The 2026 season premier of Hudson Homers! Coach Finwood gives us a preview of the rotation and bullpen, including two of the three weekend starters. ODU all-time saves leader John Holobetz joins us from Red Sox camp in Fort Myers to talk about his impressive first season of Minor league ball.

Yeah, look at all those new old pictures.

We love it.

Yeah.

Had to make sure we get 'em all lined up there.

But welcome fans to officially season three of Hudson Homers, CB's.

Here, coach Finwood is here and we are ready to kick off 2026,

especially with all the damn snow and ice outside my house right now.

Yeah, two weeks from Friday, right.

And we got, uh, you got like a foot of snow up there in Richmond, right?

Yeah.

Topped off with some nice crusty ice that's making things

a lot of fun up here, but.

Uh, Finny, it seems like, uh, you all did much better down there in the 7,

5, 7, at least with the field anyway.

Yeah, yeah.

We were able to get our scrimmages in, um, Thursday and Friday and then

tarp tarped the field and um, took the weekend pretty much off the cold winds.

Of course, we tarped the field and when we got there we were lifting

weights Saturday and uh, when we got to the field, the 50 mile an hour

wind gusts came around here Friday night had blown the tarp halfway off.

So we had to re-put the tarp down, um, and find more stuff to put on the tarp.

Uh, college baseball, that's what it is.

Um, we got it down, got it off.

Send a few

heavier pitchers to sit out on it.

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Uh, you know, we found some more bullpen benches and things like that to put on it.

I pulled it today and the field's in great shape.

So we'll be back out there, uh, tomorrow.

And you know, there's a old, uh, of course I grew up in a military family

and my dad used to, I remember him saying, um, and I remember docking

Anne, you know, saying from the Navy Seals old military axiom about the,

the third week, you gotta watch out for people because, um, hold on one sec.

Oh,

it's a great, it's a great saying.

You had to disappear for it.

This is, this is how you build tensions to suspense in a story.

Improvise, adapt, and overcome.

That's another one of those military things.

That's right.

Hold on.

I had a pot on the, uh, I had a pot on the stove.

I had to turn, turn down.

You don't get this on other podcasts, everyone.

This is, that's right.

Homers.

We keep it real with you.

We eat.

Yeah.

Po I just like

people.

We're Steph's making meatball subs for supper.

And I looked up and saw a pot on there.

I wasn't sure it was supposed to be on, so had to turn it down.

So we're multitasking here.

Thank you.

Uh, anyway, so the, the, the old, uh, you know, military action about, you

know, be careful with training, um, in that third week is usually when,

you know, injury, most injuries occur.

They did studies on it.

So, uh, really not a bad thing.

We've been going three weeks, pretty solid.

Really not a bad thing to have to pay.

Peel back a little bit this week.

Um, the weather's gonna kind of force us to, we'll still get out and get

ground balls and do, do some drills.

It'll just be in much shorter spurts.

The field's fine.

Um, it's just the wind chills are down there, so we don't like to stay out

too long, and it'll probably affect our scrimmages, uh, set for this weekend.

Uh, but that's okay.

You know, we, we, we were able to start a week earlier this year.

The guys are all in pretty good shape and everybody's feeling pretty good.

And so, you know, having to peel it back a little bit this weekend

isn't the worst thing in the world.

It's a long season, you know, you gotta, you gotta work your way into it.

So, um, part of uh, part of it is trying to keep 'em fresh and keep

their bodies feeling good, especially when it's early and it's cold.

Yeah.

Well, I'm hoping things warm up a little bit here 'cause we are really only

about two weeks away and Quinnipiac open on that Friday the 13th in February.

Uh, they, they're coming down here hoping to get some baseball weather.

If it this keeps up, they might be better off at home.

Well, it won't, I mean, you know, the weather around here is very bipolar

in February and March for sure.

But it'll still be better than whatever they're getting.

And, uh, if you believe in any, any extended forecast, it looks like, you

know, after this cold snap here, uh, this week we're gonna be back up there and.

Um, I think they're calling for, you know, weather, uh, you know,

around 60 on opening day right now.

So that's a educated guess at best, but we'll take it.

Hey, I

love that.

Yeah.

Get all the bad weather outta the way now.

Get all the cold outta the way now, and then February 13th forward,

we got nothing but just beautiful weather to come watch some baseball.

I'm, I'm pumped if you can't tell.

I've been watching this calendar for like two months now.

Ready to go.

Yeah, well, it's cool.

There's a lot of cool stuff going on.

You know, the, um, the company that's coming in to put the, the bleachers

in the outfield, uh, got all their equipment put in, uh, today back there.

They trucks were loading, you know, unloading stuff all day pretty much.

And.

They started construction on that, that outfield, uh, bleacher and outfield rally

alley area, basically where, you know, is for, for lack of a better term, I told

'em they gotta come up with a name for it.

You know, you got name

rally, power Rally.

Yeah, that's right.

The power rally Alley.

I like it.

Uh, but they, you know, that'll be a neat place and I think

it's gonna add to the character.

I mean, it's what we have this year, but I think, you know, unintended.

It, it, it's gonna add to the, the overall character of the ballpark.

And there'll be some people that really like sitting out there, um, even

when the stadium's done, I believe.

And so, um, you know, we can give some posing left fielders hell

and, uh, have some fun doing that.

I think it's also, I mean, we talk about the college kids, but I think just kids,

kids kids always wanna catch a ball.

If you can go to a game and catch a home run ball, that's pretty awesome.

That that's a big plus for

them.

Well, that's gonna be a good spot to catch one 'cause that's where a

bunch of 'em go out, that's for sure.

And, um, you know, not only that, but they're also bringing in, uh,

are are temporary press boxes that are gonna go in existing rally alley.

Um, so we'll have our, you know, scoreboard operators and pa and

visiting radio and all that down there.

Also, all our, our padding people, so they're, they're padding

the, the brick walls and gates down both lines, uh, the inside.

And navy padding.

So it is really gonna dress up, you know, the, the park itself, I think in addition

to all the pads, uh, in the dugout areas.

So, um, we, uh, we're excited about that part of the project as well.

Yeah, I'm, I'm anxious to see how that looks, how the configuration,

the sightlines, all of those things.

I, I will say the, the best way to pick the name for that area is for a nice

sponsor to come in and name that thing.

Mm-hmm.

So, uh, feel free to reach out to you sports properties if you're

in, in the market for that.

Uh, because it's gonna get a lot of screen time.

I can promise you that as

well.

Oh, yeah.

Well, there ain't no doubt about it.

I mean, that's where everybody's gonna be and somebody could really,

uh, uh, I'm sure they got something.

Maybe there's some people with bugs in their ear about that, because I told 'em,

I said, man, you got a prime real estate right here for somebody to get a, a really

nice corporate sponsorship as well, so.

Hopefully we'll get that done.

If you wanna show the fans, you're not gonna have any other option.

That's gonna be the spot.

Yeah.

So your, your name as an advertiser will be seen.

Yeah.

Hey, did you guys see the thing where the NCAA okayed, uh, up

to two sponsorships on jerseys?

I did Chicos bail bonds, we get,

can't wait to, I mean, come on.

Joe's, Joe's, Joe's Pizza or something.

Like, come on.

Yeah.

You know, Jimmy's, we got some good

local ones though.

Let's get, let's get p Franks on there.

Yeah.

Great.

You know, let's get some good local

ones.

So, I mean, they're, they're certainly not gonna let us go out and do our own.

I know that.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I'd probably cross a lot of the businesses off the list that I would choose,

like headlights, something like that.

Yeah.

Well, it could be a lot of fun, but I mean, if you could get rev share

money out of it, I'd be all for doing our own, but that'll probably, that,

that idea won't float, I don't think.

Yeah, I saw someone put the soundbite out there of, if, if you

want to be a hero, buy one of those sponsorships and then just leave

it the same color as a team jersey.

And we could talk about like, yes, we sold a sponsorship, but no, it's

not littering the jersey out there.

We get more business than you can possibly imagine.

There you go.

That's right.

Yeah.

Well, we'll see.

I mean, it's happening, you know, everywhere now, so.

Yeah.

Um,

we'll, we'll see how, how it ends up.

You

know, the funny thing is, we, we always talked about it, it, it's so

bad, but then, I mean, I know the NBA jerseys have 'em and I, the MLB

jerseys have 'em now, don't they?

And I, I'll be honest, oh

yeah.

Batting ham STRs or whatever that company was, I thought it was Levi

Strauss, it was a different company.

Uh,

but you know, we see so many ads anymore.

It doesn't even register, I'll be honest.

Like, it's one of those things, like it's, I think, you know, we're probably never

gonna have a time in the future history where it's gonna be less ads or no ads.

So, so we're gonna look back.

Maybe you can look back at the time right before this and be like,

oh, how clean the uniforms look.

But it's one of those like, ah, I don't know, it's probably never gonna be tacky

again because it's just how it's gonna be.

I,

yeah,

it's weird.

Like I, I think, yeah.

Am I against it overall?

For sure, but it's also like, ah, I don't know if it affects anything.

Nah, I don't think so.

I mean, you know, today's world, man, you gotta keep on finding ways to make money.

So that's, that's a pretty clean, easy way to do it.

It makes sense.

Yeah.

I mean, it's like putting, you know, town bank on your field.

I mean, they gave you money for, you know, for your stadium, so

you can put, put it out there and it's all right here is what it is.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It and definitely an era of, of rev share.

I mean, that, that could be a big source of income, especially for a

lot of like mid-major programs that, you know, could use an extra 10,

20, 30 k, however much it it costs.

Um, yeah.

Yeah.

I just, if we can avoid like the Braves, I forgot who the company is.

But they have a big yellow patch on their side that faces the pitchers.

Now when they hit, and it just sticks out so much.

You look at some other teams and it kind of blends more with the jerseys.

Oh, okay.

I think it's the Braves.

Is that Yellow Lumber?

It's like Yellow Lumber.

Oh, yellow.

Something like that.

Yellow wood.

Yeah.

Yellow wood.

Yeah, yellow.

Jimmy Rains is the owner of that company and he, um, he was a big booster at

Auburn when I was down there, Yellowwood.

That's right.

There you go.

That's funny.

Yeah.

Well, all right, we're, we're moving, we're moving forward with all

the, you know, construction stuff.

It's happening.

Um, and, uh, they're slinging some steel up there now around, so it's

starting to look like something, so we're excited about that.

Excited to get in there, watch that thing continue being built out

while we're catching some games.

But, uh, we talked to quite a few of your pitchers at Step Up to the Plate.

I know some of the fans saw the interviews.

If you haven't go back to that step Up to the Plate special, a lot of good arms

vying for those three open rotation spots.

So we're gonna pick your brain today a little bit on what your pitching

situation looks like, bullpen.

And if, I don't know if you wanna kick off, is there anyone that you

think is like, yep, they're gonna be a, a weekend starter for us?

Or are you still in that figuring out mode?

Yeah, I mean it's, you know, you hope by this time that you're, you

know, close to that, that decision.

I, I think our top two spots right now are, are pretty, you know, the

guys have earned those spots and pretty clear, uh, Darren Kuskie and

JJ Gatti, um, who are two transfers.

Um, and, and they, they've, they've.

Kind of separated themselves in terms of, of being those first two

guys and, and who's gonna throw Friday, who's gonna throw Saturday?

I mean,

that probably, I'd say Kuskie you know, opening up Kuskie Throw Friday and JJ

Saturday, um, Sunday, you know, the Sunday starters still to be determined.

I, I'm really happy with how, uh, true freshman Jackson

Okonkwo was throwing the ball.

Um, I think he's got a chance to be special, you know, down

the road if he stays healthy.

Um, which is always a good, but, you know, the, the thing you, not just the starters,

but you know, the, the pitching staff.

I mean, in any one year, you know, eight to 10, maybe eight to 12 guys

are what you're trying to get to, uh, that are gonna throw the brunt

of the meaningful innings and.

You know, after that, you know, you, you hope some other guys will,

will, you know, move up into that and create some, you know, some,

uh, competition to get in there.

And I think we're, I think we're, we're, you know, we've, we've got that right now.

I think our, you know, losing three con the conference starters is a, is

a call order, you know, that's a fill.

But I, I, we, we had a pretty big drop off after our probably top six last year,

and that, that was, you know, very evident during those midweek games for sure.

Um, I think our floor is much better.

I don't ever use the DEEP word because as soon as you say it,

four guys get hurt, you know?

Yep.

Um, so I don't think it's that, but I do like the.

Amount of guys that we think can be, um, not only usable,

but effective, uh, this year.

And, and that's not, you know, including any of the freshmen

other than Jackson yet who I like.

I mean, the other three freshmen, uh, Tanton, Pearce and Cavalcante, I

think are all gonna be pretty good.

And we just gotta get 'em in there and let 'em get their feet wet when we can.

But they're all strike growers and, and they all got pretty good fast

balls and pretty good off speed stuff.

So, uh, I like the potential of that.

We also have some older guys in the bullpen that have thrown

a lot that I think are, are, you know, gonna be effective.

Um, we talked about Bailey Matela.

He's pitched a lot of baseball.

He's a senior.

Uh, Kellen Davis pitched a lot of baseball.

Uh, Ethan Hubble's pitched a lot of baseball.

Uh, and then we got a couple transfers.

Um, pat Johnson, who's a transfer from uh, Tennessee Tech, uh, has pitched

a lot of Division one baseball.

Marcus Van Alstine is a transfer from VMI pitched a lot of baseball.

Both those guys have really been throwing the ball well.

Um, a couple other lefties, uh, Owen, he's a richer freshman.

Uh, Tommy John kid who's been throwing the ball.

He just keeps getting a little bit better each time out.

And then a fifth year guy, Connor Schumann, who we dropped down

and, and he's kind of a sidearm a little bit below that lefty.

He is really taken to it and he is been very effective, uh, sinking

the ball, getting a bunch of ground balls and he's such a great

kid that's been through so much.

Uh, you know, running 23 year olds out there is, is usually a pretty good idea.

Tyler's going about his business like a veteran guy.

He has a, pitched a ton of innings here, but he sure has been around.

And seen a bunch and he's pitching like a guy that you know, knows what he is doing.

And then every year you need a couple guys to, to step up.

Um, and you know, so far the guy that has always had a very good arm and just

hasn't been effective is for two years.

Uh, but man, is he throwing the ball good.

His first few outings.

This, this winter, uh, spring scrimmages, um, Nick Sulpizio,

you know, he is been 92, 94.

The breaking ball's been good.

It's been strikes, um, and it's a couple of two inning, you know, stints.

But he's been impressive in those.

So something certainly to, to build on for him.

Um, so, you know, we'll, we'll figure that other starter out,

uh, as we keep moving forward.

But I like the potential of the groups of guys.

'cause look man, early, you know, even your starters throwing four, maybe five.

At the most.

Um, and so it takes a, a group of guys to get that win, you know, the

starter, the middle guy, the guy's gonna finish, those kind of things.

So we're trying to figure out what those groups need to look

like for us to, to be effective.

And, you know, we've got a couple guys that, you know, have a chance to throw

in and, and I'm, and I didn't mention another, uh, transfer portal guy

Ryan Sheehy, who, uh, is a transfer, came in and, uh, had a couple good

outings in the, in the fall and then we shut him down 'cause he threw a

bunch for his, his college last year and then threw a lot in the summer.

So he's just kinda working his way back into it.

And he is got a really good arm and could be a very effective

guy out the bullpen for us.

We just gotta see a little bit more out of him, uh, move in there.

So we've got some, we've got some, some bullets in there that we can fire.

We just gotta figure out how to use 'em the right way.

And, you know, that first month of the season is.

That's what it's all about is figuring out the roles, you know,

for your pits and staff as much as anything, you know, as well as, you

know, the, the guys on the field.

When you talk about that third spot in the rotation, I'm always

interested in the fourth spot.

'cause you know, you have a lot of Tuesday, Wednesday,

you know, the midweek games.

Is, is that the kind of thing where maybe whoever doesn't beat out for that

third spot, that Sunday spot, they end up being, you know, the Tuesday midweek guy?

Or is that more a guy you look at?

I, I guess are you planning, is there a plan to, to try to develop someone in

the midweek or is that just like you hope and then it sometimes doesn't work out?

I mean, it seems like it's been a few years since we had kind of

a, a reliable big week starter.

Yeah.

Um, early.

You definitely do that.

CB I think now once you, the first four weeks when you get into

conference play, you have to throw all your best guys on the weekend.

You know, and so it change, it can change, right.

But if you remember back in like, um, you know, uh, 22, Blake

Morgan was starting on Tuesdays

right?

Until about the second conference weekend.

And we starting on Fridays last year.

Um, you know, but we didn't know what we had and we had to run 'em

out there for some Tuesdays and

Right.

Kind of see.

And so that's kind of how it works.

And you know, you hope some of those guys will keep stepping up and I think

that has a good chance to happen.

I believe we only have one, um, week where we have bad maybe two, one or two where

we have Tuesday and Wednesday this year

mm-hmm.

On the schedule.

So that's a good thing.

'cause those double midweeks man can light you up.

Um, yeah.

You know,

at the end of that, uh, second game is, is rough.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So, um, you know, so we, we try to stay away from those as much

as we can from the scheduling.

You know, opportunity.

So, um, you know, that's, that's the plan anyway.

But it, it's, it's always you go into it and then I tell the guys all the time,

I mean, this is your role when we start.

Yeah.

The roles are always subject and gonna change, subject to change and based on how

guys do and, um, well, and not so well.

And so you just kind of keep rolling with it and adjusting and, you know,

you, it was kind of amazing last year that we, you know, for the most part,

except for maybe one weekend, had the same three starters the entire

Yeah.

Season.

Um, and that's very unusual in college baseball.

Yeah, that point about Blake is great because that was, that's kind of, I

think exactly the, the dream scenario that I was kind of had in my head where

what you were saying is you get a guy in the midweek and he, you give him

the role and he excels in the role.

And I think that, I think it's clear, it's been clear the last several

years you guys have tried to do that and guys just for whatever reasons

haven't stepped up in those roles.

I mean, that was been pretty clear the last couple years.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Without a doubt.

Without a doubt.

And so, you know, I mean, some of that's on us.

I mean, we, we didn't feel like we did a good job, you know, getting enough depth.

Uh, there it was, I said it, uh,

it was different variation.

I mean, our, our top 10 guys were fine, but we just didn't have enough guys that

could, could do it at, at this level.

And we're hopeful that we've, we've, we've, you know, addressed

that and we fixed some of that.

Um, it feels like we have, but they gotta go out and do it, you know?

Um, what that looks like sometimes is different.

I mean, you know, especially when it's a young kid and I think that, you know,

are they gonna throw enough strikes?

Are they gonna be competitive?

Um, you just don't know enough of that until you run 'em out there.

Uh, because you can think one thing through inner squads.

I I do know this for a fact.

You can think something through the scrimmages and the inner squads, and

soon as you start playing somebody in the other dugout with a different

colored jersey on, it can change.

Now for some guys, it changes for the better that competitiveness

kicks in and they go that way.

And for some guys it changes for the worst.

They get anxious and whatever, nervous and whatever, and then they go the other way.

Right?

And so you, you got, there's no way to find that out until you start playing.

Um, and so

well, but that's one of the things I like about the way you guys approach

the transfer portal and recruiting this year, is that a lot of the guys you

brought in, you know, that had already had some college experience, they were,

had success and they played a lot.

Mm-hmm.

Um, you didn't have a ton of guys who were just, they were somewhere

and they had been good maybe in high school and then didn't get to play.

A lot of your guys already showed like, well, you know, cash Jay's got four

years at, at, uh, Washburn and, and, uh, JJ Gatti was playing, uh, pitching

the rotation last year at Daytona.

I mean, these are guys who've shown when you put the other team's

uniform on, they're gonna show up.

Yeah.

And, and that was something, I'm glad you said that.

'cause that was a really, really big priority for us, uh, in the portal

this year was not the, you know, the, the shiny penny guy, maybe as much

as the guy that, um, you know, was a guy that had success at his level.

A lot of success at the level.

He was that.

And when you're a pitcher, man, if you can have success, you know, if you

can throw the ball at this speed here, you can have success at any level.

Uh, you know, I tell guys, hey, the mistakes get hit farther at

this level, but you can still have success with your stuff.

And, and especially, you know, the competitiveness, you can see

that that doesn't ever leave guys.

Right.

Um, the, the thing that I like the most about Kuskie and Gatti is just

that they are uber competitive.

Like, I mean, they're, they're out there with smoke coming outta their ears, man.

And I love that.

Um, and they both got good stuff, but they're, maybe their best

tool is their competitiveness and they're both in different ways.

You know, um, Gatti a little more demonstrative and.

You know, um, Kuskie Iss a little more stoic, but you, you can feel

his energy when he is out there.

Like he's all business, um, on, on his throw days.

Uh, and so, you know, it's been cool to see, um, you know, they're both

prospects as far as professional goes.

Ske may be a little bit more so just judging from the scouts right now, but I

think they both have a, a chance to help us win ball games, uh, at this level.

So we're excited about that.

And, and it sets the bar like some other guys trying to get, you know,

get, get there and, um, Mike always does a good job of, of figuring that out.

And, um, so we'll see.

I mean, we've got a few more sets of scrimmages, um, and then we'll,

you know, get out there and tee it up and see where we're at.

So

I was excited to hear what you said about Nick Sulpizio, 'cause I think

that's like the X factor in the bullpen.

Because he has nasty stuff and when he's on he is unhittable.

And we actually heard from some of the catchers that step up to the plate

that he was filthy in the bullpen, like the whole time leading up to that.

Uh, so it did, did you see him just kind of come back with that

competitive edge that I wanna get better when he came back this fall?

Yeah, I mean, we really challenged Nick and, and in fact in our end of

the year meeting last year, I told him, maybe you could go somewhere else.

Like, be honest, it hadn't worked out here two years and maybe a

change of scenery is what you need.

Um, 'cause I thought that, and he wanted to come back.

Nick's a really good kid.

He is a good teammate.

He, to be fair as well, he hasn't been completely healthy since he's been here.

Like,

yeah,

it's always been something, you know, it's kind of just been

a little bit underwater, man.

And so, you know, he, he, he took the time in the fall, uh, I don't know if he

had a PRP shot or something like that.

Started throwing right before Christmas again.

He came back and he, he finally feels good.

I mean, after he threw, I think Thursday, I asked him, you know, how

he felt and he said, I feel great, man.

So that's really good.

'cause yeah, healthy Nick Sulpizio.

It's a good enough farm to, to give you a chance to against anybody.

Certainly,

yeah.

Take some of the pressure off the other guys who end up eating

a lot of innings last year.

Just, just outta necessity, especially, you know, I'm already thinking, uh,

I'm excited for the season, but I'm already thinking Montgomery too.

I really think we've got a couple kids in that freshman class that, you

know, as the year goes on, you know, it's gonna be our job to get 'em out

there enough that they can develop.

And sometimes you gotta take your lumps in that process.

But

yeah,

um, I, I like those kids, man.

I think Pearce and Cavalcante and Tanton.

Uh, they're all strike growers.

They're all different, you know, Cavalcante is this six foot, seven

giant, and he's been 92, 94 this January.

True freshman.

The breaking ball's coming along, he throws, strikes, um, pierces, you know,

one of those high relief guys that's got a curve ball and, uh, you know, that angle.

Um, and then, uh, Tanton was a guy that probably was, you know, maybe,

uh, more highly thought of coming in.

And, um, he had a little bit of elbow stuff in the fall.

Nothing serious, but he's back throwing and feels healthy now.

So we'll get him back out there and, and he looks, he looks pretty good to me.

So, you know, those guys will, will be helpful.

I think.

Um, obviously I, you know, Kellen Davis.

Hubble threw a lot for us last year outta the bullpen.

Um, adding Johnson and Van Alstine, uh, who are two seniors, you

know, uh, that have thrown a lot.

Johnson's an angle guy, kind of a sinker guy, van Alstine, you know,

a little more traditional guy.

Got some really good off speed stuff as well.

So those guys have grown in a lot of different roles,

a lot of different leverages, and they're not gonna be affected by

any time we put them out there.

So, and they've been really good since they've been there, so,

uh, that's, that's been helpful.

So we're hoping they, they can eat some meetings outta that bullpen as well.

Does, does Mark and Van Alstine, does he talk as much every single day in

practice as it seems like he does?

I mean, I've, I've been watching this kid for a long time and he, he is

a, he is a yapper, as the kids say.

Yes, he is a yapper.

Uh, he's great man.

He's been so.

Again, you know, in that portal we wanted to make sure we

went after the right people.

And uh, he certainly fits that Bill.

He's a great teammate.

He's good.

Excuse me.

Uh, he cares about the right stuff and he's always picking somebody up,

you know, like, um, on his days he is not throwing, he is just, you know,

slapping butts and giving guys high five.

And he's into it, man.

He cares about winning a lot and you know, he's happy as he can be because you, when

you're at VMI, you can't get any sleep.

And he said, man, I get to sleep all day now.

I get outta bed like, let's go.

He's, he's,

uh, coach.

He's not sleeping all day.

He's just getting his rest that he needs to recuperate for his, uh, his pitching.

That's, yeah.

Yeah, exactly.

It's actually very scientific what he is doing.

He's been a lot of fun.

Yeah.

That's great.

Yeah, he's, that was the guy, I was very excited when, uh,

when I saw he was coming here.

'cause I got chance been watching him since back he was in, in high school.

Big fan of Marcus.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Me too.

Me too.

Yeah.

Good to hear.

Someone's filling the uh, Blake Morgan roll off the field anyway, if someone

getting somebody fired up in the dugout.

'cause you always count on Blake.

Like he'd be up on that rail yelling all game.

Yes, he would.

Yeah.

Yeah.

You know who was fun with all that when he, it was a great pitcher here.

Um, you know, Hartline, I thought Heartline.

Yeah.

Uh, he was such a great teammate, man.

I still remember.

You know, his one one Tommy guns, uh, you know, steer.

And he would, he would be into it.

I used to have to calm him down if he was gonna go in the game

later because he'd be so worked up.

I was like, dude, you gotta save some of this, you know, on, on

your days you're on the board.

And uh,

he was funny 'cause he actually had calmed it down from high school like it

was when he was a green Briar Christian.

It was higher and louder than that.

It was, it was nuts there.

Yeah, he was fun.

Yeah.

Gotta gotta have those guys to get through, especially

long season tough times.

It's, yeah, it's always the pitchers, right?

Like they're the best

Yeah.

Cheerleaders, uh, smack talkers you have.

So we just, um, try to keep it, try to keep it fun and

keep 'em cheering for our guys.

All right.

Well, Finny, we appreciate all the insight on the pitchers.

Uh, want to wanna take a little bit of a look at the schedule

here before we let you go.

Yep.

Um, obviously know, start with Quinnipiac at home.

Got a three game set that Friday the 13th, the 14th, and the 15th.

But it sounds like there may be some upcoming, uh, game time

changes for Fridays early on.

Yeah, we're gonna move those Friday games at 2:00 PM Um, the main reason for that

is with the new bleacher set up, um, I guess part of the approval Richmond,

you know, stuff was, they wanted, uh, as we worked on getting more lights out

there, they wanted us to start earlier so that we'd be done, you know, before

it got too dark and, and just in case our lights failed or something like that.

So that was a logistical thing.

And I'm fine with it.

I mean, the teams come in Thursday.

Yeah.

Not hurting my feelings.

It actually is better.

I mean, we're playing in a better part of the day, that time of

the year, warmer part of the day.

And, um, it's, it'll, it'll be better.

So, um, I got no issues with that.

I think once, um, you know, once daylight savings kicks in and all that,

then, you know, and we'll certainly move back to, uh, when conference

play starts back at home, we'll move back to those Friday night games.

Yeah.

I don't think you're gonna have anyone upset to be in a little bit more

daylight watching a game, but as CB pointed out before we hopped on here,

get your PTO request in now so you can get there on a couple of those Fridays,

because we've got some good ones.

Like we opened with Quinnipiac at the midweek of Manhattan, then,

you know, Niagara Charlotte, and then Connecticut, like Yukon.

That's a, that's a bigger baseball program that I think a

lot of people actually realize.

Oh yeah.

I mean, they're very much the top 25 baseball programs.

So those last two non-conference weekends.

Charlotte always, you know.

Very good program.

Litigious, as you say.

Uh, yeah, old, uh, old USA rival and, uh, our series are always fantastic.

I mean, gosh, last year, you know, uh, they beat us in the bottom of

the ninth and then we beat them in, in the ninth, I think Saturday, and

then came back and beat 'em in the ninth again on Sunday at their place.

So our, it is always a hard fought series and it makes both teams better.

Um, and then UConn will be, you know, at that point it'll be very good.

So it'll be great warmup for heading into, uh, conference play down Troy.

Yeah.

They didn't do any

favor.

So putting Troy.

Yeah.

Start convers lay Troy.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, whoever you plan on the road in this league, it ain't

gonna be easy, so why not?

You know, it's, uh, why

not?

I think, um, you know, on that other side, we, we are happy.

We're not going to Texas State, I can tell you that.

Um, and we're not going to Louisiana.

Although I like that trip, it's a hard place to play.

Yeah.

So missing those two guys is never a terrible thing.

Um, but, you know, we got everybody else and, you know, it's a, it's

always a challenging schedule no matter who you're playing in the Sunbelt.

Yeah.

And of course, later on there's the trip to Coastal Carolina

for three game set there.

Uh, but I wanted to ask you, just because I haven't researched it myself, it just

popped into my brain, Georgia State's getting a new baseball facility as well.

Is that this season or next season?

That's a good question.

I'm not sure when we go down there this year, so I guess we'll find out.

Yeah, we'll find out.

I think they've started construction, but I, I can't imagine they're

gonna be in it this year.

Um, I would be shocked if they were, um, but I believe they have started

construction on it, so, um, I, I would imagine we'll still be playing

down at Pantherville or wherever that that is, but, um, you know, this,

this will be the last year for that.

'cause they are, they are building a new one and they're building

it on the old Fulton County.

Stadium.

Yeah.

Uh, spot.

So, uh, that, that's cool for them 'cause right next to their campus, and that'll

be, that'll actually be really good for, for that program, um, to not have to drive

as far as they have to, to, you know, get to their field every day and all that.

That's the kind of thing for me, I'd like to go down and see them.

I being a big Braves fan, I saw, you know, games of Fulton County, saw the

first games there at Turner Field.

I, I think it'd be really neat.

I know they said they're going to keep the spot where Aaron hit his

seven 15 and they're gonna have that.

I think that's gonna be part of the entrance.

Yeah.

Um, yeah, so I think I, that, that's kind of thing.

I think if, uh, when y'all play there the next time I'm gonna have

to make sure to make that trip.

Is that, that, I think it'd be pretty neat.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It'll be cool.

And of course they're using the old, uh, the Turner Field.

Old Turner Field.

Yeah.

For the football Stadium Stadium now, which is big empty football

stadium before.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Um, but they have their baseball locker room in, in there currently.

Oh, wow.

Um, and cages and all that in Turner, the old Turner Field.

So, um, they'll, they're, they'll, that's where they'll

be, you know, for everything now.

Yeah, I went down there to watch football in, in 2024 and the press box is still

like behind what used to be home plate.

I don't think they've changed anything in there since they

stopped playing baseball in it.

Uh, but I noticed from 22 to 24, the area around there, the development's unreal.

Like really good restaurants, good bars, place to hang out.

The first time I went down there, we had to get someone to un like take the

padlock off the beer cooler in a barbecue restaurant just to get a beer to tailgate.

And now it's become a little bit more so yeah, that, that's, that's easy.

Like 20 years of uh, the brains playing there.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It's just like any place else, man.

It's like you look at Marshall, like, you get, you get a nice new ballpark,

um, in there and some coaches at Hustle man, and you can get good in a hurry,

like, and so they're gonna do that.

They're in an area where there's tons of players and they'll get

kids transferring in, in the portal.

You know, um, they'll, they'll get good in a hurry, uh, without a doubt.

So, you know, it'll be like on our side.

I mean, it'll be a lot of, I know Georgia Southern just finished a big

expansion and their stadium, you know, George Marshall just got a new stadium.

We're getting a new stadium.

Georgia State's getting a new stadium.

Coastal already has an awesome stadium and I'm sure they're adding to it.

Um, and so, you know, Appalachian State's got a really nice stadium.

Uh, so, you know, you look up and you're seeing a lot of, you know, investment

in the, in the facilities in baseball.

The Sunbelt in general is just taking off from a baseball perspective.

I mean, it was always good.

I think when we joined with some others it got a lot better.

And now everyone is just investing and you see like, it's, it's almost hard to

call the Sunbelt a mid major conference now when you have two teams that are

constantly ranked in the top 25 preseason.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And hopefully, you know, we've had years where it's more than that, so

yeah, it's, it's super competitive.

You know, and with the portal you just have people say, how y'all gonna be?

And I go, I have no idea.

Because I dunno anybody else's, like who knows what everybody got in the portal and

didn't get and lost and all those things.

So we just try to be as good as we can be and we'll see, uh, when we play 'em.

So, and

then, uh, Louisiana Tech's gonna come in the conference too, and we know

Yeah,

they got a great stadium.

They've always been a good team.

I mean, that, that's another just big plus for the conference.

I mean, that makes it even more difficult.

Like it's just, yeah, you're right.

They're, they've got a fantastic facility, great coaching staff, uh, long history

of being really good in baseball and, you know, so yeah, there's another

one right there that you gotta battle.

And so it's definitely doesn't get any easier.

Yep.

And speaking of Louisiana Tech, I, I gotta pump up, uh, David Asbury's

article on their current legal situation with conference USA trying to leave.

There's a whole lot going on there.

David's a lawyer, so he speaks the, the language I was just like.

Bird law or something, I don't know.

Wow.

But go check that out.

It's on the pride of ODU, uh, website there to go.

Go check.

It's a good read.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I'm sure that's never, never easy with all that stuff, but they're um, they're

a great addition for baseball, you know.

Yeah.

I can't speak to any of the other sports and how they are, but they're

a fantastic addition for baseball and you know, it puts another tough

Louisiana team on that west side.

Certainly.

So, um, you know, it doesn't make it any easier on that side.

Yeah, absolutely.

Alright, well Finn, thanks so much for hopping on here.

We'll be back to do this same thing next week.

We're gonna talk about the lineups and any other changes that have occurred,

uh, over the course of the week.

But, uh, it's fun being back on here.

Fun with like games in Target in two weeks.

Man, I'm couldn't, I didn't think I'd get more excited, but here we go.

I'm sweating hard.

Can't wait.

And, uh, you know, I'm excited that, uh, Hobe John's coming on with you guys.

Yeah.

Please tell him hello for me.

And, uh, we're so proud of him.

I mean, he's, he's just a rising star in professional baseball and

rocking it up the, uh, the prospect list, uh, with the Red Sox now.

So, yeah.

That's exciting.

And hopefully he'll keep on moving.

Get us another big league.

You're here for too long.

Absolutely.

I love

it.

Alright guys.

Alright.

Thanks

so much fa everybody.

And go Monarch.

Appreciate you man.

that's a good ad. I like that ad. They do a good,

I was always appreciate after Glow setting those up.

Yes.

So good folks, great to talk to.

Finny.

I'm pumped to hear we've got, sounds like two of the three

starters in a good spot here.

And, uh, several solid candidates for that final spot.

Of course, the midweeks when we all wanna be VCU and Richmond

and all those lovely teams.

Yes.

Lot.

ECU, all them.

Yeah.

A lot.

Lot of arms.

I like it.

A lot of guys, you know, if, uh, if they play like they can, we

could have a really great year.

That's what I say every year when it comes to pitching.

Yeah.

They pitch like they can pitch.

We're gonna have a good time.

And speaking of guys who pitch really well and do well, we have ODU legend,

all time Old Dominion, save leader.

He didn't even know how good he is.

John Holobetz.

What's up John?

What's up guys?

Thanks for having me.

Yeah.

Appreciate you being here, man.

How's, how's the off season been?

What, what have you been up to since, since baseball ended for you in the fall?

Um, well I, the fall it took about 10 days off and then I came right back

down and, uh, I was throwing pretty much until, uh, until I got back down here.

So,

yeah.

So we were saying a minute ago, uh, it won't be long before you're

down in, in Fort Myers and you said, well, I'm already here.

Yep.

Yep.

That's

great.

Are you, are you alone down there?

Are all the pitchers down there?

What's the situation?

Uh, I would say a little over half of the pitchers are down here.

So me, Dylan, and uh, Noah are down here.

Oh man.

Are you, are you three all living together?

'cause that's gonna be like No,

no, no.

They all, we all lived in the same house in college actually.

Just Noah was a couple years before us.

That's

fun.

Yeah.

Oh, that's awesome.

Well, cool.

Well, hell of a first year in the minors for you.

Exciting.

A lot of things changed, but you threw the ball really well, man.

I'm glad we got to see when we came down to see the Mudcats before, uh,

before you moved over to the Red Sox.

But just what did you think about your season?

Uh, I thought I threw a lot of strikes.

Um, I mean, I can't really, I I was just, it was all kind of surreal for me.

I, I didn't expect to get up, get the call at the aa and then when, uh, when

I got up there, it was in Harrisburg, which is an hour from my house.

So like, it was basically a home game, which was also like surreal for me.

Um, but I, I could, I could remember vividly like getting the call up.

We finished a series in Winston-Salem.

I didn't pitch very good.

I think I gave up like four and five innings.

Um, and.

We were like packing up the bus.

I was getting ready for a fantasy football draft.

And uh, I get called into our head coach's office and I'm

like, oh, well this isn't good.

And then, uh, and as I was walking in, I heard someone say he's going to Portland.

I was like, no way.

So I was kind of like preparing for it.

And then we got the co, the pitching coaches in there and they're like, yeah,

like, we're really pleased with how you kind of like came in and like kind of

absorbed like their pitching, our pitching philosophy and like you've developed.

Significantly since you've moved, made the jump from low A to high A

and we're sending you up to Portland.

And I literally just, I didn't even have a smile on my face.

I was just like, okay.

Like, is is that all you, is that all you have to say?

And he's like, are you not happy?

And I was like, no, I'm happy.

I was just like, I don't, I don't know what I was expecting.

Like it's just, and then after I walked out, it kind of like all hit

me when, uh, all the guys like came over and were celebrating with me.

And, and then I hopped on the bus and drafted one of the worst

fantasy football teams of all time.

So what I'm hearing is when, when they do the video, when you get

called, the big league's gonna be like the worst video of all time.

Like, alright, Noah, uh, get your bags, you're, you're going to meet the,

uh, the Red Sox in, uh, in Cleveland.

You'd be like, all right, what time?

Yeah.

I'm just like, okay.

Okay.

And obviously,

yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That's funny.

Yeah.

Now it was, I mean, that's a whirlwind year for you.

Like you, so you start the year, you're with the, the Milwaukee breweries.

Right.

And you picture 'em a little bit in spring training.

You had a few, uh, a game or two here up in uh,

yeah.

Big league spring training camp.

Yeah.

I, I had one game in Big League Spring training.

Yeah.

And, uh, I gave up a home run.

Sure.

Hey, you know, gave up big league home runs what I heard.

No, it was a double A, but he was like the number one prospect.

Okay.

But he, you were in a big league game, so it's a big league home run.

Yes.

You gotta,

yes.

So we gotta, we gotta re reasses, you know, evaluate the way

you're looking at things here.

That's all I'm saying.

Yeah.

Uh, big league.

Big league uniform.

Big league park, big league home run.

Uh, you gotta be there to give one up, right?

Yeah.

But so you, you start out in eight ball, and I think we saw your, like your third

start of the year against Del Marva.

Um, and you were just throwing just gas that day.

It looked nasty, all get out.

You were having a blast.

Nasty.

Yeah.

Um, and then within like a few weeks, you're getting traded to the Red

Sox, uh, as a player being later.

Did you, did you look at what Quinn Priester, the guy you got traded for,

did the season in the big leagues?

No, I didn't see what he was, but I, I recognized the name from, I wanna say

like, it was my freshman year of college.

He was like a number two prospect.

Yeah.

I wanna say he was with the Pirates at the time.

He was a pirate

guy.

It was like him and like, it was like him and Bubba Chandler or something, and they

were like big name pirates prospects.

And then I didn't really hear from him and then we traded for him.

I was like, oh, sick.

And then I got, I got the call on our off day and we were traveling

to, uh, Annapolis the next day.

And I was like, oh, I'm getting promoted, or like, something

like that's gonna happen.

He's like, yeah, you're traded.

And I was like, what?

Well, you did get promoted, so you were, you were half right?

You were, you were, yeah.

That was, yeah.

No, but did you, were you aware of what, what Quinn Priester did

the rest of the season after?

After, yeah.

Yeah.

He had

a very, very good

season.

Yeah.

He was, for people who don't know, he was with the brewers who were

number one in the central 97 wins 13 and three with a 3 23 32 ERA 157

innings as a starter, I mean a guy.

So you guy traded for a big leaguer who probably should have

been an all star to be honest.

Uh mm-hmm.

And, and people don't understand how it worked.

You know, he got traded the beginning of April, um, and they did a player

the name later, which is what you were.

Usually how that works is they give a list of like, you know, 10, 15

guys, sometimes five, and say, Hey, okay, we're not sure who we want.

You could pick one of these guys.

And I'm sure what happened was you went out, had the start,

you had, and they're like, well, that guy, that's the guy we want.

I actually, I actually got the story.

Uh oh.

Yeah.

It was the guy that actually ended up picking me.

It was like the last season we were, or last week we were in Portland and

uh, the guy walks into the weight room and like he comes up and meets me.

He is like, I'm the guy that actually picked you out of the lineup.

That's awesome.

And I was like, I was like, I was sick.

That, that's cool.

Like, can you tell me who the other guys were?

And I got some, like, he didn't give any names, but he was like,

I was one of like three guys.

Mm-hmm.

And uh, he was like, I was the obvious choice.

'cause the other kid was like, he was a high schooler and.

There was a, there was a guy in AA that was like 28 or something

like that, that they're like, yeah, we're not gonna take him.

Yeah, I'll say, I mean, he is talking to you at the end of the year in AA

after you've been killing it all year.

He is gotta feel pretty good about it as his pitch, right?

Yeah.

Yeah.

I definitely got that guy a raise.

Let's go.

That's what we're all about here.

Uh, well, I, I know you're down there with Dylan and Noah.

I mean, that's gotta be pretty awesome to have two dudes on the roster with you that

had kind of a similar experience to you.

Dominated at ODU were great and then ended up in the Red Sox organization.

This seemed like it's kind of helping you adjust as you kind of continue

to adapt to that after a year.

Yeah, I mean, we're basically making the Monarchs 2.0 here at

the Red Sox, the Hudson Socks.

It was pretty sick.

Yeah.

The Hudson Sox, um, we, uh, when, when DB got drafted, it was over the All

star break, so we didn't have a game and my mom was blowing up my phone.

She's like, oh my God, DB just went to the Red Sox.

And I was like, no way.

And then I texted, uh, Dylan and Dylan's like, bro, I, I just, or

sorry, I texted, uh, Noah Dean and he is like, I already saw like,

holy shit, this is, this is awesome.

That's

great.

And then, yeah, but, and then Nick Murray's also down here,

right.

So it was, it was just pretty cool.

I love

it.

I feel like we're, we're

just Europe and that's a great spot down there in, uh, Fort Mile.

Yeah, that's a, that's a really sweet place You got to.

But it's a great organization and a really awesome spot for spring

training in the off season there.

Yeah.

No, it's, it's, it's cool.

There's just, it's a lot different than, uh.

Arizona.

Arizona's like, yeah, the farthest you'll drive is an hour and this is

the closest you'll drive is an hour.

It's very different.

Well, you got the twins right there in Fort Myers.

Yeah.

That, that's not too bad.

Uh, but I Have you had any like Red Sox grates run-ins yet?

I know that's one thing every time I was there, it's like, oh, there's,

uh, you know, a big poppy back here on the backfield ticket, like is

always somebody huge walking around.

No, I mean, I met Cutter Crawford, uh, sure.

Christian Campbell and, uh, Peyton Toley, but we played together in Greenville,

so we were already good buddies.

Um, and then like you see guys and you're like, oh my God, that's, that's Alex

Bregman or that's somebody else, right?

Yeah.

And you're like, oh my.

Like that's, it's just, it's pretty cool.

It's, it's very cool to see guys that you watched growing up and all

this other, like, you realize like, oh my God, like I'm actually kind.

I, I size up to him pretty well.

Yeah, I'm wearing that, except for we're wearing that same uniform except

for to, yeah, except for toll's.

A He's got that the mustache, right?

Gigantic human.

Yeah.

He's, he's huge.

Uh, well, what does a typical day look like for you right now?

I think that's a question people ask, like, all right.

We know pitchers and catchers report soon.

Pitchers are down there, but like, what's your, what's your

day to day on a normal day?

Um, uh, I usually wake up around like six.

Uh, we go, go to the field, have our dynamic around, like

we get breakfast and all that.

We, uh, have a, like a dynamic stretch around like eight 30 and then we

throw after that and then have a lift sometime after that, do some

conditioning, and then, uh, it's pretty much just eat lunch and go home.

We're done by like one o'clock every day, two o'clock.

That's

our days are exactly the same.

I mean, mentally, I, I have to still keep working.

Yeah.

It's, it's how I'm done inside by one o'clock.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So you, you, you pointed out, you know, the Red Sox, they thought

that when you got there, you really took well to their, their style,

their approach, their coaching.

Um, do you feel that way?

What do you feel really clicked for you with the Red Sox when you got there?

Uh, I threw less fastballs.

Yeah, that's what I heard.

Which is, which is fascinating because all we hear about is, you know, guys,

then you throw hard, you know, all we hear about is guys throwing crazy

hard and throwing a lot of fastballs.

But then you, what I heard was you had success throwing less fastballs.

Tell us what's that about?

That's weird.

Well in, in low A, like it's hard to really compare it to anything

but in low A, like I was able to just throw fastballs by everybody.

Um, and my OSPI kind of like took a step back and I, every

time I threw it, it got hit.

So I was like, well, fuck, gonna stick to, I'm gonna stick to fastballs.

So I was like, I was close to 80% fastballs in my first like five starts

in low A and then got the call up and we were in our, our player meeting

and, uh, we did like a focus hitter of the day and the guy was like, he only

sits fastball or something like that.

And ski.

Our assistant pitching coach comes up, like, he's like,

what do you typically throw?

I was like, well, I'm like 80% fastball.

He's like, that'll change.

And then, uh, the pitching coach, uh, ki like.

He, he pretty much took me under his wing.

He was a, he was an ex big leaguer.

He played for like 10, 15 years.

Um, who was he?

He was who?

Uh, Bob Kipper.

Oh, Bob.

Yeah.

Bob Kipper.

Awesome.

Yeah.

He's

awesome

guy.

Yeah.

Yeah.

He's, he's a, he is one of the best per people I know.

Yeah.

He kind of took me under his wing and like, he, he'd tell me stories

about back in the day, it was awesome.

Uh, and then like he kind of, he is like, we need to really

hammer like a slider home.

And then a slider clicked for me, and then we worked on a changeup, and the

changeup clicked, and then Cutter velo.

Cutter velo clicked it.

It was just, it was very cool.

He gave me some different cues and it was great to get like a

big leaguer's perspective on it.

He's been, not only was he a big leader, but he's been a coach

with the Red Sox for a long time.

Yes.

And seen a lot of really good pitchers go through and develop.

I mean, that's right there.

Like that's where when you hear him that it's like, well, that's

the reason he stuck around.

The reason he knows what he is doing is like he, he takes the guy who's

willing to work and, and listen that.

Very cool to see.

Yeah.

Is that, now, is that something you've seen, like, I mean obviously

I know you got good coaching at ODU and, and when you played summer ball

and stuff, but is the, the level of coaching different in the pro level?

Uh, it's kind of, it's weird 'cause like the higher you get up, the

more hands off they are with you.

Yeah.

But like, they'll, they'll give you, like, they see something in you and they're

like, oh, if you just feel, try and feel this next one you throw and it's a little

bit harder, you're like, oh, that works.

Or if it's like a different movement, but it, it's, it's a better

movement than what you were getting.

It's a lot of trial and error, and your bullpens are kind of really useful.

Whereas I feel like in college it was literally just touch my shapes

and and move on to the next one.

Yeah, I was, I was gonna ask you like one, what the biggest differences

between like, pitching preparation at the college level versus at the pros.

You kind of kind of answered it there, but it did, did that kind of take you

by surprise when you first got into the system or you like, all right,

I'm, I'm ready for something different.

Uh, I would probably, I would probably say I was ready for it.

Um, I think the biggest mental barrier is just playing every day.

Like in, in college we have Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday off, or

Thursday off, and then we're at the field Wednesday to Friday to Sunday.

But in, in, uh, pro ball, it's just every day it's.

Four to, or you get there at like noon, it's noon to

eight, 11 o'clock every night.

And it, it definitely messes with your sleep schedule for sure.

How, what was the longest, uh, bus ride you had this year?

Bowling Green.

Yeah.

Uh, well, technically, technically it was the drive up

to Harrisburg, but I did that.

I did that solo, but

Well say that one.

You were

happy you do that like every

time.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It was, it was Bowling Green for sure.

It was like six and a half hours I think.

And, and then you get

there

and

play in front of eight people, which is always

fun.

Yeah.

That was, that was bad.

I, I It's such a nice little park trip.

Yeah, it's, it's nice.

It's old.

Same.

It's a little old.

Yeah.

But, um, the, the GM of, of that team, like there was a rain out one day

and we like, should not have played.

It was like a monsoon.

Uh, and it stopped at like eight.

And like if you play, if you start a game at nine.

It's a seven inning game.

This guy said, nah, we're gonna start at 8 45.

Somehow got the field in playable conditions and they

were not playable like at all.

He got the, he got the field in playable conditions.

It took three hours to get through the first five innings of the game.

Ugh.

We got home at, did refund 10:00 AM

did wanna refund

tickets for Yeah, he wanted ticket those beer sales too.

Yeah.

Uh, they said, he said it was a sellout crowd.

That's why we were playing.

It was not a sellout crowd.

Not

a monsoon weather.

Yeah,

I was, uh, how was Greenville?

'cause I, I used to live down in Charlotte.

I would go down to Greenville when they were the Braves at the old park.

Um, so I haven't had a chance that the new park looks amazing.

It looks like they always have good crowds.

How was it getting to play there?

Oh, it was sick.

It, it was, it was the biggest, I mean, it was the biggest crowd I think

I've played in front of and like.

For them to have your back.

It's just, it's sick.

Yeah.

You feel the energy you feed off of it and it, it's like a, I don't

know what it was when it was with the Braves, but it's like all the

stands are like right on top of you.

Yeah.

' cause like, it's not really built up, but it's built around.

So like, and it's like in kind of like a, a little like alleyway.

So like all the sound just travels onto the field.

That's

great.

And then to have it, uh, like almost a one-to-one replica of

Fenway is pretty cool as well.

Yeah, no, it's completely the, the Braves one, they tore down that place.

The bathrooms didn't work.

It was awful.

That's, that's been a long time.

So you got, you got to play in the nice one.

Now that's, and uh, how about Portland?

Portland, because Portland's a little bit older place, right?

Yeah.

Portland is older, but like, it's, it's iconic.

That one, you don't really hear anything.

Like, there's a bunch of people that play, that are, that go there.

But it's so quiet.

It's, it's unbelievable.

It's 'cause it's like it's spread out more like there's no, it doesn.

It's not built up.

There's no second deck.

It's literally just like, it's like a college field where it just

kind of goes back about 20 rows and then it's just press boxes.

A lot of those Eastern League parks, so the older ones anyway, buoy and all.

Kinda like that.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I, I, Hartford was definitely one of my favorite.

That was, that was

a cool place.

A newer park, right?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, great.

Team name too.

The yard goats.

That's pretty sick Yard goats.

Yeah, I have a yard, goat shirt somewhere, somewhere upstairs.

Uh, well, well speaking of that, I, I had to go and look at the

Richmond Flying Squirrel schedule.

Yeah.

And I see that Portland doesn't come to Richmond until like the

last week of August, I think is when you come down here.

And I'm like, well, I hope I get to see Halibuts then, but at the

same time, I'm kind of hoping that he's not a double A, but,

well, I'll tell you what I'm hoping for since we're schedule watching,

uh, Wooster, the Woo Socks playing in Norfolk at the end of July.

So I'm just saying, you know, that, that seems like that'd be

a solid time if you wanna make, uh, uh, sounds like I have a goal.

Aaa, I mean, frankly, I'd rather see you being playing in Boston

then, and then not miss you at all.

But if we, if we gotta be in the minor leagues, I'd like to see you be

playing for, for, for the Woo Socks at

the end of July.

Yeah, that'd be, that'd be cool.

That'd be cool.

Plus I haven't, I haven't actually played on the Tide Stadium.

I, uh Oh yeah, we didn't have it shut down for that game.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Probably not a bad thing to miss.

The games there.

Last year it was not a very friendly ballpark to OD black season.

I

heard beard.

I've never seen a baseball get hammered with a crazy exit velo and see it as

soon as it gets higher than the fence just die and land right into a clock.

It was on the, you might, you would've thrown a no hitter, I think.

Probably.

Yeah.

You love it.

Yeah, I saw, I saw the, well I was there for the Virginia

game when we played them and

mm-hmm.

Uh, who was that?

Anderson, Ethan Anderson.

Oh, Ethan Anderson Co. That was murdered and as soon as

he hit it, I put my head down.

I was like, that's gone.

And it got caught before the warning track.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Which is funny 'cause you got drafted by the Orioles, you'll probably end

up back here playing in Norfolk and, and probably remember that every day.

Yeah.

Well I think they're bringing the wall back in at Camden, aren't they?

They, they moved it back and now I heard that.

Heard that they wanna be Well, when they play, you know, we got the Red Sox and

the Yankees and the Blue Jays are all pretty easy places to get home runs.

They don't wanna be the left out.

Yeah.

Gotta get the pitching in.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Make it harder on you guys.

Yeah.

So do you have any goals here leading into, uh, to 2026 in the season you

had anything you're like, this is what I wanna accomplish this year?

Uh, I mean, we'll see how it goes, but I just kind of, I

wanna take it a day at a time and

yeah,

just focus on everything in front of me and not really

focus on what I did in the past.

It's, it's, they're cool memories to have, but I mean, I, like, I'll

always remember every start in double A, going six innings, but, but I'll,

I don't think that's gonna, that's gonna stick for the entire season.

I mean, it's, you can do that the rest of your career.

You'd be all right.

I think you'll be okay.

If

that's something you may have, I'd be in the hall of pretty good.

Be in the hall of making a lot of money, that's for sure.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

We'd be, uh, naming the new outfield bleachers, uh, after

Holobetz, I think at that.

Oh, awesome.

Well, John, we appreciate the time, man.

Yeah.

I'm glad that you're having blast.

Like we're really happy for all the success that you've had down there,

the things you've gone out and earned.

Uh, we're gonna enjoy, just continue to follow you, root, for you.

I'm sure it'll be texting parents and all that and looking for the RV

ride to Boston here at some point.

Yeah, yeah, that'd be fun.

That'd be cool.

I know my parents are coming down for spring training.

I don't know if, if you guys are on that text thread or not.

Nah, I wish I wasn't poor.

I would be down there, there would be nothing better to be going if

you're, if you're A-A-O-D-U fan at all, with the, with the means and

ability, get down to Fort Myers guy.

It's a great place to, you can easy access to go back and watch the Minor League

guys, and, and it's, it's a fun place.

Yeah.

Do you know, do you know Nana?

Uh, maybe.

I'm not

sure.

She's like an old lady that came to my parents' like, uh, tailgate.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

All time.

Mm-hmm.

Yes, I do.

Yeah.

Yeah.

She, she, she's coming down.

She's excited to see me.

That's awesome.

That's fantastic, man.

Who wouldn't be excited to see you, man?

You're the best.

I mean, come on.

We, we appreciate you, buddy.

We're, we're excited for you, man.

Thanks a lot for, for giving, giving the time.

And good luck, man.

We're rooting for you.

Yeah, yeah.

No problem, man.

I'm thankful.

I'm thankful that you guys invited me on the show, man.

Thanks,

man.

Yeah, always.

Welcome.

Well, thanks so much, John, uh, CB and I'll be back here in

just a minute to wrap things up.

All right.

What a kid.

Awesome job, man.

Good man.

Right?

What a guy.

Yeah.

Awesome.

I'm just, I'm seriously glad to see his success down there.

And, and along with Dylan and Noah, uh, I mean, we, we've got some dudes

in the minors doing some stuff.

Like, I'm, I'm in my mind envisioning a Cubs Red Sox World Series where there's

like seven ODU guys in starting lineups.

I mean, we can get the, the Blue Jays there in the A LCS again.

I mean, uh, uh, hunter Gregory is running the doorstep.

I mean, we got a lot of guys at that double A level right now too, and we all

know that's, you're a phone call away.

I mean, Matt Coney was playing double A, uh, Andy Gariola was playing

double Carter Trice was in aa.

I mean, there were a lot of guys that they were right there at that level.

Um, and then PJ Higgins obviously has been AAA freeze.

I think it was like his third year playing for Louisville

after like three years of Iowa.

He is, he's a Wiley AAA vet now.

I mean, there's, there's a lot of.

Lot of dudes.

And of course Yee, I think Yee resigned with the, with the Yankees again.

Um, yeah.

So, yeah.

And Vinny Vinny's going for arbitration right now to give himself a big raise.

I mean, he's, it's one like what?

Well, I think he put in four and a half million.

The royals put in 4 million.

All I'm hearing is like, Vinny's gonna make four or four and a half million.

That's amazing.

It it, he can help him buy a, a pillow to cry on over his jets, I guess.

Oh, poor his poor, poor jets.

He's, he's, uh, he's very funny.

If you ever, you want a great Twitter follow, Vinny Paquantino is, uh,

excellent during football season.

Yeah, he's already, I think, established his second career whenever

he decides to hang it up because he is on ton of podcast national shows.

We'll, love to get him on here.

Um, I'll tell you, we're gonna have to increase the, uh,

viewer base quite a good bit.

But I think Vinny would do it if, if, uh, if we asked him to.

But

I

think he would

sometimes,

you

know, it wanna bug him.

He's he's busy living his life.

Yeah, I mean, he is pro, he is watching his jets lose and, you know, he's starting

to manage his little media empire now.

So I love to see it.

I just love seeing these, these guys go out and have

success, whatever they're doing,

because as, as we keep saying, they're just wonderful people.

They're just really, really good guys and they're just really great folks and it's,

they make it very easy to root for 'em, you know, it's, you root for 'em anyway,

just 'cause they're old Dominion guys.