S3E18 - Season Recap and Year End Awards
CB and Gary recap the 2026 season with Coach Finwood. Finny gives us a behind the scenes view of the exit interview process and a stadium update. The guys will be back in June for a recruiting update.
Transcript
This episode is brought to you by the Old Dominion Athletic Foundation.
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Speaker:Hello Monarch fans, and welcome to the Hudson homers Podcast.
Speaker:Coming to you today, sadly, with the season wrap up.
Speaker:Uh, we'll talk stadium updates, portal, selection show going
Speaker:on, all that good stuff.
Speaker:Uh, but CB, Finny, how's it going?
Speaker:It's good to be here.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Happy Memorial Day, everyone.
Speaker:Remembering all our veterans and people that, uh, lost their lives
Speaker:to let us do stuff like this.
Speaker:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker:Certainly.
Speaker:Yep.
Speaker:Yeah
Speaker:CB, are you recovered from your bus ride back as well?
Speaker:Uh, I'm recovered.
Speaker:My back has not recovered.
Speaker:That will be a thing for, for next year.
Speaker:It's... Yeah, and since you mentioned that, I mean, again, let me just make
Speaker:sure we mention, you know, a huge thank you to, you know, Finny, ODU Baseball.
Speaker:I mean, like, Ryne Moore and Brandon Pond for taking care of me during
Speaker:the time, all the coaches, everybody.
Speaker:Um, you know, Pierce Yarberry, Eric Bohannon, uh, the Monarchists guys,
Speaker:make sure, I mean, j- I got... Getting to go down the bus with the
Speaker:guys and, and the bus back, I mean, yeah, my, my actual physical back,
Speaker:uh, is not happy about it, but-
Speaker:my heart was happy about it.
Speaker:It was fun.
Speaker:I mean, obviously the results weren't what we wanted, but getting to do it was, was
Speaker:great and, uh, the fact these guys always make me feel like part of the team, part
Speaker:of the family is, you know, you can't ask for much more and it's, it's amazing.
Speaker:Well, it was great to have you and y- now you get to see what it's like
Speaker:to be a college baseball player.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Uh,
Speaker:those
Speaker:two long bus trips and, uh, Chick-fil-A, right?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I think my, my 20-year-old back would've handled it better.
Speaker:And Buc-ees.
Speaker:Uh-
Speaker:Yeah, Buc-ees.
Speaker:I'd never been to Buc-ees before.
Speaker:That was good.
Speaker:There
Speaker:you go.
Speaker:Can't say that anymore.
Speaker:Yeah, there you go.
Speaker:That was
Speaker:always a staple on that trip, for sure.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So, um-
Speaker:I'm glad you got to check that box, CB, finally.
Speaker:There
Speaker:you
Speaker:go.
Speaker:You did.
Speaker:And welcome
Speaker:to the Buc-ees
Speaker:club.
Speaker:I managed not to buy, like, a shirt or a stuffed animal or anything.
Speaker:Aw.
Speaker:I just, you know, got some food and left like a normal person.
Speaker:Yeah, at
Speaker:that point, you're, you're getting ready to hit the last leg of the journey.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:You're just in survival mode.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah, I was definitely like- You're done ... "Okay, something to fuel
Speaker:the body here. Let's get going."
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Y'all had a good trip down there as well, and I stayed the first night
Speaker:in Charlotte and then drove down to Auburn, where I met up with you
Speaker:and got to see Auburn's facilities, used the field for the workout.
Speaker:That place is amazing there.
Speaker:Yeah, it's incredible.
Speaker:Um, it's, it's always fun to, you know, see friends that are still there from,
Speaker:from my time there and then to see what they've, you know, added on and just kept-
Speaker:Mm-hmm
Speaker:... building that facility.
Speaker:They really feel like it's become a... The atmosphere there has become a
Speaker:lot tougher place to play and- Mm-hmm
Speaker:uh, since they've done the renovations and I think, um, you know, we got to go
Speaker:up and look in the offices and all that.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So that's, that's really cool, too.
Speaker:And I think, um, that bodes well, being a tougher place to play,
Speaker:'cause they're gonna get to host the first two rounds, um, of the
Speaker:regionals- Mm-hmm ... if they win.
Speaker:So, you know, that's a good way to get to Omaha.
Speaker:And they've got a team good enough to do it, so I don't think-
Speaker:It was very- The offices were wild because it looks like any, like, corporate office.
Speaker:It's not like you think of, like, baseball offices, you know, some dingy
Speaker:hole in the wall with some, you know.
Speaker:Uh, but it was very much like sleek.
Speaker:Yeah, right.
Speaker:Like, uh, frankly, I mean, you know, lunch pail, you know, uh, uh, you
Speaker:know, packing your own lu- This is very much like, you know, "Oh, let me check
Speaker:my Roth IRA after the, the meeting." Like, it was very, yeah, very sleek.
Speaker:That was interesting.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:They're, well, they're brand new, so, you know, they've been under construction
Speaker:with different things there for a while, and, um, I think they've just
Speaker:gotten in them this spring actually.
Speaker:So, um, that... When they built that, they built that building that their
Speaker:offices and the weight room are in when I was there, initially that was,
Speaker:uh, Dr. Andrews, James Andrews', um-
Speaker:Oh, yeah
Speaker:... building.
Speaker:Tommy John guy.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker:That's where he work, worked out of in Auburn.
Speaker:That was his Auburn office- Mm-hmm ... and rehab center and all of that.
Speaker:And then the weight room was where it is now, and his offices were upstairs.
Speaker:So yeah, it's pretty cool, um, um, what they've been able
Speaker:to, to do with that space.
Speaker:And I guess they needed all the space over, you know, in the stadium
Speaker:where our offices used to be for the new locker room and, and, you
Speaker:know, th- those types of things.
Speaker:So they moved it all around, and they're, they're making it work, that's for sure.
Speaker:So I'm looking forward to watching them this weekend coming up.
Speaker:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Definitely rooting for them.
Speaker:Nanny and our guys are... We're, we were watching them on the
Speaker:bus ride back, that's for sure.
Speaker:Yep.
Speaker:Yep.
Speaker:They had a good run, man.
Speaker:You know, to lose, you know, to get beat by Arkansas 2-1 to, in the semifinals,
Speaker:um, I think with all the rain they had in that tournament- Mm-hmm ... it was a
Speaker:little disjointed as well as the Sun Belt.
Speaker:So, you know, but they, they didn't hurt themselves.
Speaker:They, even, I think even if they won the tournament, they were gonna, not gonna
Speaker:be higher than a national four seed.
Speaker:I mean, my gosh, when you're talking UCLA, Georgia Tech, and Georgia- ... are
Speaker:the only ones in front of them.
Speaker:So- Yeah ... um, they did pretty well
Speaker:Yeah, and it was wild in Montgomery after we got out of there because
Speaker:you just had delays every single day.
Speaker:Uh, they ended up playing games down at Troy, uh, just to get the games in.
Speaker:So they actually had simultaneous games going on.
Speaker:Uh, and they finally got it back and then of course Southern
Speaker:Miss wins the championship.
Speaker:But, uh, I know that was a nightmare to probably manage, and I feel like every
Speaker:conference tournament in the Southeast got smoked this week with weather.
Speaker:Yeah, it felt that way.
Speaker:I, I don't think it-- the tournament could've worked out any better for the
Speaker:league, though, the way it did work out.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I mean, probably e- everything that could happen to help get five teams
Speaker:into the tournament, and those teams played their way into it, certainly.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:But it did happen, and, you know, it was great to-- Texas State felt like got that
Speaker:last spot, you know, um, maybe over teams like Texas San Antonio and Mercer- Mm-hmm
Speaker:or some of those teams that are, you know, when you get down to the last four or five
Speaker:in, all of them are deserving, and the first four or five out are also deserving.
Speaker:That, that, uh, we've been in, in that boat and it's heartbreaking.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:You know, um, but they gotta leave somebody out and, you know, I think,
Speaker:uh, that's the hard part of it.
Speaker:Yeah, it's great for the league.
Speaker:I mean, it's the first time ever having five in, and it really just keeps
Speaker:proving that, I think, I think I saw this as four of the last five years
Speaker:that we've had more than the Big Ten.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I mean, we're, it's a power four conference in baseball, for sure.
Speaker:Yep, absolutely.
Speaker:And, uh, showed it again this year and, you know, it's, um, it's
Speaker:big-time baseball in the Sun Belt Conference, no doubt about that.
Speaker:It was a battle to get through to the end because nobody made it easy.
Speaker:I mean, there were a lot of extra inning games, high-scoring games,
Speaker:wild comebacks, things like that.
Speaker:I mean, I think maybe sitting in the league we thought maybe the league's not
Speaker:as good this year, but I think in reality there just weren't two teams that were,
Speaker:like, fully far away from the rest of the pack, but, like, three, four, and
Speaker:five were just, just murderous row again.
Speaker:Yeah, I mean, when you're talking about, you know, Louisiana finished at seventh.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Not sixth.
Speaker:They were the seventh seed.
Speaker:But when you're talking about they, you know, they were as hot
Speaker:as any team in the league- Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Yeah
Speaker:... coming down the stretch, and they showed that in the tournament, certainly.
Speaker:Um, Texas State was really streaky.
Speaker:You know, it was like they got swept a couple times, and they swept a bunch of
Speaker:people and, you know, and then they played good in the tournament and, you know,
Speaker:it's one of those, one of those deals.
Speaker:I mean, um, it, it's, you know, outside of a couple teams, I don't think there were
Speaker:that many teams in our league that could say they, you know, Coastal or Southern
Speaker:Miss probably were the only that could say they didn't get swept the whole year.
Speaker:Um, so, you know, we, we were, we were in that boat certainly.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Yeah, we know VCU up the road from us won the A10 tournament to get in, and
Speaker:we have two wins over them this year.
Speaker:I guess, uh, Finny, you've kind of been on both sides of the equation now.
Speaker:Like, you've been in a league that's kind of one bid, but you can go win the
Speaker:tournament, and now we're in the Sun Belt, which is I think the fourth best tour-
Speaker:uh, conference in college baseball, and we're kind of on the outside looking in.
Speaker:But that's ... I don't know, I would prefer the bigger conference, but I
Speaker:was curious your thoughts on that.
Speaker:Well, it changed.
Speaker:I mean, we were only in the CAA for two years when I was here.
Speaker:Um, so, you know, in the fir- the first year we were terrible.
Speaker:And the second year we finished second or third and weren't
Speaker:eligible for the tournament.
Speaker:Weren't allowed,
Speaker:yeah.
Speaker:So, you know, but when you're in a league like that, yeah, you can play ... You
Speaker:know, it, it all comes down to how you're playing over those four days,
Speaker:man.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And how, how much pitching depth you got and who gets hot and all those things.
Speaker:And when you're in a league like the conference you just said, or
Speaker:the Sun Belt, it can come down to...
Speaker:The tournament still really matters.
Speaker:Whether you win it or not, sometimes you got to win it, but whether you win it
Speaker:or not, playing well in the tournament obviously matters to the committee.
Speaker:You, you mentioned how Mercer got whacked twice at the end by-
Speaker:Yeah ... Fayetteville, and obviously they held that against them.
Speaker:Um, and you know, so you, you do need to play.
Speaker:You know, they're, they're putting, they are definitely putting, you know, uh,
Speaker:stars on the teams that play well in their conference tournament, without a doubt.
Speaker:Which makes sense because frankly you're trying to put on a good show in the
Speaker:big tournament you're about to have.
Speaker:So if a team can do well in a tournament, that makes sense.
Speaker:Without a doubt.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And, and in, and in conferences, this is the argument.
Speaker:In the SEC, yeah, single elimination makes all the sense in the world.
Speaker:You know, you win, you advance, you lose, you go home.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Most of the teams are going home to get ready for, you know, a regional.
Speaker:Either going- Right ... or hosting.
Speaker:And, but in, in... And it showed up this year.
Speaker:In a conference like the Sun Belt where the RPIs for a lot of those are
Speaker:going to be in that range where if we can beat a couple more good teams...
Speaker:I mean, you look at Troy, they were like 45 or something going into the-
Speaker:Mm-hmm
Speaker:conference tournament and ended up, what, 34?
Speaker:It helps.
Speaker:Um, they were a slam dunk.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, Louisiana was, you know, somewhere in that range as well.
Speaker:So y- if you play well, you can definitely play your way into,
Speaker:uh, a, a better at large position.
Speaker:No question about that.
Speaker:Yeah, I definitely think I would rather be in a league where there's
Speaker:multiple opportunities like the Sun Belt or the SEC or the ACC, and there
Speaker:weren't too many more than that, that were better than us in the Big 12.
Speaker:Yep, yep.
Speaker:Yep, there's no doubt.
Speaker:Yep.
Speaker:Yeah, you definitely want that and, you know, you wanna be able to build ... You
Speaker:know, we, we didn't get it done this year, but our ... And the, the hard
Speaker:part with the scheduling is scheduling, you know, you're scheduling two, two,
Speaker:three years in advance and, you know, you're scheduling based on some history.
Speaker:Um, you know, we actually had this year some other teams couple
Speaker:years ago that were gonna come in.
Speaker:Um, Northeastern was one of them.
Speaker:Oh, yeah.
Speaker:Um,
Speaker:and then when they, you know, found out the stadium wasn't gonna
Speaker:be done, they did something else.
Speaker:So there's, there were some circumstances that, and then you're scrambling and
Speaker:trying to fill it and things like that.
Speaker:So, you know, you wanna have a non-conference schedule that's good
Speaker:enough to help you, not hurt you, 'cause the league schedule's always gonna
Speaker:help you, uh, as good as the league.
Speaker:Oh, yeah.
Speaker:So, and our, and our, our midweeks definitely help us.
Speaker:They don't hurt us.
Speaker:You know- Mm-hmm ... East Carolina, UVA, VCU, William and Mary, Richmond, they're
Speaker:all usually in the boat where they're not gonna hurt you, um, too much, you know.
Speaker:Um, I mean, the reality of it is we can't, I hate it, but we can't
Speaker:play Norfolk State twice in a year.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Um- Yeah ... this year just because, but it's, um, it's just something, those are
Speaker:the things you have to pay attention to.
Speaker:I think our lowest point for RPI this year was after we beat Norfolk State.
Speaker:I think that was when we were in, like, the 230s or something like that.
Speaker:Mm. Um, and then
Speaker:obviously- Well, I, I think we were 285 after, uh, a loss at,
Speaker:against Yukon back way early.
Speaker:Ooh.
Speaker:So yeah.
Speaker:But yeah, I think you're right.
Speaker:It w- th- those weren't helping.
Speaker:No.
Speaker:And then we end up, you know, pretty much right around the 100 mark, uh,
Speaker:going towards the end of the season.
Speaker:That just kind of balanced it out just based on the Sun Belt schedule.
Speaker:Well, we, we talked a little bit about the stadium.
Speaker:Would love to know if there's any updates there.
Speaker:It, it seems like, fingers crossed, timelines are back on schedule.
Speaker:For the new schedule.
Speaker:Whatever that means.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Is it normal schedule or, uh- Yeah.
Speaker:... our construction company schedule?
Speaker:Um, yeah, so talking with Rick French last week, he said we're in the, the
Speaker:ballpark of, um, the first and second week in June for our lockers coming
Speaker:in and getting installed in the locker room, which that'll be really cool.
Speaker:Then they can finish the rest of that.
Speaker:Um, and then also the decking and seats company will be here
Speaker:starting on those two projects.
Speaker:So, uh, that'll be a big thing both in and out.
Speaker:Um, you know, getting the, I mean, getting the decking and stairs and 2,000
Speaker:Navy chair backs in, the railings, and all of those things that'll make that
Speaker:seating bowl start to look finished.
Speaker:Uh, they're supposed to come in next week and take down, start taking down
Speaker:all the, the temporary stuff we had for this season, the bleachers in
Speaker:the outfield, and then also the, uh, the golf press box, the golf view.
Speaker:Ted's
Speaker:perch.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So they'll get rid of that, get, get, get those out of here and get
Speaker:those spaces all cleaned back up.
Speaker:Um, they'll take down the, the temporary black, uh, windscreen fencing we
Speaker:had- Mm-hmm ... up top there that was shielding that white steel.
Speaker:Um, that'll come down.
Speaker:And so yeah, just get back to being a construction site up there.
Speaker:And then at some point this summer, um, I think it'll be after the seats
Speaker:are done and the press box is done, they'll put the, the permanent net up.
Speaker:um, the permanent backstop net up, so that will all look much more finished.
Speaker:And, uh, we've already gotten rid of the, the, uh, temporary
Speaker:padding in front of the dugouts.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And the only temporary padding that's still there is the stuff
Speaker:behind home plate, 'cause that's what the net's attached to.
Speaker:Ah, yeah.
Speaker:So, uh, so we'll, we'll have that in place this summer for camps and tournaments
Speaker:and things like that until they get, get to the space where, um, they can
Speaker:put that permanent net up, which I, I don't have any idea when that is.
Speaker:Um, and then they-
Speaker:Is, uh, all the outfield seating going or is it just the, the one out- All of it
Speaker:all of it's going?
Speaker:All of it's going.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:That, that was all built temporary and, uh, I think it was nice of
Speaker:them to say, "Hey, if we like it, maybe we'll keep it," you know?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Uh- I
Speaker:think that's right ... I was born that night, but it wa- wasn't
Speaker:last
Speaker:night.
Speaker:Uh,
Speaker:and I
Speaker:can remember when they put it in, um, one of the project managers on
Speaker:campus, he, uh, I can't remember his name right now, but he's an Australian
Speaker:gentleman, and it was raining one day.
Speaker:I was standing in the dugout, and it was right before, kinda
Speaker:a week before we opened up.
Speaker:Um, we were pulling the tarp or something, and he was walking down there, and I, I
Speaker:asked him, I said, I said, "That looks really nice, man. It's just about done?"
Speaker:He goes, "Yeah, just about done. It'll be ready for, you know, the opener."
Speaker:And I said, "Man, that really looks cool.
Speaker:It'd be nice to keep it." He said, "Oh, you'll never be able to keep that, mate."
Speaker:That sucks.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Uh, "That's all temporary." He goes, "To have outfield seating like that,
Speaker:they'd have to tear all that down and put it in the ground." Oh, wow.
Speaker:"So that'd never pass code for- Ah ... you know, being a permanent
Speaker:structure." So that was the- Well,
Speaker:there is a, a goal for the future, I guess, just, you know-
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I don't think-
Speaker:... be amazing to fill the place up
Speaker:... it was cool, but I don't think we'll need it.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I think it's gonna be so many more awesome spaces, and I really do
Speaker:think, and this is down the road, though, um, it would be cool to open,
Speaker:open those corners up on both sides-
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Mm-hmm ... um,
Speaker:probably about 100, 150 feet, and have tailgate spots out there-
Speaker:Mm-hmm
Speaker:where people can bring their trucks in, bring their grills- Yeah ... um,
Speaker:lawn chairs, you know, kinda like Mississippi State did years ago.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And, um, you just sell 'em, sell the spots and it's just-
Speaker:Yeah ... free inventory, you know?
Speaker:I think that could be something.
Speaker:Hopefully, you know, that'd be something maybe we can look at doing down the road.
Speaker:That would be a pretty good usage of that space, too, on game days.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:It'd be exciting watching the grill smoke come over, but
Speaker:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker:I can remember days at Mississippi State, man, in the old stadium, you,
Speaker:you'd look out there sometimes, I'd be out there trying to tell the left
Speaker:fielder where, where to play, and you
Speaker:couldn't see him.
Speaker:I'd
Speaker:be like, "Hey-" Busy.
Speaker:He's in like in a fog of hamburger smoke.
Speaker:Straight.
Speaker:He's floating away on the hot dog smoke
Speaker:there.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker:The guy come running in the dugout from defense, smell like hot dog water.
Speaker:But, uh, I think
Speaker:Guzzo's favorite player.
Speaker:Oh, yeah.
Speaker:No doubt about it.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So th- th- those are some things we can work on down the road, you know- Mm-hmm
Speaker:um, that I think would be exciting.
Speaker:Yeah, I think fans will be excited to get Rally Alley back open, and
Speaker:then- Oh, yeah ... the new offerings are gonna be available in the new
Speaker:stadium are gonna be awesome too.
Speaker:Yep.
Speaker:So, well, there's still a lot of things to look forward to, but, you
Speaker:know, never bad to kind of what's the next phase in the process.
Speaker:Well, fill all these seats and maybe we'll put some in the outfield again.
Speaker:Could happen.
Speaker:You know, that, that's the beauty of it, right?
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Demand creates, uh, you know, what you, what you need, and, um, we
Speaker:get... We, we start, uh, getting good crowds and, um, obviously a nice
Speaker:ballpark is gonna help with that.
Speaker:A good team is gonna help with that, and those are the two main things you gotta
Speaker:get to, and then people start coming.
Speaker:Yep.
Speaker:And good, and good weather.
Speaker:And good weather.
Speaker:Yeah, good
Speaker:weather.
Speaker:That's al- that's always the thing you can't fight being
Speaker:the 30, 40 degrees the first
Speaker:month.
Speaker:Well, there's... Yeah, there's a lot of people with good ballparks and good teams.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And you go play them on bad weather, you're gonna play there, so.
Speaker:Yep.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:That's how it works.
Speaker:So Finny, um, one thing I know when you guys, uh, you finish the season
Speaker:here, one of the things that people may not realize you guys do, you guys
Speaker:do exit interviews with your players.
Speaker:Yep.
Speaker:That you have pretty much everybody comes in, you have kind of like a,
Speaker:uh, sort of like one-on-ones kind of with the player and the coaches.
Speaker:Yep.
Speaker:Um, can you talk to us a little bit about like what goes on in those meetings?
Speaker:Sure, yeah, yeah.
Speaker:Well, they fall under a couple different categories.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:I think one of the categories is players that you don't think are gonna be able
Speaker:to stay here and play in your program.
Speaker:Um, and those guys, it's always been my belief that you need to
Speaker:let them know that as soon as possible, as honestly as possible.
Speaker:And I always try to come at it from a position of, "Here's what I think.
Speaker:Here's what we think.
Speaker:Um, how can we help?
Speaker:If you want our help, we're here for you.
Speaker:You're a good kid.
Speaker:You worked hard, it just not, not gonna work out," or for whatever reason.
Speaker:Um, sometimes there's a kid that maybe didn't do what he was supposed
Speaker:to do academically, um, and he needs to leave for that reason.
Speaker:We had one of those this year, unfortunately.
Speaker:Now, having said that, we also had the second highest team GPA
Speaker:in the history of ODU baseball.
Speaker:That's nice.
Speaker:We had
Speaker:the most
Speaker:players ever on the Dean's List in one semester.
Speaker:Could, could have been the highest.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker:Head sucker.
Speaker:Um, but, but, so, so yeah, he stood out, you know, he was an outlier on the, on
Speaker:the wrong side of the, the thing on a- Mm
Speaker:on a group of guys that did fantastic.
Speaker:I think we had four guys in the whole program that got
Speaker:under a 3.0 this semester.
Speaker:Wow.
Speaker:So, and, and like- That's a lot ... you know, you gotta have a 3.4 or better
Speaker:for Dean's List, and we had, you know, I mean, I think we had, I don't know, 27 or
Speaker:something like that, that, that did- And
Speaker:when you consider the baseball schedule, that's pretty impressive.
Speaker:That's really
Speaker:impressive.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Well, and it, and it says a lot about the types of students we have-
Speaker:Mm-hmm
Speaker:... the types of families we have- Yeah ... and also what a great job
Speaker:Amy Lynch does, our academic advisor.
Speaker:So, uh, she's a rock star, and seems like every year she's coming up with,
Speaker:"You know, this is the best we've ever done, this is the best we've ever done."
Speaker:It's like- ... and, and, and, you know, recruiting good students matters to us.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:When you recruit them out of high school and they have a certain academic profile,
Speaker:they get some academic money, which helps-
Speaker:Mm-hmm
Speaker:... their families, you know, add to helping pay for school, so.
Speaker:And then there's some accountability in there because you have to
Speaker:keep a certain GPA to keep it.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And so those things are- Um, when, when the players know they got accountability
Speaker:here from the coaches and at home from mama- ... um, they do, they do better.
Speaker:That's the way- Yeah ... I've always looked at it.
Speaker:So, uh, yeah, so, so a kid that's leaving, it might... We have rarely
Speaker:had a kid leave because he was a troublemaker, but that- Mm-hmm
Speaker:would be the other category of a kid that's gotta go,
Speaker:maybe, you know, that way.
Speaker:But so usually it's just, um, hey, one or two years.
Speaker:Rarely is, is a guy around more than that and you, you know, don't want him to
Speaker:come back, but it just didn't work out.
Speaker:We think you're gonna be better off.
Speaker:And sometimes it's a, sometimes it's the coach's decision, um,
Speaker:sometimes it's the player's decision, "Hey, I wanna play more."
Speaker:Um- Mm-hmm ... and that's perfectly fine.
Speaker:We understand that.
Speaker:And sometimes it's more of a, "Let's talk about this, and here's the
Speaker:reality of it." You know, sometimes those meetings start with, you know,
Speaker:"I wanna come back, I wanna, you know, play more," and da, da, da.
Speaker:And, you know, you get into, are you gonna be okay having this same
Speaker:conversation a year from now- Mm-hmm
Speaker:with the same amount of opportunities?
Speaker:And they're, "No." You know?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And that's what we're talking about now.
Speaker:So you gotta try to help them.
Speaker:It's never easy, man.
Speaker:And I mean, I, I've been, I've been the bad guy on this for,
Speaker:you know, 35 years, so I get it.
Speaker:You know, I, I just, some days, on those exit meeting days when you have
Speaker:the tough ones, you walk out- Mm-hmm
Speaker:and hope your truck tires aren't
Speaker:slashed.
Speaker:Jeez.
Speaker:Uh, and I'm not making light of a tough situation.
Speaker:I know with some kids-
Speaker:Yeah
Speaker:... I mean, these are life decisions, and we, we take all of-
Speaker:Mm-hmm ... all of that seriously.
Speaker:Um, and I, I think it is important to be honest.
Speaker:I think some people let this thing just go and 'cause they don't wanna
Speaker:either deal with it, and they just want the kids to cut themselves.
Speaker:What you end up with then is a bunch of guys that are disgruntled and unhappy
Speaker:in your program, and that emanates over into the overall team energy.
Speaker:I actually think we had a couple guys in the sophomore class that
Speaker:were like that this year, personally.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And it bothered me.
Speaker:Um, why, you know, and then as I evaluate what I need to do better,
Speaker:I sit there and go, "Why didn't you get rid of them last year?"
Speaker:Like, why, you know, you knew this was a possibility.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:So anyway, you know, that, that would be the, the reasons, you know, a,
Speaker:a kid would come in and, you know, have to go in the transfer portal.
Speaker:And of course, nowadays the portal doesn't open up till
Speaker:next week, but you see them all-
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Yeah
Speaker:... um, putting their stuff out on Twitter and Instagram.
Speaker:And isn't it funny that every kid that goes in the portal,
Speaker:every pitcher throws 92 to 95?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Every hitter's got 105 exit velocity, and
Speaker:- Yeah
Speaker:... I was like, "Come on, guys." E- every coach is at this, this,
Speaker:uh,
Speaker:you know, cool.
Speaker:It's
Speaker:like, don't ask how many of those were for strikes, those 95s.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So they do it.
Speaker:They're trying to help themselves.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:We always come at it from the, the, you know, the viewpoint of if you want
Speaker:us to help, we'll be glad to help.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Um, if you start badmouthing us, we're not gonna help you.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So we didn't do anything wrong.
Speaker:We gave you an opportunity.
Speaker:It didn't work out, and that's life.
Speaker:Um, this is a performance based industry for me, for the coaches, for the players.
Speaker:So is life.
Speaker:You get it done or somebody else comes and gets it done,
Speaker:and that's the reality of it.
Speaker:The players wanted this system, you know?
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:The system wasn't in place five, six, seven years ago.
Speaker:You, you could hang in there with a guy longer.
Speaker:You couldn't get another one.
Speaker:Um, uh- ... they couldn't go anywhere and play.
Speaker:They, they fought for this.
Speaker:This is why the coaches, you know, work ... This is how we're trying
Speaker:to survive and flourish within the system, so, um, we're all trying to
Speaker:work it the best way we know how.
Speaker:And sometimes the other side of that is- Sometimes a player comes in and had a
Speaker:good year and decides the grass is greener and he wants to go give it a shot in
Speaker:the portal at a bigger school, you know?
Speaker:Uh, sometimes that player's getting recruited while he's playing for you.
Speaker:Uh-huh.
Speaker:And oh, buddy, you, you should hear the, the war stories I hear about that.
Speaker:Um-
Speaker:I can only imagine.
Speaker:It, it keeps you up at night, actually.
Speaker:Um, you know, there's a kid we... Did not in our conference, but in our
Speaker:state, who was a really good player.
Speaker:We played against them twice.
Speaker:They had a really good year, and we were hearing that, you know, a school in,
Speaker:uh, a big, you know, Power Five school, Power Four school was offering him, you
Speaker:know, his, uh, through his advisors or-
Speaker:Mm-hmm
Speaker:... whoever, like $200,000, like, while the season's going on to go there next
Speaker:year.
Speaker:Right, which is crazy.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And we can't, we can't compete in those areas, you know?
Speaker:The thing that's interesting, and I, I find... I, I like to think
Speaker:of myself as a lifelong learner.
Speaker:I wanna constantly be, um, interested in learning.
Speaker:All these negotiations are newer to me.
Speaker:It used to be just, "Here's your scholarship.
Speaker:Do you wanna come back?" "Yeah." "All right, we're gonna put you on
Speaker:this," or, "We're gonna increase your scholarship," or, "We're gonna decrease
Speaker:it a little bit," or, "We're gonna take your scholarship," or, "You're
Speaker:leaving." Um, now, you know, you have a little bit more, um, gray area in there.
Speaker:In other words, you get some scholarship money, you have some rev share
Speaker:money, you have some NIL money, and these, these kids aren't dummies.
Speaker:Like, they figure out who is on what and, uh, this kind of stuff.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And so you have to be a little more patient, I think, and willing to have
Speaker:some give and take in, in some of these uh, negotiations, 'cause that's what they
Speaker:are, um, and look at it maybe from like a more of a general manager standpoint,
Speaker:kind of take your ego out of it, um, and just, just get the deal done, especially
Speaker:with the guy you really want back.
Speaker:Uh, and you can only bounce the ball so high, right?
Speaker:Up to a- Mm-hmm ... up to a certain ceiling.
Speaker:Um, but those are all things that are new for us, um, in, in our
Speaker:program, and so we're having to kind of deal with, with, with that now.
Speaker:It's one you, you kind of have to say, look, at, at certain points,
Speaker:like you've had a career, I'm sure at certain points in your career you've
Speaker:said, "Hey, I've done X, Y, and Z.
Speaker:This is the amount that I should be getting paid for that," right?
Speaker:I mean, it's like we've all had that in our, in our jobs and lives, so it's,
Speaker:it's one of those things that, yeah, again, within reason, you're not coming
Speaker:up saying like, "I'm so great, give me $20 billion." Like no- Right ... let's
Speaker:be
Speaker:real.
Speaker:Yeah, no, there's no question.
Speaker:And you know, sometimes it gets to a point in there where you go, "Man,
Speaker:I'd love to give you that, but we're gonna have a crappy team." Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:"Because we don't have the players that we need, and it ain't gonna
Speaker:do me any good to have you here on that and us be in last place."
Speaker:Yeah, we're not the Yankees.
Speaker:This isn't the bottomless pit, right?
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And so, and then in other cases you're like, "You know what?
Speaker:Um- I... And we had a player and, and I, it's, I don't, it's
Speaker:probably not smart to name.
Speaker:We had a player who had a bad first couple years.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:We took a scholarship from him.
Speaker:He wanted to come back and fight it out, which I've done that with guys before.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Um, and the guys, almost to the man, the guys that kind of go, "I wanna
Speaker:come back, I'll show you," usually do.
Speaker:There's, it's an uncanny thing.
Speaker:Um, and you can't always do that because if it was a portal guy and he had to
Speaker:sign on this and... Anyway, this kid did, and he, and he came back and he had
Speaker:a good year this year, and he, he was really a big part of our playing better
Speaker:in the second half of the season, and I believe he's gonna keep getting better.
Speaker:He's finally healthy, and he came in and I said, "Look, we're
Speaker:gonna give you some money back.
Speaker:Um, how's this sound?" And he looked at me very professionally and very respectfully
Speaker:and said, "I think I should be on what I was on before you took my scholarship.
Speaker:I wanna help my family out.
Speaker:Um, they had to deal with it this year, and I'm good with it."
Speaker:And I said, "You know what?
Speaker:You're right.
Speaker:You should." "Uh, let's go." So I think those are the parts of it, you know,
Speaker:you're weighing the, the scales a lot, uh-
Speaker:And that's only gonna help that kid in the future when they, you know,
Speaker:whatever is past baseball, having those adult conversations and like you
Speaker:said, having that realistic of like...
Speaker:That, the way you, the way you said all that right there, he didn't
Speaker:ask for something unrealistic.
Speaker:He just said- No ... "Hey, I should be back to where I was." And it's like, okay.
Speaker:He didn't, and it wasn't, you know, I mean, sometimes in negotiations
Speaker:you purposely start low, right?
Speaker:Just to- Right.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker:I think, uh, it wasn't that case.
Speaker:It was kind of this is what we got, we think we got, and
Speaker:let's, let's offer him this.
Speaker:You know, he wasn't on anything last year.
Speaker:But that wasn't what- his thoughts were.
Speaker:And I, I told him, I said, "Man, I, I respect so much the fact that you
Speaker:came in here and said that. It tells me a lot about what you think about
Speaker:yourself, which I haven't always believed you thought that much about
Speaker:yourself and, and this helps me even believe it even more, so good for you."
Speaker:Um, and so I, I think those are the, like I said, those are the
Speaker:learning curve parts of this for me.
Speaker:Um, you know, and, and I think it's all, it's all good stuff, you know?
Speaker:Uh, some of those meetings, man, it's, they're hard because you're talking about
Speaker:kids and young men and, you know, they're impressionable and when you tell them
Speaker:that you just don't think they're good enough, they wonder why, and you try to
Speaker:be honest with them without killing them.
Speaker:Um- Yeah ... and I always tell guys, "Look, we, we are completely
Speaker:allowed... R- reasonable minds can disagree in this world.
Speaker:I've always believed that.
Speaker:It's okay, but let, but if, uh, we're not gonna bow up on each other in here.
Speaker:Uh, if that happens, then we'll just end it and you're leaving anyway, so." Yeah.
Speaker:And, and the last thing I make sure they know is, you know, all of us,
Speaker:Mike, me, Age, Paulie, we've been doing this a long time and we know a lot of
Speaker:people, and we got a good reputation in this business because of that.
Speaker:Just be careful, 'cause people are gonna call us.
Speaker:And if you handle it the right way, we're gonna help you.
Speaker:And if you don't, we're not.
Speaker:Um, and you don't want us... I, 'cause I've had that, you know, I'll call
Speaker:a coach about a kid and it's, he's a friend of mine or... No, he'll just
Speaker:say, "Man, run for the hills." Yeah.
Speaker:And that's the end of that conversation.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I don't care what he hit, I don't care how hard he throws.
Speaker:When a, when a guy says that, then you're, you're moving on, 'cause
Speaker:none of us wanna deal with that.
Speaker:So it's a multifaceted thing, man, and I, I try to... I think we all, you know,
Speaker:when we sit down as a staff, this year they were faster because we had more
Speaker:kids that I thought needed to move on.
Speaker:It was almost, it was more than we've had in the past, and,
Speaker:but I think it was necessary.
Speaker:Um, and we had those conversations the next morning after, you know, getting
Speaker:back home at midnight and whatever.
Speaker:Um, you know, but they're, they are staff conversations 'cause I wanna
Speaker:know what all of our guys think, um, on every one of those kids.
Speaker:Not that we all have to agree with them, and we often don't.
Speaker:Um- Mm-hmm ... you know, but it's important to me to hear what those,
Speaker:our assistant coaches think and, you know, get their, their thoughts.
Speaker:'Cause they have some insights sometimes I don't have.
Speaker:Um- Mm-hmm ... you know, they've had some conversations I haven't
Speaker:had, and so those are all valuable.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Well, appreciate the peek behind the curtain on that, 'cause I think
Speaker:the only sound bite that gets out there usually is this kid's in the
Speaker:portal and everyone wants to go pile on the kid 'cause it's in there.
Speaker:It's like-
Speaker:Yeah
Speaker:... you don't know the reason why they're in the portal.
Speaker:Um, so-
Speaker:No, everybody assumes they're leaving 'cause they're looking for
Speaker:a greener pasture or Um, they got paid somewhere or they got in trouble
Speaker:and got kicked out of the program.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And most cases it's, it's none of those.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:It just didn't work out.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, and it's, it's the right thing for them to, you know, to move on.
Speaker:And, a- and all these guys, like the thing that makes your experience
Speaker:when you interview these thousands of players, it's not even where they
Speaker:played, it's that they played and contributed and, and the relationships,
Speaker:the coaching staff, the players on the team, how that affected their lives.
Speaker:Those are the most important things.
Speaker:And I try to explain to them, if you haven't played here for two years
Speaker:and we're telling you you're not gonna play- Mm-hmm ... next year-
Speaker:Yeah
Speaker:... go have a good experience.
Speaker:And especially now, the, the kids have the advantage of having an extra year
Speaker:probably that gets voted in here- Mm-hmm
Speaker:this, in the next month.
Speaker:And so you're gonna be able to go get in a program, have a chance to play every day.
Speaker:That doesn't mean you're gonna, just 'cause you leave and go to a lower
Speaker:level- Mm-hmm ... or a different name, you still gotta fight it out.
Speaker:There's good players everywhere.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker:And you gotta go play well.
Speaker:There are.
Speaker:You know, if you go there and stink, you're gonna sit on the bench again.
Speaker:Um, you know, that's a fact.
Speaker:So y- it's, it's still on you to perform, but maybe you have a
Speaker:better chance or more opportunities for failure, um, at this place.
Speaker:And I mean, we had one kid w- you know, announce he was in the portal that
Speaker:morning, and we had five phone calls from teams, um, that afternoon about him.
Speaker:Good.
Speaker:So yeah.
Speaker:Yeah, so you're like a little bit of a broker too, right?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And, but every, but every one of those phone calls starts with, "Is he a
Speaker:good kid?" Like- Yeah ... everyone.
Speaker:Not-
Speaker:Nobody's trying to bring the turds?
Speaker:Is that what you're telling me?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Nobody wants
Speaker:the
Speaker:bad
Speaker:kids?
Speaker:Nobody's trying to bring a turd.
Speaker:Yeah, they want good kids, they want good teammates- Yeah ... they
Speaker:want good students, uh, and they want guys that are gonna fit in.
Speaker:And, and I think, um, that's the, that's the thing that people need
Speaker:to make sure they, they understand.
Speaker:I mean, these are good, good kids for the most part.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, the fit sometimes isn't exactly right, and that's okay.
Speaker:That's life.
Speaker:Um, and look man, we take the, we take the responsibility of it seriously because we
Speaker:brought them here and if it didn't work out, that's on us, uh, in, in most cases.
Speaker:In some cases there's some blame to go around because they might- ... they
Speaker:might not been good enough and they just didn't work hard enough.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:But then again, that's on us too, 'cause we could've evaluated that better perhaps.
Speaker:Um, and so there's a lot of, there is a lot of looking in the mirror, man,
Speaker:when, when this time of the year.
Speaker:Um, and, and j- you know, speaking of Carl, I mean, it's still, we were
Speaker:talking about this this morning and he goes, "Listen, the thing people forget
Speaker:is every team has some bad players on
Speaker:it."
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:That's true.
Speaker:And, and that's a coach's- I don't say that like to knock anybody.
Speaker:That's co- that's coach speak.
Speaker:You know, he's like, "We got some bad players on our
Speaker:team." Like stuff like that.
Speaker:And he goes, "You're not gonna have a whole team full of studs like, uh, all,
Speaker:all every player's All-Conference." It's just not how it works.
Speaker:But, you know, you hope that the guys that maybe are playing less, uh, understand
Speaker:their role and they're really good at that role, in that role, teammate supportive,
Speaker:you know, and we had a lot of that.
Speaker:Our, our guys, some of our guys- Mm-hmm ... didn't play a ton, like were
Speaker:fantastic teammates and, and really good role models and things like that, so.
Speaker:Well, that's how I always look at like a couple of guys are a great example.
Speaker:They ended up coaching for you too, which tells you they had a great experience.
Speaker:John Kean and Bryce Jones.
Speaker:You know, a couple of guys who, you know, I think a lot of it too comes down
Speaker:to what do you want to get out of this?
Speaker:You know, for both of them it was like, "Hey look, I'm, maybe I'm
Speaker:not getting to play a ton, but I'm getting to play close to home."
Speaker:You know, Bryce is, is getting to play with his best friend Cal Edwards.
Speaker:You know, he's, he's... him and his dad, you know, they love ODU.
Speaker:He's, Bryce is as big an ODU basketball fan as anybody you're ever gonna find.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And for them it was like, yeah, either one of them could have, you
Speaker:know, uh, John Kean was a catcher, wasn't playing a ton, becomes a
Speaker:pitcher, he wasn't pitching a ton.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:You know, again, both wonderful team guys.
Speaker:Either one of them could have some point decided, "Hey, you know what?
Speaker:What matters to me is I'd like to go somewhere and play." Right.
Speaker:And they could've, I mean, I guarantee he'd gone somewhere and played.
Speaker:If Bryce had gone to Hampden-Sydney with his brother, he probably
Speaker:could've been All-Conference, right?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I mean, he's, he's a good ballplayer.
Speaker:Uh, but what they decided for their lives and their careers was they wanted to stay
Speaker:at Old Dominion, be team guys, enjoy the experience, and, you know, I think like
Speaker:I said, clearly it worked out because they both ended up coaching with you.
Speaker:That's a great point.
Speaker:And, uh, you know, unfortunately- There's a financial component to that.
Speaker:Both those guys were walk-ons.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Mm. Um, so they were able to... They're great kids, great teammates.
Speaker:Mm. It was before these roster limits came down.
Speaker:Mm.
Speaker:Um, they were take- they, they were able to take advantage of some of the COVID
Speaker:roster limits and stay in the program.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And now when this 34 hard roster comes down- Yeah
Speaker:there aren't gonna be any walk-ons anymore.
Speaker:Like, basically.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Unless you got a kid that's on academic scholarship, full
Speaker:boat or something like that.
Speaker:And so, like, that whole, that whole dynamic, like, we've always
Speaker:had some good walk-ons, you know?
Speaker:Those guys you mentioned.
Speaker:Mm. I mean, Jason Hardline was a walk-on.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Fantastic player here.
Speaker:Vincent Bechara and his brother Brian- Mm-hmm
Speaker:... were
Speaker:both walk-ons.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, you know, and, and that, that side of college baseball is gonna go away,
Speaker:uh, at the larger levels, I fear, um, when, where you can, "All right, man,
Speaker:he's staying in the program as long as I'm here 'cause he's an awesome kid."
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Right,
Speaker:right.
Speaker:That kind of thing.
Speaker:So yeah, I, I, you know, I, I'm, I hear you.
Speaker:Those guys, like, we're so proud of, you know, all of them, you know,
Speaker:especially the guys that get into coaching and, you know, do well.
Speaker:I'd like to see, um, you mentioned him, I'd like to see Kyle Edwards come
Speaker:back here and get into coaching- Yeah
Speaker:when he's done playing.
Speaker:'Cause I think he'd be really good at it.
Speaker:I think so too.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So, yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I, I did see something funny from that league that he's in.
Speaker:It looked like a player was traded for a player to be named later, and then
Speaker:the player that got traded ended up, ended up becoming the player to be
Speaker:named later and went back to the team.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So.
Speaker:He
Speaker:got traded for himself, which is great.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:It was-
Speaker:Only in, only in independent
Speaker:baseball-
Speaker:Yes ... could that
Speaker:possibly
Speaker:happen.
Speaker:Very, very indie ball.
Speaker:I think it happened one time in the Major Leagues, but that was
Speaker:like 50 years ago it happened.
Speaker:But yeah, that's-
Speaker:How's that even, how, how's that even possible?
Speaker:Like- It's like,
Speaker:I mean, it's
Speaker:like a paid vacation to another team.
Speaker:It should be like no, no take backs, man.
Speaker:No take backs.
Speaker:Yeah,
Speaker:right.
Speaker:We need at least a bucket of balls or something like- Something,
Speaker:yeah.
Speaker:Pitches sheet or something.
Speaker:We need a new mound tarp.
Speaker:Uh.
Speaker:That's the thing that, and that's the thing that I know, I don't know if
Speaker:they still do, but I know it used to be a thing, like when major league
Speaker:teams would sign indie ball players, they would typically do stuff.
Speaker:Like, I remember like Kerry Lightenberg got signed by the Braves from
Speaker:indie ball team, and they gave him like, like three dozen buckets of
Speaker:baseballs or something like that.
Speaker:To get his- It was like teams would kind of like, "Hey, what do you need?
Speaker:We can help you out." They're like, "Oh, we really, we're,
Speaker:we can't afford baseballs."
Speaker:Like, "We got
Speaker:you." Oh, that's great.
Speaker:W- when I was at VCU with Coach Keyes, uh, North Carolina A&T would
Speaker:come up and play us every year, and they never wanted any money 'cause
Speaker:they said, excuse me, the athletic department would take it from them.
Speaker:They would never get it.
Speaker:Oh.
Speaker:We had a Louisville Slugger contract at the time, and we got, you
Speaker:know, 40 bats a year or whatever.
Speaker:He always wanted three bats.
Speaker:That's what he wanted.
Speaker:Three bats.
Speaker:And, uh, it was, you know, we just give them to him when they come up.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:We have three brand new bats, so.
Speaker:Why not?
Speaker:Sure.
Speaker:Pays for the trip.
Speaker:Oh,
Speaker:awesome.
Speaker:That's great.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Well, uh, this-
Speaker:We're, uh, we're in the middle of, um, you know, the portal opens up a week- Mm-hmm
Speaker:from yesterday, uh, I think next Monday or Tuesday and, you know, we're in the
Speaker:middle of all of that stuff right now.
Speaker:Yeah, it was funny watching you guys, like, already getting on that on the bus.
Speaker:Like there was already- Yeah ... like a spreadsheet being created,
Speaker:and everybody was checking out things and just passing- Yeah
Speaker:the laptops.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:It was, it was interesting watching that.
Speaker:It's, it's... They, Paulie and Hayes got it down
Speaker:to- Mm-hmm
Speaker:... pretty good working science now.
Speaker:Um, there's also Junior College World Series going on right now.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And so we're watching, we're recruiting some kids that are playing in the Division
Speaker:I and the Division II World Series, and we're able to watch those games
Speaker:online, so that's where that's nice.
Speaker:So it's, um, a couple kids that, you know, it's been helpful
Speaker:to watch them play online.
Speaker:In fact, a kid plays tonight at, at 7:00, so, um, I'm gonna tune, tune that game in.
Speaker:Not too bad.
Speaker:Better than the having to fly out there to see
Speaker:them.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:We're in the, we're in the dead period right now anyway, so you can't even- Oh,
Speaker:yeah
Speaker:uh, from yesterday to Monday is the dead period, so you
Speaker:can't even go see anybody play.
Speaker:Um-
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:So that's, uh, but you can still watch them online.
Speaker:There you go.
Speaker:Can't stop
Speaker:it.
Speaker:The comfort of your own home.
Speaker:And in
Speaker:the summer ball we got, um, let's see, we got, uh, Mack Dye, Tyler Zedalis,
Speaker:and, uh, Jackson Runyon, um, are going to the Pilots right now, and then Efrain
Speaker:Morales is gonna go probably early July and play the second half over there.
Speaker:Um- Nice ... and then we'll, we got a bunch of kids that are gonna be in
Speaker:this, this Tidewater Summer League.
Speaker:Um- Okay.
Speaker:We even got our, I think we got four of our incoming freshman, uh, hitters
Speaker:in that, uh, that'll be playing in that, and a few of our younger players.
Speaker:You know which
Speaker:team they're gonna play for, or do you...?
Speaker:I think the, uh, that's a good que- Oh, uh- I
Speaker:know they change them all the time.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I'm, I think they're playing for Roland's team.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:The Thunderbirds?
Speaker:Um, yeah.
Speaker:I know Jackson Okonkwo's playing in that league and he's just gonna hit.
Speaker:He's not pitching.
Speaker:Yeah, I heard that.
Speaker:Oh, okay.
Speaker:He's playing on Dooley's team.
Speaker:Um, and then I think Chris Cavalcante is playing on Dres' team.
Speaker:Um-
Speaker:He's gonna see the whole league on any given day.
Speaker:You'll see some of
Speaker:the- Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:We'll have some other young arms.
Speaker:I think Maddox Jack- Okay ... might throw a few innings in that
Speaker:or something like that.
Speaker:So yeah.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:So we're, we're, uh, you know, I- Yeah
Speaker:I'm really, I, I like what they're doing with that league.
Speaker:I think it's better than what they've-
Speaker:Yeah
Speaker:... done in the past, so, um, yeah.
Speaker:Yeah, that league goes through, like, all kinds of cycles of some
Speaker:years it's like, "Oh, this is pretty well run." Some years like, "What
Speaker:are you guys doing this year?" Yeah.
Speaker:I think
Speaker:they've taken some of that out of, uh, the one guy's hands and, you know,
Speaker:they're co-opting it a little bit more.
Speaker:And anytime you got Roland Wright, um- Yeah ... and Dyer
Speaker:involved, it's gonna be run
Speaker:better.
Speaker:You know?
Speaker:Anytime you let Roland run something, man, he, when, when, when I go to
Speaker:one of y'all's camps and Roland is kind of m- making the engine go, it's
Speaker:like, "This thing's gonna be great." When Roland's not there, it's like,
Speaker:"We're gonna be in for a long day."
Speaker:Ro-Ro will make it run quickly and efficiently.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:That is a
Speaker:fact.
Speaker:Yeah,
Speaker:no doubt.
Speaker:Hoping, I'm trying to go see their playoff game on Wednesday.
Speaker:Hoping the weather, uh-
Speaker:Wednesday, yeah
Speaker:... stays.
Speaker:What do they got, LC Bird or something like that?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah, LC Bird, I think it was.
Speaker:I, he said, uh, yeah, 'cause he said, um, that he's not throwing, uh, the
Speaker:one, the one kid to softball at all, so.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:But yeah, so they, um, so that's, uh, we're, we're working, working through that
Speaker:and recruiting and, you know, fortunately this year we don't need that many guys in
Speaker:the portal and, uh, I think we're still looking for a couple arms, preferably
Speaker:left-hand pitchers, I believe, and then maybe a infielder and one outfielder.
Speaker:So that's kind of what we're down to.
Speaker:So should be exciting couple weeks.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Well, there's, there's one more Summer League guy that I've got to mention here.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Just so I don't know when we back on.
Speaker:Uh, Scotty Young announced today he's gonna go play for the
Speaker:Savannah Bananas this summer.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So if you find yourself around Savannah, Georgia this summer, make sure to go
Speaker:check him out and support him there.
Speaker:What a perfect landing spot for Scotty.
Speaker:I mean, you talk about a marriage made in heaven.
Speaker:I do.
Speaker:Like, it's perfect.
Speaker:I, I told him when he told me that, I said, "I, it kind of feels like you've
Speaker:been playing for the Bananas since you got here." Sometimes I wonder if
Speaker:you're playing with different rules or... Hey, Scotty is so much fun.
Speaker:We're so appreciative of his time here, man.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:He was, uh, just a shot in the arm.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:He's a, he's a really, you know, grateful kid.
Speaker:He appreciates things, great teammate, super competitor.
Speaker:I can't say enough good things about him, and it was so cool that he was
Speaker:able to get another year back and-
Speaker:Mm-hmm
Speaker:it's
Speaker:been his first time ever being at a place for two years.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um- And, you know, he, he just, like, he's one of those guys you feel like you
Speaker:stay in touch with for a long, long time- Yeah ... because of his personality.
Speaker:And so we wish him the best.
Speaker:And I, I mean, you know, I said, "Man, if you guys ever, you know, we get the
Speaker:stadium going and all that, maybe we need to get the Savannah Bananas-" Yeah.
Speaker:Baseball.
Speaker:ODU, yeah.
Speaker:And you know, I was like, "You gotta work on your dance moves a
Speaker:little bit now. Let's go," you know?
Speaker:I
Speaker:can't wait.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So yeah,
Speaker:it'll be a lot of fun.
Speaker:He, he's... And it's a perfect situation for him.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah, he's, he's gonna make a lot of fans very happy being on the Savannah Bananas.
Speaker:Yes, he will.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So how that works is they put you in their training program first.
Speaker:They have all these teams down there, and they all live in Savannah, and then
Speaker:you, you know, they farm you out to one of these different teams, and then if
Speaker:you end up on this, in this one group, then you got kind of a guaranteed,
Speaker:uh, as long as you don't get hurt, to, to go end up with the Bananas.
Speaker:So they have so many teams now that play in their organization.
Speaker:Um, so-
Speaker:Yeah, we had, there's a local kid, um, the, South Trimble that plays-
Speaker:Yep ... for, uh, the Firefighters.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And yeah, so it's been really cool to see.
Speaker:He's a really good kid.
Speaker:You get to see him, he played at George Mason, you get to see him
Speaker:kind of make that transition to, you know, from being a pretty, pretty
Speaker:solid college player to now- Yep
Speaker:he's at least three, maybe four years he's been doing that.
Speaker:He's the Magician now.
Speaker:So yeah, it's really neat to see him
Speaker:to- Yeah.
Speaker:It's cool.
Speaker:It's cool.
Speaker:I wish I'd have thought of
Speaker:it.
Speaker:Um- Yeah, right?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Who'd
Speaker:have, who'd have thought you could have fun playing baseball?
Speaker:I don't know.
Speaker:I, I really do think it's actually hurt, not the s- you know, necessarily the
Speaker:catching a foul ball is an out, that kind of thing, but the idea of like,
Speaker:oh, you can have fun playing baseball, you can definitely feel that more in
Speaker:the overall sport in the last, you know, five, six years they've been around.
Speaker:I agree.
Speaker:I agree.
Speaker:I think it's super cool.
Speaker:I mean, and, and in a summer league situation, why not have rules like that?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Like, obviously people are like, "Thank God, he's out." Yeah.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Try to do that in a, in, you know, in one of our games, guys would be-
Speaker:Yeah ... throwing those in the head.
Speaker:You get to the championship 'cause Joe Blow with a bag of peanuts
Speaker:caught a foul ball, you gotta
Speaker:be kidding me.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah,
Speaker:no.
Speaker:But yeah, it's cool.
Speaker:The Banana Ball rules are fun, and I, I think it's neat.
Speaker:I think it's neat.
Speaker:I, I really do.
Speaker:Yeah, be excited for them and we'll get some more information as we learn more
Speaker:about summer leagues throughout and we'll push the Pilots and all that good stuff.
Speaker:Um, summer league ball is, uh, I think like one of the best things in sports.
Speaker:Loving the Pilots.
Speaker:I'm already, already got my plans to go to the Pilots on Friday.
Speaker:Oh, good.
Speaker:Good.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, there's a couple, couple kids throwing, uh... Are they playing
Speaker:the Chillicopters by any chance?
Speaker:Uh, not that, not Friday.
Speaker:Maybe Saturday they might be.
Speaker:I'm not sure.
Speaker:I know Friday is I think the, the Australian team, the Devil Dogs.
Speaker:Oh, that's the all Australian group.
Speaker:That's
Speaker:cool.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Which is crazy.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:We'll see how, we'll see if they can maintain that through the whole summer.
Speaker:I'm curious, you know, how they change players so much sometimes.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker:Well, there's a couple, you know, again, in the portal, like there's some kids
Speaker:we have that are going in that are- Okay
Speaker:you know, a couple different teams, and it's always helpful for us if they
Speaker:end up playing, you know, against the Pilots because it's easy, easy to go.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So... Or we just send our chief recruiter, CB Wilkins there.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I think, I think Morehead City is the Saturday game
Speaker:that I'll be at too, so yeah.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:So yeah, you let me know if there's ever somebody you're curious about.
Speaker:I'll, I'll keep an eye out, you know.
Speaker:Absolutely will.
Speaker:I'm
Speaker:not as good as y'all, but I got a basic understanding of what, what
Speaker:somebody sucks or doesn't suck.
Speaker:That's, uh, hey, that's a big part of it.
Speaker:It's better sometimes, like, "Hey man, this guy's trash.
Speaker:Don't, uh, don't bother."
Speaker:If we call in the first, uh, sentences, "Well,
Speaker:he doesn't suck."
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Good
Speaker:start.
Speaker:That's a problem.
Speaker:Oh, and, and I just thought of another, um, uh, Cam Tellefson is playing, uh,
Speaker:in the Valley League for Winchester.
Speaker:Oh, nice.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:And I think he's up there, I think, uh, JJ Hand and- Uh,
Speaker:Brody
Speaker:... and Brody are playing there as well.
Speaker:Yep.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Yeah, but Cam, Cam's going up there to play, so really
Speaker:proud of Cam this year, man.
Speaker:He worked his butt off in the weight room.
Speaker:I mean, he is an animal now.
Speaker:He is a big- He's
Speaker:huge.
Speaker:Um- He's
Speaker:a large human.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker:He really took advantage of his red shirt year and worked hard, so, um, hopefully
Speaker:that'll pay off for him next year.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Good competition for first base at the very least.
Speaker:Yep, yep.
Speaker:We're excited about all of that, man.
Speaker:It's, it's a good group coming in and, uh, a good group coming back
Speaker:and, um, you know, we just gotta wrap this thing up hopefully in the next
Speaker:few weeks, and then we'll move on to the high school kids in, uh- Yeah
Speaker:in July.
Speaker:So-
Speaker:Okay ... it's
Speaker:all about the, the g- the up, you know, the older kids in, in the end of
Speaker:May and, and the first part of June.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:Well, we'll, uh, you know, we'll start doing this about once a month.
Speaker:So we'll, we'll come back, you know, probably a few weeks and have an episode.
Speaker:Maybe we'll get Hage or- Perfect
Speaker:or Marin or, uh- Yep ... Panik or somebody on, talk to us about recruiting stuff
Speaker:and- That'd be great ... but Finny, we, as always man, we appreciate you.
Speaker:I mean, again, can't thank you enough for, you know, everything you do
Speaker:for us and it's just, it's a joy having you- Well- ... on here, man.
Speaker:It's my pleasure, and I appreciate you guys and, and I think you guys have
Speaker:figured out how to thread the needle on providing content and honest content.
Speaker:Um, and then, and then also be able to slant, you know, slant things in as,
Speaker:as positive a direction as possible.
Speaker:You know, we had a rough first half of the season, we just did, and
Speaker:we wanna own that and, and not- Yeah ... run away from it certainly.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:But I didn't ever feel like you guys were, you know, piling on, which
Speaker:some people like to do that, right?
Speaker:Like, um-
Speaker:Yeah, man.
Speaker:Some
Speaker:people love
Speaker:that.
Speaker:Some
Speaker:people- I don't know why.
Speaker:Yeah,
Speaker:especially in the era of social media.
Speaker:Um, and I, I don't, you know, I learned a long time ago never, never read
Speaker:any of that because if you win then they think you're way better than
Speaker:you are, and if you lose then they think you're way worse than you are.
Speaker:So- Um, yeah, but you guys, you guys, that, that, that is a area that
Speaker:you guys have to deal in, and for content and for y'all's, you know,
Speaker:publications and things like that.
Speaker:So I understand that.
Speaker:I, I just appreciate, you know, how you, you guys are ODU fans and supporters.
Speaker:Oh, yeah.
Speaker:I think that comes over all the time, no matter what, and it means a lot to
Speaker:all of us coaches, man, it really does.
Speaker:'Cause people can have a tendency to look at coaches as
Speaker:less than human, uh, at times.
Speaker:Yep.
Speaker:You know, they think we're all just cyborgs or something and-
Speaker:Yeah ... uh, but we're not, man.
Speaker:We got families, and we laugh and we cry and we bleed and all, all the things
Speaker:that everybody else does, and it, you know, we just happen to coach a sport.
Speaker:And it means an awful lot to us.
Speaker:You know, I don't think, I think if anybody thinks there's anybody that
Speaker:feels worse about a loss than the coach and the coaching staff of that team-
Speaker:Yeah ... they are kidding themselves.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Crazy.
Speaker:Because, you know, I tell our guys all the time, man, when we play, when we
Speaker:don't play, I don't sleep at night.
Speaker:Like, I'm up- Yeah ... pacing the floor all night trying to
Speaker:figure out what's going on.
Speaker:And when you play good, I still don't sleep great at night,
Speaker:but I sleep a little bit.
Speaker:Uh, so, you know, but that's the reality of it and it's, it's always been that
Speaker:way, it's always gonna be that way, but I think any chance I get to point that out,
Speaker:people that are supportive and honest, um, because I do believe you can do both,
Speaker:and I do believe people can disagree on things without, you know, being, uh,
Speaker:overzealous or, um, disrespectful as well.
Speaker:Well, that's definitely the goal but, uh, it's been awesome having you on this year.
Speaker:Excited to have you keep coming on throughout the rest of this
Speaker:year and into next season.
Speaker:Yep, yep.
Speaker:And finally, the new ballpark.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Finally, the new ballpark.
Speaker:It is here.
Speaker:And the best thing that's gonna happen this week is I
Speaker:get to go down Thursday- Yeah
Speaker:and hug my grandson, Sterling, for the first time.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Oh,
Speaker:that's awesome.
Speaker:I'm gonna be down there Thursday through Monday.
Speaker:Um, so I, I'm just beside myself just thinking about that.
Speaker:So can't wait and, you know, I'll, uh, I'll have some pictures for- ... for the
Speaker:next episode of, of me and my- Excellent.
Speaker:Yeah ... me and Mr.
Speaker:Sterling.
Speaker:So, uh, that's gonna be awesome.
Speaker:That's great.
Speaker:Yeah, give Chrissy and, and, uh, Gray big hugs, and Sterling too.
Speaker:It's, they're all wonderful folks, and I, I'm sure that... That
Speaker:kid is, that kid's already lucky 'cause he's got them as parents.
Speaker:He is.
Speaker:No doubt about it.
Speaker:So, uh, he, he, he might have missed a little bit on the
Speaker:granddad draw of the card-
Speaker:but we're gonna make it work, so.
Speaker:Not
Speaker:much
Speaker:we can do about that one.
Speaker:Um, yeah.
Speaker:I'll be the granddad that gets his own child... Hey, don't
Speaker:tell your mom but- That's the
Speaker:guy.
Speaker:That's the job.
Speaker:That's the job.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:Whatever happens at Granddad's house, like, don't tell on me.
Speaker:But,
Speaker:but he'll
Speaker:be swinging left-handed before too long, I can guarantee it.
Speaker:There you
Speaker:go.
Speaker:Love
Speaker:it.
Speaker:Love it.
Speaker:Way to do it.
Speaker:All right, guys, thank you.
Speaker:Thanks for everything, man.
Speaker:Y'all the best, and go Monarchs.
Speaker:Go Monarchs.
Speaker:Thanks, man.
Speaker:Go
Speaker:Monarchs.
Speaker:The Old Dominion Athletic Foundation, or commonly referred
Speaker:to as the 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
Speaker:community, the ODU alumni from around the globe, the ODAF raises money
Speaker:for student athletic scholarship support and endowments, capital
Speaker:projects, program-specific support, and athletic department operations.
Speaker:Funds are raised through annual giving, multi-year pledges, events,
Speaker:premium seating, and planned giving.
Speaker:With questions about how to get involved in one or more of these initiatives,
Speaker:reach out to an ODAF representative.
Speaker:Gifts to the ODAF are investments in the lives of our student athletes.
Speaker:ODAF members receive exclusive benefits such as priority points for post-season
Speaker:and away game seating, parking, VIP and hospitality experiences, and more.
Speaker:Because of you, we create winners in the classroom, in athletic
Speaker:competition, and in life.
Speaker:Contact the ODAF and become a member today.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:All righty.
Speaker:We are back.
Speaker:Thanks, Blaine.
Speaker:We
Speaker:are back.
Speaker:Thanks, Blaine.
Speaker:Uh, great as always having, uh, Coach Finny on.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I think w- this is the 18th episode of this year for us.
Speaker:I think he's been on all but two of them.
Speaker:Um- Yeah ... glad to get almost nearly an hour with him at the
Speaker:end of the season here- Yeah, yeah
Speaker:so we understand, like, what's going on in his world, what's
Speaker:going on with the Monarchs.
Speaker:And we didn't even talk
Speaker:about the game.
Speaker:Uh, we didn't.
Speaker:Well, I don't know if there's much to talk about.
Speaker:Let's
Speaker:not.
Speaker:Let's just not.
Speaker:Maverick Stallings hit a solo home run, um, you
Speaker:know, it was a- That wasn't a home run
Speaker:... yeah.
Speaker:That
Speaker:wasn't a home run.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:That's, that's... The people might not know there, if you look on that
Speaker:outfield wall, there's, there's, like, the padding, it's about eight feet like
Speaker:normal, and there's, like, a fence.
Speaker:Well, the top of that fence above the padding, there's actually a yellow line.
Speaker:That's actually where a home run is.
Speaker:His ball hit the fence above the padding, which in most places you're
Speaker:like, "Oh, that's a home run."
Speaker:Why the umpires, nobody else knew?
Speaker:Well, I guess because of the score, the other team didn't care.
Speaker:Um, that's, it's a double.
Speaker:It sort of got stuck in the padding.
Speaker:It should've been a ground rule double.
Speaker:Uh, whatever.
Speaker:It's, you know That was, that was, uh, the trip down there was so fun and it was so
Speaker:exciting until then we played the game.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Uh,
Speaker:yeah.
Speaker:I was the only person left up there in the media perch, uh, at that point because
Speaker:it was so late and I'm looking down at s- seeing Maverick's ball sitting on top
Speaker:of the pad and he's rounding the bases.
Speaker:Everyone's doing this, and I'm just being quiet.
Speaker:Not saying a word- Yeah ... not doing anything.
Speaker:I think I had the only view 'cause we know they didn't have camera angles.
Speaker:But, uh, yeah.
Speaker:But either way g- glad he, uh, he goes out with a, a nice bang
Speaker:there to end his college career.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:But I'm sure he would trade that gladly for a different outcome.
Speaker:Continuing to play, play some games.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:But you know, it's, that's, uh, that's just how it goes.
Speaker:That's, you know, unfortunately the game that's... We, we know
Speaker:how the team was this season.
Speaker:They were, they were consistently inconsistent and that unfortunately
Speaker:kinda showed up the last game.
Speaker:We, was it 17 to 1?
Speaker:Only got two hits.
Speaker:Um-
Speaker:Yeah
Speaker:... you know, I mean even, even, and then Tanton, you know, has been
Speaker:about the best pitcher all year.
Speaker:He gave up a two run homer that realistically is a fly ball.
Speaker:That thing was about 308 feet.
Speaker:That little- Yeah ... part where it juts in.
Speaker:I mean, so nothing was going right.
Speaker:It was just a, you know, that's just unfortunately how it went.
Speaker:That's kind of, a- and, uh, I didn't, I didn't do the, I didn't pull it
Speaker:together or look through the schedule, but we had far too many games like
Speaker:that where we had, we got blown out.
Speaker:Um, we didn't even have, I mean, we had what, 26 losses on the season?
Speaker:I don't know how many we actually had that were like within reason
Speaker:where it was like, oh, we actually had a shot to, to win this game.
Speaker:I mean-
Speaker:There weren't many
Speaker:... there were, if there were 26, maybe 6 of them were the ones where
Speaker:it was like, okay, we, we just kind of, we lost, it was close.
Speaker:There were a lot of, like, when we lost games it was like, boy, we got whipped.
Speaker:No, we, we blew it
Speaker:all out.
Speaker:We won games.
Speaker:It
Speaker:was
Speaker:kinda like, yeah, when we won games it was kinda like, man, we, we killed them.
Speaker:Like we, it was, it was a very, very strange season.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:It was either like we blew 'em out or it was a walk-off.
Speaker:There was no like, oh, we won nice, clean- Yeah ... and tidy
Speaker:four to two and that was it.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Uh, but Georgia State, they were a, a hot team.
Speaker:They f- they finished with the, uh, series win over App State to get in.
Speaker:They were fired up and I mean, they just from the jump they were on the ball.
Speaker:It didn't matter where you threw it, what you threw, it
Speaker:was, it was getting tattooed.
Speaker:Uh, they made a little run, but that, their, their time came to an end.
Speaker:I think we may have a little bit of a rivalry now with Georgia State, just
Speaker:from the chippiness on the field.
Speaker:I don't know if that was just the two guys, but, uh, it was,
Speaker:it was, it was chippy for sure.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:You know, that's, hey, I'm all for whatever.
Speaker:You know, having conference rivals is never bad.
Speaker:I mean, that was, I think that was a kind of a late CAA rivalry for
Speaker:the football team- Yeah ... kind of with Georgia State too.
Speaker:So I, I'm all for it.
Speaker:You know, Atlanta's not too far.
Speaker:You, you're, we'll probably play them every year in every sport, so why not?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker:Sure.
Speaker:I think, I think for me it starts going back to football a couple
Speaker:years ago when the dude knocked out Lemarian, uh, James- Oh, yeah,
Speaker:yeah ... on the field and was like mimicking him sleeping on the sideline.
Speaker:ODU won that game and they haven't lost to Georgia State
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:Let's
Speaker:talk about some good things.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:We want to do our year-end awards here?
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:And I have-- You'll put them up in whatever order you have them.
Speaker:I don't know what you got, so you tell me.
Speaker:Um- Hey, look at that guy ... Freshman
Speaker:of the Year.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So, um, this one, not much of a surprise, right?
Speaker:I mean, he, you know, th- there really wasn't a deep competition,
Speaker:I think, for Freshman of the Year.
Speaker:I mean, really you could argue Okonkwo was up there.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Um, Nick Felton was up there.
Speaker:But the guy who clearly stood out as the best freshman was Ben Tanton, right?
Speaker:He ended up, he was 7-0, a 2.19 ERA, uh, 37 innings, 41
Speaker:strikeouts, um, only 13 walks.
Speaker:I mean, so he was, he was great.
Speaker:17 games.
Speaker:His, his worst game was his one start.
Speaker:So- Yeah ... if you take that out, I think his number's even better.
Speaker:I mean, Ben was just... Y- you don't expect a freshman to come in and be
Speaker:this good out of the bullpen and be this much of a, a solidifying force.
Speaker:I mean, he was a beast.
Speaker:Uh, when, when he came into games, you knew you were going to hold the lead,
Speaker:you were going to be in great shape.
Speaker:Uh, also just so cool and calm and poised.
Speaker:No matter what was happening, no situation was too big.
Speaker:Uh, it, it's... When he's up there on the mound and you got a lead,
Speaker:you just feel like, all right, we've got the Dominic, uh, closing door.
Speaker:He is not going to let someone beat him right now, and that's pretty
Speaker:much what we saw from him all season.
Speaker:No, it's funny you talk about being poised because, you know, as a photographer,
Speaker:I'm always, you're always kind of hoping you get that, like, cool shot when
Speaker:they strike a guy out in the third out.
Speaker:You feel like that, like, pumped up.
Speaker:Like, you know, Gatti was always really good for that.
Speaker:Kuskie was good for a few times, you know.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Bailey.
Speaker:And other guys who... Yeah, Bailey's pretty good for it.
Speaker:Um, but, like, Kellen s- would kind of do it, but in, like, a weird face where it
Speaker:was kind of like not really a cinematic.
Speaker:But, like, Ben, I think at most in one of his, I think one of the, I think
Speaker:maybe in that, that game down there, he was kind of, like, shaking his head as
Speaker:a like a, like, "They can't touch me."
Speaker:But, like, that's, you're not gonna get... Like, that, that was the most.
Speaker:Took, took all season to get to there.
Speaker:Like you said, he's, he's poised to the point where it's like, I'm
Speaker:not getting a cool picture of this because he's just walking off.
Speaker:Like he's... You know, which is, which is great, which is what you want.
Speaker:You want a guy who, you know, he just, he's doing it and
Speaker:he's, he's, it's who he is.
Speaker:Um, he's the baby-faced assassin.
Speaker:He is taking
Speaker:care
Speaker:of
Speaker:business.
Speaker:He's the baby-faced assassin.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:BFA, for sure.
Speaker:And he was so good as a freshman.
Speaker:Oh.
Speaker:So good-
Speaker:Oh
Speaker:... as a pitcher.
Speaker:Oh.
Speaker:He's also our pitcher of the year.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Also pitcher of the year.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Which again, uh, led the team with seven wins, uh, seven and 0.
Speaker:He just, I mean, you think about we had what?
Speaker:29 victories.
Speaker:He got the victory in seven of them, so it's about a quarter of the wins.
Speaker:I mean, that's, that's huge.
Speaker:Um, he was, I think he went fourth in the team in innings, so it's not
Speaker:like he pitched the most innings, but I think he, he very clearly...
Speaker:I mean, JJ Gatti is the only other pitcher who I think really could have
Speaker:an argument for this because he had, you know, 57 innings, had a 437 area,
Speaker:which is pretty good for college.
Speaker:We think about JJ kind of up and down year, but he actually
Speaker:had a pretty solid season.
Speaker:Um, but a- again, I think Ben was just, he was the pick.
Speaker:I think I... For all four of these awards we're giving out, it's, it's, you can
Speaker:make some arguments, but I think it's pretty clear the guys that got picked
Speaker:got picked because they were the choices.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And he was, uh, on the freshman team for the Sun Belt.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Uh, did not get freshman of the year through the conference, but he's
Speaker:definitely in the running for that.
Speaker:And again, just what we said earlier, for a freshman to make this kind of
Speaker:impact, I mean, the, the meaningful innings that he pitched, you know.
Speaker:Like he, he's pitching late in games.
Speaker:He's trying to bridge to, to Baylor Kellon on the back end.
Speaker:Uh, you know, I don't know if we lose seven more games if he doesn't pitch.
Speaker:We probably lose three or four more games, and we're not going to Montgomery at all.
Speaker:So, uh, shout out to Ben.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:That's a great way to phrase it that, you know, do we win off... And there are
Speaker:other ones that we, we won that he pitched
Speaker:So yeah, it's a make or break and, um, he's a huge pickup for the team.
Speaker:He's gonna make a massive impact for us next year.
Speaker:Uh, you know, it's, uh, some, some good things ahead for Ben if
Speaker:he continues to progress the way he has in his first year here.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:All right, we'll choose an award now that did not go to Ben Tanton.
Speaker:Oh,
Speaker:what?
Speaker:We'll go, uh, hitter of the year, Mr. Maverick Stallings.
Speaker:Oh.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I mean, again, I think you can, you know, you can make some arguments.
Speaker:I mean, Will Johnson had a really great season, um,
Speaker:particularly in the second half.
Speaker:Uh, Zach Leite had a great year.
Speaker:He kind of, he started out so strong, it's not that he had a bad second half,
Speaker:he just had like a-- He just was, had a very kind of normal second half.
Speaker:Um, but the guy who for the first year, again, this is three years he's been here,
Speaker:this is the first year that he's actually been good from day one to the last day.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Um, and so getting to see, so Maverick ends up, let's just say his
Speaker:numbers here, he's 300, uh, sorry, a .325 average, a 1.004 OPS, had
Speaker:15 doubles, which led the team, 12 homers, which led the team, 46 RBIs.
Speaker:Um, he led the team in OPS by 100 points, led in slugging by 100 points.
Speaker:Um, total bases, he had almost 30 more than the next guy.
Speaker:I mean, Maverick was just, he was it at the plate.
Speaker:Like, he was the guy.
Speaker:Um, uh, well, let me, since I'm already talking, uh, the- ... what I think is
Speaker:cool if you have three years on a college team, you pretty much have about the
Speaker:equivalent of a Major League season.
Speaker:Um, and so we know Maverick led the team in home runs three straight years.
Speaker:But, so if you look at Maverick in his three seasons at ODU, 152
Speaker:games, uh, 571 plate appearances.
Speaker:Like I said, about a Major League season's worth.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Talking about 26 doubles, 33 homers, 107 RBIs, a .300 average, and a .936 OPS.
Speaker:So that would be a, you'd, you'd be talking about a,
Speaker:a, uh, you know, All-Star-
Speaker:Easily
Speaker:All-Star
Speaker:end of the season Silver, Silver Slugger second baseman.
Speaker:Yeah, a- and again, playing second base, a position- Yes ... typically
Speaker:don't get power numbers out of.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Uh, and similar could be made for Will at short, because his power really
Speaker:came on later, and I think if he played that way all season, he'd get it.
Speaker:Uh- Yeah
Speaker:but man, I mean, just- He came in, he came clutch in so many different
Speaker:situations this year that kind of get glossed over a little bit.
Speaker:Uh, but he was, it was his most consistent year and he was our most
Speaker:consistent hitter all season long.
Speaker:Uh, and then of course, it wasn't just the offensive side.
Speaker:Oh.
Speaker:Maverick also got- He's a
Speaker:defensive player
Speaker:defensive player of the year, too.
Speaker:So he's coupling all that with phenomenal defense in the field.
Speaker:Yeah, I wish I could find like the updated stats, but about a month ago,
Speaker:uh, one of these publications, like 643 I think it was, was what it was, they
Speaker:had shared the defensive runs saved for second baseman for the- Mm-hmm
Speaker:the whole, for all of Division I, and Maverick was sixth.
Speaker:He had, I think it was like 5.6 defensive runs.
Speaker:So basically, he had saved them five and a half runs over the course
Speaker:of the season with his defense.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Like five and a half runs that did not score because... Again,
Speaker:I wish, I was trying hard.
Speaker:I mean, who know?
Speaker:I don't know where they find that stat.
Speaker:Uh, somebody smarter and better than me has it.
Speaker:But yeah, he, he... And it was one of those, it passes the eye
Speaker:test, it passes the stats test.
Speaker:He was just really, really good all year playing second base.
Speaker:And there, again, now I think if Nick Felton had played like maybe two or
Speaker:three more weekends, maybe he gets the award because, but I think the...
Speaker:He's gonna get it every year from here on probably.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:He'll be the odds on favorite clearly going into next year.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, yeah, just, you know, we forget that Nick didn't start
Speaker:at the beginning of the season.
Speaker:He didn't have his full, full body of work, and that's really
Speaker:kind of the biggest difference.
Speaker:Uh, the defensive runs saved, that's actually really hard for
Speaker:an infielder to gain that many.
Speaker:Uh, if you're an outfielder, you can affect it more because you're
Speaker:robbing doubles and home runs and throwing guys out at the plate.
Speaker:Uh, so for, you know, a second baseman to get that, that's, that's
Speaker:pretty high up the food chain.
Speaker:Someone's got to take a shot at Maverick here, whether it's indie
Speaker:ball, a pro team, something like that.
Speaker:S- like where are you gonna get that kind of power production from a second
Speaker:baseman, especially in this day and age?
Speaker:You just don't really see it that much.
Speaker:He looks like a professional.
Speaker:He's, you know, when you have a, he's a fifth year senior, they
Speaker:got that fifth year because of, you know, all the whatever stuff.
Speaker:Again, I think like Scotty told to his grade, he's like, "Look, we didn't do
Speaker:anything to earn it. We don't deserve it, but we're gonna take it and enjoy
Speaker:it." Um, and Maverick followed that to the T. I mean, he, he looks like what you
Speaker:want a fifth year player to look like.
Speaker:Yeah, I mean, I, I'd be shocked if he got drafted because I just don't think
Speaker:they draft fifth year seniors anymore.
Speaker:Um, they don't really draft four year seniors anymore.
Speaker:But he should get signed.
Speaker:Um, he, you know, again, would he want to go play indie ball?
Speaker:I don't know.
Speaker:Uh, but he is a professional baseball player.
Speaker:And again, this is where I, I'll... We, when our, my tangent on the last one
Speaker:about the problems with, with minor league baseball and I saw something the other
Speaker:day, they're about to make it worse.
Speaker:Um, but he should be playing pro ball.
Speaker:He, he's a professional player.
Speaker:Has, has been a professional pretty much from his first day.
Speaker:Uh, and this year he showed the consistency that a
Speaker:professional really has.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So hope to see him, uh, play somewhere, whether it's Indie ball,
Speaker:maybe Kyle Everson can concoct up another trade and figure something
Speaker:out, uh, over there in Indie ball.
Speaker:But either way, like he deserves a shake.
Speaker:He's a guy that, I mean, yeah, you could probably put, put him on a double
Speaker:A team right now and he'd be fine.
Speaker:So,
Speaker:and he also, he plays, I was gonna say, he also can play third base, uh, just fine.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Um, and so he, he's got that positional flexibility that you want.
Speaker:I mean, yeah, I don't know.
Speaker:It's always, again, like what are you guys looking for if this
Speaker:isn't what you're looking for?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:He passes, uh, all the tests that we know of today, so.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Um, but you know, just kinda wrapping, wrapping the season up,
Speaker:if Finny kind of pointed out, yeah, at one point we were 5 and 10 and
Speaker:things looked really, really ugly.
Speaker:Like, I mean, ugly, really bad.
Speaker:Uh, but for the team to kind of just gut it out and then start playing even better
Speaker:baseball down the stretch, you notice it a lot in the midweek games where early
Speaker:on I don't feel like we could, we had a chance in many of our midweeks and then
Speaker:we take three from Richmond, two from VCU, it ends up being a tournament team.
Speaker:Like we, we finally get the monkey off the back with William & Mary.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, like you just see the team was playing better and, uh, for them to
Speaker:gut that out, come back and at least, you know, make it to Montgomery, where
Speaker:unfortunately it did not go well at all.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Uh, but they just, it showed that this team has some fight.
Speaker:I think it taught some of the younger guys a lesson about like, it's a long
Speaker:season, pace yourselves and don't try to win every single game with each swing.
Speaker:Well, and I, I think the younger guys are a huge deal too because there are
Speaker:so many of the younger guys that as the season went really developed well.
Speaker:I mean, you saw- Mm-hmm ... you know, Max Jack, uh, Tanton there obviously,
Speaker:Okonkwo, Cavalcante, they all got better, uh, Felton on the offensive side, all
Speaker:got better as the season was going on.
Speaker:And these are guys who you know now they're gonna be looking
Speaker:at them to be sophomores next year, uh- Mm-hmm ... and coming.
Speaker:I mean, and, and we, you know, obviously you're losing a lot of guy.
Speaker:I think there's about what like 12 seniors I think that were,
Speaker:were out of- Yeah ... eligibility.
Speaker:But the reality is there's three of them in the lineup that you're losing.
Speaker:You're losing, um, Leite and Stallings- Stallings ... at first
Speaker:and second base, and then, uh, Scott Young from right field.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And then as far as the pitching side, you're losing guys who
Speaker:really throw a lot of innings.
Speaker:You're talking about, um, Jailen Davis and Danny Matella.
Speaker:So you're actually coming back theoretically with a lot
Speaker:of what you had this year.
Speaker:Now if you, now again, we say, well, okay, well this year wasn't
Speaker:like the most amazing year.
Speaker:All right, fine.
Speaker:But they grew, they were growing, they were trending the right way.
Speaker:If you take those guys, the lessons they've learned, let them develop
Speaker:some more over the summer and the fall, and then you're adding in, you
Speaker:know, whatever you're gonna add in.
Speaker:They, they like some of the JUCO guys they're bringing in.
Speaker:They like the freshmen they're bringing in.
Speaker:You gotta feel like we gotta, uh, it, it, it does, it doesn't feel like
Speaker:the cupboard got eliminated, right?
Speaker:It's like we have a good stock already.
Speaker:We're gonna add some more to it.
Speaker:And you gotta feel, I think, pretty good about going into next year.
Speaker:I think so.
Speaker:I mean, I know we're losing a lot of leadership from the team.
Speaker:A lot of guys who are either the vocal leaders or just performance
Speaker:leaders, bullpen leaders.
Speaker:Um, I, I know they've instilled some good things there and there
Speaker:may be some additional announcements coming in the next couple of weeks
Speaker:that could shore up the transition of that leadership accountability.
Speaker:Uh, but we also know that Patrick Johnson got another year back.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So he's back in the bullpen.
Speaker:He's great.
Speaker:And he's someone that had a little bit of an up and down
Speaker:year, but started pitching better.
Speaker:Uh, but he is definitely someone that can go lead kind of that bullpen,
Speaker:that pitching crew next year, plus
Speaker:JJ.
Speaker:Well, and
Speaker:if you get
Speaker:Marcus Van Alstine back-
Speaker:Yes
Speaker:... uh, healthy.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:You know, that's another guy in the bullpen who, you know, and he
Speaker:was, he was there all year, but it's, it's hard to be a leader when
Speaker:you're not on the field doing it.
Speaker:Um- Yeah, it is ... and so when, with the guy who he is, which is
Speaker:just a big goofy guy, he was giving me a hard time about, 'cause I, I
Speaker:said he, he was ducking the podcast.
Speaker:You never duck the podcast, Marcus.
Speaker:Except for that one time that you did duck the podcast, and that's fine.
Speaker:Um, uh, but, uh, but yeah, I mean, so you're right.
Speaker:I think leadership, and leadership's always a thing.
Speaker:I mean, you think, you know, you think about some of the guys who we have who,
Speaker:you know, you see Will Johnson, Efrain Morales step up into those leadership
Speaker:roles and like I said, and JJ is, you know, as much a leader I think you're
Speaker:gonna find on the pitching staff.
Speaker:Uh- Mm-hmm ... yeah, so- You like to believe, like I said, if they've, if
Speaker:they've set the culture right and the guys who are doing it the right way
Speaker:this year, if the, the guys, uh, those guys leave and other guys take up that
Speaker:mantle and the younger guys feel more empowered to step up because, you know,
Speaker:now they're in those more leadership roles, then that's what you want.
Speaker:So I, I think, I, I think, you know, again, it's, you know, it's
Speaker:always We, you know, we were out there at the end of the game.
Speaker:You know, it's, it's, it's tough watching these guys.
Speaker:I mean, it's, it's, it's brutal.
Speaker:Some of the, you know, some of the just tears and running down their faces.
Speaker:I'm, I'm trying my best not to, like, be a crying mess.
Speaker:We're out there too, because, you know- Yeah ... I don't want
Speaker:to make it worse for the guys.
Speaker:Um, but you know, it's, it's, no matter what, no matter how things
Speaker:go, this group of players will never be together again, which is sad-
Speaker:Mm-hmm ... 'cause it's their, their guy.
Speaker:But you're gonna have the next group come in and, you know, you really
Speaker:believe, like, things are going in a good direction and there's a good
Speaker:shot to really be highly competitive in 2027, which doesn't sound like a
Speaker:real year, but it's only next year.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:It's, it's gonna be here before you know it.
Speaker:Uh, yeah.
Speaker:Being down on the field after the game on Tuesday was definitely tough.
Speaker:Uh, you know, we got so many guys that, like, that's, that's their last game.
Speaker:That's it.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Uh, you know, thinking of guys like Cashe Jay and Slater too, and-
Speaker:Yeah
Speaker:... uh, you know, Schuman and all those guys.
Speaker:But, uh- Evan
Speaker:Holman.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Evan definitely a, a tough one there too.
Speaker:So yeah, that's probably the worst part about doing this, is you get so
Speaker:attached to these guys and all, like, it has a very finite amount of time
Speaker:that they're gonna be on the team.
Speaker:They're gonna play their last
Speaker:game.
Speaker:I mean, a few of these guys, you think about like, um, Stott and Matella- Yeah
Speaker:and Schuman and Davis, I mean, they've been around, it seems like 100 years.
Speaker:I mean, a couple of those guys have been around five years.
Speaker:Uh, and so that group of guys who've kind of always been around the
Speaker:pitching staff and the bullpen not here anymore, it, it will feel odd.
Speaker:You know, it's, and again, it'll feel, you know, it'll be what it is, 'cause
Speaker:that's kinda what baseball always is.
Speaker:I mean, TJ and I were talking about that on the bus ride back about
Speaker:like, yeah, it's gonna be like, you know, between transfers and
Speaker:things, probably be like 20 guys.
Speaker:I'm like, "Yeah, but it was about 20 guys last year." Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Just kind of every year is, is what it is.
Speaker:Um, so yeah.
Speaker:It's strange.
Speaker:Just
Speaker:the norm.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Well, I'm glad we're bringing back a, a younger core plus some, some
Speaker:guys at Purdue that are gonna kinda be in their final year next year.
Speaker:Uh, so I think the expectations go up next year.
Speaker:Uh- Yeah ... this team's been through hell the last two.
Speaker:Like last year on the road, this year modified home field, very
Speaker:weird and disconnected from the fans, but the best we could do.
Speaker:Uh, next year we've got the ballpark open.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:There's gonna be some expectations on winning that are gonna be better than
Speaker:like setting the target at 15 and 15.
Speaker:But we weren't far from being better than 15 and 15 this year.
Speaker:I mean, we played like trash the first half of the season,
Speaker:and we still got to 15 and 15.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Close to 16 and 14 if we, we finish off JMU, uh, in that final game.
Speaker:Uh, and if you look, like 16 and 14, 17 and 13 get you a regional bid.
Speaker:So we're like just below that mark.
Speaker:So a little, little improvement, the expectations will go up and I think we'll
Speaker:probably see better play just from, you know, having a normal home environment
Speaker:for the first time in two years.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And, and you hope, like I said, they, they seem to like, uh, some of the
Speaker:JUCO guys they're bringing in and some are coming from winning programs.
Speaker:He, he was just saying right there, they're hoping
Speaker:So y- that's what you always want is those guys who, you know,
Speaker:you want guys who wanna win.
Speaker:You want guys who, you know, you want good people, but part of that being good
Speaker:people is we all wanna win together.
Speaker:Gotta be competitive.
Speaker:Gotta be competitive.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:Well, that will do it for us.
Speaker:We will probably come back in about a month or so with a recruiting update,
Speaker:portal update, let all of that settle.
Speaker:We still got a week before it opens.
Speaker:Uh, ODUmonarchists.com does have a baseball roster churn.
Speaker:As things become public, we'll put them in there.
Speaker:Then obviously if we see them in the portal from one of the sites it
Speaker:scrapes, we'll add them to that as well.
Speaker:Um-
Speaker:Yeah, I think there's already about six guys we have listed in
Speaker:that churn, so, you know- We need
Speaker:some, yeah
Speaker:might be.
Speaker:I know we, at least a couple more we can think of, but yeah.
Speaker:So that's keep, it's, uh, yeah, Mike, uh, put that together off of our information
Speaker:that, yes, it's nice to be able to look at it and say, hey, you know,
Speaker:it's, it's a good look at here's what's leaving, and just so you can be aware.
Speaker:'Cause and I think a lot of times people see, oh, so, so and so are leaving.
Speaker:There's all these guys in the portal.
Speaker:And sometimes it's like, okay, yeah, go look at their stats.
Speaker:Like, we love them.
Speaker:I love them.
Speaker:They're great guys.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I fully believe they're gonna go be successful other places, but, you
Speaker:know, it's, Finny made a great point.
Speaker:It's just, it's, it's not always, this isn't always the right place for you.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And sometimes it takes a year or two to kind of figure that out.
Speaker:But I would prefer the honesty and know that, and then-
Speaker:Yeah
Speaker:... try to go play somewhere else than be given that like, you know, fake
Speaker:carrot of, oh, you'll play eventually.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And all of a sudden you're, you've burned four years and it's over.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I think it's much, it's much kinder to a guy.
Speaker:I mean, frankly, you know, some guys, and again, you don't know what you don't
Speaker:know, but like, if you've been here, if you're here a year and you haven't played
Speaker:and you're looking around and you really ask, gotta ask yourself like, "Am I
Speaker:gonna beat this guy, this guy, this guy?"
Speaker:You know, you should be able to make that determination on your own, but
Speaker:it's nice for them to have that honesty and say, "Look, this is the reality."
Speaker:Sets up a good, a good place for them, and then also the, the
Speaker:pressure- Yeah ... to win now is on.
Speaker:Like Finny knows that, and they know how much the ballpark costs
Speaker:and what the expectations are.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So on that, the coaching side of it too, we have to continue to look for ways to
Speaker:get better and add more bats, more arms, whatever it is, and- Yeah ... it's kind
Speaker:of a byproduct, but it goes both ways.
Speaker:So we'll, we'll keep an eye on it.
Speaker:Um, and obviously keep that, uh, site updated.
Speaker:You do need a Monarch, Monarch Plus subscription to see it.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:It's a $12 a month one to be able to access it.
Speaker:Uh, but it will be there for you, and you won't have to track
Speaker:down 9,000 social media posts to figure out who's going where.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Or send, send me messages that I ignore 'cause I don't know
Speaker:how to check messages well.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Uh, all right.
Speaker:Well, I think that will do it for us.
Speaker:CB, anything left?
Speaker:No, I mean, every year is, you know, it's, it, it happens, you wait
Speaker:for it forever, then it happens so fast, even though it doesn't feel
Speaker:fast necessarily as it's happening.
Speaker:But, uh, it's, yeah, I mean, I, I, I love baseball.
Speaker:It's like I'm already look- thinking about the High School game hopefully I
Speaker:go to on Wednesday, and hopefully going to some Piles games this weekend, and I,
Speaker:I love sports and I love baseball, and ODU is awesome, and I thoroughly enjoy
Speaker:doing this with you, Gary, even though I apparently don't ever let you talk.
Speaker:That, uh, that's a problem that I have.
Speaker:I'm sorry.
Speaker:Oh, you, you let me talk plenty.
Speaker:Less, less is more.
Speaker:Less is more.
Speaker:All right, well, that'll do it for us.
Speaker:We'll see you all in about a month.
Speaker:Go Monarchs.
Speaker:Go Monarchs.
