Speaker:guy smoked off his backside.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And, uh, he, everyone in the ballpark, I mean, we, we, we give him a hard time
Speaker:about having the loudest voice possible.
Speaker:I think people at like down in, uh, you know, downtown probably heard
Speaker:that, uh, very loud expletive.
Speaker:He, he said he was picking them all up and because then he came, he told
Speaker:me he came back to the dugout and then he was like, yeah, I just thought,
Speaker:and they're all like, yeah, we know.
Speaker:We heard it.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:He, uh, well, pain, pain instructs, right?
Speaker:Like, so I was like, maybe he won't hang those, hang that breaking ball anymore.
Speaker:Got hit a hundred miles an hour off his butt.
Speaker:Uh
Speaker:oh.
Speaker:But man, he, he gets drilled with that.
Speaker:It was, I guess it was in the butt or the hip or something.
Speaker:It was not in a fun spot.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:It's
Speaker:like a Yeah.
Speaker:Not a great spot.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:But he comes back and strikes out the next two
Speaker:guys, you hit the butt.
Speaker:That's better than a lot of other places you hit.
Speaker:And the coolest part is we still got an out, out of it.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:That's just like, um, will hit the ball the other day.
Speaker:Was that against Richmond and it hit the guy in the, it
Speaker:knocked, it was against Richmond.
Speaker:Hit the guy in the elbow and went right to the first basement.
Speaker:Yeah,
Speaker:that was, that was crazy.
Speaker:I was like, what?
Speaker:No, I was
Speaker:so upset.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:He knocked, he knocked the kid outta the game, but he went right to the
Speaker:first base, third out, um, I thought, will, again, that's two weeks in a row.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:He's, he's played, you know, much, much better defense and it feels
Speaker:like he's getting his, his legs kind of second wind a little bit.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Offensively, you know, started to drive some balls, had to double in
Speaker:the home, run on, uh, Friday and, and had some big hits on Wednesday.
Speaker:Got got a hit in the other two games, you know, but, but I thought he
Speaker:looked better in the box and yeah.
Speaker:That's the main reason we bumped him back up in the top of the lineup.
Speaker:Mm. You know, especially against the lefty, uh, is
Speaker:get him maybe another at bat,
Speaker:he looks much more comfortable out on the field too.
Speaker:I think when he had some of those errors he was pressing.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And now he's much more relaxed.
Speaker:I mean, he got to a ball that was, I mean, normally it's when Tyler normally plays,
Speaker:he was up and, and in front of the bag.
Speaker:He didn't throw the guy out at first, but just the fact that
Speaker:he ranged that far to his right.
Speaker:To get that and like it saved a run.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:'cause that, that seemed a
Speaker:run almost, I almost thought maybe that he should have tried
Speaker:to get the guy third on that.
Speaker:So it was first and second and Tyler went to the bag.
Speaker:Because he was kind of playing over that way.
Speaker:And we talked about that.
Speaker:I was like, I mean, it might be your best shot.
Speaker:You might not have anybody, but you're never gonna get that guy
Speaker:having to make 140 foot throw.
Speaker:And it was too, you weren't gonna get the guy second on that either.
Speaker:You might have a shot at third, but or not throw it.
Speaker:'cause sometimes you see that ball get thrown mm-hmm.
Speaker:And they throw it away and the run does score.
Speaker:Weird
Speaker:stuff happens when you throw a third.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:You know, and they gave us a couple run, like they just gave
Speaker:us a run on, um, yesterday.
Speaker:I mean, it's two outs and chopper short.
Speaker:We usually just keep the guys going.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:On routine plays.
Speaker:'cause why not?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:If it's not a routine play, sometimes you gotta be careful.
Speaker:'cause the guy may not have a play and he'll hold it and.
Speaker:You wheel the guy and then you look like an idiot.
Speaker:But when they're making routine plays, you know, we've got
Speaker:a sign for just keep going.
Speaker:And Spart did a good job.
Speaker:He is not the fastest guy in the world.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:But he was running hard and, you know, got, threw it up the line and
Speaker:then he beat throw to the plate.
Speaker:So we scored a run on that and we scored a run on that sack fly.
Speaker:That was a close play to the mm-hmm.
Speaker:The plate.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:That we'll we'll be.
Speaker:And he beat that because he made a great slide.
Speaker:Uh, yes.
Speaker:He slid and extended his front foot.
Speaker:So many college players today slide and the front foot is up.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And they're out and if he is front, and we got guys and we
Speaker:practice sliding at a wall.
Speaker:We got those old slider things and yeah, you see it all the time.
Speaker:They lean too far back and will got his foot into the plate and just barely
Speaker:beat, you know, a good throw And, um.
Speaker:Yeah, I was shocked that they said he was safe because for my angle I was behind
Speaker:them and like taking the picture all, all I could kind of see was his back.
Speaker:And I'm like, how in the world was he safe?
Speaker:The guy had the ball and beat him by a mile and yeah.
Speaker:So yeah, that's, that's what said
Speaker:good baseball.
Speaker:Really good slide.
Speaker:And I mean, those were, you know, the wind killed that ball too.
Speaker:That should have been a mm-hmm.
Speaker:Easy sack fly.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I mean the guy ended up having to catch it like a basket catch because Yeah.
Speaker:Weird.
Speaker:Knocked it down.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, and I thought because he had to catch it like that, he might have trouble
Speaker:making a good throw, but he didn't.
Speaker:But it's still like, you know what, with the wind blowing in and doing all
Speaker:that, I was just like, take your chance.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:I mean, you gotta make a good throw
Speaker:if it's
Speaker:50 50. I mean, you make a good, a good catch, a good throw,
Speaker:another good catch and a good tag.
Speaker:Like the amount of things
Speaker:you a lot have to
Speaker:go, right?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And, and this is what people don't realize, you know, a lot of times.
Speaker:You know, when you're, when you're coaching third, you're, you're
Speaker:making all these decisions beforehand based on who's coming up after
Speaker:that guy, how he's doing mm-hmm.
Speaker:And all these things.
Speaker:And I, I think about it this way, like, like sending guys with two
Speaker:outs, you know, on base hits.
Speaker:It's like even if the worst, it's
Speaker:40% chance he's gonna score.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Or 35, well, the next guy coming up probably ain't hitting 400.
Speaker:The chance of sending in, getting another hit.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Um, in a lot of cases, now, if you're down by five, then that's dumb.
Speaker:You don't wanna do that.
Speaker:But if the run matters, you know, then those are the kind of playing
Speaker:the percentages is, you know, probably a smart thing to do.
Speaker:So.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And that was Trammel, I think, and left.
Speaker:And I mean, he put a great throw on it.
Speaker:I mean, he wasn't far from where I was standing.
Speaker:I, I told him a good throw afterwards.
Speaker:Yeah,
Speaker:yeah.
Speaker:But man, I, I knew there had to been an incredible slide down there
Speaker:at home plate to get around that.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:That
Speaker:had some good ball players.
Speaker:I, uh, I really love the, um, was it McCoy?
Speaker:Was that his name?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Second bass, but no.
Speaker:Oh, I'm sorry.
Speaker:The, uh, yeah, no, the first base, first base center field.
Speaker:The, the real huge switch hitter.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Second bat.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Third batter.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I, I'm, I'm a, I'm a big fan.
Speaker:That kid, that kid can play some baseball.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:He should not move that fast at that height.
Speaker:That's like's like Scotty 2.0 there.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Him and Tramel, I think are, were grad students, I believe.
Speaker:Mm. I think both of those guys were grad students.
Speaker:Um, they've been there a little while.
Speaker:They had some good young players.
Speaker:Number five freshman.
Speaker:True Freshman guys built like a fullback.
Speaker:Had the home run on on Friday, but.
Speaker:He is a big, strong kid.
Speaker:Their catcher that caught two, the three game was a freshman.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, you know, freshman shortstop, he struggled this weekend, but looks
Speaker:like a pretty good ball player.
Speaker:So they had some young kids in the lineup too.
Speaker:And, and especially on the mound, you know, it was similar to us.
Speaker:Like they've got some guys that they probably don't want to be pitching
Speaker:as much as they're having to, um, at this point, but it is what it's,
Speaker:yeah.
Speaker:Well you had a lot of veteran guys step up this week, whether it's Slater, I know
Speaker:he entered the game, I think as a pinch runner was in the game, and then his
Speaker:first at bat, he hits the, the walk off single there and then Tyler Stot, I mean,
Speaker:woo.
Speaker:What, what a stud to come through in the, probably the biggest week of
Speaker:the season for us and get two wins.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:That was cool.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:first two of his career too.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And uhto, I, I said this about stat.
Speaker:I mean, there's been plenty of days where it just isn't good enough.
Speaker:But it's not because he's ever afraid of the moment.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Like, he approaches pitching like a guy that's played football his whole life.
Speaker:He ain't scared out there.
Speaker:He has taken the time to just stick with it and try to reinvent himself.
Speaker:You know, he knows he, he's not a guy that throws super hard, so he is
Speaker:trying to figure out a stick, you know?
Speaker:And kinda like Kellen Davis, I, I love guys like that.
Speaker:Like, they just haven't just defaulted.
Speaker:Uh, I don't throw hard enough, so I'm not gonna be any good.
Speaker:They've got tried to, you know, go back to the lab and, you know, mm-hmm.
Speaker:Cook up another concoction and see if this one will work, you know,
Speaker:and to see, you know him yesterday.
Speaker:On a day where we were thin and needed it.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Um, and it was, it was really fun to watch.
Speaker:I mean, him and him and Nick Gio both last week.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Like, they really picked us up.
Speaker:Both those kids.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:So proud of them.
Speaker:And Nick's been the same man.
Speaker:He is.
Speaker:Been a guy that's, you know, you know, does, does at times so hard,
Speaker:but gets hit and he, I think he.
Speaker:I decided this week I'm gonna try to pitch a little bit.
Speaker:And he did.
Speaker:And he did.
Speaker:He, he, you know, seven innings and, you know, two runs.
Speaker:I mean, that's pretty darn good in college baseball.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:That's, that is hard to do.
Speaker:Uh, but yeah, it was, I was joking with Aaron Zelensky stand down
Speaker:on the wall, uh, when Cole was coming outta the game in the third.
Speaker:And I said, well, I mean, if we can get through three innings, we've given
Speaker:up one run and we've gone through, Cole and Tyler we're in good shape.
Speaker:And then I see Tyler come back out and he comes back out and
Speaker:he just keeps mowing guys down.
Speaker:And I'm like, just keep it going.
Speaker:Just until he is done, keep it rolling.
Speaker:And that, that worked.
Speaker:Well,
Speaker:Mike, Mike sometimes will, of course, you know, you're not thinking, you
Speaker:have no idea what you're gonna get.
Speaker:And Mike sometimes, you know, he comes in, he, he gets us outta that
Speaker:one and said, let's send him back out there, you know, see what we got.
Speaker:And then after that next inning, you know, I look over and.
Speaker:Mike kind goes,
Speaker:well send him back out there and then see, I said, alright, well look, he's had
Speaker:some arm stuff, so let's see how it feels.
Speaker:And so I think he did.
Speaker:And then he didn't talk to him anymore after that.
Speaker:He just, and he was, he was running off fumes at last inning.
Speaker:You could tell
Speaker:he was.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:But he gutted it.
Speaker:He did.
Speaker:And, and that was just awesome, man.
Speaker:So really cool.
Speaker:I mean, to put, to put that in perspective, so he had four and
Speaker:two thirds innings this week?
Speaker:Yeah, four and two thirds innings in two games this week.
Speaker:The whole season.
Speaker:This, he, he'd been in six games, only had four innings.
Speaker:But nevermind that he's a senior.
Speaker:He is in his fourth year.
Speaker:Hi.
Speaker:In his career before this week 19 appearances, 14.1 innings.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Eight.
Speaker:Threw four and two thirds and two games and got two wins this week.
Speaker:I mean, that's, that's big time, man.
Speaker:That that's, that's a dude coming up.
Speaker:Like I said, that's, that's not being afraid of the moment.
Speaker:That's a guy that's just like, has the mentality.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And, and you know, I mean, it is the way, it's why sports is great, right?
Speaker:It's just way things happen and when good things happen, it's usually
Speaker:because somebody unexpected or a couple guys unexpected, decided to
Speaker:step up and, and help the ball club.
Speaker:And, and that's exactly what happened on the mound this week.
Speaker:You know, Nick had really struggled starting the last few Sundays,
Speaker:and we took him out of the.
Speaker:You know, the starting thing and, um, he started against
Speaker:Richmond and threw the ball well.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And then he was, but he was ready, he wasn't down there moping around.
Speaker:He was ready
Speaker:mm-hmm.
Speaker:When we called on him and he got, gets to save on, on Sunday.
Speaker:So, you know, pretty cool.
Speaker:That's pretty cool.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Just a lot of, a lot of great stuff, a lot of little things.
Speaker:I think we've all been kind of waiting, waiting to kind of click into play,
Speaker:but really, I, I think you all play pretty well the last three weekends.
Speaker:I know the results didn't show it from like the Southern Miss series forward.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:But you've been playing much better baseball, and I feel like you just
Speaker:took like another big step forward.
Speaker:Uh, and I, I know I talked to you, uh, behind the batting cage on Saturday
Speaker:and we were talking about, you know, position players pitching and all this
Speaker:stuff because PJ Higgins got an inning for the reds and had to strike out.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And we were just talking about like, hey, I mean, you never know who's gonna step
Speaker:up and do what, and then sure enough, all this unfolds the rest of the weekend.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And you know, we got four weekends to go and you gotta
Speaker:mm-hmm.
Speaker:You know, we don't, we don't have a big margin for error
Speaker:mm-hmm.
Speaker:Now, so you just gotta win the, the moment in front of you and
Speaker:not worry about the rest of it.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, yeah.
Speaker:You know, get some work in tomorrow and try to win that game
Speaker:and then head down to Atlanta.
Speaker:Try to beat those guys.
Speaker:So, um, and then you get to come home and play again.
Speaker:I do think it's been
Speaker:nice.
Speaker:I, I feel like maybe we're getting our, you know, second wind a little bit.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Physically just having these home midweeks and
Speaker:mm-hmm.
Speaker:Not having to travel and get on a bus and all that.
Speaker:It's been a little easier on the guys.
Speaker:We went through that stretch where we were on the road a bunch and um, you know, I
Speaker:think it has been a little easier on them and, you know, you got classes wrapping
Speaker:up here in a couple weeks and then exams and it's just baseball, so that'd be nice.
Speaker:I'm hoping Sunday was our last cold game because I did not
Speaker:pack for cold weather on Sunday.
Speaker:Uh, I was lucky I had like one Jacksonville Jags hoodie in the trunk
Speaker:of my car, so that's why I was wearing that for the second half of the game.
Speaker:I got a pair of sweatpants from someone on the football team the
Speaker:day before, gave those to Aaron.
Speaker:'cause he is wearing short sleeve shirt, shorts, a Patagonia vest
Speaker:with no sleeves on and a beanie.
Speaker:I'm like, here, here's some sweatpants.
Speaker:You're gonna freeze the death over there.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I don't know how these grown men couldn't read their weather report.
Speaker:I mean, I'm out there with my layers on.
Speaker:I don't know what these guys are doing.
Speaker:I made me a, a little embarrassed to be associated with them, to be honest.
Speaker:I think it's gonna be chilly tomorrow night.
Speaker:Yeah, it can be chilly too.
Speaker:I don't think it's gonna be terrible, but it is gonna be chilly.
Speaker:And um, you know, to your point, CB on the.
Speaker:The standings.
Speaker:You know, you got JMU and last at six and 12.
Speaker:Yep.
Speaker:Uh, Louisiana seven and 11.
Speaker:Georgia State, old Dominion, uh, eight 10.
Speaker:Marshall Monroe.
Speaker:Arc State and Texas State.
Speaker:Nine to nine.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Game ahead of us.
Speaker:Then you got Troy Appalachian, south Alabama, 10 and eight,
Speaker:two games ahead of us.
Speaker:Then you got Southern Miss 11 and seven, three games ahead of us,
Speaker:and then Coastal's 15 and three.
Speaker:So
Speaker:yeah, coast is running away.
Speaker:It was really gonna be bunched if Southern Miss had lost yesterday afternoon.
Speaker:I mean, they, 'cause that would've made a bunch of 10 and eight teams
Speaker:and I mean, that would've been crazy.
Speaker:They would've been 10 and eight.
Speaker:They,
Speaker:yeah.
Speaker:Southern Miss Swep, Texas State, right?
Speaker:They
Speaker:did.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:They did.
Speaker:So there were three sweeps.
Speaker:It was us, us, uh, Appalachian, SWEP, U. And then Southern Miss Swap.
Speaker:Yeah, I think that was it.
Speaker:Because, uh, George,
Speaker:I think I,
Speaker:George
Speaker:I think I, I looked this up
Speaker:last
Speaker:game
Speaker:and we, this is the first time we've had a four game winning streak since the second
Speaker:weekend against Niagara and then beat, uh, Norfolk State in the midweek right after.
Speaker:But it's also the first time we've won, uh, two in a row
Speaker:since middle of, uh, March.
Speaker:I mean, it's been a lot of like, yeah, that's,
Speaker:yeah,
Speaker:it, so just that really illustrates like it was a tough stretch.
Speaker:Things were not, I mean, you know, we know
Speaker:you were limited in that.
Speaker:You know what else is interesting in that?
Speaker:I looked up there and JM u's lost seven or eight in a row.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Like, we haven't had any of that.
Speaker:Like, I
Speaker:think we've never lost more than two in a row.
Speaker:That's, that's kind of an interesting thing 'cause
Speaker:Yeah,
Speaker:it hadn't been an extended loser streak, we just haven't won enough.
Speaker:Well it was that, it was the inconsistency.
Speaker:I mean, it's what we've been talking, kind of talking about all year is
Speaker:just that, and that's what you Yeah.
Speaker:You come out one game, you look amazing and come another game, you look terrible.
Speaker:And, and so Yeah.
Speaker:It
Speaker:wasn't like when
Speaker:that, that, that really shows up too.
Speaker:And we have been pitching better lately, so hopefully we can keep that up.
Speaker:Yep.
Speaker:And um, yeah, so the Pirates Tomorrow, people come on out
Speaker:at six o'clock and um, then
Speaker:I saw a guy Boucher, who's been pitching for them.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I was surprised.
Speaker:I didn't realize that's
Speaker:drone.
Speaker:He, he's throwing like nine innings and like Yeah.
Speaker:Give him like seven round.
Speaker:They've got a pitching
Speaker:injury, so I, I need
Speaker:him Yeah.
Speaker:On that board.
Speaker:Thought that was interesting.
Speaker:I think they were playing Tulane.
Speaker:He still,
Speaker:he's still playing in the infield too.
Speaker:Yeah, they were playing Tulane a couple weeks ago and I caught the end of one
Speaker:of the games and they had an inning just start to get away from him, and they
Speaker:brought him in from the field to pitch.
Speaker:I think he threw one pitch into the inning and then he was back in the field.
Speaker:I guess they dropped the dh, but Oh,
Speaker:yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Well, I mean, they love that.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Oh yeah.
Speaker:They got, and they got a few local kids.
Speaker:They got Austin Iby from, um, Cox and, um, Braden, Bachman from Hickory.
Speaker:So I'm sure there'll be some, some local folks.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Come watch 'em and, and hopefully see their sons.
Speaker:But other than that, watch 'em lose.
Speaker:There you go.
Speaker:Well, you got, uh, you got TJ and, and Nick, um, coming on.
Speaker:I know and
Speaker:mm-hmm.
Speaker:Just
Speaker:so proud of both those guys.
Speaker:They're, they're fantastic young men.
Speaker:Um, they're a lot of fun to be around every day and.
Speaker:They're, they're just good people.
Speaker:Um, yes.
Speaker:So we're really proud of both of them.
Speaker:And, you know, it's, it's fun to watch, watch.
Speaker:It's been fun to watch TJ grow up and become a leader and a mentor to Nick.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, those two are usually, you know, around each other
Speaker:most of the time and Cool.
Speaker:And, um, just, just good, good young men.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:We're excited to have 'em on.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Good.
Speaker:Alright.
Speaker:And I'm sure they'll give you some good stories, so.
Speaker:Oh, we're, we're gonna, we're gonna try to for
Speaker:sure.
Speaker:That out.
Speaker:Well, thank you guys as always.
Speaker:And, uh, we gotta get the, uh, grateful Dead, sideways, Sasquatch,
Speaker:uh, hats and t-shirts and stuff.
Speaker:I love that logo there.
Speaker:Oh, you're gonna make Mike's day.
Speaker:You're gonna make
Speaker:his day.
Speaker:For sure.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Well, before I go, I'm gonna, I'm gonna flash it up there one more
Speaker:time just because I can, and, uh.
Speaker:So there we are.
Speaker:Yeah, that was Oh, wrong way.
Speaker:There you go.
Speaker:There you go.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Little Grateful Dead, uh, Monarch.
Speaker:We gotta come up with a nickname for that guy right there, you know, like, uh,
Speaker:Jerry.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:He looks like he needs a nickname.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, but yeah, I can, I could see, uh, that on some apparel.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:We'll shirt.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:We'll have him out there behind center field so when we hit a
Speaker:home run, he runs across the right field or something like that.
Speaker:That would be good to go.
Speaker:Pretty good.
Speaker:It's not bad.
Speaker:That would be great.
Speaker:You could, I dunno how much, I dunno how much room there is in that front row.
Speaker:I maybe there isn't room, but you have, you got some kid that could run
Speaker:across and hold something That'd neat.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Or that, or we'll get, get input on a flag and fly with our W flag after.
Speaker:There
Speaker:you go.
Speaker:There we go.
Speaker:Alright guys, thank you as always.
Speaker:Alright,
Speaker:thank you.
Speaker:Appreciate you man.
Speaker:The Old Dominion Athletic Foundation are commonly referred to as the
Speaker:ODAF was established in 1964 as a nonprofit organization.
Speaker:The mission of the ODAF is to raise financial support for ODU Athletics
Speaker:to ensure that our coaches and student athletes have the resources
Speaker:necessary to compete for championships.
Speaker:The ODAF is integral to the success of ODU Athletics and is the channel through
Speaker:which our fans and alumni can partner with our coaches and student athletes for
Speaker:the advancement of the athletics program.
Speaker:Through the generous efforts of our donors loyal fan base and community,
Speaker:the ODU alumni from around the globe, the ODAF raises money for student
Speaker:athletic scholarship support and endowments, capital projects, program
Speaker:specific support and athletic department operations Funds are raised through
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Speaker:With questions about how to get involved in one or more of these initiatives,
Speaker:reach out to an ODAF representative Give to the ODAF are investments in
Speaker:the lives of our student athletes.
Speaker:ODAF members receive exclusive benefits such as priority points for post-season
Speaker:and away games, seating, parking, VIP, and hospitality experiences and more.
Speaker:Because of you, we create winners in the classroom, in
Speaker:athletic competition and in life.
Speaker:Contact the ODAF and become a member today.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:Thanks Blaine, and appreciate Finny hopping on.
Speaker:Um, obviously he looked pretty excited after a four in oh week, but knows
Speaker:there's still some work to do there.
Speaker:Uh, it's amazing what just winning three games in a row can do, especially as tight
Speaker:as the Sunbelt standings are right now.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And and that's, that's what the team needed.
Speaker:I mean, you know, we knew, and again, we're gonna say the, the players
Speaker:themselves, the coaches, everybody just focus on that, the pitch in front of you.
Speaker:But for us just talking, yeah.
Speaker:Like that's, that's what had to happen this weekend.
Speaker:They really needed to win the series and sweep if all possible.
Speaker:And I mean, you saw, like I said, we saw a team that is not playing that well.
Speaker:Um, and.
Speaker:ODU U was able to take advantage of it and that's exactly what had to happen.
Speaker:And now they're right back in it, right back in the conversation.
Speaker:And you know, you and I can start looking at getting the hotel room
Speaker:down in, uh, uh, Montgomery and I can figure out, uh, my, my seat on the
Speaker:bus and we we're gonna make it great.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So you're taking the smart route there.
Speaker:If you hop on the bus and go down with them, I think I'm gonna
Speaker:have to do the flight to land.
Speaker:I think get a rental car.
Speaker:'cause I think it was a miracle that I got out of there last time I got
Speaker:the last seat on a plane that my tiny self could touch both sides of the
Speaker:plane while standing in the aisle.
Speaker:I'm gonna try to avoid that this time.
Speaker:Yikes.
Speaker:But we got a couple player guests today.
Speaker:Two guys made some big impacts this week.
Speaker:TJ Aiken and Nick Felton.
Speaker:Fellas, welcome to the show.
Speaker:How's it going?
Speaker:How's up y'all?
Speaker:I do notice Nick put his name first, so he made sure he got first.
Speaker:It was my
Speaker:computer, my room
Speaker:first.
Speaker:Fair.
Speaker:That is fair.
Speaker:Well, big weekend.
Speaker:A big week Really for you all.
Speaker:You know, Nick, you get the walk off.
Speaker:We get a four and oh week.
Speaker:TJ doing some awesome stuff out there other than throwing baseballs
Speaker:at me over there on the sideline.
Speaker:But, uh, how are y'all feeling after the weekend?
Speaker:Feeling great.
Speaker:I mean, good off day today.
Speaker:It was great to get a sweep, you know, we really needed it, but, uh, it's
Speaker:great to see the morale back up and starting to get hot here, so it's good.
Speaker:Good baseball.
Speaker:We're playing, so it's actually fun.
Speaker:Yeah, I agree.
Speaker:Uh, playing great ball right now and the morale is really, really hot,
Speaker:so it's, we're going really good.
Speaker:That's good.
Speaker:Nick, have you had a walk off before?
Speaker:Is this, uh,
Speaker:never.
Speaker:I was actually talking about that with my family.
Speaker:Uh, I've never like walked it off myself and I've been a part of a couple walk
Speaker:offs, but like, never have I done the, been the final guy, so that was amazing.
Speaker:I,
Speaker:wow.
Speaker:Something I remember forever.
Speaker:That's a pretty cool moment then.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Well I'm glad, I'm glad I was able to get some pictures of it.
Speaker:I know that because that's a cool moment.
Speaker:They do the, you guys did the thing both, uh, Tuesday and uh, that game where y'all
Speaker:just chase the guy off into the end.
Speaker:Oh
Speaker:yeah.
Speaker:I'm amazed they caught, I didn't even realized I was looking.
Speaker:The pictures later, they got you on the ground at one point.
Speaker:Yeah, I think like I went up there to chest bump Cole and then like, I think
Speaker:TJ got a clip of me and I just hit the ground and then I come back up and I think
Speaker:I got every ounce of that water in that.
Speaker:That Gatorade cleared, so
Speaker:Oh, that's perfect.
Speaker:Did you, I think you, you kept your jersey though.
Speaker:I think Jack, they got him immediately.
Speaker:They like, they stripped him almost instantly.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I kept it for a little bit and everyone's like, you gotta take it off.
Speaker:You gotta take it off.
Speaker:And then it came off eventually.
Speaker:So that was all fun.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:You hammered that baseball too.
Speaker:I mean it one hopped to the wall.
Speaker:I could see at one point trying to go and touch second, hopefully
Speaker:before Scotty was there.
Speaker:Were you thinking about that?
Speaker:Like, I want this to be a double in Scorebook.
Speaker:Yeah, I was thinking about it.
Speaker:I mean, when I hit it, I looked up and I was like, oh, that's came over.
Speaker:And then like, I'm starting around the bag and I realized how far it was.
Speaker:I was like, uhoh and then like I get second base and
Speaker:Slater's right there for me.
Speaker:I was like, oh cool.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:No touching second base here.
Speaker:Yeah, I was gonna say, so somehow that would've worked out that,
Speaker:that I, you were passed Slater.
Speaker:I dunno, I forget what the rule is.
Speaker:One of y'all is out on that one, but clearly it didn't matter.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Clearly didn't matter.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Because I was shocked when I, I had the camera and I panned over and I
Speaker:saw the ball drop and I turned back.
Speaker:Scotty still has a foot on third base.
Speaker:I'm like, go.
Speaker:We're good.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker:Oh, awesome.
Speaker:So, tj, you know, it was funny, we were talking, um, back at the banquet about,
Speaker:you know, you've been around a while.
Speaker:I mean, you've been around so long.
Speaker:You're UNC now.
Speaker:Yeah, I am lucky.
Speaker:Like you are.
Speaker:We got, we got, that's, that's been, um, Nick's nickname pretty much from day one.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:His ne nephew.
Speaker:Yep.
Speaker:Day one.
Speaker:Since day one.
Speaker:Somehow it brewed.
Speaker:Yeah, it stuck.
Speaker:It's a wild transition.
Speaker:Facts.
Speaker:It is crazy.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Time, time is flying by there.
Speaker:Uh, you all said that, uh, morale is, is it kind of at an all time high?
Speaker:Have you just kind of been feeling that build over the last couple weeks?
Speaker:And this is just kind of the showing up in the results a little bit
Speaker:more of you all coming together.
Speaker:Yeah, I would say in the past couple weeks, I think it, it really started
Speaker:against Southern Miss, even though we dropped that last game, six or seven.
Speaker:I feel like still that showed us a lot of what we can do if
Speaker:we, you know, there it's there.
Speaker:It's second time that's
Speaker:happened on this episode.
Speaker:That is funny.
Speaker:But yeah.
Speaker:No, but, uh, that weekend really, I feel like that, that weekend brought us
Speaker:together closer and just going forward, just rolling with it, rolling with
Speaker:each other and just fighting for each other and then paid off this weekend.
Speaker:Yeah, I think
Speaker:with that you can see out there, you guys felt, uh, you guys could tell you
Speaker:were feeling yourselves after winning that the game against So the miss it was,
Speaker:it's, it's the proof of concept, right?
Speaker:It's the show that like, Hey, if we play the way we can
Speaker:play, this is what we can do.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:We, uh, I think it built a lot of confidence, like seeing we could meet a
Speaker:team like Southern Miss and like pretty convincingly and almost taking a series
Speaker:like, like he was saying, I mean, we realize we can do it if we just play
Speaker:how we should be playing from the jump.
Speaker:And I think that's been really good, especially these past couple
Speaker:weeks, like bring it together and just having fun playing again.
Speaker:Trying to do our best out there.
Speaker:And it's been working out so far, so it's fun to see, see what we're capable of.
Speaker:That's fantastic.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And, uh, Saturday I got to see some batting practice before
Speaker:the game of standing behind the cage harassing both of you and
Speaker:probably some other people as well.
Speaker:Uh, but just kind of take me through like how your swing and how your approach
Speaker:has adjusted throughout this year.
Speaker:'cause I know Nick, you've, you've done a ton of different things, tj, you've,
Speaker:you've gone through the up and downs, you've gone through a lot of things too.
Speaker:But kind of take us through that like process of how you all
Speaker:continue to develop as hitters.
Speaker:Um, well I feel like this season, I mean, I was going really good in the first half
Speaker:and like the past three weekends I've been getting pitched a little differently.
Speaker:Everything's pushed on the outer half rather than just spraying
Speaker:across the zone and I'm just hitting it where they're missing.
Speaker:And uh, but now everybody's just trying to guide the outer half,
Speaker:like from the five to seven range.
Speaker:And I feel like my adjustment to that was just to get on the plate and.
Speaker:Still try, try my best to stay inside the baseball, but just get on a plate.
Speaker:So just take that away from them and take away those changeups that are down.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And for me, I'd say, uh, I mean from the start I got off to a kind of a slow start.
Speaker:I think I was getting a little jumpy at the plate, kind of just excited
Speaker:being out there and everything.
Speaker:And then I realized the game's a lot different from high school.
Speaker:Just, I mean, better pitching, everyone's a dude just gotta adjust.
Speaker:And like we've been working with finna and all the hitting guys and we just
Speaker:feel like I work best the other way.
Speaker:And just trying to focus the other way keeps everything else in, in check.
Speaker:So, and then also realizing like the mental side that like.
Speaker:I'm here for a reason and that I could also play just
Speaker:like all these other guys can.
Speaker:So there's no reason to like doubt myself or anything.
Speaker:It's just more trusting yourself and getting comfortable and getting in there.
Speaker:Now, to be fair, in high school you did play at a pretty good school.
Speaker:Like at, you played at St. John's.
Speaker:I mean, you guys were what, like top 25 in the country last year at one point?
Speaker:Isn't that correct?
Speaker:Yeah, maybe We got up to number four.
Speaker:We only lost one game last year to number one ranked IMG, so we were pretty good.
Speaker:Yeah, there you go.
Speaker:And you, and you were a third team All American, so I mean it, yeah.
Speaker:So it is funny to think about like the high level you were playing
Speaker:at in high school to say, oh, it's still another level like that.
Speaker:That's pretty interesting.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I mean I, I realized in the fall, like it was a little wake up call
Speaker:and then I started easing and then the spring hit around, it was like
Speaker:another gear like spring and fall.
Speaker:I felt just like competitiveness of going out there almost every day.
Speaker:But I think I'm getting used to it now, getting a lot more
Speaker:comfortable and just seeing how.
Speaker:I can adjust every day to like be the best version of myself.
Speaker:And now you go from high school where you're coached by Kevin Gibbs, who,
Speaker:you know, ODU Hall of Famer still has, I think he sells records for
Speaker:like triple stolen base of a tummy, one of our all time best players.
Speaker:Oh, I
Speaker:hear about
Speaker:all
Speaker:the time.
Speaker:And well, it could be because you're currently being coached by his son
Speaker:Casey also, so you can't, you can't escape the Gibbs family apparently.
Speaker:Nope.
Speaker:I, I can't, I cannot.
Speaker:The brother, older brother, younger brother.
Speaker:Yeah, that's right.
Speaker:Casey son, I guess you played
Speaker:with, uh, Casey, right?
Speaker:Or I'm
Speaker:sorry.
Speaker:Well, Casey was the year before me, I played with
Speaker:Casey's younger brother, Colin.
Speaker:He's a Colin sophomore in Maryland now.
Speaker:And then I also play with Casey's cousin, the youngest Matthew.
Speaker:So I mean Oh wow.
Speaker:Gibbs all over the family.
Speaker:And then, uh.
Speaker:Kevin Gibbs's dad was my third base coach.
Speaker:So I mean, just Gibbs all over the place.
Speaker:You were, you were just at the family reunion every, every
Speaker:game.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Literally.
Speaker:I know the whole family at this point.
Speaker:That's crazy.
Speaker:Well, speaking of family, your brother's a pretty good ball player, right?
Speaker:Matthew?
Speaker:Yeah, he is getting there.
Speaker:Big lengthy guy, I'll
Speaker:say
Speaker:that.
Speaker:Yeah, he is.
Speaker:He is.
Speaker:He looked well, he looks like you did a few years ago, frankly.
Speaker:Oh
Speaker:yeah, he's, if he puts a,
Speaker:now we making sure he's got plenty of ODU gear.
Speaker:Like every time he, he's cold, he's got ODU sweatshirts stacked out wears
Speaker:already.
Speaker:Yep.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:I'm just making sure, like, I would, like we we're doing
Speaker:this with Bailey's brother too.
Speaker:Like same thing, like, you know, if you got, you make sure the little bros
Speaker:always got that he is never, never wanting for some gear, that's for sure.
Speaker:Oh
Speaker:yeah.
Speaker:Oh yeah.
Speaker:He is.
Speaker:I mean, anything I grew out of, he's got, and he's starting to outgrow,
Speaker:so it might be a bigger size than me.
Speaker:Sooner or later.
Speaker:There we go.
Speaker:Uh, well, y you all, you, you both have kind of rotated through some different
Speaker:spots in the outfield this year.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:Tj, are you more comfortable in left, Nick, you more comfortable and center?
Speaker:'cause I, I can never tell.
Speaker:And you both play well in both positions.
Speaker:You wanna start though?
Speaker:I mean, to me, I mean I, I love center field.
Speaker:Center field, you see everything.
Speaker:But actually I played less center field than left field.
Speaker:Like high school.
Speaker:I played all, I played a bunch of left field 'cause we had a bunch of,
Speaker:we had two other good outfitters in my class and then years before that
Speaker:we had a bunch of great outfitters.
Speaker:So I've been in left field a lot, a little bit of center field.
Speaker:But I mean, me personally, I love center field, just running around,
Speaker:just feel like you're free reign.
Speaker:Like you're like a little kid again.
Speaker:Just running around.
Speaker:You're flying out there.
Speaker:That is for sure.
Speaker:You had a couple of pretty incredible catches over the weekend.
Speaker:Yeah, it's fun.
Speaker:And that can piggyback off that I do like, same thing, like it's so
Speaker:free playing in center field, it's just so much grass to cover and
Speaker:you just like a free man running.
Speaker:But um, I feel like I'm pretty good at both.
Speaker:Like I don't mind playing either or, um mm-hmm.
Speaker:But if I had to pick one, I would definitely pick center, just because
Speaker:it's, it is a easier position to play.
Speaker:I think it's way easier than left.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Honestly, just because the way the ball moves and, uh, but no, I'd
Speaker:definitely say center because it's just more, it's just a true read.
Speaker:Honestly.
Speaker:Center field is great.
Speaker:Like, I as big and slow as I am.
Speaker:There were a few teams I was on where I, I I was the best outfielder, so
Speaker:I would play center field and yeah, man, it's, it's so much better.
Speaker:It really is.
Speaker:I don't know why.
Speaker:There's just something great about it.
Speaker:Uh, well, I was in the corner outfield as well.
Speaker:Uh, I imagine that the wind, especially on Sunday, was not super fun to deal with
Speaker:because it looked like it was blowing in two different directions at the same time.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Almost like it was just circling.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Before the game started, the flag got wrapped around the pole and like,
Speaker:you can see the flag wrapped around the pole, so I was like, dang, he's
Speaker:just spinning a circle out here.
Speaker:Yeah, it's
Speaker:a constant battle.
Speaker:I mean, I feel like every time I look around, it's changing directions.
Speaker:I'm like, oh, it's blowing out.
Speaker:It's pulling in, blowing left.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:So we're always told to check it, but I feel like even when
Speaker:it's hit, it's swirling sometimes up there, you're like, oh.
Speaker:Yeah, you need
Speaker:to let checking it before the pitch changed already.
Speaker:Uhhuh.
Speaker:Oh.
Speaker:So, uh, Nick, and, and correct me if I'm wrong, is your mom
Speaker:was from Belgium, is that right?
Speaker:Or was it
Speaker:Croatia?
Speaker:Right across the board.
Speaker:Croat.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Croatia.
Speaker:I was wrong.
Speaker:All right, so Croatia and you, so, so you're part Croatian and you spent a
Speaker:bunch of summers there as a kid, right?
Speaker:Oh yeah.
Speaker:Probably every, we tried like when I was little, every other summer to go
Speaker:down, but we went this past summer and I was amazing to go over there.
Speaker:It's another world, a whole nother world.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And are you fluent in, I guess, I don't even know.
Speaker:Do they speak, is it Croatian?
Speaker:I'm not even
Speaker:positive.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Croatian.
Speaker:I wish I was fluent.
Speaker:Like I'm, I'm at the point where like, I can tell what they're saying, but
Speaker:it's so hard to reciprocate sometimes.
Speaker:But like, like talking about Spanish, I
Speaker:get it.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah,
Speaker:yeah.
Speaker:That's why lot better with their English.
Speaker:So I can actually like communicate with 'em and like, but before when I
Speaker:was younger it was, it was a struggle.
Speaker:I love going over there.
Speaker:Do
Speaker:you, uh, like corrupt them with like, terrible American stuff?
Speaker:Like do you bring like
Speaker:nonsense?
Speaker:Like seven.
Speaker:Oh yeah.
Speaker:But you'd be surprised.
Speaker:Like there's some terrible stuff over there too.
Speaker:Like the
Speaker:They got it.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:They, they got it too.
Speaker:Sometimes they're corrupting me, which is funny.
Speaker:Well, they probably take, I mean, you probably at y'all's age, you're
Speaker:probably going out to the club, but y'all are like 15 or something right?
Speaker:Over Croatia.
Speaker:Oh yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:They, they start early over there.
Speaker:That's,
Speaker:that's wild.
Speaker:Uh, well, I, I don't wanna talk too much pitching with you, you all, but, uh, I
Speaker:gotta talk about Tyler Sto a little bit.
Speaker:I mean, it felt like the dugout was so pumped up to see him come in and
Speaker:just, just delete guys at the plate.
Speaker:Uh, were you feeling that of kind of just getting a little extra adrenaline rush
Speaker:knowing stats out there, carving dudes up?
Speaker:Oh yeah, for a fact.
Speaker:I mean, because like, I'm not like you, that that was the best I ever seen a pitch
Speaker:in my life and it just turned, I, you can just tell it turned everybody up and, uh.
Speaker:I was stoked to play behind that day Sunday.
Speaker:That was awesome.
Speaker:Like it literally gave me chills just watching him pitch out there.
Speaker:So that was pretty cool.
Speaker:It's like a
Speaker:movie
Speaker:script almost.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:I mean, he's had a couple, he's had a couple arm issues too, so it was good
Speaker:seeing him out there and he was actually like, he was really competitive and
Speaker:it was just really fun to play behind.
Speaker:Like when a guy's competitive and you can see he's given it his all
Speaker:and the whole dugouts into it.
Speaker:Like it's just so much easier to play behind him.
Speaker:I learned for Guy, he was going through his arm issues
Speaker:too.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:That, that's crazy.
Speaker:No, I like I pointed out a little bit earlier, that's more innings
Speaker:this week than he had all season.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I mean, he said, and you know, tj, you've been with him last few years.
Speaker:Like he, yeah, he's only had about 14 innings his whole career.
Speaker:Yeah, that's what I'm saying.
Speaker:That's why that's, that's what made it awesome.
Speaker:That's what really made it awesome.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And he is, he's just such a good guy.
Speaker:It's just one of the dudes, like, he's always there.
Speaker:He is always rooting for everybody.
Speaker:Bringing that energy.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:It's, it's, it's, it is fun to watch guys succeed.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Then Tyler obviously had a big weekend, Pelton a couple home runs out of there.
Speaker:Like is he sharing his forearm workout that the broadcaster down at,
Speaker:uh, south Alabama talking about so
Speaker:much?
Speaker:It needs, it's like his own secret method and, uh, any anybody
Speaker:would touch that recipe doing it.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:He needs, yeah, wherever you keep doing
Speaker:it.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Keep doing it.
Speaker:He's probably got those old school like, uh, hand strengthening like claws.
Speaker:They almost have like vice grips and he's just sitting there all day in class.
Speaker:Just squeezing that thing.
Speaker:Yeah, walking around, squeezing it.
Speaker:Well he is a southern guy like you, tj.
Speaker:He might have some like, you know, wild like catch raccoon or something.
Speaker:Well, you can't consider Charlotte the north, the south.
Speaker:See, that's y'all.
Speaker:Wild.
Speaker:That's crazy.
Speaker:Charlotte's out of the south now.
Speaker:What?
Speaker:C Charlotte CI lived in Charlotte.
Speaker:I know.
Speaker:It's the south stop
Speaker:this.
Speaker:It's like Atlanta, slander Atlanta.
Speaker:And Charlotte is like their own little worlds and everywhere else it's,
Speaker:but he lives in Concord.
Speaker:He even live in Charlotte.
Speaker:He lives
Speaker:in, trust me, Concord is country.
Speaker:It's still like a, um, a more city.
Speaker:Like a city, if that makes sense.
Speaker:I mean, but yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Can't all
Speaker:be from
Speaker:Greenwood.
Speaker:And this weekend y'all are heading down to Georgia State.
Speaker:Going to Atlanta.
Speaker:Tj I know it, it is your second trip.
Speaker:It's not the south,
Speaker:apparently.
Speaker:Yeah, we're, we're leaving the
Speaker:south Atlanta.
Speaker:Atlantas the furthest thing from the south.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Atlanta's, Atlanta's pretty wild.
Speaker:I'll give you that
Speaker:place.
Speaker:Pretty
Speaker:sure.
Speaker:They call it the dirty
Speaker:South.
Speaker:That's fine.
Speaker:Whatever.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, Atlanta, just a Atlanta is just a different place.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:But yeah.
Speaker:I know you played down there two years ago in Nick Ano your first
Speaker:time, but we were talking with Finny about how it really is like a
Speaker:hitters and like a home run ballpark.
Speaker:So tj, are you just waiting for that pitch to be outside and you just step into
Speaker:that thing and drive with the other way?
Speaker:Yes, sir.
Speaker:Oh, yeah,
Speaker:because I think last year they came to War Memorial, right?
Speaker:I think that's where we played them at last year.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:War Memorial.
Speaker:Yes, sir.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:They have the little, that little guy Freeman that had like.
Speaker:12 hits against us.
Speaker:We couldn't get out.
Speaker:He, he, he wasn't little.
Speaker:No.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Nah, he could bank it though.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Freeman could bank it.
Speaker:Where's he at now?
Speaker:Did he, did he get drafted?
Speaker:No, I
Speaker:think got drafted, but Well, we'll find that before we got outta here.
Speaker:But, uh,
Speaker:he had all the gear to get, that's for sure.
Speaker:Yeah, he
Speaker:did.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Tj, I think the biggest thing for you, man, is just keep you number one.
Speaker:You know?
Speaker:I always tell you.
Speaker:Just you having fun.
Speaker:Have fun.
Speaker:Yes, sir.
Speaker:Oh,
Speaker:yeah.
Speaker:Biggest thing.
Speaker:But also just make sure you're staying athletic.
Speaker:Just be, be an athlete man.
Speaker:Stop trying to think too much.
Speaker:Yes,
Speaker:sir. You know, you know, you hitters get in trouble when y'all think too much.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Just, just be an athlete.
Speaker:Seeing the ball.
Speaker:Hit the ball.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And that's what I'm saying.
Speaker:I've been trying to just get away from my head and just making,
Speaker:just make the adjustment that I need to make and just go forward.
Speaker:There.
Speaker:Good?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Alright.
Speaker:So what's, uh, what's y'all's favorite part of Norfolk since we, you know, we,
Speaker:we know Norfolk's not the South, uh, at all, we know no one from South Carolina
Speaker:would ever call for, for, for Nick.
Speaker:It probably is the South, I'm sure.
Speaker:Uh, I wouldn't call it the South.
Speaker:Virginia's a weird state.
Speaker:I'll tell.
Speaker:It's a weird
Speaker:state.
Speaker:What'd y consider Virginia the South?
Speaker:That's a great question.
Speaker:That, that's a good question.
Speaker:If you ask somebody from New York, if Virginia's the south,
Speaker:they, they're a hundred percent.
Speaker:Anybody from like above, pretty much above DC is gonna call it the South.
Speaker:That's the thing.
Speaker:But then like when I used to, when when I moved down to Charlotte, they
Speaker:were like, no, you're from the north.
Speaker:I'm like, I'm from Southern
Speaker:Virginia.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I mean, Virginia's, it's like the border.
Speaker:I don't even know how to, like, I couldn't even, it's the south of the north.
Speaker:It's a weird one.
Speaker:It it's all over the
Speaker:place.
Speaker:It depends too.
Speaker:'cause like Nova is not, Nova is Nova's North.
Speaker:Nowhere near the south.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah,
Speaker:yeah.
Speaker:Because like I, I live in, oh, I was gonna say, I live in Richmond in 15
Speaker:minutes I can be in downtown Richmond and another 15 minutes I can be not within
Speaker:sight of another human being for Miles.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Well I was, but so for the guys who you who are not from here, what's
Speaker:your favorite thing about Norfolk?
Speaker:And ODU,
Speaker:I'd say Norfolk and ODU.
Speaker:I'd say the people, like when I, I remember like first going
Speaker:through the city and in the summer and like the southern charm.
Speaker:Oh yeah.
Speaker:Southern charm.
Speaker:There were like, all the people were nice.
Speaker:Like I was, I was so surprised.
Speaker:And then like the fall rolled around and like between the support staff,
Speaker:like Danielle and Amy and like everyone, everyone's just so nice and like, so like
Speaker:helpful, like they actually cared and it was just like, I wanna say it was a
Speaker:culture shock, but like, I'd definitely say that people are like, outstanding here
Speaker:and it just really like makes you feel at home no matter like how far away you are.
Speaker:That's great.
Speaker:Love that.
Speaker:I feel like one thing, uh, I like about the area is definitely the water.
Speaker:Just definitely just fishing.
Speaker:People are awesome.
Speaker:People are awesome.
Speaker:I love the fish.
Speaker:I love the fish.
Speaker:There's so many bodies of water you can go to just ponds got the ocean so
Speaker:you can go between sea and fresh water.
Speaker:So
Speaker:what's your favorite thing to catch?
Speaker:I'm a, I'm fresh water over salt water.
Speaker:Salt water is just not my, I mean, I try, I try a lot actually, but I just
Speaker:can never get the gist with salt water.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:So we gotta get
Speaker:you salt fresh water for my whole life until I got here.
Speaker:So,
Speaker:yeah, I was gonna say, yeah.
Speaker:Interesting.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Bad.
Speaker:I'm not, I'm not the fishing guy.
Speaker:I'm the guy that's like running around the water.
Speaker:Like, I, I can't like sit around too much.
Speaker:I love the water.
Speaker:I'll like everyone be tanning on the beach.
Speaker:I'll be in the water the whole time.
Speaker:That's just me.
Speaker:You get, what do you get?
Speaker:Like a boogie board?
Speaker:What do you get?
Speaker:What do you
Speaker:get?
Speaker:Oh yeah.
Speaker:Boogie board.
Speaker:I mean, I was the kid, like, you're at the pool.
Speaker:Mom's sitting by like sitting on the chair.
Speaker:I got the rings in the water, like diving for the rings the entire time.
Speaker:There
Speaker:you go.
Speaker:Throwing the ball around.
Speaker:That was me.
Speaker:I
Speaker:was always like Spider-Man on the wall.
Speaker:That was always my thing that you push off the wall like,
Speaker:oh yeah, Spiderman.
Speaker:That's, that's og.
Speaker:I, I just still remember someone taking a roll of pennies just trying to distract
Speaker:us in the pool and throwing all the pennies in and being like, all right.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Kids don't drown and just leave us there.
Speaker:That's crazy.
Speaker:That actually happened in Myrtle Beach, so I understand you there
Speaker:on the South Carolina piece.
Speaker:Dirty
Speaker:Myrtle, man.
Speaker:It was, it's just gotten dirtier too.
Speaker:Yeah,
Speaker:y'all
Speaker:going down there in a few weeks?
Speaker:Oh yeah.
Speaker:That'll be nice.
Speaker:Sort
Speaker:of like a half hour
Speaker:outside of it, but that's, well, Conway's not that far from row.
Speaker:About 25, maybe 20.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:But
Speaker:that
Speaker:traffic ends up being an hour.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So how much attention do you all, uh, pay to, you know, the other
Speaker:Sunbelt games you're going on?
Speaker:Are y'all looking at standings or looking at other teams players?
Speaker:Like, just wondering how you stay connected with the rest of the conference.
Speaker:Uh, I mean, I was actually just, wa me and Ben were just watching the
Speaker:Louisiana Chore game last night, like the ending of it, saw Troy walked off.
Speaker:But I mean, I'd say we pay attention a little bit.
Speaker:Like, especially like as we're getting back in the mix, getting more conference
Speaker:games and like about end out the year, like kind of just seeing where we stand,
Speaker:but more of it just being like focusing on what we can do, but also like keep
Speaker:an eye on like, oh, just like kind of wanna see who wins this game, who wins
Speaker:that game, but more just like more of a self-centered approach, I'd say.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And I can, yeah, I can say basically the same thing.
Speaker:I don't really watch the games like that, but I do keep up with the standings,
Speaker:but I really just try to focus on those.
Speaker:Focus on my guys and just roll with them.
Speaker:Do you guys keep up with like former teammates, like guys you grew
Speaker:up with that are playing places?
Speaker:Oh yeah.
Speaker:Oh
Speaker:yeah.
Speaker:Oh yeah.
Speaker:Do you keep like, like watch their stats at all?
Speaker:You just kind of like talk to 'em and just, just trustworthy.
Speaker:They tell you like, they're like, yeah, I'm doing great.
Speaker:You're like, yeah, I saw you hitting the buck 10, but okay.
Speaker:Yeah, probably both.
Speaker:I A little bit of both.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Trust their word.
Speaker:Trust their word.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Maybe take a little peek of their stat.
Speaker:Be like,
Speaker:it just depends on who they're though.
Speaker:You gotta know who the person is.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Like this person.
Speaker:Just like, okay, this dude's probably lying, so let me go look myself.
Speaker:That's fine.
Speaker:Because Nick, I saw a bunch of your boys getting in the comments on your
Speaker:video talking about Bun Bun stock down.
Speaker:I was cracking.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:They were having a field day bun stock down.
Speaker:Glad to know you can do more than bun.
Speaker:All the, they were having a field day.
Speaker:They're getting
Speaker:out.
Speaker:I love it.
Speaker:Like I love that.
Speaker:I love that they're like in tune and that we can always joke around like that.
Speaker:'cause I feel like I'm close to a lot of those guys.
Speaker:Oh, that's awesome, man.
Speaker:Um, great with cb.
Speaker:What else you got?
Speaker:Hey, I, I thoroughly enjoy getting to watch both of you guys play baseball.
Speaker:Tj, you're one of my favorite guys.
Speaker:Um, 'cause, you know, knowing you for the last few years, phenomenal.
Speaker:Nick, you're well on the way to join that club.
Speaker:Um, you guys just keep being yourselves, man.
Speaker:This is, you're, y'all are part of what makes like what Gary and I
Speaker:do where we just want to be around ODU u baseball and, and enjoy it
Speaker:because we just get to hang out.
Speaker:Like you said, it's the people, uh, just getting to hang around good people.
Speaker:And so we appreciate it.
Speaker:We're excited for the end of the season here.
Speaker:Excited to see y'all.
Speaker:Just keep building on what we've had building the last few weeks.
Speaker:Yes, sir. Yes, sir. We will.
Speaker:I got something for you.
Speaker:Ucb, those, those cookies.
Speaker:My gosh,
Speaker:yes.
Speaker:Mom's cookies.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:My gosh.
Speaker:That's some mom's cookies.
Speaker:I mean, I, I heard the hype in the fall, like I heard all about it.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:CB's, mom's, cookies, everything.
Speaker:They came the first time.
Speaker:I was like, wow.
Speaker:I can't, like I was after the games, I was like putting a couple in my pocket trying
Speaker:to go home, but I, I. Couldn't get enough.
Speaker:And then the comeback the next day, there's a, there's a couple
Speaker:left and like, you don't wanna be that guy to take the last one, but
Speaker:like, you do wanna be that guy.
Speaker:I did a couple times.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Ccb, look at this.
Speaker:They'll leave the tubs on the,
Speaker:on the table in the locker room.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:I'll take the tub home.
Speaker:Big box cookies.
Speaker:That's
Speaker:where
Speaker:all the, that's where all the, that's all the cookies are all us.
Speaker:Just, all the guys just eat them downstairs will bring, we
Speaker:bring a tub back the next day.
Speaker:That's perfect.
Speaker:That's
Speaker:awesome.
Speaker:That's what, that's what, yeah.
Speaker:Mom
Speaker:loves I, I've always loved the cookies.
Speaker:The cookies are awesome.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Well, you, you know, mom's, you guys, she's bringing you like
Speaker:gummy bears now you said you like gummy bears, so she's Oh yeah.
Speaker:She's hooking it up.
Speaker:Mom.
Speaker:Mom is, mom is as big a supporter of ODU as anybody, that's for sure.
Speaker:Oh yeah.
Speaker:I'm sure she'll, she'll watch this sometime tomorrow.
Speaker:And, and I, I appreciate her too.
Speaker:Lemme tell you, she, I, I locked my keys outta my car the other day and
Speaker:she came and, and helped me out.
Speaker:I appreciate, I appreciate mom, mom.
Speaker:My mom's the best.
Speaker:Gotta love them.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Well fellas, we appreciate the time.
Speaker:I know y'all have a big one tomorrow against East Carolina, then you're
Speaker:hitting the road down to Georgia State.
Speaker:We'll be watching ru you on and uh, just really appreciate the
Speaker:time you all coming on the show.
Speaker:Yes sir. Of course.
Speaker:Thank y'all.
Speaker:Thank you so much.
Speaker:Alright, thank
Speaker:you.
Speaker:Thanks guys.
Speaker:Appreciate y'all later.
Speaker:Good kids, man.
Speaker:Jeez.
Speaker:Just, just what, what, what Good kids.
Speaker:I mean, we, we know TJ is, I mean, it's just like the fourth time we've
Speaker:had him on Hudson Homers in some form.
Speaker:I mean, yeah, I, I'd have one every week if you, if it wouldn't
Speaker:get a little stale, uh, 'cause it probably wouldn't get stale, frankly.
Speaker:'cause it's just a good, and then, and then Nick is, you know, and seeing, you
Speaker:know, Nick has been a little quiet, but I mean, you see right there, I mean that
Speaker:he's got all the personality and now he's feeling a little more comfortable.
Speaker:He is being, getting to be himself.
Speaker:I think that's what happens a lot of times young guys, they, they.
Speaker:Once they realized like, oh, I'm allowed to be me.
Speaker:I, you see him break outta the shell a little bit.
Speaker:And yeah, I mean, what, that's great that just seeing what, what TJ's gonna
Speaker:do the rest of this year and then next year as a senior and then seeing
Speaker:what Nick's gonna do in his screaming.
Speaker:Nick is gonna be a, a really phenomenal ball player, that's for sure.
Speaker:He is.
Speaker:He's already showing signs of it.
Speaker:I mean, we know we had some veterans step up in a big way this week
Speaker:to get us to four and oh, and we've talked about a lot of them.
Speaker:But for Nick to step up in that situation, you know, some guys just
Speaker:melt when the pressure's on and mm-hmm.
Speaker:Think, all right, well there's already a runner on third, all
Speaker:I gotta do is put it in play.
Speaker:And some guys, like, they'll just swing through everything.
Speaker:He goes and just pieces one up opposite field into the gap, one hops
Speaker:to the fence, no doubt, and then the celebration's on, and then they carry
Speaker:that momentum right into Sunday.
Speaker:So a lot of, a lot of very bright futures, uh, for some of these guys on this
Speaker:team when the, when the veterans are, you know, moving on after the season.
Speaker:It's always amazing me when you talk to a guy and they're like,
Speaker:yeah, I've never had a walk off.
Speaker:It's like, man, you've been, you played all this baseball, which, you know,
Speaker:it doesn't, we didn't, I think we didn't have one all last season and we
Speaker:didn't have one this year up until this week, and then we had two this week.
Speaker:I mean, it was just a, just a strange, it's, it's not always
Speaker:a thing that happens, you know?
Speaker:It's, you gotta be in a home game and you gotta be close and it's not
Speaker:always, uh, an opportunity for it.
Speaker:No, it doesn't always turn out well, but you know, we, we get the big double
Speaker:play and the top of the 10th there.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I thought that was, that was huge in swinging some momentum because that
Speaker:started out as one of those innings that can go off the rails quick when you let
Speaker:that lead off guy get on, absolutely.
Speaker:Race him quickly.
Speaker:Get out three and then just guys on, guys on game over.
Speaker:And that's, that's what we needed to do.
Speaker:And I was really impressed Sunday, I was kind of joking with Aaron.
Speaker:I said, I think if we get three or four on them in the first inning,
Speaker:Georgia's Southern will quit.
Speaker:And I wouldn't say they quit.
Speaker:They didn't.
Speaker:They kept battling.
Speaker:Yeah, they
Speaker:didn't, but they were in a hole.
Speaker:And we know how that is being on the side.
Speaker:They definitely
Speaker:had a little bit of like a Well,
Speaker:yeah, well you, Tyler Zedalis goes and smacks one out of
Speaker:there, the nav goes back to back.
Speaker:That was, that was that hurt him a little bit.
Speaker:Uh, yeah.
Speaker:And of course we got one of our guys who's gonna be named Player of the week.
Speaker:I'm gonna pop that in a second.
Speaker:There
Speaker:we go.
Speaker:Tyler, Stott and Tyler Zedalis.
Speaker:Tyler Squared.
Speaker:The Tylers, yeah.
Speaker:Yeah, the Tylers.
Speaker:Um, yeah, Stott, I mean, like I said, we, we talked about four and two
Speaker:thirds innings, two games, two wins.
Speaker:Never had a win in his career.
Speaker:Two wins.
Speaker:Um, no earned runs, just one hit no walks and five strikeouts.
Speaker:I mean, that was phenomenal for a guy who I said had been doing all
Speaker:this work, has not had some seasons where he didn't play play like one
Speaker:appearance, you know, the former like fifth string football quarterback.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:You know, I mean, it's, you forget about that.
Speaker:I mean, he's a guy who's just been putting work in and amazing
Speaker:seat, and it really was a close week because we ezio right there.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Uh, with him, two games picked up the save on Sunday, seven innings, one earned run,
Speaker:four hits, five walks, eight strikeouts.
Speaker:I think realistically the, the five walks might've been what kind
Speaker:of pushed us to pick and Tyler.
Speaker:Uh, but I mean still he p he pitched phenomenally and this
Speaker:was a great week for pitching.
Speaker:This was probably our best pitched week of the season.
Speaker:Oh yeah.
Speaker:Um.
Speaker:As we had a bunch of guys, JJ Gaddy, another five innings scoreless, uh,
Speaker:took a ball off, off the butt, five hits, two walks, five strikeouts.
Speaker:Um, Jayce Park, had a nice week.
Speaker:Uh, had two games, three and a third innings scoreless.
Speaker:Um, two hits, two walks, four strikeouts.
Speaker:Ben Tanton got the win on, uh, was it Saturday?
Speaker:Um, two and a third, uh, scoreless, uh, two hits a walk, two strikeouts.
Speaker:And Darren Kuski had another good start.
Speaker:Four and two thirds, uh, gave up.
Speaker:One run, three hits, two walks, 5K.
Speaker:So a lot of, a lot of guys.
Speaker:Not walking guys, not giving 'em up a ton of hits.
Speaker:Just, you know, executing their pitches.
Speaker:I mean, that was, that was really great to see.
Speaker:Um, and then, oh, I'm sorry.
Speaker:You wanna talk about pitching?
Speaker:My bad.
Speaker:Uh, I just wanna say, I mean, I feel like we've just slowly gotten better
Speaker:with pitching each week and each week.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:We had really reduced the number of walks and hit by a pitch.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And now we're, we're reducing the hard contact that's going out there.
Speaker:I think that's what I was most impressed with, of even when
Speaker:guys were getting contact.
Speaker:It was, it was not, it was nothing hard hit, uh, that was getting outta there.
Speaker:But Yeah.
Speaker:Uh, you know, Tanton coming in on Friday, I mean, that's a big
Speaker:spot for him to come in on Friday.
Speaker:Uh, you know, we had, we had, we lost the lead at one point there.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um.
Speaker:And, you know, just for that pitching staff to come back.
Speaker:So I've just been impressed.
Speaker:And gaty, man, you can't question his toughness now.
Speaker:That's what, two weekends in a row.
Speaker:He is been hit with a comebacker and the only thing he's mad about
Speaker:is he didn't catch it on the fly.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Tough, tough dude.
Speaker:Throwing, like really anchoring us on Saturdays, uh, been been very important.
Speaker:Uh, if you notice, we've only won Saturdays the last couple weeks.
Speaker:Got the New York toughness.
Speaker:That New York, New York tough.
Speaker:Hey, I'm pitching here.
Speaker:No, no, in Tanton.
Speaker:It's, it's really been impressive.
Speaker:I mean, we know, we, we made him pitch the week a few times.
Speaker:He probably had another couple times he, he could've, I mean, this week arguably
Speaker:he was in the, in the conversation, but realizing that, you know, this is a
Speaker:freshman that is coming in in big spots.
Speaker:Um, you know, we're bringing him in in close games when we need innings.
Speaker:Like coming in with guys on base sometimes.
Speaker:I mean, he's, he's been a dude and it's really impressive to see, you
Speaker:know, a lot of times as a freshman, that's just not what happens.
Speaker:So that's been really cool to see.
Speaker:Um, 'cause he is clearly, and that's another one you're talking about,
Speaker:like the future of of ODU baseball.
Speaker:There's some, some really good young ball players on this team.
Speaker:Um, and speaking of guy who would be a part of future, 'cause
Speaker:he's, he is a junior this year.
Speaker:Uh, Tyler Za Dallas, another great week.
Speaker:Um, he, he, I think he was scuffled a little bit and
Speaker:he kind of got himself back.
Speaker:Uh, so he was seven for 18, had three home runs, the two of them on Saturday,
Speaker:uh, six rbis and scored six runs.
Speaker:So just a, a great big power week for him.
Speaker:Um, will Johnson, as you pointed out, uh, seven for 16, had a double a Homer, five
Speaker:rbis, four him on that one Grand Slam.
Speaker:Um, also had three walks through runs and stole a base, uh, Maverick.
Speaker:Um, before, um, scratching his own eye with his, with his gear.
Speaker:I did not know that's happened.
Speaker:Um.
Speaker:Or I knew it was silly when Hannah wouldn't tell me how it happened.
Speaker:'cause she usually would tell you, but then when she's like, uh, uh, I was
Speaker:like, okay, so something goofy happened.
Speaker:You, you sent me the picture.
Speaker:And he like, yeah, looks like he just got back from battle.
Speaker:He had his head the whole wrapped up and a patch on his eye.
Speaker:Well now, now that we know it, it hopefully wasn't that big of a deal.
Speaker:We'll probably share that picture eventually because it was Yeah, pretty.
Speaker:Because I mean, at, at the time he is just like, he's in pain and this
Speaker:guy's eye scratch, like, you know, this is one of your better hitters and
Speaker:you just don't want anybody, I don't care who you are to have your eye
Speaker:scratch that, that sounds terrible.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, so, but hopefully it, it'll be okay.
Speaker:But, but Maverick was six for 16, had a double, had two Homer, six rbis,
Speaker:couple of walks, five run score another.
Speaker:Big week and played great defense.
Speaker:I mean, he's, he is really been our best defender this year, um, which
Speaker:is, which has really been huge for us.
Speaker:Um, and Efrin had another nice week.
Speaker:Effin Morales was six for 17, had a walk hit by a pitch,
Speaker:um, two runs in a stolen base.
Speaker:Um, so again, not really, you know, FF hasn't really tapped into that
Speaker:extra base potential yet, but he is got that, that line drive swing.
Speaker:I don't think it's gonna be a matter of time before, uh, he
Speaker:starts hitting some, some doubles.
Speaker:I, I gave, uh, Kate Kelly, the strength coach, a hard time yesterday f hit
Speaker:one that went all the way to the wall.
Speaker:And I was like, I was like, that's on you.
Speaker:And he's like, oh, he's five seven.
Speaker:That's not my fault.
Speaker:I think he might, he might have said five nine.
Speaker:I, I, I might have said five seven.
Speaker:That's my my bad effort.
Speaker:Whatever he is listed at, yes.
Speaker:I mean, he's, he's gotten so many balls hit hard to center field
Speaker:that have been caught for outs that if he just gets in the gap a
Speaker:little bit, they doubles all day.
Speaker:And like you, you can, you can figure that out.
Speaker:You can adjust your timing and do those things.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:But I think what I'm most impressed with m in that lead off spot
Speaker:is he makes pitchers nervous.
Speaker:And it gets them off of their, their mindset a little bit because,
Speaker:you know, he is gonna be just hell to get out of the plate.
Speaker:I think he only struck out once this weekend, and I mean, it just,
Speaker:yeah, he does not strike out much.
Speaker:No.
Speaker:And he is just gonna be a problem.
Speaker:And then you're, you got the defense playing tight, the pitchers off the
Speaker:rhythm early, and we saw that kind of payoff as it went down through
Speaker:the lineup there as he was getting those hits to set the tone for us.
Speaker:I think that's what I tweeted out on Friday before the game of Yeah.
Speaker:Set the tone.
Speaker:F and he did,
Speaker:I think, I think the, uh, the phrase the guys will be using is drive the bus.
Speaker:I think they, that when he's getting hits, I think you see, you'll see,
Speaker:um, Scotty Young and a few guys kind of the, the, the drive, the bus.
Speaker:Um, so that's, he, he's been that guy.
Speaker:Um, yeah, I think, what was it, nine strikeouts in 85 at bats of the season.
Speaker:So that's pretty good.
Speaker:That's.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Not, not quite like one outta 10.
Speaker:I mean, that's, most guys can't do that.
Speaker:Like that's
Speaker:No.
Speaker:Especially in college against the pitching that we're facing in the Sunbelt.
Speaker:I mean, that's really tough
Speaker:to do.
Speaker:No, that's great.
Speaker:Yeah, and he is got, I think, I think what pointed out he is got more walks
Speaker:this season than he had all last year.
Speaker:So I mean, he is, he's certainly.
Speaker:For a guy as good as he is to say he is becoming an even better hitter is scary.
Speaker:I mean, again, if we could, he could stay healthy, um, and, you know, be a
Speaker:part of things next year, man, you're gonna, you're gonna have a really
Speaker:special ball player in your hands.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:He's, he's only a sophomore.
Speaker:This is only his second year here and he missed a good bit of time
Speaker:last year with those concussions.
Speaker:So,
Speaker:and missed a good chunk of the start of this year, like, yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So I mean, we
Speaker:put 'em on bubble wrap sometimes, but, uh,
Speaker:we're gonna give him two bodyguards and a whole thing of the industrialized
Speaker:bubble wrap for the off season.
Speaker:Well, we're gonna, we're gonna get, uh, when Jack Slater, uh, gets himself in
Speaker:the Secret Service, we're gonna get him to come in and guard f that's for sure.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:That's another thing to remember too, like, these guys got other stuff going on.
Speaker:Like, they got classes, they're chasing careers, like they're
Speaker:mm-hmm.
Speaker:It's, it's, they're not just playing baseball.
Speaker:I know as much as, you know, the NIL era is kind of ushered in the hey, just,
Speaker:you're basically, you know, we're not calling you professional, but you are.
Speaker:It's not quite that
Speaker:way.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Well this is baseball.
Speaker:You have to go to class.
Speaker:It's not, this is not like,
Speaker:yeah.
Speaker:You know, some of, some of these other sports with where we paid them a guy, $2
Speaker:million, so we didn't have to go to class.
Speaker:Like, no, this is baseball.
Speaker:These guys, they, they might be getting scholarships, some of
Speaker:them, um, they gotta go to class.
Speaker:So, and, and our guys generally are really, really good at class.
Speaker:I mean, you'll notice they all have facial hair.
Speaker:They, they are allowed to have facial hair if the team gets above
Speaker:a 3.0 GPA, um, which you notice they were clean shaven, um, in the fall.
Speaker:Uh, so that the first time in a while, um, and the guys did not, a
Speaker:lot of our guys do not like that.
Speaker:I mean, personally, I would hate that.
Speaker:I would be, if I was on the team, I would be furious if I had to shave
Speaker:every day, uh, and not have a beard.
Speaker:Uh, so I, I, yeah.
Speaker:So it's, and, and they're gonna love that and everyone loves it this time.
Speaker:Like I said, a few weeks from now when they're classes are over, finals are over
Speaker:and they can just play some baseball.
Speaker:That's the time when guys really have a lot of fun.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah, they do.
Speaker:Um, I just thinking of, of Jack Slate, like literally going to Richmond to do
Speaker:a PT test for the Secret Service, coming back, going to practice, and then plays
Speaker:the game the next day behind the dish.
Speaker:I mean, it's.
Speaker:The, the, these kids are, are highly motivated for a, a
Speaker:generation that is difficult to find their motivators as I have.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Nieces and nephews that are not too far off in age.
Speaker:Uh, they figured out something to get 'em motivated to, you know,
Speaker:get the grades that they need, play well and keep getting better.
Speaker:Uh, but man, that,
Speaker:well, I think fortunately it's internal.
Speaker:I think a lot of our guys, I think, I think at this level, you're not
Speaker:gonna succeed if you need to be externally motivated, you know?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:It's the reality.
Speaker:And the guys who probably do, are the ones who you kind of see they're
Speaker:like around for a little bit and they're not, don't, their playing time
Speaker:goes like this and then they go like this, uh, because that's, you know.
Speaker:If, if you're not, we, we've said I, I've said it last year, I've said it last
Speaker:couple years, because the team is so deep, and we've seen a lot this year where if
Speaker:you don't do well in the opportunities that are given to you, and it doesn't
Speaker:even necessarily like having great success, like you're not competing, right?
Speaker:You're not gonna get any more opportunities because there's
Speaker:so much depth that somebody else is gonna take that opportunity.
Speaker:And so yeah, if you're not internally motivated and not doing the things
Speaker:and doing all the right stuff, which includes taking care of your grades
Speaker:and then being able to be eligible.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I mean, so being like someone like me who's not, not very
Speaker:motivated, it would not do well.
Speaker:The situation, uh, it's not good.
Speaker:Nick's a good example of that too.
Speaker:'cause he was not the starting center fielder to start this season.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:And some things have, have moved around.
Speaker:They've had some injuries pop up.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:He got his opportunity and now he is cemented and there if
Speaker:for nothing else is defense and just being scrappy at the plate.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:'cause dude's a competitor, like he wants to win.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And he stepped up in a big way for a Saturday.
Speaker:And I, I was that, that's one of those plays that you can look back on at, at the
Speaker:end of the season and say like, all right.
Speaker:Where was kind of a turning point where the guys did it and
Speaker:like, I'll point to that hit.
Speaker:I think we also point to Slater's hit because I think if you lose that game in
Speaker:the way that you would have to Richmond.
Speaker:I mean, that could deflate you for the rest of the season.
Speaker:So it was at one 19, your curtain fell.
Speaker:Was it one?
Speaker:Oh, just so just how Okay.
Speaker:I was,
Speaker:I was babbling.
Speaker:Felt it dramatically too.
Speaker:I mean, it was everything, but whatever that was I saw
Speaker:it's like, oh, it's big.
Speaker:It wasn't like a, the small one this time.
Speaker:Yeah, no, and and Nick's great.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I mean, since, like I said, seeing these guys who, uh, taking advantage, but yeah.
Speaker:Uh, I lost track of what I was gonna say.
Speaker:No, but you're right.
Speaker:This week, uh, those big, those big moments and this week in in
Speaker:particular, um, you hope you'll be able look back and like, okay,
Speaker:this is where it turned around.
Speaker:I mean, we were, we've been waiting on it and they clearly.
Speaker:They're doing the thing and we, we've been believing the people who have stayed
Speaker:stuck with them and understood like, Hey, it's a process and it's not always pretty.
Speaker:And sometimes, you know, it's not perfect in the beginning,
Speaker:but you, it's a long season.
Speaker:It's the thing about baseball.
Speaker:Baseball's a long season.
Speaker:These guys play 56 games.
Speaker:You can't, you know, it's like, obviously now we're at the point where three games
Speaker:matter every weekend, but, you know, you can't, you know, be kind of a whiny
Speaker:little wimp about it in the beginning when things aren't going perfect.
Speaker:Um, you gotta stick with it and believe in the guys and support 'em.
Speaker:Um, and, and for the people who have and have stuck with it.
Speaker:Awesome.
Speaker:The people that haven't, I mean, I guess you can come back, but
Speaker:just re make sure you, you're aware of who you are as a person.
Speaker:Well, we had good, good crowds out there on, on Friday.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And Saturday, you know, Sunday not as big of a crowd with the game time,
Speaker:having to move up to 11 and getting, don't blame 'em, frankly, getting cold
Speaker:and kind of spit in rain for a while.
Speaker:Uh, I, I think.
Speaker:You know, I love, love to get the fans to come back out.
Speaker:I mean, I know it may be a little bit cold for that East Carolina game, but
Speaker:we start getting late in the season.
Speaker:That weather's really nice.
Speaker:The ball starts flying outta the ballpark and it's fun.
Speaker:I mean, it, it was a party out there.
Speaker:You could clearly hear those fans when Nick ripped one into the gap,
Speaker:you could see everyone just like leaning over the rail and trying
Speaker:to see where that ball was going.
Speaker:Uh, I mean, and because we got the sweep this weekend and we've
Speaker:avoided sweeps before, we're right back in the thick of it.
Speaker:I mean, we, we go to Georgia State and take care of business there
Speaker:and come out with a series win.
Speaker:Yeah, we're.
Speaker:Right back into the top six from 14th to sixth in six games.
Speaker:It's,
Speaker:yeah, which, you know, that would be, it's, it's extremely plot.
Speaker:And then Arkansas State, I mean, you see, they're, what are
Speaker:they like a game ahead of us?
Speaker:They're nothing amazing.
Speaker:And I mean, obviously coastal is looming, but people have be
Speaker:beaten coastal here and there.
Speaker:There's no reason.
Speaker:Again, if you're, if you get on a role and you start playing league, you can play.
Speaker:Could not be coastal.
Speaker:Let, they're just, they're, they're let them, uh, let them have some o uh,
Speaker:adversity to overcome on their path.
Speaker:You know, let's be, let's be, let's be the part of their, like,
Speaker:'cause I mean, I think we all know they're probably gonna go pretty
Speaker:deep at the, at the end of the year.
Speaker:I mean, maybe not the way back to the, the co the finals again, but so let,
Speaker:let's be, let's be part of the story.
Speaker:We're like, well, in, uh, in, in May, right before the end of the season,
Speaker:we had to overcome, uh, getting our asses handed to us by Old Dominion.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Let's be part of that story, right?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I mean, Georgia State got 'em on Sunday, 11 to five.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And that was in Myrtle Beach.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So like, if Georgia State can go there and win, we can go there and win a game two.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Uh, but we're gonna focus on East Carolina tomorrow.
Speaker:And then
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Another, another big series this time on the road at whatever
Speaker:park Georgia State plays at.
Speaker:But they're wherever they're, they're gonna be scrappy.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:in Georgia
Speaker:they're, they're eight and 10 just like we are.
Speaker:They didn't get there by accident.
Speaker:Like, they're, they're a tough team that's gonna, if you give 'em
Speaker:something, they're gonna take it.
Speaker:What was that guy's name?
Speaker:Caleb Freeman.
Speaker:I tell you.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I forgot where he ended up.
Speaker:I don't know if he transferred or if he got drafted, but he was an
Speaker:absolute stud for them last year.
Speaker:Uh, blue Jays.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Let's see.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Let's see.
Speaker:Blues.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, well, no, that's Texas Tech.
Speaker:This is a different guy.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Well, while we're, while
Speaker:we're, we'll, we'll figure it out later.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Well, while we're talking about, uh, uh, guys who've gone onto the pros, I
Speaker:gotta give a huge shout out to John Hobe.
Speaker:He is.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:There we go.
Speaker:Writing it on fire.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:For
Speaker:Portland, uh, the, the Red Sox aa his last hour,
Speaker:he take picture of the week.
Speaker:Well, that's what happens when you go seven innings.
Speaker:Allow one hit, one run.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:One walk with 11 strikeouts in aa.
Speaker:Mm. Uh, he's not gonna be in AA for very long, so I, I don't think I'm gonna wait
Speaker:around for the, uh, Richmond series at the end of the year to go check him.
Speaker:Well, we, I remember we told him that they're playing aaa, uh, Worcester
Speaker:is playing in Norfolk, I think in August, but now he might, he might
Speaker:just be in, in, uh, Boston by August.
Speaker:He might not even worry.
Speaker:Be, be coming to see us.
Speaker:Well, with what's going on with the Red Sox right now, that wouldn't surprise
Speaker:me, but, uh, we will, we'll certainly get that info to you as soon as we get it.
Speaker:I know I got in contact there.
Speaker:Our guy, Caleb Freeman, was a 16th round draft pick by the White Sox last year.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Um, so he was playing down, down in Kannapolis down where, right,
Speaker:where Tyler's Dallas is from, which is somehow not the south, um,
Speaker:the Cannon Ballers.
Speaker:Yeah, the Cannonball.
Speaker:Well, I, I'm, I'm old because when I was there, when I first moved there,
Speaker:they were the Piedmont Bo Weevils.
Speaker:Um, that's a great one.
Speaker:Like the year, the year before Ricky Williams, the football
Speaker:player had played for them.
Speaker:Um, and so that was interesting.
Speaker:That's wild.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And then, um, and then like they, I think a year later they became the
Speaker:Kannapolis Intimidators named after, 'cause Dale Earnhardt bought the team but
Speaker:then passed away in February before we ever saw them, uh, as the intimidator.
Speaker:So it was very interesting.
Speaker:And yes, now they're the, uh, the Cannon ballers.
Speaker:I had Cannon Ballers Salem somewhere.
Speaker:Do you see?
Speaker:He played for Winston-Salem at Annapolis this year.
Speaker:Anyway, this was, well off topic of ODU, but that kid was a, that kid was
Speaker:a, a b 3 49 last year with a 1236 OPS.
Speaker:I mean, was was a monster.
Speaker:He was a problem when he came to the play.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:All righty.
Speaker:Well we appreciate you all tuning in, interacting with us
Speaker:on social media over the weekend.
Speaker:Letting me
Speaker:be way off track here.
Speaker:Oh yeah, yeah.
Speaker:Well, we're gonna talk baseball.
Speaker:We're gonna, might as well do it now.
Speaker:There you go.
Speaker:Let's do it.
Speaker:Um, but yeah, but no, we appreciate you all.
Speaker:It was, uh, great seeing and see people out at the ballpark this weekend.
Speaker:Uh, should have all four games on ESPN plus.
Speaker:So tune in, follow along and uh, we'll be cheering along.
Speaker:Go Monarchs.
Speaker:Go Monarchs.
