CB and Gary preview the Monarchs pitching staff and 2024 schedule. Jacob Gomez stops in to chat about the team and playing along side his brother.

Yeah.

2

Gary: Hello, Monarch fans, and

welcome to the Hudson Homer's podcast.

3

If you've clicked on this episode,

thank you for watching our first episode

4

where you previewed, the offense and

the lineup and talk to Stephen Meyer

5

who's a transfer in to ODU., if you

haven't listened to that episode, please

6

go back and listen to that first one.

7

In today's episode, we are going

to focus on the pitching staff.

8

Our starting rotation,

arms in the bullpen.

9

We're also going to do

a quick run through.

10

Of the schedule.

11

So you know what to expect

and provide a little bit of

12

context on some of our matchups.

13

I'm Gary and I'm joined

as always by CB Wilkins.

14

CB,

15

how's it going?

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CB: Hey, it is great.

17

We're talking about ODU baseball.

18

It's always a good time.

19

Gary: And I've just been getting so

amped up in these weeks leading up to it.

20

We've got just a few days away before

the season actually starts with the

21

home opener against George Washington.

22

So I'm, I'm pretty pumped.

23

I'm ready to smell the dirt and

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get down there to Norfolk.

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CB: This is my favorite time of the

year because it's all potential.

26

At this point, it's just

what you think could happen.

27

You know, nobody has an ERA yet.

28

Nobody has a batting average yet.

29

It's all just, you're just

excited about what it could be.

30

Gary: Everything is all right in front

of you as an individual and as a team.

31

And as we talked about when we were

going through the lineup, uh, there's

32

a lot of really good hitters, a lot

of really good guys in that lineup,

33

and this could be a very fun year for

34

ODU.

35

CB: Yeah, it's uh, I mean every but

you know as exciting as that lineup

36

is, you know every year people

ask me How's the team going to be?

37

My answer is always well, they're

going to be as good as their pitching

38

Gary: And, we saw through some injuries

and some things last year where just

39

how important pitching is, especially

as you get down the stretch and

40

really into the grind, of the season.

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So let's just jump right in

here on this pitching staff.

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I know we've had some turnover.

43

There may have some new faces, in

the main weekend starting lineup, but

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CB, who are you projecting to be our,

our Friday starter weekend series?

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CB: so I, you know, I'm going to

talk about the pitching and I'm

46

going to say, I don't have a lot of

certainty about these guys roles.

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I'm going to tell you what I think it's

going to be based on what I've seen.

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But as always, I'm just some guy,

I'll say this, we have a lot of depth.

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There are a lot of guys with really good

arms, really talented, how it's all going

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to work itself out, I really don't know.

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But one thing I do feel pretty

certain of is that come, Friday,

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against George Washington, it's going

to be John Hollibets on the mound.

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I'm, I'm pretty sure he's going

to be our opening day guy.

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Going to start out as the Friday guy,

hopefully maintain that all year.

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Huge arm.

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We were lucky that Radford was such

a mess that they let this kid go.

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They had such nonsense going

on that a bunch of people left.

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And he decided to come to us, Phenomenal

arm great kid didn't pitch a ton up

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in the cape last year in the cape cod

league But pitched enough to be very

60

impressive to people so my guess is

you're going to see a solid amount

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of scouts anytime he's on the mound

and a just a big time competitor.

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I'm so very excited about what john

Halibut's is going to do this year for us.

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Gary: And that Friday starting spot

is probably the most pressure packed

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position for any player in college

baseball because you're likely going up

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against the other team's ace and you're

setting the tone for the whole weekend.

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So if you're getting blown up in

the second and third inning here,

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your bullpen is going to be in

trouble for the rest of that series.

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So, it is a tough job to have.

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And really excited to see, what

he's able to do with it there and

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provide some stability for us at that

position going throughout the year.

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And especially when we get

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into

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conference

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play,

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CB: Yeah, I think john's the kind of

guy he really lives off of So I think,

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as you said, if you, you win that first

game of the weekend, you got three games.

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Well, then you only got to win one

of the other two to win the weekend.

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Right?

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Well, if you lose the first game,

you got to win two games that

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are left to win the weekend.

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So just get yourself on a good foot.

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That first game really changes your

whole outlook on how the weekend can go.

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I think John's a great.

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A great guy to have in that spot.

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He's definitely a gamer so after that

again, I I know we have a group of

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guys who are all looking at being

starters I'm going to just list them.

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I'm not really going to say I really don't

know who's going to be Saturday sunday

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who's going to fill in more on tuesday and

wednesday so we brought in eric harker.

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He's a junior.

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He's a transfer from cincinnati,

he actually, when he was a freshman

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in Cincinnati, he was teammates

with, Nick Murray, who was ODU's,

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director of player development.

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So, I have to imagine when Garrett

went in the, uh, transfer portal, that

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was a call that Nick made pretty fast.

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He was, he was Cincinnati's team captain

last year as a sophomore and had a

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couple of really good years there.

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Really good right handed pitcher.

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And so we're, we're lucky to have him.

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I really have to believe he's going to

find his way in that weekend rotation.

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Kyle Finn is another, kid.

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He's a junior college transfer.

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He was at Niagara County

community college up in New York.

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And his team actually went to

the, Duco world series last year.

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He pitched for that.

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He was paired with a guy, I think in

a Yukon, it was a really good pitch.

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So the two of them would kind of.

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Pitch back to back games and he's a

really talented pitcher, too so that's

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a couple new guys we brought in that

are fighting for those starting roles

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And again, if these guys don't end up

being in the rotation, you've got real

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electric arms out of the bullpen then

we have some returning guys who are

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fighting for spots Uh, jacob gomez who

you know, and i'm he's getting a shot.

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I believe to start if he doesn't end

up being a starter that's a dynamite

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really, aggressive arm out of the bullpen.

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Jacob is, he's a fighter.

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He's a guy, if you don't have him in

the rotation, I think it's probably just

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because you want him to be your closer.

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So he's the guy that will just fight

and he's a bulldog on the mound.

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He's a really aggressive

kid as a baseball player.

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Gary: and I feel like Jacob

too, has kind of been like the

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stabilizing force in that bullpen.

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Definitely last year.

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I mean, he only started

two games, appeared in 21.

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But he seemed to be the, one of the

better answers in the bullpen, especially

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coming into really tight scenarios.

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I think your evaluation there is him

being a, a fighter and, and a dude you

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can depend on is, is definitely there.

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So whether he's in the rotation

or the bullpen, I mean, that's

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a, that that's a win for this

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pitching

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CB: Yeah, he is, as New

Jersey as they come.

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He is not afraid of anybody.

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He is going to throw haymakers

at you and then stare you down.

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I love Jacob Gomez.

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He's such a good kid.

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And I, now as I'm sitting here talking

about it, I've convinced myself,

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I'm putting him in the bullpen.

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He's the closer.

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Uh, no, I really don't know.

139

A couple more guys who are,

who are fighting for options.

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So Dylan Brown who started last year

as our Sunday starter as a freshman.

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And he is, big six, five lefty.

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But despite all that size, he doesn't

necessarily have that overpowering stuff,

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but he throws hard, throws with movement,,

and he's, he's actually, they're actually

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working on him using that strength and

that height and that leverage better,, and

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he has looked outstanding in the fall, I

got to see him several times, and he, he

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looked like he's, you know, taking those

steps in his growth that you want to see

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from a sophomore, and then Ben Moore, Who

was an all american as a freshman freshman

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all american and I think just today they

named him to the all sunbelt preseason

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team he was a reliever and so he's

another guy getting a chance to start, you

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know Which is what he did in high school,

obviously ben was really outstanding He

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was right there along with gomez a guy out

of the bullpen who you bring in to really

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shut things down and stabilize stuff so

somewhere in that grouping is our starters

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I mean there might be some other guys here

that they compete for too, but I think

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Those six I mentioned are some combination

of that's going to be starting for us.

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Gary: So it's is definitely gonna look,

I think almost like a, a brand new, at

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least for those three days rotation wise.

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'cause not a lot of,

starts between all of them.

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obviously Dylan had some last year, but

I think that almost gives the coaching

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staff license to play around with that

a little bit and be able to figure those

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things out through non conference play.

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Just to see, you know, who's got

it, who's, who just does better

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coming out of the bullpens.

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I mean, some guys are like that and

there's roles for that all over the place.

164

I'm curious to see, and I, I would

definitely think the safest bet

165

in the world is to say that the

guys that start Friday, Saturday,

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Sunday against George Washington.

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Decent chances aren't the same three.

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They're going for our last weekend series.

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It'd be nice,

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CB: Yeah, I would hope at least

one of the three stays the same.

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But I think it's fair to say

just throughout a college season,

172

you typically don't end up

with the same three at the end.

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We do have a dark horse

in the starting positions.

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And that's Blake Morgan's knee.

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If you remember, if you're an ODU fan,

Blake Morgan was our phenomenal, freshman.

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He had a, just an outstanding

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Uh, 2023 had some struggles.

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I think he was really just

figuring it back out again.

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And then blew his knee out, and

making a play at first base.

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I think he's told me he tore both

the ACL and the MCL on that play.

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That was only last April.

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So here we are.

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end of January, about the start

of the season in February.

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When I was talking to him about a

week and a half ago, he was saying

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he's still not sure if he's going

to be healthy for the season.

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What it really comes down to is they

get to a certain point where if he's

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not going to be healthy and ready to

play, they're not going to have him

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play, it's much smarter to miss the

season, obviously we talked about he,

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he has a really good headspace about it

where he's very mature and saying, look,

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you know, playing a season, not healthy

is worse than not playing the season.

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So if it takes sitting out.

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Rehabbing, getting strong, working

himself out and getting better that way.

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Spending time, learning the game

even more from watching it, then

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that's going to be better than going

out there with a knee that's, at,

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70, 80 percent and struggling.

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As much as we'd all love to see Blake

pitch, if he's not going to be healthy,

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it's definitely better for him and better

for the team, but he doesn't pitch.

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Gary: You can also save that year

too, by not playing because as we've,

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we've talked about offline before,

where this isn't like football, where

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you can play four games and still

get your full year of eligibility.

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You come out there and you're

out there for one out and

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your season has been burned.

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I love watching Blake Morgan pitch.

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Uh, I'm a fellow lefty, so

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CB: I'm a lefty too.

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Me too.

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Gary: Hey, we're with the lefty

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Hudson

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Homer's podcast.

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Now

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we're going to.

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CB: There you go.

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Love it.

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Renamed it.

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Rebranded.

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Changed all

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Gary: We're going to sell nothing

but left handed merchandise

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from here on out on monarchist.

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com.

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But yeah, I, I love watching him,

him pitch and just the way that he

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commanded the strike zone and mixed

his pitches and they could just come in

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and just dominate you with the fastball

when you weren't paying attention.

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So I would much rather see that

version of Blake Morgan where he's.

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Healthy and able to go full boat.

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Then, him having to compensate for a bad

knee by maybe hurting his other knee.

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We've seen that in some other sports too.

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So wishing the best hope

he's, he's feeling better, but

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we definitely want him at a

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hundred percent when he takes the mound.

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CB: And he's a he's a great kid.

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Like I said, I just talking to him.

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He sounds like he's in a really

good place mentally about it.

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And he's he's an excellent teammate.

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I used to tell, Brett Smith, uh, who,

you know, some of some folks remember

235

he was with ODU for seven years.

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Uh, because of injuries, literally

was working at doctorate by last year.

237

Uh, but I would tell Brett, you

know, you can still contribute to

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the team even when you're not playing

because you're such a good teammate.

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And I think Blake is

exactly that kind of guy.

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He is such a, he's a, such a

big fan of his, his fellow guys.

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He's he keeps it goofy.

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So even if he's not able to

go out there, he's still going

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to be a big part of the team.

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Gary: That's awesome to hear.

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And you need those blue guys in

the, in the bullpen or in the

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dugout, wherever it may be, because.

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The season gets long real fast and, uh,

you got to have someone, you have multiple

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options to kind of pick up those spirits

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there And keep everything

going in the right direction.

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CB: And you gotta spend a lot of

time with each other, so it's, it's

251

important to like each other and

have guys who are fun to be around.

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Gary: And we're, hoping to get to

know these guys a little bit more as

253

the season goes on and we have them

on the podcast, we had Stephen Meyer

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for our first episode but, let's talk

a little bit about that bullpen and,

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you talked about closers and potential

closers, who else that we haven't talked

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about as someone you're watching, out

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of the bullpen.

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CB: Vincent Bechara, so

Bache, kid, obviously Norfolk

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native, great history at ODU.

260

It's his senior year, which to me

is crazy as someone who's known him

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since he was like nine years old.

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It's, it's absolutely

insane that he's a senior.

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He's the guy, he's been a big

part of the bullpen all three

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years, like even as a freshman.

265

I think.

266

When he went into his freshman

year, I didn't know if he

267

was going to pitch at all.

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And you know, I think he

led the team in appearances.

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And so he's been very reliable

out of that bullpen every year.

270

Again, I wouldn't expect him

necessarily to be a closer, but

271

he's going to be one of those guys.

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He's going to be there.

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When you call his number,

he's going to come in.

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He's going to do his job.

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I mean, that's just one

thing you say about Bash.

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He's, and again, great teammates.

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Trent Buchanan another one of our

returning guys, another Washington product

278

as our, uh, not quite sidearm, kind of

like a real low three quarters delivery.

279

But Trent, uh, he's looked

outstanding in the fall.

280

He's a very talented pitcher and he looked

like he really took some, some steps

281

over the summer to make himself better.

282

So I'm, I'm excited to see

what he can do this season.

283

A new guy we have coming in, Aiden, and

I might mispronounce his name, but I

284

think the way he said it was Aiden Kuhl.

285

Aiden's another kid that I've been

watching since he was in high school,

286

and played at Roanoke College,

for the last, four years, I think.

287

I think it was three or four years.

288

Now he's finally come back home.

289

He's a Cape Henry kid.

290

And Aiden's a really, he's a huge guy.

291

I mean, the guy's like six,

five, he's, he's enormous.

292

So he definitely does.

293

And he's, he's very muscular.

294

Big guy, really intimidating.

295

Come out of the bullpen,

throws the ball hard.

296

Uh, that's a guy who really could, could

possibly come in close in games for you.

297

And then we have Jay Cassidy is a

kid we got from Christopher Newport,

298

and he is a phenomenal pitcher.

299

He's a guy that could possibly stretch

out and give you some starting innings.

300

Lefty throws hard, has

really great secondary stuff.

301

Brandon Pond, won, uh, the

national championship last

302

year with Lynchburg College.

303

Kid who's been a winner, he threw a

complete game in the College World Series.

304

So again, another kid who maybe, you

know, as, as he gets stretched out

305

during the year, could end up being

a starter, but definitely going to

306

be a big time arm out of the bullpen.

307

So right there, I mean, I just listed off

what five guys that are very strong arms.

308

Uh, but just, just as a, the tip

of the iceberg, and then you talk

309

about Kenny LaVarie, you know, Kenny

LaVarie is that we're going to have

310

him pitch, so Kenny is going to

probably at least once on the weekend.

311

Going to be scheduled to come

in out of the bullpen and throw.

312

You have Bailey Matella who was

a freshman for us last year.

313

Started off really outstanding.

314

He kind of, I think he got a little

tired by the end of the year.

315

You could see it.

316

I think if you look at his final numbers,

they ended up being kind of ugly.

317

But if you remember back to a little

bit before the end of the year, he

318

was, I think he had a zero year A

through his first, like 14 innings.

319

Bailey he's a very talented pitcher.

320

Now, again, another

kid I've been watching.

321

So he was like eighth grade over there.

322

Greenbrier Christian.

323

Really big, talented lefty.

324

I expect him to make some big

strides and have a solid year.

325

We got Lincoln Ransom.

326

So Lincoln Ransom is,

again, he is a senior.

327

It's his final year with us.

328

But they have moved him to the bullpen.

329

This is a move I honestly wish

that would have happened any

330

time the last two seasons.

331

He just didn't, get enough chances as an

outfielder or as a pinch hitter or DH.

332

To me it was a, Hey, we

got a really good arm.

333

It's just sitting here on the bench.

334

We should be using them, especially,

you know, you always have points in

335

a baseball season where you're like,

man, I wish we had another arm or two.

336

Well, we, we had one.

337

I get why you don't just start throwing

a kid in the middle of the season.

338

But I Lincoln's a really good

kid, a big arm, and I think,

339

he could be a very surprising

addition to the team as a pitcher.

340

Gary: I'm almost surprised we didn't

see him a little bit more last year,

341

especially when the injuries started

piling up kind of later in the season,

342

but just hearing you go through

these players and from what I know

343

about the returners and what you've

seen from the new guys coming in.

344

I mean, it's going to be another tough

decision point for coach Finney, when

345

he's looking on the bullpen, like, all

right, I've got nine different options,

346

who do I bring in for this scenario?

347

I'm sure they'll plan it out and be

much better at than I ever could be.

348

But, I think it's similar theme we

saw on the offensive side, where you

349

have a lot of different guys, they can

play a lot of different roles for you

350

and they can all get out and that's.

351

I think just a great weapon to have

when you don't know what's going to

352

happen throughout the

course of the season.

353

CB: I think that the plus side

when it comes to pitching is

354

there's a lot of innings to cover.

355

You know, with the at bats, there's

only so many positions on the field.

356

There's only so many at bats in a game.

357

With the pitching, at least you know, in

the first part of the year, well, guys

358

are maybe only going to go, even your

starters are only going to maybe go four

359

or five innings because it's so cold.

360

And so, you've got a

lot of innings to cover.

361

You get that chance to get guys out there

and see what they can do and find out

362

what they can do in some different spots.

363

So, I, it is, you're right, it's, it's

the same kind of, like, good problem.

364

Like, there's a lot of talent.

365

And how do you use it all?

366

At least, I think that's a little easier

to maybe sort out on the pitching side.

367

Gary: Yeah and just managing expectations

of the guys that are on the roster too.

368

And it, from, from the conversations

that we've had, that there's, everyone

369

has that team first mentality and

it's not about who's closing today,

370

who's setting up today, who's facing

lefties today, it's more of like,

371

what do we need to do as a team to get

the outs to go and win this ball game

372

like I said, the conversation we've

had, it seems like everyone is very,

373

very bought into that going into

the season when maybe in the past

374

that has not always been the case.

375

CB: Yeah, I mean it's there.

376

We got some really good kids

and they're excited to be here.

377

So speaking of that We got a few freshmen

that are worth mentioning because and

378

again, I'll say I don't know how their

English are gonna turn out I just know

379

that they're talented arms and they've

been every time I've been out there.

380

They've been thrown well So Kenny

LaVarie's younger brother Marco.

381

He is a pitcher on the team.

382

He was the same thing

as Kenny in high school.

383

He was an infielder and a pitcher,

but Marco was a little bit better

384

on the mound So he's coming to us

as a pitcher just tough guy, a lot

385

like Kenny was when he got here.

386

Very quiet, very focused

on what he's doing.

387

But he's a, he's a good pitcher.

388

We got Hudson Trobaugh, lefty.

389

We love those apparently.

390

We love lefties.

391

From Maryland,, won a state championship.

392

I was fortunate enough.

393

I got to go up and he played the

state championship up there in

394

Waldorf and I got to go watch him

he pitched and batted lead off,, and

395

played center field late in the game.

396

It was a walk off victory.

397

It was very fun to watch.

398

But he pitched great.

399

He's been throwing really well.

400

And then, uh, Ben Moisan,

uh, he is a righty.

401

He went to IMG.

402

Uh, which, uh, anybody who doesn't

know, IMG is one of the premier

403

baseball academies in the country.

404

I think I just saw yesterday that

the current IMG team, which has an

405

ODU commit, Will Orbison, they're

the number one team in the country

406

to start the year in high school.

407

So Ben comes from that place where

he got a lot of good coaching

408

and he's a very talented kid.

409

So those are three freshmen

that are very good pitchers.

410

Again, you know, they got a lot

of competition, a lot of guys.

411

They got to work, try to outwork

and try to outperform, but they

412

certainly have the ability.

413

Gary: Exciting to hear

about all those freshmen.

414

Those of you who typically

listen to like football podcasts

415

and stuff, jump over here.

416

IMG is not a, a new name for you.

417

We've definitely had some

football players come from IMG

418

and they have put some dudes in.

419

Power five in the NFL.

420

And it's kind of the same story

on the baseball side of the thing.

421

They are a talent factory down there.

422

So, uh, glad to hear where we're

cracking into that pipeline to

423

join our Pacific Northwest, to

424

make our full Oregon

trail passage out there.

425

CB: Yeah, we may have had a

little bit of an in there.

426

Uh, Sean Wood, who,, some might

remember, played at Old Dominion in

427

2017, coached with us for a few years.

428

He's down there coaching at IMG now.

429

So I don't know if that's, if Sean's

down there, you know, hitting an elbow

430

on some guys and saying, Hey, uh,

who do you, who do you, who do you?

431

But, uh, I hope he is, cause Sean's

a great guy and it'd be wonderful

432

if he was helping us out like

433

Gary: Uh, that, that would be awesome.

434

Build the IMG pipeline all day.

435

You're, you're guaranteed to

get some, some really high

436

quality players coming out of there.

437

So if

438

CB: kid, uh, Will Orbison, we have

439

and he is a really good ballplayer.

440

So that's exciting

441

Gary: an MLB scout and you're

looking at the draft, nevermind,

442

ignore everything we just said.

443

don't

444

draft

445

them, please

446

let them come.

447

CB: don't don't look at him.

448

He's He's not ready.

449

He's three years of college

450

Gary: There you go.

451

Yeah.

452

Get a, get a couple with us and

453

then have Adam take

them in the first round.

454

CB: Yeah, and frankly anymore with

the way they have The minor leagues

455

set up if you're not going to draft

the guy in the first Round second

456

round third round out of high school.

457

They're not really it's not really worth

going pro You know, they don't have the

458

levels to develop guys anymore So I my

unofficial but not my my useless advice

459

is not unofficial It's just not not coming

from any place They need to care about

460

but if you're if you're a high school

kid and they're not going to pick in the

461

first three rounds Just go to college.

462

It's they don't have the

levels to develop you.

463

They don't want to develop you anymore

Uh, there's, there was a kid from, from

464

Richmond, I just saw the other day, he's

a free agent and he was a Benedictine,

465

phenomenal ball player, is a shortstop,

and he was, he got, he actually was

466

a third rounder, but here he is.

467

You know, he's like 21, he's a free

agent, and it's like his career might

468

be over, and he didn't play that badly.

469

It's a meat grinder now.

470

Gary: Yeah.

471

It's, it's tough to develop at all.

472

In the major league system now, like

you really have to almost do it, do

473

the majority of the things yourself.

474

Mainly in college sports.

475

We talk now about transfer portal and

NIL and how that's hurting the game

476

and hurting this and hurting that.

477

And in baseball, I think overall, if

you look at the big picture of the

478

game from little league to the majors.

479

Like these changes that have occurred

in the minor leagues and with the

480

drafter to the last few years, it

really, really hurt that quite a bit.

481

You got guys that, would have been

that really cool story of coming up

482

from nothing and starting at rookie

ball and moving up that just doesn't

483

really, really happen anymore.

484

So the good thing is for those of us

that are college baseball fans, too,

485

we're seeing a lot more talent stay.

486

At our level and it's starting to

create some parity even between what

487

used to be the traditional power for

power five, you're seeing really, really

488

good guys in the group of five level.

489

And that's why the Sunbelt is elevated.

490

We've definitely taken advantage

of that while still putting

491

guys into the draft and into the

league and getting on rosters.

492

But it's a different world in college

baseball than it was,, seven or

493

eight years ago and not even thinking

494

transfer portal or NIL yet.

495

CB: Yeah, and you always have to remember,

the scouts, they do their best they

496

possibly can, and they're still not right.

497

I mean, one third of first round picks

never play a game in the big leagues.

498

That's a stat that's over the last,

over the first 40 years of the draft.

499

A third of them never played a

single day in the big leagues.

500

And then you have, Vinny Pasquitino

is a perfect example, right?

501

That guy, he was the first

pick of the 11th round.

502

Well, he was in the big leagues within two

years and is an outstanding ballplayer.

503

That guy should not have been on the way.

504

You should not have had a way to the

11th round to pick a guy that good.

505

And so that's a case of, what

was it that they didn't see?

506

Who knows?

507

Gary: There's, of course, it's a lot of

analytically driven decision making now

508

to like, you still have some scouts to put

eyes on people, but, it's if your numbers

509

don't come up right in the computers, then

you could go from 3rd round to 11th round.

510

And if you're not in the right

environment, when you 1st land,

511

it could be a quick exit when.

512

And you're probably someone

that could have been at the all

513

star caliber, in the majors.

514

I mean, think about Vinny.

515

I'm glad he got that opportunity

and got up and showed himself,

516

before the injury last year.

517

And I think he's, he's gonna

have a very long and successful

518

career in the pros now because of it.

519

CB: Yeah.

520

It's a shame that fewer guys

will get the opportunities that

521

really baseball needs them to get.

522

But, yeah, but again, this isn't

a, this isn't a podcast about how

523

they've screwed up Miley baseball.

524

This is about how great ODU baseball is.

525

So let me, there's three more

guys I wanted to mention on the

526

pitching staff just to make sure

I kind of hit all the names.

527

I, I think these guys will have an

impact too on the pitching side.

528

Stephen Trone is our

side armor sophomore now.

529

He's a talented kid.

530

He's a fighter.

531

Great, great kid.

532

Really, if you ever get a chance,

we need to get Stephen on sometime.

533

Talk to him for sure.

534

Cause he's just a really good kid.

535

Kellen Davis, he is a redshirt sophomore.

536

Wow.

537

He's been, so he's been around.

538

This is his third year with the team.

539

And then, Tyler Stott, who some

might remember he was on the football

540

team as a backup quarterback.

541

He's now chosen baseball.

542

So those are three, returning

guys, who've all seen various

543

amounts of time on the mound.

544

And you all could very

easily find themselves in.

545

Pitching big innings, depending on how

things shake out and how they perform.

546

Gary: It'll be something to watch closely

really over the first, like 10 to 15 games

547

to see who's firing out of the bullpen,

what moves is coach Fenwood making with.

548

Trying to find the right spot for

the right guys at the right time.

549

But as you put it, it's a good problem

to have if you're this coaching staff

550

to have that many arms, to potentially,

just be able to piece it together and get

551

outs in all kinds of games.

552

CB: Yeah, absolutely.

553

And, Nick Slopezio is another freshman.

554

We have a righty.

555

He had a knee injury that

he didn't play in the fall.

556

So I'm not, I'm really, I haven't

got a chance to talk to him and know

557

where that is, if he's going to be

healthy and compete, or if, just the

558

way things are looking with the roster,

if he'd be better off red shirting.

559

I don't know, but he's there,

another name worth looking out for.

560

He's a very talented kid.

561

From, uh, pro five Academy, which

is, another IMG like, , Academy

562

school where we've getting, we're

getting a few kids out of there.

563

Another great place that

talent's coming out of.

564

Gary: Awesome.

565

CB, thanks, for running us through

the pitching staff there and sharing

566

all of your knowledge, with me.

567

And then also with all of our Monarch

fans here that are gearing up, for

568

the first pitch of the 2024 season.

569

Coming up next on the

Hudson homers podcast.

570

Our conversation with Jacob Gomez, who

you've heard a good bit about today.

571

We talked with him about

the upcoming season.

572

Playing with his brother and some

flashbacks to that 21 regional appearance

573

that he had against Jacksonville.

574

Coming back from that we'll run through

the 20, 24 season giving you a glimpse

575

of what lies ahead for the monarchs.

576

This year.

577

Thanks so much for

listening and stay tuned.

578

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

579

Gary: Welcome back to the Hudson

Homers podcast, Monarch fans.

580

We're joined today by Jacob Gomez,

pitcher for Old Dominion Baseball.

581

And of course my co host CB Wilkins.

582

Jacob, thanks so much for

spending a few minutes with us.

583

Jacob: Thank you for having me,

and thank you for the opportunity.

584

Gary: Absolutely.

585

We want to jump in here and start talking

about, your time at ODU and this season.

586

But, you're one of the rare few in

college sports these days that, has stayed

587

with one college for your whole career.

588

I know the transfer portal and all

those things, it doesn't happen a

589

whole lot, we'd love to hear a little

bit about your thoughts on ODU, your

590

experience here so far, and what has

made you want to just commit to this

591

program for your whole college career.

592

Jacob: So, my freshman year was actually

a lot different than past experience.

593

It started with coven.

594

So.

595

We didn't get a lot of opportunity

to be on the field because school

596

was shut down a couple of times

throughout the fall semester.

597

But as a team, we came together,

we either went to Longwood or.

598

We threw in the middle of

ODU campus, in the grass.

599

So it was definitely a different

experience that I wasn't expecting,

600

but, it was one that lasted forever

because that year we ended up winning

601

the conference USA championship and then

ended up going to a regionals that year.

602

So I think everything worked

out how it should have been.

603

Throughout the years, I kept

developing, developing and, you know,

604

I just, I couldn't find myself being

somewhere else because this place has

605

brought me so much joy being here.

606

And I also gained a lot of knowledge

from our pitching coach, coach

607

Marin and everyone else around them.

608

I never, it never crossed my

mind to ever enter the transfer

609

portal as, uh, everyone else has.

610

And I just kind of just set my, my

grounds for being here, , because

611

everything has been, you know, the

way I've always wanted college to be.

612

It was just a great experience

and, you I'm really looking

613

forward for this last year.

614

I think it's going to be a special

615

CB: That's really great to hear,

man, because, I've known you

616

the whole time you've been here.

617

I've thoroughly enjoyed you

being at ODU the whole time.

618

You're a great kid.

619

You got a great family.

620

And part of the joy of you sticking around

is now you got your brother on the team.

621

Jacob: Yeah, that's, that's pretty cool.

622

Especially, since our, my senior

year, his freshman year of high

623

school got cut short because of COVID.

624

So having the opportunity again

to play with him,, is just

625

another memory added to this list

626

at

627

CB: Yeah, I saw it.

628

So I don't know if this happened again.

629

I know I saw at least one time

you guys faced off in the fall

630

and Alex got a single off of you.

631

Jacob: Yeah, I had to tip my cap to him.

632

He's a gritty player.

633

He deserves to be here.

634

You know, ODU was the only

one that actually offered him.

635

Not a scholarship, but a

preferred walk on spot.

636

So I was really proud of him for that,

he actually told me that he didn't

637

want to go anywhere else besides ODU,

if they ever gave him the opportunity.

638

And which they did, so now,

ever since he's been here, he's

639

gained about 20 to 25 pounds.

640

And he's actually starting to look

like a true catcher behind the plate.

641

So, I'm actually really

excited for his, his career

642

at ODU.

643

CB: That's great, man.

644

He is a he is greedy is

a great word for him.

645

He's I like when I think about

Alex, he doesn't try to do

646

anything more than what he can do.

647

He just wants to put the ball in play

when he's hitting and that's really

648

it's good to see guys know exactly

who they are as a player, especially

649

when they're as young as he is.

650

Jacob: Absolutely.

651

He's pro.

652

I think he's actually the

youngest kid on the team.

653

We're probably second to that.

654

So he still has a lot of work to do.

655

He has, three really great catchers

behind him or ahead of him.

656

We have Evan Holman, Jackson

Slater and Jackson Tone.

657

So with them helping him out and showing

him what not to do and the dues, it's

658

really shaping him into a, like a more

mature player than he was in high school.

659

Gary: Yeah, now on the mound, you can be

a pretty talkative, fiery pitcher, and

660

I know that's kind of your personality

when you go out there, but tell me

661

a little bit about, your mentality

when you're out there on the mound

662

and what inspires you to have that

fiery passion when you're pitching.

663

Jacob: So it actually, the fiery

compassion actually started freshman

664

year when coach Marin was trying to

help me mentally visualize myself.

665

striking everyone out.

666

And he always told me the phrase

be one for one, be on this one

667

pitch, one mindset at a time.

668

And ever since then, I stuck to that.

669

And of course I added some

fire at the ends if I struck

670

a kid out in a big situation.

671

In high school, I really,

I was really to myself.

672

Like I, I wasn't like as

excited in the mountain.

673

Like I did really well in high

school, but I never really had that.

674

Like, visualization of me

striking everyone out or

675

having that fiery compassion.

676

I definitely thank coach Marin for that.

677

Definitely up to my game a lot.

678

It made me more confident on the

mounds, especially in tight situations.

679

I'm just gonna keep rolling

with it because it's

680

working.

681

Gary: Well, we love these

682

fans for

683

CB: Yeah, it's really it is great to

see and I don't know how much This is

684

a thing you think of as you're doing it,

but you're that intensity you bring and

685

that fire and that Bravado where I mean

you literally you're striking guys and

686

jawing at them the whole way they're going

back to the dugout and There was a game.

687

Uh I want to say it was a coastal game.

688

was, It was a game where, ODU was down

and you as a pitcher, which I think

689

is really hard as a pitcher to swing

momentum like this, but you were dicing

690

them up and basically brought the team

back into the game with your energy.

691

I mean, that's just,

that's really impressive.

692

Jacob: Yeah, I actually

remember that game.

693

It was against Texas state.

694

I believe Yeah.

695

Yeah, we were down, I think we were

down four runs when I came in into the

696

fifth or sixth inning, and you know, it

was, the first two innings were one, two,

697

three, so I wanted to try and have that

momentum I had on the mound translated

698

into hitting, because it's, it just seems

that everyone was down throughout the

699

whole game, so I wanted to pick everyone

up, and needless to say, it worked.

700

The bench was doing their job firing

up the hitters before going up to bat.

701

And the hitters were doing their job

getting hits and being on base to

702

have the opportunity to win that game.

703

But I wouldn't have done that without

the help of my teammates on the

704

bench, because even when we were down

four runs, they still were firing

705

me up after every strikeout or pop

up or a double play, and it really

706

turned the momentum around in that

707

CB: Are you a big guy when

you're on the bench for for

708

hollering and yelling and stuff?

709

Jacob: Yeah, so there was a couple times

where I've gotten yelled at for, uh,

710

being too loud or saying the wrong things.

711

CB: I mean, I fully believe that.

712

Jacob: But, I mean, it

all, it all means well.

713

I'm just trying to be there for

my team and, make them better.

714

So therefore we have more success later

715

on in the season.

716

CB: No, I mean, I definitely see I

think you see it like when you're

717

watching pro baseball You watch down to

the the playoffs in the World Series.

718

You see the teams that are having the

most fun Are the ones that play the best.

719

And they, like, when I think back to y'all

720

were just having fun and being ridiculous.

721

And so I think, you know, doing what

you're doing and really trying to be

722

there for each other and just have

a great time that leads to success.

723

Jacob: Yeah, absolutely.

724

Gary: Any idea of what your role

is going to look like this year?

725

I know there's a lot of great arms

on that pitching staff this year.

726

you know if you're looking at rotation

midweek coming out of the bullpen

727

closer, any insights you, you are

allowed to give us, I should say.

728

Jacob: So nothing's really set

in stone as of right now, this

729

coming inner squad on Friday.

730

John and I are going to be throwing

five innings each, so I think me, John,

731

Dylan Brown, and Trent Buchanan are the

only ones throwing five, but I could

732

be wrong on that, but the way I see

it is like whatever, whatever role the

733

coaches end up putting me in, I'm

going to try and be the best that there

734

is, I've been put in spot starts, I've

been, I've closed, I've middle relieved,

735

so I've done everything so I'm, I'm,

I really don't necessarily care what

736

role I'm in as long as, I'm doing well

for the team and we just keep rolling.

737

CB: I was going to ask if you

had one you prefer, but you

738

just told me you don't care.

739

So that's great.

740

Jacob: Yeah.

741

I've been put in every role,

throughout my career here, so,

742

nothing would be surprising to me.

743

I would definitely be prepared

for any role that they put

744

CB: I mean, you've been good

in every role they put you in.

745

So you are prepared.

746

It's great to see.

747

Jacob: Yeah.

748

Gary: Looking back to the fall a

little bit and kind development over

749

the summer, you do you feel like you

threw in the fall and then how are

750

you feeling from an arm perspective?

751

Here now in the preseason as we

get pretty close to first game.

752

Jacob: So this was actually my first year

playing summer ball and I played up in the

753

Cape Cod League for the Harwich Mariners.

754

I went with Sam Armstrong, Kenny

LaVarie and Hunter Fitzgerald.

755

We all played on the same team

and it was definitely a blast.

756

I had four opportunities in Cape, just

cause there's a lot of new guys coming

757

in the roster and stuff, our pitching

depth in the Cape was pretty deep.

758

Out of the four appearances,

I think I did pretty well.

759

There was one game where, you know, I got

a little out of hands and started walking.

760

People and there's errors on the field.

761

It was definitely a huge mental

adjustment that I had to make for

762

the fall, especially since there's

going to be a whole new team.

763

We had just around 25 new guys,

including transfers and freshmen.

764

So I knew coming into the fall this

year, I had to change my mental game

765

from the summer, to be able to compete.

766

And it just felt like my freshman

year coming in, you know, I had a.

767

Uh, there was a lot of old

guys, experienced guys.

768

So had to compete and really dig

down into my roots and understands

769

like my role as a player on ODU.

770

Overall, I just had to change

the way I went about my business.

771

I had to create a new routine

thanks to Nick Murray.

772

He's one of the assistant pitching

coaches here at ODU and He helped me

773

understand being on a consistent routine

will lead to success on the field.

774

And so far, my fall was

probably the best fall I had.,

775

I jumped VLO from years prior.

776

I was, you know, 85 to 88.

777

And this fall I was 88 to 91.

778

And it's, leading into this season

where, my last outing I was 88 to 91,

779

but the outing before that I was 90 to

92, so there's a lot more consistency

780

And the routine that I'm doing and

it's going towards the field, so I'm

781

pretty happy about it

782

CB: How has that extra velocity,

affected things for you?

783

You think

784

Jacob: Body wise I mean I feel really

good because the routine that Nick

785

Murray gave us really focuses on

Strengthening the specific muscles to

786

be able to throw harder And I think

for the hitters this year, I'm kind of

787

scared for them because it seems like the

feedback I'm getting from is my ball is

788

a bowling ball and it never stops going.

789

So hopefully everything works out

and, I just stay on the routine

790

and the Velo will stay the same.

791

CB: that's exciting.

792

I like that.

793

Gary: that's, that's an awesome thing

to hear about the Vela going up.

794

I want to jump back a little bit to,

795

You were a freshman on that team.

796

You really pitched one of your best

performances of the year in the

797

regional first of all, what was it

like having that experience having, you

798

know, first regional and you're coming

into pitch and you throw so well in

799

a critical first game of a regional.

800

And then how is that experience helping

you now and translating it to some of the

801

other guys that are newer to the team?

802

Jacob: so that, so the experience

being on that older team

803

was actually really awesome.

804

You had a group of guys where you just

wanted to get better at the field and

805

then when you're off the field, we're

all hanging out, there's never a day

806

where we didn't do anything as a team.

807

And it, it really helped.

808

The camaraderie on the fields,

because if someone made an error, we

809

wouldn't get mad at them necessarily.

810

We'll just pick them up and make sure

that they, they do better the next time.

811

So going into regional, I've never really

experienced baseball like that before,

812

because, we're in Rutherford, New Jersey.

813

We never really made it past state finals,

and the games weren't really with a big

814

crowd or nothing really to this extent.

815

So it was definitely a new experience,

and I was definitely nervous, very,

816

very nervous coming into that game.

817

But I just knew in the back of my

head that my team was relying on

818

me to help them win, especially

since our starter, that game, Hunter

819

Gregory ended up getting hurt.

820

By getting hit by a hard

line drive into the ankle.

821

So I knew I just needed to go in

there and do my job, get outs,

822

and that's exactly what I did.

823

And I'll never forget that, that

experience because it made me realize

824

how much more potential I have

as a baseball player in general.

825

Because not a lot of

people get that experience.

826

There's about 360 division one

baseball teams in the United States.

827

Being able to be in that position was

just amazing and ending off being ranked

828

11th in the country was just phenomenal

829

CB: Yeah, that South Carolina game

the day after was, uh, amazing.

830

That's the crazy experience

I've had at a baseball game

831

Jacob: yet.

832

I mean, that's the most rowdy

baseball game I've ever been.

833

To like whenever we got a strikeout,

you feel the vibration from

834

all the screams in the dugout.

835

I mean, it was just an awesome experience.

836

There's about 10, 000 fans

837

there.

838

So

839

CB: and they were

840

not nice fans.

841

They

842

were,

843

Jacob: were

844

definitely

845

CB: mean, they were going

after people's families.

846

Like they were, they were

some not great folks.

847

It was an experience.

848

Jacob: Oh yeah.

849

They were yelling , in the bullpen

telling us we suck and stuff like that.

850

But he used to say we, we, we showed them

what's up and we held our own ground and

851

won that game because Ryan Moore came in

and did his job and you know, the bats

852

got some hits and runs and I mean, it

was, it was definitely one of the Best

853

baseball games I've ever been a part

854

CB: Yeah.

855

Best I've ever saw.

856

Um, Aaron holiday pitch too.

857

Jacob: Was, he was mowing them down

with his 95, 98 mile an hour fastball.

858

And they just had absolutely no chance.

859

So the way we set up that

game was just in our favor.

860

Like we were just so

successful up to that point.

861

Like there's no way we

weren't winning that game.

862

Gary: I think you can credit a lot of

that bullpen set up to your ability to

863

come in that situation in the first game.

864

And save a lot of arms for that

matchup with South Carolina

865

with how well you pitched.

866

There was something sad, like obviously

we wanted to have that regional at home

867

and we're in the process of building

the ballpark so that we don't have to

868

go on the road to host a regional again.

869

There was, I had a little bit of

satisfaction for the rest of the

870

tournament that the stands were fairly

empty because South Carolina got sent

871

home after the hell that they were

giving you, throughout that whole game.

872

Jacob: Yeah, the whole experience

overall, I mean, I, I definitely had

873

a, a good part in, in that success, but

I mean, it was overall group effort.

874

It can't just be me.

875

I'm just one person, you know, Jason

Hartline coming in there, he was,

876

he was at his peak performance.

877

I think he had a sub one ERA that year, so

he was, he was just mowing guys down like.

878

We were just connected as a whole,

team and, I think that's what

879

really brought us to that position.

880

And I, I'm really excited for this

team because I'm starting to feel the

881

same way with the players and everyone.

882

We have great fellowship, and, we're

just trying to play to win essentially.

883

Gary: I know that bullpens are

always a little bit funky, a little

884

bit odd, a little too much time on

their hands sometimes down there.

885

What's something that is like

an ODU bullpen tradition or

886

superstition, that goes on down there?

887

And I'll preface this by saying,

we're going to ask every pitcher

888

that comes on the same question.

889

So know that you are not going to be

the only one being asked about this.

890

I

891

Jacob: No, yeah.

892

So, uh, I don't think we

have any superstitions.

893

But before the season starts, we

always have this little competition.

894

It's, uh, the old dirty competition

where we separate into two teams.

895

And we just try and have a

way to still compete against

896

each other, but in a fun way.

897

So like some of the things we

do is we play golf with the

898

bats around the baseball fields.

899

The other day we played, uh,

keep up with the soccer ball.

900

So it's just like a lot of,

a lot of little things that

901

like brings us together.

902

But it's also competitive.

903

So we don't lose that

like competitive drive.

904

And throughout the years, I, I see

that it really helps people form

905

a mentality where you can compete,

whether if it's baseball related or not.

906

And I think that really

correlates to when we get on the

907

field and start mowing guys down,

908

Gary: think that needs to be the next,

t shirt that we put on, mow em down.

909

CB: So Alex, uh, your brother, Alex he

has a little bit more of an energetic

910

personality than you you obviously your

brother, you've been around, but he hasn't

911

been, you guys haven't really been in

the same place for the last three years.

912

Is he wearing on you at all?

913

Or are you just like, no, it's my brother.

914

I love him.

915

Jacob: No, he's definitely my

brother and I love him to death.

916

Thank God that we're not living

917

together because I think

I would rip his head off.

918

CB: There you go.

919

Okay, good.

920

That's,

921

that's what, that's why it is.

922

Okay.

923

Jacob: Yeah, I think the coaches

did a really good job separating the

924

brothers like me and Alex and Marco

and Kenny just so that they can have

925

their own opportunity to, you know, be

themselves and not live under our shadow.

926

Because in order for the, in my

opinion, in order for my brother

927

to be as successful as he wants to

be, he has to be his own person.

928

And of course, I'm going

to be there for him.

929

Whether he likes it or not I will always

be there for him and, just make sure, I'm

930

just here to make sure that he's staying

on the right path and not drifting.

931

CB: Well, Jacob, I really appreciate you.

932

You coming and joining us, man.

933

You've always been someone I thoroughly

enjoy getting to see and talk to you

934

when I get out to the ballpark and

I'm glad that anybody that listens

935

to this got a chance to dig in to

see what a good kid you are, man.

936

Jacob: Thank you, I

really appreciate that CB.

937

Gary: Thank you so much,

Jacob, for joining us.

938

Fans stay tuned.

939

We're going to give a quick run through

of ODU's schedule in the next segment.

940

But until then go Monarchs.

941

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

942

Gary: We want to just run through

the schedule a little bit.

943

We're not going to go detail or game by

game or anything like that, but just a

944

general overview of what we're looking at.

945

It's not too different of

a schedule from last year.

946

We've got, some Northern schools coming

down, to do some series at home early on.

947

We got Charlotte early on.

948

But the ones that I definitely

want to point to are these

949

quote unquote one off games.

950

We've got a couple of

matchups with Virginia.

951

Who's ranked, I think I've seen

952

them ranked as high as

eight in some polls.

953

Have you seen

954

higher?

955

CB: I think I saw 10 today.

956

So they're up there.

957

Gary: Yeah, they're, they're up there.

958

Uh, we continue the, the home and

home with East Carolina, who's

959

another power in the region.

960

I think I've seen

961

them somewhere like in the mid teens.

962

CB: Yeah.

963

I've seen them in the teens.

964

I, so we have three, I've seen rank those

two and then, East Carolina, somewhere

965

around the late teens, or not, I'm

sorry, coastal Carolina, the Carolinas.

966

Yeah.

967

So UVA, East Carolina and coastal

Carolina are all pretty much ranked

968

in every one of the things I've seen.

969

Gary: There's definitely some

tough teams on this schedule.

970

I think we may have upped our competition

a little bit earlier in the year,

971

at least compared to last season.

972

George Washington historically is not a

power by any means, but I think we, we

973

may have done a little bit better job of

getting some teams on the schedule that.

974

Will be a bit more of a challenge

for us kind of all the way

975

through the three game series

976

that maybe we had last year.

977

CB: Yeah, I like this schedule.

978

I mean, I love that we're continuing

the rivalry with Charlotte.

979

Clearly we've built a good

relationship with them.

980

But you know, we went down there last

year, they're coming here this year.

981

And it's going to, and next year

we're going to go down there again.

982

That was actually, people might not

know that was the first school I

983

actually went to out of high school.

984

I went to, I went to UNC

Charlotte before Old Dominion.

985

And nothing against them.

986

I, I didn't do well there and

that was all my own fault.

987

Uh, so I do enjoy getting, whenever

I get a chance to go down there and

988

they always, they're competitive.

989

They're, they're just such a.

990

They have the same kind of thing I

would say about, Coastal Carolina.

991

They're just so pesky.

992

They put the ball in

play It's very annoying.

993

They just keep putting the ball in play.

994

And that's as a baseball team That's

it's extremely annoying if you're

995

on the other end of it You think

you get two strikes like I got him.

996

I got him These guys just find a way

they use that old school baseball

997

and put the ball in on the field.

998

Gary: Well CB, I'm glad you finally

made the good decision to get out of UNC

999

Charlotte and head on up to Old Dominion.

00:45:39,667 --> 00:45:42,557

I'm not a fan of, of Charlotte

and their airport logo.

00:45:42,717 --> 00:45:45,587

And if you look at the two logos

next to each other, you'll understand

00:45:45,587 --> 00:45:46,877

exactly what I'm talking about.

00:45:47,267 --> 00:45:49,657

Uh, nothing gave me more

pleasure than ending their

00:45:49,657 --> 00:45:51,477

season two years ago in football.

00:45:51,807 --> 00:45:52,817

We beat them at home.

00:45:53,107 --> 00:45:58,127

Uh, I think it was two years ago when they

were in Norfolk to play us at the Bud.

00:45:58,128 --> 00:46:00,947

Uh, they had a volunteer assistant

or assistant coach sit down at the

00:46:00,947 --> 00:46:04,647

end of the bench, trash talking

Rally Alley the entire game.

00:46:04,927 --> 00:46:06,747

It started out fun until

they started losing.

00:46:06,747 --> 00:46:07,537

And then I think it got a.

00:46:07,972 --> 00:46:11,202

A little unfriendly beyond that, I

think we only got two of the three

00:46:11,202 --> 00:46:12,892

games in against them last year.

00:46:12,892 --> 00:46:15,892

We split that series, two blowouts

going in either direction.

00:46:15,942 --> 00:46:19,632

Would love to, to treat them with a

nice three game sweep here as it's

00:46:19,662 --> 00:46:23,542

kind of probably one of the, the

better non conference teams that we

00:46:23,542 --> 00:46:25,082

have, for a three game set.

00:46:25,082 --> 00:46:26,042

CB: Yeah, that's a good one.

00:46:26,122 --> 00:46:27,282

And yeah, i'm with you.

00:46:27,282 --> 00:46:31,442

I'm all for seeing my old school lose

Uh, i'm very excited about the Rutgers

00:46:31,452 --> 00:46:35,222

series One, Rutgers came here, I

think it was 23 or 24 years in a row.

00:46:35,252 --> 00:46:38,822

So that was like a yearly tradition, that

kind of stopped for a couple of years.

00:46:38,872 --> 00:46:40,122

So it's nice to see them back.

00:46:40,122 --> 00:46:42,752

I mean, I've never heard, you know,

when Todd Frazier came through

00:46:42,752 --> 00:46:46,052

at Rutgers and he had about 900

against us, three years in a row.

00:46:46,672 --> 00:46:49,502

So watch the watch the Todd father

before he was the Todd father.

00:46:49,592 --> 00:46:53,172

Uh, but we have Joey DiCerro, who

was with ODU the last four years.

00:46:53,172 --> 00:46:54,742

He's transferred to Rutgers now.

00:46:54,762 --> 00:46:58,372

I saw he was an all conference

preseason first team, which is great.

00:46:58,402 --> 00:46:59,432

That just shows, you know, he.

00:46:59,807 --> 00:47:01,587

The talent he had and

what they're expecting.

00:47:01,587 --> 00:47:04,627

I don't know what role he's going to

have at Rutgers, but I'm excited to

00:47:04,627 --> 00:47:06,037

see the kid and see him come back.

00:47:06,087 --> 00:47:07,567

He can pitch well and make it still loose.

00:47:07,637 --> 00:47:08,517

I think we can do that.

00:47:08,547 --> 00:47:08,857

Right.

00:47:09,247 --> 00:47:10,527

He can, he can throw up zeros.

00:47:10,527 --> 00:47:12,987

And then after he leaves the game,

that somebody else can get blown

00:47:13,040 --> 00:47:14,810

Gary: Hey, that, that,

that's all fine with me.

00:47:14,810 --> 00:47:16,900

As long as Bobby D can meet us up in Rally

00:47:16,900 --> 00:47:17,420

Alley like

00:47:17,420 --> 00:47:17,600

old

00:47:17,610 --> 00:47:18,090

times.

00:47:18,390 --> 00:47:18,400

I

00:47:18,400 --> 00:47:19,080

think we could have

00:47:19,097 --> 00:47:24,467

CB: best part of Joey D coming is his

dad, Bobby D coming down, who is a, uh,

00:47:24,777 --> 00:47:26,677

a complete lunatic and a fantastic human

00:47:26,920 --> 00:47:29,450

Gary: Yes, I'm a big fan of

Bobby D and we've had some good

00:47:29,450 --> 00:47:32,510

times hanging out in Rally Alley

so hopefully he is down for that.

00:47:32,760 --> 00:47:35,570

We may have to let him say a

few words, probably carefully

00:47:35,570 --> 00:47:37,080

edited, but we'll be able to

00:47:37,670 --> 00:47:38,760

to get him involved there.

00:47:38,760 --> 00:47:39,840

But yeah, definitely.

00:47:40,167 --> 00:47:40,317

CB: Yeah.

00:47:40,317 --> 00:47:41,487

You always have a little

00:47:41,487 --> 00:47:41,967

audio in

00:47:42,105 --> 00:47:42,695

Gary: yeah, Yeah.

00:47:42,695 --> 00:47:42,905

Well,

00:47:43,445 --> 00:47:44,525

luckily we pre record

00:47:44,525 --> 00:47:45,075

so we can, uh,

00:47:45,085 --> 00:47:45,395

we can do

00:47:45,395 --> 00:47:45,435

what

00:47:45,435 --> 00:47:46,015

we need to do there,

00:47:46,227 --> 00:47:49,637

CB: I've got a lot of bleeps

and, uh, on, on Bobby D.

00:47:50,722 --> 00:47:53,292

I'm also, uh, and again, some of

the series, this is what happens.

00:47:53,292 --> 00:47:55,192

You play teams over and over

again, but I'm excited about

00:47:55,192 --> 00:47:56,372

Princeton coming in there.

00:47:56,372 --> 00:47:58,692

They're pitching coach, uh, Joe Homaker.

00:47:58,692 --> 00:48:02,672

He played at ODU graduated from ODU.

00:48:03,032 --> 00:48:04,112

He's had a great career.

00:48:04,672 --> 00:48:07,662

Coaching a few different colleges

coaching with the Orioles and the

00:48:07,662 --> 00:48:10,472

minors for a few years so this

will be a second year of christmas.

00:48:10,472 --> 00:48:12,032

So it was such a blast.

00:48:12,042 --> 00:48:15,722

Uh getting to see joe last year and

So hopefully he's with princeton for

00:48:15,722 --> 00:48:19,362

a long time and uh, it was very fun

getting to talk to him and he's like

00:48:19,362 --> 00:48:20,792

man I'm teaching a class at princeton.

00:48:21,052 --> 00:48:22,392

He's like how ridiculous is that?

00:48:22,392 --> 00:48:25,052

He said it doesn't say much good

for the for the uh institution

00:48:25,342 --> 00:48:27,862

That he's like that joe homaker

is teaching a class at princeton.

00:48:27,892 --> 00:48:30,772

I was like, all right That's a fair

00:48:30,975 --> 00:48:33,605

Gary: I mean, hey if he's doing it

and he's doing it well, why not?

00:48:33,675 --> 00:48:36,285

We can get some, bring some old

Dominion flair up there to, uh,

00:48:36,905 --> 00:48:37,625

to Princeton.

00:48:37,665 --> 00:48:37,995

So

00:48:37,995 --> 00:48:39,985

CB: Not a lot of ODU grads

teaching at Princeton, but we

00:48:40,083 --> 00:48:42,703

Gary: no, no, I was not

qualified for that position.

00:48:42,703 --> 00:48:44,693

Apparently we'll all keep applying.

00:48:45,133 --> 00:48:50,353

Uh, well, I'm, I'm looking forward to

a couple of our away conference series.

00:48:50,693 --> 00:48:52,843

I think we've got some,

some pretty cool ones here.

00:48:53,148 --> 00:48:55,448

The big one I think that most teams

are going to serve, most people are

00:48:55,448 --> 00:48:57,758

going to serve is at Coastal Carolina.

00:48:58,108 --> 00:49:01,238

Uh, we know that Monarch fans travel

pretty well to Coastal, we proved it

00:49:01,238 --> 00:49:02,908

with the bowl game a couple years ago.

00:49:03,188 --> 00:49:06,678

They're only about 10 15 minutes away

from the beach and Coastal is going to be,

00:49:07,068 --> 00:49:10,028

really one of the, I think, one of the

best programs in the Sun Belt this year.

00:49:10,343 --> 00:49:12,483

So I'm definitely looking forward

to that if I can sneak away and

00:49:12,493 --> 00:49:13,983

get down there for a couple games.

00:49:14,043 --> 00:49:17,073

Uh, it'll be about a five and a half

hour drive for me from Richmond.

00:49:17,253 --> 00:49:20,193

A little longer for you all in the 757.

00:49:20,573 --> 00:49:24,303

But the other one I have

circled is at Texas State.

00:49:24,763 --> 00:49:28,983

Because I remember watching them on

ESPN Plus against, I think it was Texas.

00:49:29,493 --> 00:49:33,013

And their stadium was packed

in one of the loudest college

00:49:33,013 --> 00:49:34,013

environments I've ever seen.

00:49:34,013 --> 00:49:38,153

So it's, that, that's one I have circled

that if I, if I'm going to fly somewhere

00:49:38,153 --> 00:49:42,483

for a baseball road trip, it is going to

be that Texas state series down in San

00:49:42,483 --> 00:49:46,393

Marcos, spend some time in San Antonio,

some time in Austin, eat tacos and

00:49:46,393 --> 00:49:49,713

brisket, and I will be quite happy and

content watching baseball down there.

00:49:49,713 --> 00:49:51,303

CB: You brought up the coastal series.

00:49:51,583 --> 00:49:56,563

That to me highlights a really important

part of the stretch of the series of the

00:49:56,563 --> 00:50:01,723

season for odu if you look right before

the coastal series, we have that tuesday.

00:50:01,963 --> 00:50:04,023

We're at uva, right?

00:50:04,023 --> 00:50:07,223

So again, this is a ranked team probably

still gonna be ranked the beginning

00:50:07,223 --> 00:50:11,323

of april Then that weekend like I said

heading down the coast of carolina So

00:50:11,323 --> 00:50:15,858

again pre season ranked team and it'll be

a conference weekend The Wednesday right

00:50:15,858 --> 00:50:18,178

after that on the road at East Carolina.

00:50:18,278 --> 00:50:22,298

So that's three teams in a row, all

on the road, five games in a row

00:50:22,348 --> 00:50:23,978

on the road against ranked teams.

00:50:24,578 --> 00:50:27,308

The next weekend got

James Madison at home.

00:50:27,578 --> 00:50:31,348

So again, James Madison, probably not

ranked, but going to be a very good team.

00:50:31,348 --> 00:50:34,288

They've got some good local kids,

Mason Dunaway and Nick Poole.

00:50:34,568 --> 00:50:36,788

so I'm excited to see them,

gonna be some good baseball.

00:50:37,198 --> 00:50:41,008

And then the next Tuesday we had UVA

coming here to play a game at Harbor park.

00:50:41,618 --> 00:50:43,308

So that's a stretch of nine games.

00:50:43,813 --> 00:50:44,303

Right.

00:50:44,333 --> 00:50:47,763

Kind of in the middle of the season

against some really good opponents.

00:50:47,763 --> 00:50:51,403

You have three of the four teams I

mentioned are currently ranked, and

00:50:51,413 --> 00:50:54,333

that's going to be, it's going to really

tell you who you are as a baseball team.

00:50:54,333 --> 00:50:56,883

Gary: And I wouldn't sleep

on South Alabama either.

00:50:56,933 --> 00:50:59,403

I, I think that they are down there.

00:50:59,403 --> 00:51:02,063

They think they're on the verge of

kind of turning the corner and becoming

00:51:02,063 --> 00:51:03,883

a much bigger player in the Sunbelt.

00:51:04,333 --> 00:51:07,303

You got to think too, some of these

Sunbelt teams look at Old Dominion as.

00:51:07,928 --> 00:51:12,158

The same way they do Southern Miss and

Coastal and teams that have historically

00:51:12,158 --> 00:51:17,668

been very good and we get the best shot

of all the teams in our conference.

00:51:18,138 --> 00:51:21,128

We have a target on our back for

pretty much the majority of the

00:51:21,128 --> 00:51:22,538

teams that we play in conference.

00:51:22,558 --> 00:51:27,148

So, you know, that's a, that is a brutal

stretch, but what kicks it all off is a.

00:51:27,573 --> 00:51:30,653

Three game homestand against South

Alabama, which I think we would love

00:51:30,653 --> 00:51:34,133

to see two out of three, three out of

three, just to get some good momentum

00:51:34,133 --> 00:51:36,073

heading up to Charlottesville

a couple of days later.

00:51:36,073 --> 00:51:40,453

CB: I'm very excited about South Alabama

because they have a former ODU guy.

00:51:40,473 --> 00:51:44,603

We got Robbie Petrosi, who played

here for, I think, three seasons.

00:51:44,913 --> 00:51:46,243

He's down there again as an outfielder.

00:51:46,663 --> 00:51:49,913

Some people remember him as, uh,

he had a home run and then on the

00:51:49,923 --> 00:51:53,583

celebration of the home run blew out

his knee, but then came back later in

00:51:53,583 --> 00:51:55,723

the year with the knee brace on still.

00:51:56,143 --> 00:52:00,503

Hit some pinch hit home runs, actually

DH some games with, with a a torn knee.

00:52:00,673 --> 00:52:02,283

Uh, so Robbie's a wonderful kid.

00:52:02,283 --> 00:52:04,293

I'm very excited to see him,

but you're right, I think.

00:52:04,658 --> 00:52:07,558

Your point about everybody gunning

for us and trying to play our I

00:52:07,558 --> 00:52:12,358

mean the conference schedule is a

buzzsaw there is no Easy games.

00:52:12,358 --> 00:52:14,488

We're seeing that we saw

that in football this year.

00:52:14,488 --> 00:52:18,278

We're seeing that in the basketball I

mean what the basketball just a couple

00:52:18,278 --> 00:52:22,883

weeks ago the uh was a ulm came in and

they were Their record was just as bad

00:52:22,883 --> 00:52:26,893

as the ODU men's record was and they

came and put a spanking on us, right?

00:52:26,903 --> 00:52:30,293

So that there's and we did this but

we did the same thing right before

00:52:30,293 --> 00:52:34,983

them to marshall Uh, you know showing

that there's no easy games no matter

00:52:34,983 --> 00:52:37,563

if you think they're a dog They're

not they're in your conference.

00:52:37,573 --> 00:52:40,712

They are going to fight you, which

makes for really exciting baseball.

00:52:40,885 --> 00:52:43,975

Gary: We've talked about this on the

football podcast, but like the margin

00:52:43,975 --> 00:52:46,525

of error in the Sun Belt is so tiny.

00:52:47,025 --> 00:52:50,325

I think there were some teams even

in Conference USA that if you weren't

00:52:50,325 --> 00:52:52,825

playing your best, you could maybe

still win a game, whether it's

00:52:52,825 --> 00:52:54,405

football, baseball, something else.

00:52:54,925 --> 00:52:59,125

There are no breaks in the Sunbelt

conference in any sport, like any

00:52:59,125 --> 00:53:00,795

team will beat you on any day.

00:53:01,085 --> 00:53:05,715

And it just takes one little thing could

be the reason that, you lose like that

00:53:05,715 --> 00:53:07,405

margin for error just doesn't exist.

00:53:07,435 --> 00:53:09,795

Like it does, especially

like in the conference USA.

00:53:09,795 --> 00:53:13,565

Now, like there's some teams that if we

were still there, we would be destroying.

00:53:13,765 --> 00:53:17,805

You cannot sleep on anybody in the

Sunbelt, especially in a sport like

00:53:17,805 --> 00:53:19,115

baseball and anything can happen.

00:53:19,115 --> 00:53:22,695

CB: It just makes for Such a good

product again, when you're watching

00:53:22,695 --> 00:53:25,175

a game, you know, you're in, I

mean, when does the conference

00:53:25,185 --> 00:53:26,895

start in March, end of March, right?

00:53:27,375 --> 00:53:29,725

So the the end of middle of March, so

you're, you're watching games in the

00:53:29,735 --> 00:53:34,725

middle of March, you're two months

away from meaningful games, right?

00:53:34,725 --> 00:53:36,055

Like playoff type games.

00:53:36,065 --> 00:53:37,965

Well, you're not, you're in

a playoff game immediately.

00:53:38,075 --> 00:53:43,055

When Georgia Southern comes here,

March 15th, it's going to be a playoff.

00:53:43,105 --> 00:53:43,915

From go.

00:53:44,170 --> 00:53:48,940

Teams are fighting and they know every

single win I get now Is what is going to

00:53:48,940 --> 00:53:52,470

matter and then it's going to lead to me

having a little bit easier later Maybe

00:53:52,470 --> 00:53:54,130

I get a day off when I need a day off.

00:53:54,600 --> 00:53:56,040

So it's it's a bloodbath.

00:53:56,080 --> 00:53:57,880

It's it's it makes it very fun

00:53:58,183 --> 00:53:59,573

Gary: Yeah, it makes it fun.

00:53:59,613 --> 00:54:02,833

It can make it frustrating as a fan

sometimes, because through the natural

00:54:02,833 --> 00:54:05,643

course of the baseball season, like

you're going to have a stretch where

00:54:05,643 --> 00:54:08,853

the team is just not playing well, like

there just aren't enough guys hitting,

00:54:09,283 --> 00:54:11,273

pitchers aren't exactly on their a game.

00:54:11,273 --> 00:54:14,693

And you could have a series like that,

where you go to a team that, in theory

00:54:14,693 --> 00:54:19,003

you should sweep and you end up dropping

two out of three, like that will happen

00:54:19,073 --> 00:54:23,518

in college baseball, just like it happens

in pro baseball to think like it's.

00:54:23,828 --> 00:54:27,878

It's important to kind of always zoom out