CB and Gary recap the 2026 season with Coach Finwood. Finny gives us a behind the scenes view of the exit interview process and a stadium update. The guys will be back in June for a recruiting update.

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Hello Monarch fans, and welcome to the Hudson homers Podcast.

Coming to you today, sadly, with the season wrap up.

Uh, we'll talk stadium updates, portal, selection show going

on, all that good stuff.

Uh, but CB, Finny, how's it going?

It's good to be here.

Yeah.

Happy Memorial Day, everyone.

Remembering all our veterans and people that, uh, lost their lives

to let us do stuff like this.

Yeah, absolutely.

Certainly.

Yep.

Yeah

CB, are you recovered from your bus ride back as well?

Uh, I'm recovered.

My back has not recovered.

That will be a thing for, for next year.

It's... Yeah, and since you mentioned that, I mean, again, let me just make

sure we mention, you know, a huge thank you to, you know, Finny, ODU Baseball.

I mean, like, Ryne Moore and Brandon Pond for taking care of me during

the time, all the coaches, everybody.

Um, you know, Pierce Yarberry, Eric Bohannon, uh, the Monarchists guys,

make sure, I mean, j- I got... Getting to go down the bus with the

guys and, and the bus back, I mean, yeah, my, my actual physical back,

uh, is not happy about it, but-

my heart was happy about it.

It was fun.

I mean, obviously the results weren't what we wanted, but getting to do it was, was

great and, uh, the fact these guys always make me feel like part of the team, part

of the family is, you know, you can't ask for much more and it's, it's amazing.

Well, it was great to have you and y- now you get to see what it's like

to be a college baseball player.

Yeah.

Uh,

those

two long bus trips and, uh, Chick-fil-A, right?

Yeah.

Yeah.

I think my, my 20-year-old back would've handled it better.

And Buc-ees.

Uh-

Yeah, Buc-ees.

I'd never been to Buc-ees before.

That was good.

There

you go.

Can't say that anymore.

Yeah, there you go.

That was

always a staple on that trip, for sure.

Yeah.

So, um-

I'm glad you got to check that box, CB, finally.

There

you

go.

You did.

And welcome

to the Buc-ees

club.

I managed not to buy, like, a shirt or a stuffed animal or anything.

Aw.

I just, you know, got some food and left like a normal person.

Yeah, at

that point, you're, you're getting ready to hit the last leg of the journey.

Yeah.

You're just in survival mode.

Yeah.

Yeah, I was definitely like- You're done ... "Okay, something to fuel

the body here. Let's get going."

Yeah.

Y'all had a good trip down there as well, and I stayed the first night

in Charlotte and then drove down to Auburn, where I met up with you

and got to see Auburn's facilities, used the field for the workout.

That place is amazing there.

Yeah, it's incredible.

Um, it's, it's always fun to, you know, see friends that are still there from,

from my time there and then to see what they've, you know, added on and just kept-

Mm-hmm

... building that facility.

They really feel like it's become a... The atmosphere there has become a

lot tougher place to play and- Mm-hmm

uh, since they've done the renovations and I think, um, you know, we got to go

up and look in the offices and all that.

Yeah.

So that's, that's really cool, too.

And I think, um, that bodes well, being a tougher place to play,

'cause they're gonna get to host the first two rounds, um, of the

regionals- Mm-hmm ... if they win.

So, you know, that's a good way to get to Omaha.

And they've got a team good enough to do it, so I don't think-

It was very- The offices were wild because it looks like any, like, corporate office.

It's not like you think of, like, baseball offices, you know, some dingy

hole in the wall with some, you know.

Uh, but it was very much like sleek.

Yeah, right.

Like, uh, frankly, I mean, you know, lunch pail, you know, uh, uh, you

know, packing your own lu- This is very much like, you know, "Oh, let me check

my Roth IRA after the, the meeting." Like, it was very, yeah, very sleek.

That was interesting.

Yeah.

They're, well, they're brand new, so, you know, they've been under construction

with different things there for a while, and, um, I think they've just

gotten in them this spring actually.

So, um, that... When they built that, they built that building that their

offices and the weight room are in when I was there, initially that was,

uh, Dr. Andrews, James Andrews', um-

Oh, yeah

... building.

Tommy John guy.

Yeah, yeah.

That's where he work, worked out of in Auburn.

That was his Auburn office- Mm-hmm ... and rehab center and all of that.

And then the weight room was where it is now, and his offices were upstairs.

So yeah, it's pretty cool, um, um, what they've been able

to, to do with that space.

And I guess they needed all the space over, you know, in the stadium

where our offices used to be for the new locker room and, and, you

know, th- those types of things.

So they moved it all around, and they're, they're making it work, that's for sure.

So I'm looking forward to watching them this weekend coming up.

Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah.

Definitely rooting for them.

Nanny and our guys are... We're, we were watching them on the

bus ride back, that's for sure.

Yep.

Yep.

They had a good run, man.

You know, to lose, you know, to get beat by Arkansas 2-1 to, in the semifinals,

um, I think with all the rain they had in that tournament- Mm-hmm ... it was a

little disjointed as well as the Sun Belt.

So, you know, but they, they didn't hurt themselves.

They, even, I think even if they won the tournament, they were gonna, not gonna

be higher than a national four seed.

I mean, my gosh, when you're talking UCLA, Georgia Tech, and Georgia- ... are

the only ones in front of them.

So- Yeah ... um, they did pretty well

Yeah, and it was wild in Montgomery after we got out of there because

you just had delays every single day.

Uh, they ended up playing games down at Troy, uh, just to get the games in.

So they actually had simultaneous games going on.

Uh, and they finally got it back and then of course Southern

Miss wins the championship.

But, uh, I know that was a nightmare to probably manage, and I feel like every

conference tournament in the Southeast got smoked this week with weather.

Yeah, it felt that way.

I, I don't think it-- the tournament could've worked out any better for the

league, though, the way it did work out.

Yeah.

I mean, probably e- everything that could happen to help get five teams

into the tournament, and those teams played their way into it, certainly.

Yeah.

But it did happen, and, you know, it was great to-- Texas State felt like got that

last spot, you know, um, maybe over teams like Texas San Antonio and Mercer- Mm-hmm

or some of those teams that are, you know, when you get down to the last four or five

in, all of them are deserving, and the first four or five out are also deserving.

That, that, uh, we've been in, in that boat and it's heartbreaking.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

You know, um, but they gotta leave somebody out and, you know, I think,

uh, that's the hard part of it.

Yeah, it's great for the league.

I mean, it's the first time ever having five in, and it really just keeps

proving that, I think, I think I saw this as four of the last five years

that we've had more than the Big Ten.

Yeah.

I mean, we're, it's a power four conference in baseball, for sure.

Yep, absolutely.

And, uh, showed it again this year and, you know, it's, um, it's

big-time baseball in the Sun Belt Conference, no doubt about that.

It was a battle to get through to the end because nobody made it easy.

I mean, there were a lot of extra inning games, high-scoring games,

wild comebacks, things like that.

I mean, I think maybe sitting in the league we thought maybe the league's not

as good this year, but I think in reality there just weren't two teams that were,

like, fully far away from the rest of the pack, but, like, three, four, and

five were just, just murderous row again.

Yeah, I mean, when you're talking about, you know, Louisiana finished at seventh.

Yeah.

Not sixth.

They were the seventh seed.

But when you're talking about they, you know, they were as hot

as any team in the league- Mm-hmm.

Yeah

... coming down the stretch, and they showed that in the tournament, certainly.

Um, Texas State was really streaky.

You know, it was like they got swept a couple times, and they swept a bunch of

people and, you know, and then they played good in the tournament and, you know,

it's one of those, one of those deals.

I mean, um, it, it's, you know, outside of a couple teams, I don't think there were

that many teams in our league that could say they, you know, Coastal or Southern

Miss probably were the only that could say they didn't get swept the whole year.

Um, so, you know, we, we were, we were in that boat certainly.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, we know VCU up the road from us won the A10 tournament to get in, and

we have two wins over them this year.

I guess, uh, Finny, you've kind of been on both sides of the equation now.

Like, you've been in a league that's kind of one bid, but you can go win the

tournament, and now we're in the Sun Belt, which is I think the fourth best tour-

uh, conference in college baseball, and we're kind of on the outside looking in.

But that's ... I don't know, I would prefer the bigger conference, but I

was curious your thoughts on that.

Well, it changed.

I mean, we were only in the CAA for two years when I was here.

Um, so, you know, in the fir- the first year we were terrible.

And the second year we finished second or third and weren't

eligible for the tournament.

Weren't allowed,

yeah.

So, you know, but when you're in a league like that, yeah, you can play ... You

know, it, it all comes down to how you're playing over those four days,

man.

Mm-hmm.

And how, how much pitching depth you got and who gets hot and all those things.

And when you're in a league like the conference you just said, or

the Sun Belt, it can come down to...

The tournament still really matters.

Whether you win it or not, sometimes you got to win it, but whether you win it

or not, playing well in the tournament obviously matters to the committee.

You, you mentioned how Mercer got whacked twice at the end by-

Yeah ... Fayetteville, and obviously they held that against them.

Um, and you know, so you, you do need to play.

You know, they're, they're putting, they are definitely putting, you know, uh,

stars on the teams that play well in their conference tournament, without a doubt.

Which makes sense because frankly you're trying to put on a good show in the

big tournament you're about to have.

So if a team can do well in a tournament, that makes sense.

Without a doubt.

Yeah.

And, and in, and in conferences, this is the argument.

In the SEC, yeah, single elimination makes all the sense in the world.

You know, you win, you advance, you lose, you go home.

Mm-hmm.

Most of the teams are going home to get ready for, you know, a regional.

Either going- Right ... or hosting.

And, but in, in... And it showed up this year.

In a conference like the Sun Belt where the RPIs for a lot of those are

going to be in that range where if we can beat a couple more good teams...

I mean, you look at Troy, they were like 45 or something going into the-

Mm-hmm

conference tournament and ended up, what, 34?

It helps.

Um, they were a slam dunk.

Yeah.

Um, Louisiana was, you know, somewhere in that range as well.

So y- if you play well, you can definitely play your way into,

uh, a, a better at large position.

No question about that.

Yeah, I definitely think I would rather be in a league where there's

multiple opportunities like the Sun Belt or the SEC or the ACC, and there

weren't too many more than that, that were better than us in the Big 12.

Yep, yep.

Yep, there's no doubt.

Yep.

Yeah, you definitely want that and, you know, you wanna be able to build ... You

know, we, we didn't get it done this year, but our ... And the, the hard

part with the scheduling is scheduling, you know, you're scheduling two, two,

three years in advance and, you know, you're scheduling based on some history.

Um, you know, we actually had this year some other teams couple

years ago that were gonna come in.

Um, Northeastern was one of them.

Oh, yeah.

Um,

and then when they, you know, found out the stadium wasn't gonna

be done, they did something else.

So there's, there were some circumstances that, and then you're scrambling and

trying to fill it and things like that.

So, you know, you wanna have a non-conference schedule that's good

enough to help you, not hurt you, 'cause the league schedule's always gonna

help you, uh, as good as the league.

Oh, yeah.

So, and our, and our, our midweeks definitely help us.

They don't hurt us.

You know- Mm-hmm ... East Carolina, UVA, VCU, William and Mary, Richmond, they're

all usually in the boat where they're not gonna hurt you, um, too much, you know.

Um, I mean, the reality of it is we can't, I hate it, but we can't

play Norfolk State twice in a year.

Mm-hmm.

Um- Yeah ... this year just because, but it's, um, it's just something, those are

the things you have to pay attention to.

I think our lowest point for RPI this year was after we beat Norfolk State.

I think that was when we were in, like, the 230s or something like that.

Mm. Um, and then

obviously- Well, I, I think we were 285 after, uh, a loss at,

against Yukon back way early.

Ooh.

So yeah.

But yeah, I think you're right.

It w- th- those weren't helping.

No.

And then we end up, you know, pretty much right around the 100 mark, uh,

going towards the end of the season.

That just kind of balanced it out just based on the Sun Belt schedule.

Well, we, we talked a little bit about the stadium.

Would love to know if there's any updates there.

It, it seems like, fingers crossed, timelines are back on schedule.

For the new schedule.

Whatever that means.

Yeah.

Is it normal schedule or, uh- Yeah.

... our construction company schedule?

Um, yeah, so talking with Rick French last week, he said we're in the, the

ballpark of, um, the first and second week in June for our lockers coming

in and getting installed in the locker room, which that'll be really cool.

Then they can finish the rest of that.

Um, and then also the decking and seats company will be here

starting on those two projects.

So, uh, that'll be a big thing both in and out.

Um, you know, getting the, I mean, getting the decking and stairs and 2,000

Navy chair backs in, the railings, and all of those things that'll make that

seating bowl start to look finished.

Uh, they're supposed to come in next week and take down, start taking down

all the, the temporary stuff we had for this season, the bleachers in

the outfield, and then also the, uh, the golf press box, the golf view.

Ted's

perch.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So they'll get rid of that, get, get, get those out of here and get

those spaces all cleaned back up.

Um, they'll take down the, the temporary black, uh, windscreen fencing we

had- Mm-hmm ... up top there that was shielding that white steel.

Um, that'll come down.

And so yeah, just get back to being a construction site up there.

And then at some point this summer, um, I think it'll be after the seats

are done and the press box is done, they'll put the, the permanent net up.

um, the permanent backstop net up, so that will all look much more finished.

And, uh, we've already gotten rid of the, the, uh, temporary

padding in front of the dugouts.

Mm-hmm.

And the only temporary padding that's still there is the stuff

behind home plate, 'cause that's what the net's attached to.

Ah, yeah.

So, uh, so we'll, we'll have that in place this summer for camps and tournaments

and things like that until they get, get to the space where, um, they can

put that permanent net up, which I, I don't have any idea when that is.

Um, and then they-

Is, uh, all the outfield seating going or is it just the, the one out- All of it

all of it's going?

All of it's going.

Yeah.

That, that was all built temporary and, uh, I think it was nice of

them to say, "Hey, if we like it, maybe we'll keep it," you know?

Yeah.

Uh- I

think that's right ... I was born that night, but it wa- wasn't

last

night.

Uh,

and I

can remember when they put it in, um, one of the project managers on

campus, he, uh, I can't remember his name right now, but he's an Australian

gentleman, and it was raining one day.

I was standing in the dugout, and it was right before, kinda

a week before we opened up.

Um, we were pulling the tarp or something, and he was walking down there, and I, I

asked him, I said, I said, "That looks really nice, man. It's just about done?"

He goes, "Yeah, just about done. It'll be ready for, you know, the opener."

And I said, "Man, that really looks cool.

It'd be nice to keep it." He said, "Oh, you'll never be able to keep that, mate."

That sucks.

Yeah.

Uh, "That's all temporary." He goes, "To have outfield seating like that,

they'd have to tear all that down and put it in the ground." Oh, wow.

"So that'd never pass code for- Ah ... you know, being a permanent

structure." So that was the- Well,

there is a, a goal for the future, I guess, just, you know-

Yeah.

I don't think-

... be amazing to fill the place up

... it was cool, but I don't think we'll need it.

Yeah.

I think it's gonna be so many more awesome spaces, and I really do

think, and this is down the road, though, um, it would be cool to open,

open those corners up on both sides-

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm ... um,

probably about 100, 150 feet, and have tailgate spots out there-

Mm-hmm

where people can bring their trucks in, bring their grills- Yeah ... um,

lawn chairs, you know, kinda like Mississippi State did years ago.

Mm-hmm.

And, um, you just sell 'em, sell the spots and it's just-

Yeah ... free inventory, you know?

I think that could be something.

Hopefully, you know, that'd be something maybe we can look at doing down the road.

That would be a pretty good usage of that space, too, on game days.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It'd be exciting watching the grill smoke come over, but

Yeah, yeah.

I can remember days at Mississippi State, man, in the old stadium, you,

you'd look out there sometimes, I'd be out there trying to tell the left

fielder where, where to play, and you

couldn't see him.

I'd

be like, "Hey-" Busy.

He's in like in a fog of hamburger smoke.

Straight.

He's floating away on the hot dog smoke

there.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

The guy come running in the dugout from defense, smell like hot dog water.

But, uh, I think

Guzzo's favorite player.

Oh, yeah.

No doubt about it.

Yeah.

So th- th- those are some things we can work on down the road, you know- Mm-hmm

um, that I think would be exciting.

Yeah, I think fans will be excited to get Rally Alley back open, and

then- Oh, yeah ... the new offerings are gonna be available in the new

stadium are gonna be awesome too.

Yep.

So, well, there's still a lot of things to look forward to, but, you

know, never bad to kind of what's the next phase in the process.

Well, fill all these seats and maybe we'll put some in the outfield again.

Could happen.

You know, that, that's the beauty of it, right?

Mm-hmm.

Demand creates, uh, you know, what you, what you need, and, um, we

get... We, we start, uh, getting good crowds and, um, obviously a nice

ballpark is gonna help with that.

A good team is gonna help with that, and those are the two main things you gotta

get to, and then people start coming.

Yep.

And good, and good weather.

And good weather.

Yeah, good

weather.

That's al- that's always the thing you can't fight being

the 30, 40 degrees the first

month.

Well, there's... Yeah, there's a lot of people with good ballparks and good teams.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

And you go play them on bad weather, you're gonna play there, so.

Yep.

Yeah.

That's how it works.

So Finny, um, one thing I know when you guys, uh, you finish the season

here, one of the things that people may not realize you guys do, you guys

do exit interviews with your players.

Yep.

That you have pretty much everybody comes in, you have kind of like a,

uh, sort of like one-on-ones kind of with the player and the coaches.

Yep.

Um, can you talk to us a little bit about like what goes on in those meetings?

Sure, yeah, yeah.

Well, they fall under a couple different categories.

Mm-hmm.

I think one of the categories is players that you don't think are gonna be able

to stay here and play in your program.

Um, and those guys, it's always been my belief that you need to

let them know that as soon as possible, as honestly as possible.

And I always try to come at it from a position of, "Here's what I think.

Here's what we think.

Um, how can we help?

If you want our help, we're here for you.

You're a good kid.

You worked hard, it just not, not gonna work out," or for whatever reason.

Um, sometimes there's a kid that maybe didn't do what he was supposed

to do academically, um, and he needs to leave for that reason.

We had one of those this year, unfortunately.

Now, having said that, we also had the second highest team GPA

in the history of ODU baseball.

That's nice.

We had

the most

players ever on the Dean's List in one semester.

Could, could have been the highest.

Yeah, yeah.

Head sucker.

Um, but, but, so, so yeah, he stood out, you know, he was an outlier on the, on

the wrong side of the, the thing on a- Mm

on a group of guys that did fantastic.

I think we had four guys in the whole program that got

under a 3.0 this semester.

Wow.

So, and, and like- That's a lot ... you know, you gotta have a 3.4 or better

for Dean's List, and we had, you know, I mean, I think we had, I don't know, 27 or

something like that, that, that did- And

when you consider the baseball schedule, that's pretty impressive.

That's really

impressive.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, and it, and it says a lot about the types of students we have-

Mm-hmm

... the types of families we have- Yeah ... and also what a great job

Amy Lynch does, our academic advisor.

So, uh, she's a rock star, and seems like every year she's coming up with,

"You know, this is the best we've ever done, this is the best we've ever done."

It's like- ... and, and, and, you know, recruiting good students matters to us.

Yeah.

When you recruit them out of high school and they have a certain academic profile,

they get some academic money, which helps-

Mm-hmm

... their families, you know, add to helping pay for school, so.

And then there's some accountability in there because you have to

keep a certain GPA to keep it.

Mm-hmm.

And so those things are- Um, when, when the players know they got accountability

here from the coaches and at home from mama- ... um, they do, they do better.

That's the way- Yeah ... I've always looked at it.

So, uh, yeah, so, so a kid that's leaving, it might... We have rarely

had a kid leave because he was a troublemaker, but that- Mm-hmm

would be the other category of a kid that's gotta go,

maybe, you know, that way.

But so usually it's just, um, hey, one or two years.

Rarely is, is a guy around more than that and you, you know, don't want him to

come back, but it just didn't work out.

We think you're gonna be better off.

And sometimes it's a, sometimes it's the coach's decision, um,

sometimes it's the player's decision, "Hey, I wanna play more."

Um- Mm-hmm ... and that's perfectly fine.

We understand that.

And sometimes it's more of a, "Let's talk about this, and here's the

reality of it." You know, sometimes those meetings start with, you know,

"I wanna come back, I wanna, you know, play more," and da, da, da.

And, you know, you get into, are you gonna be okay having this same

conversation a year from now- Mm-hmm

with the same amount of opportunities?

And they're, "No." You know?

Yeah.

And that's what we're talking about now.

So you gotta try to help them.

It's never easy, man.

And I mean, I, I've been, I've been the bad guy on this for,

you know, 35 years, so I get it.

You know, I, I just, some days, on those exit meeting days when you have

the tough ones, you walk out- Mm-hmm

and hope your truck tires aren't

slashed.

Jeez.

Uh, and I'm not making light of a tough situation.

I know with some kids-

Yeah

... I mean, these are life decisions, and we, we take all of-

Mm-hmm ... all of that seriously.

Um, and I, I think it is important to be honest.

I think some people let this thing just go and 'cause they don't wanna

either deal with it, and they just want the kids to cut themselves.

What you end up with then is a bunch of guys that are disgruntled and unhappy

in your program, and that emanates over into the overall team energy.

I actually think we had a couple guys in the sophomore class that

were like that this year, personally.

Mm-hmm.

And it bothered me.

Um, why, you know, and then as I evaluate what I need to do better,

I sit there and go, "Why didn't you get rid of them last year?"

Like, why, you know, you knew this was a possibility.

Mm-hmm.

So anyway, you know, that, that would be the, the reasons, you know, a,

a kid would come in and, you know, have to go in the transfer portal.

And of course, nowadays the portal doesn't open up till

next week, but you see them all-

Mm-hmm.

Yeah

... um, putting their stuff out on Twitter and Instagram.

And isn't it funny that every kid that goes in the portal,

every pitcher throws 92 to 95?

Yeah.

Every hitter's got 105 exit velocity, and

- Yeah

... I was like, "Come on, guys." E- every coach is at this, this,

uh,

you know, cool.

It's

like, don't ask how many of those were for strikes, those 95s.

Yeah.

So they do it.

They're trying to help themselves.

Yeah.

We always come at it from the, the, you know, the viewpoint of if you want

us to help, we'll be glad to help.

Mm-hmm.

Um, if you start badmouthing us, we're not gonna help you.

Yeah.

So we didn't do anything wrong.

We gave you an opportunity.

It didn't work out, and that's life.

Um, this is a performance based industry for me, for the coaches, for the players.

So is life.

You get it done or somebody else comes and gets it done,

and that's the reality of it.

The players wanted this system, you know?

Mm-hmm.

The system wasn't in place five, six, seven years ago.

You, you could hang in there with a guy longer.

You couldn't get another one.

Um, uh- ... they couldn't go anywhere and play.

They, they fought for this.

This is why the coaches, you know, work ... This is how we're trying

to survive and flourish within the system, so, um, we're all trying to

work it the best way we know how.

And sometimes the other side of that is- Sometimes a player comes in and had a

good year and decides the grass is greener and he wants to go give it a shot in

the portal at a bigger school, you know?

Uh, sometimes that player's getting recruited while he's playing for you.

Uh-huh.

And oh, buddy, you, you should hear the, the war stories I hear about that.

Um-

I can only imagine.

It, it keeps you up at night, actually.

Um, you know, there's a kid we... Did not in our conference, but in our

state, who was a really good player.

We played against them twice.

They had a really good year, and we were hearing that, you know, a school in,

uh, a big, you know, Power Five school, Power Four school was offering him, you

know, his, uh, through his advisors or-

Mm-hmm

... whoever, like $200,000, like, while the season's going on to go there next

year.

Right, which is crazy.

Yeah.

And we can't, we can't compete in those areas, you know?

The thing that's interesting, and I, I find... I, I like to think

of myself as a lifelong learner.

I wanna constantly be, um, interested in learning.

All these negotiations are newer to me.

It used to be just, "Here's your scholarship.

Do you wanna come back?" "Yeah." "All right, we're gonna put you on

this," or, "We're gonna increase your scholarship," or, "We're gonna decrease

it a little bit," or, "We're gonna take your scholarship," or, "You're

leaving." Um, now, you know, you have a little bit more, um, gray area in there.

In other words, you get some scholarship money, you have some rev share

money, you have some NIL money, and these, these kids aren't dummies.

Like, they figure out who is on what and, uh, this kind of stuff.

Mm-hmm.

And so you have to be a little more patient, I think, and willing to have

some give and take in, in some of these uh, negotiations, 'cause that's what they

are, um, and look at it maybe from like a more of a general manager standpoint,

kind of take your ego out of it, um, and just, just get the deal done, especially

with the guy you really want back.

Uh, and you can only bounce the ball so high, right?

Up to a- Mm-hmm ... up to a certain ceiling.

Um, but those are all things that are new for us, um, in, in our

program, and so we're having to kind of deal with, with, with that now.

It's one you, you kind of have to say, look, at, at certain points,

like you've had a career, I'm sure at certain points in your career you've

said, "Hey, I've done X, Y, and Z.

This is the amount that I should be getting paid for that," right?

I mean, it's like we've all had that in our, in our jobs and lives, so it's,

it's one of those things that, yeah, again, within reason, you're not coming

up saying like, "I'm so great, give me $20 billion." Like no- Right ... let's

be

real.

Yeah, no, there's no question.

And you know, sometimes it gets to a point in there where you go, "Man,

I'd love to give you that, but we're gonna have a crappy team." Yeah.

Yeah.

Right.

"Because we don't have the players that we need, and it ain't gonna

do me any good to have you here on that and us be in last place."

Yeah, we're not the Yankees.

This isn't the bottomless pit, right?

Right.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And so, and then in other cases you're like, "You know what?

Um- I... And we had a player and, and I, it's, I don't, it's

probably not smart to name.

We had a player who had a bad first couple years.

Mm-hmm.

We took a scholarship from him.

He wanted to come back and fight it out, which I've done that with guys before.

Mm-hmm.

Um, and the guys, almost to the man, the guys that kind of go, "I wanna

come back, I'll show you," usually do.

There's, it's an uncanny thing.

Um, and you can't always do that because if it was a portal guy and he had to

sign on this and... Anyway, this kid did, and he, and he came back and he had

a good year this year, and he, he was really a big part of our playing better

in the second half of the season, and I believe he's gonna keep getting better.

He's finally healthy, and he came in and I said, "Look, we're

gonna give you some money back.

Um, how's this sound?" And he looked at me very professionally and very respectfully

and said, "I think I should be on what I was on before you took my scholarship.

I wanna help my family out.

Um, they had to deal with it this year, and I'm good with it."

And I said, "You know what?

You're right.

You should." "Uh, let's go." So I think those are the parts of it, you know,

you're weighing the, the scales a lot, uh-

And that's only gonna help that kid in the future when they, you know,

whatever is past baseball, having those adult conversations and like you

said, having that realistic of like...

That, the way you, the way you said all that right there, he didn't

ask for something unrealistic.

He just said- No ... "Hey, I should be back to where I was." And it's like, okay.

He didn't, and it wasn't, you know, I mean, sometimes in negotiations

you purposely start low, right?

Just to- Right.

Yeah, yeah.

I think, uh, it wasn't that case.

It was kind of this is what we got, we think we got, and

let's, let's offer him this.

You know, he wasn't on anything last year.

But that wasn't what- his thoughts were.

And I, I told him, I said, "Man, I, I respect so much the fact that you

came in here and said that. It tells me a lot about what you think about

yourself, which I haven't always believed you thought that much about

yourself and, and this helps me even believe it even more, so good for you."

Um, and so I, I think those are the, like I said, those are the

learning curve parts of this for me.

Um, you know, and, and I think it's all, it's all good stuff, you know?

Uh, some of those meetings, man, it's, they're hard because you're talking about

kids and young men and, you know, they're impressionable and when you tell them

that you just don't think they're good enough, they wonder why, and you try to

be honest with them without killing them.

Um- Yeah ... and I always tell guys, "Look, we, we are completely

allowed... R- reasonable minds can disagree in this world.

I've always believed that.

It's okay, but let, but if, uh, we're not gonna bow up on each other in here.

Uh, if that happens, then we'll just end it and you're leaving anyway, so." Yeah.

And, and the last thing I make sure they know is, you know, all of us,

Mike, me, Age, Paulie, we've been doing this a long time and we know a lot of

people, and we got a good reputation in this business because of that.

Just be careful, 'cause people are gonna call us.

And if you handle it the right way, we're gonna help you.

And if you don't, we're not.

Um, and you don't want us... I, 'cause I've had that, you know, I'll call

a coach about a kid and it's, he's a friend of mine or... No, he'll just

say, "Man, run for the hills." Yeah.

And that's the end of that conversation.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I don't care what he hit, I don't care how hard he throws.

When a, when a guy says that, then you're, you're moving on, 'cause

none of us wanna deal with that.

So it's a multifaceted thing, man, and I, I try to... I think we all, you know,

when we sit down as a staff, this year they were faster because we had more

kids that I thought needed to move on.

It was almost, it was more than we've had in the past, and,

but I think it was necessary.

Um, and we had those conversations the next morning after, you know, getting

back home at midnight and whatever.

Um, you know, but they're, they are staff conversations 'cause I wanna

know what all of our guys think, um, on every one of those kids.

Not that we all have to agree with them, and we often don't.

Um- Mm-hmm ... you know, but it's important to me to hear what those,

our assistant coaches think and, you know, get their, their thoughts.

'Cause they have some insights sometimes I don't have.

Um- Mm-hmm ... you know, they've had some conversations I haven't

had, and so those are all valuable.

Yeah.

Well, appreciate the peek behind the curtain on that, 'cause I think

the only sound bite that gets out there usually is this kid's in the

portal and everyone wants to go pile on the kid 'cause it's in there.

It's like-

Yeah

... you don't know the reason why they're in the portal.

Um, so-

No, everybody assumes they're leaving 'cause they're looking for

a greener pasture or Um, they got paid somewhere or they got in trouble

and got kicked out of the program.

Mm-hmm.

And most cases it's, it's none of those.

Mm-hmm.

It just didn't work out.

Yeah.

Um, and it's, it's the right thing for them to, you know, to move on.

And, a- and all these guys, like the thing that makes your experience

when you interview these thousands of players, it's not even where they

played, it's that they played and contributed and, and the relationships,

the coaching staff, the players on the team, how that affected their lives.

Those are the most important things.

And I try to explain to them, if you haven't played here for two years

and we're telling you you're not gonna play- Mm-hmm ... next year-

Yeah

... go have a good experience.

And especially now, the, the kids have the advantage of having an extra year

probably that gets voted in here- Mm-hmm

this, in the next month.

And so you're gonna be able to go get in a program, have a chance to play every day.

That doesn't mean you're gonna, just 'cause you leave and go to a lower

level- Mm-hmm ... or a different name, you still gotta fight it out.

There's good players everywhere.

Yeah, yeah.

And you gotta go play well.

There are.

You know, if you go there and stink, you're gonna sit on the bench again.

Um, you know, that's a fact.

So y- it's, it's still on you to perform, but maybe you have a

better chance or more opportunities for failure, um, at this place.

And I mean, we had one kid w- you know, announce he was in the portal that

morning, and we had five phone calls from teams, um, that afternoon about him.

Good.

So yeah.

Yeah, so you're like a little bit of a broker too, right?

Yeah.

And, but every, but every one of those phone calls starts with, "Is he a

good kid?" Like- Yeah ... everyone.

Not-

Nobody's trying to bring the turds?

Is that what you're telling me?

Yeah.

Nobody wants

the

bad

kids?

Nobody's trying to bring a turd.

Yeah, they want good kids, they want good teammates- Yeah ... they

want good students, uh, and they want guys that are gonna fit in.

And, and I think, um, that's the, that's the thing that people need

to make sure they, they understand.

I mean, these are good, good kids for the most part.

Yeah.

Um, the fit sometimes isn't exactly right, and that's okay.

That's life.

Um, and look man, we take the, we take the responsibility of it seriously because we

brought them here and if it didn't work out, that's on us, uh, in, in most cases.

In some cases there's some blame to go around because they might- ... they

might not been good enough and they just didn't work hard enough.

Yeah.

But then again, that's on us too, 'cause we could've evaluated that better perhaps.

Um, and so there's a lot of, there is a lot of looking in the mirror, man,

when, when this time of the year.

Um, and, and j- you know, speaking of Carl, I mean, it's still, we were

talking about this this morning and he goes, "Listen, the thing people forget

is every team has some bad players on

it."

Mm-hmm.

That's true.

And, and that's a coach's- I don't say that like to knock anybody.

That's co- that's coach speak.

You know, he's like, "We got some bad players on our

team." Like stuff like that.

And he goes, "You're not gonna have a whole team full of studs like, uh, all,

all every player's All-Conference." It's just not how it works.

But, you know, you hope that the guys that maybe are playing less, uh, understand

their role and they're really good at that role, in that role, teammate supportive,

you know, and we had a lot of that.

Our, our guys, some of our guys- Mm-hmm ... didn't play a ton, like were

fantastic teammates and, and really good role models and things like that, so.

Well, that's how I always look at like a couple of guys are a great example.

They ended up coaching for you too, which tells you they had a great experience.

John Kean and Bryce Jones.

You know, a couple of guys who, you know, I think a lot of it too comes down

to what do you want to get out of this?

You know, for both of them it was like, "Hey look, I'm, maybe I'm

not getting to play a ton, but I'm getting to play close to home."

You know, Bryce is, is getting to play with his best friend Cal Edwards.

You know, he's, he's... him and his dad, you know, they love ODU.

He's, Bryce is as big an ODU basketball fan as anybody you're ever gonna find.

Yeah.

And for them it was like, yeah, either one of them could have, you

know, uh, John Kean was a catcher, wasn't playing a ton, becomes a

pitcher, he wasn't pitching a ton.

Yeah.

You know, again, both wonderful team guys.

Either one of them could have some point decided, "Hey, you know what?

What matters to me is I'd like to go somewhere and play." Right.

And they could've, I mean, I guarantee he'd gone somewhere and played.

If Bryce had gone to Hampden-Sydney with his brother, he probably

could've been All-Conference, right?

Yeah.

I mean, he's, he's a good ballplayer.

Uh, but what they decided for their lives and their careers was they wanted to stay

at Old Dominion, be team guys, enjoy the experience, and, you know, I think like

I said, clearly it worked out because they both ended up coaching with you.

That's a great point.

And, uh, you know, unfortunately- There's a financial component to that.

Both those guys were walk-ons.

Right.

Mm. Um, so they were able to... They're great kids, great teammates.

Mm. It was before these roster limits came down.

Mm.

Um, they were take- they, they were able to take advantage of some of the COVID

roster limits and stay in the program.

Mm-hmm.

And now when this 34 hard roster comes down- Yeah

there aren't gonna be any walk-ons anymore.

Like, basically.

Yeah.

Unless you got a kid that's on academic scholarship, full

boat or something like that.

And so, like, that whole, that whole dynamic, like, we've always

had some good walk-ons, you know?

Those guys you mentioned.

Mm. I mean, Jason Hardline was a walk-on.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Fantastic player here.

Vincent Bechara and his brother Brian- Mm-hmm

... were

both walk-ons.

Yeah.

Um, you know, and, and that, that side of college baseball is gonna go away,

uh, at the larger levels, I fear, um, when, where you can, "All right, man,

he's staying in the program as long as I'm here 'cause he's an awesome kid."

Yeah.

Right,

right.

That kind of thing.

So yeah, I, I, you know, I, I'm, I hear you.

Those guys, like, we're so proud of, you know, all of them, you know,

especially the guys that get into coaching and, you know, do well.

I'd like to see, um, you mentioned him, I'd like to see Kyle Edwards come

back here and get into coaching- Yeah

when he's done playing.

'Cause I think he'd be really good at it.

I think so too.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So, yeah.

Yeah.

I, I did see something funny from that league that he's in.

It looked like a player was traded for a player to be named later, and then

the player that got traded ended up, ended up becoming the player to be

named later and went back to the team.

Yeah.

So.

He

got traded for himself, which is great.

Yeah.

It was-

Only in, only in independent

baseball-

Yes ... could that

possibly

happen.

Very, very indie ball.

I think it happened one time in the Major Leagues, but that was

like 50 years ago it happened.

But yeah, that's-

How's that even, how, how's that even possible?

Like- It's like,

I mean, it's

like a paid vacation to another team.

It should be like no, no take backs, man.

No take backs.

Yeah,

right.

We need at least a bucket of balls or something like- Something,

yeah.

Pitches sheet or something.

We need a new mound tarp.

Uh.

That's the thing that, and that's the thing that I know, I don't know if

they still do, but I know it used to be a thing, like when major league

teams would sign indie ball players, they would typically do stuff.

Like, I remember like Kerry Lightenberg got signed by the Braves from

indie ball team, and they gave him like, like three dozen buckets of

baseballs or something like that.

To get his- It was like teams would kind of like, "Hey, what do you need?

We can help you out." They're like, "Oh, we really, we're,

we can't afford baseballs."

Like, "We got

you." Oh, that's great.

W- when I was at VCU with Coach Keyes, uh, North Carolina A&T would

come up and play us every year, and they never wanted any money 'cause

they said, excuse me, the athletic department would take it from them.

They would never get it.

Oh.

We had a Louisville Slugger contract at the time, and we got, you

know, 40 bats a year or whatever.

He always wanted three bats.

That's what he wanted.

Three bats.

And, uh, it was, you know, we just give them to him when they come up.

Yeah.

We have three brand new bats, so.

Why not?

Sure.

Pays for the trip.

Oh,

awesome.

That's great.

Yeah.

Yes.

Well, uh, this-

We're, uh, we're in the middle of, um, you know, the portal opens up a week- Mm-hmm

from yesterday, uh, I think next Monday or Tuesday and, you know, we're in the

middle of all of that stuff right now.

Yeah, it was funny watching you guys, like, already getting on that on the bus.

Like there was already- Yeah ... like a spreadsheet being created,

and everybody was checking out things and just passing- Yeah

the laptops.

Yeah.

It was, it was interesting watching that.

It's, it's... They, Paulie and Hayes got it down

to- Mm-hmm

... pretty good working science now.

Um, there's also Junior College World Series going on right now.

Mm-hmm.

And so we're watching, we're recruiting some kids that are playing in the Division

I and the Division II World Series, and we're able to watch those games

online, so that's where that's nice.

So it's, um, a couple kids that, you know, it's been helpful

to watch them play online.

In fact, a kid plays tonight at, at 7:00, so, um, I'm gonna tune, tune that game in.

Not too bad.

Better than the having to fly out there to see

them.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

We're in the, we're in the dead period right now anyway, so you can't even- Oh,

yeah

uh, from yesterday to Monday is the dead period, so you

can't even go see anybody play.

Um-

Okay.

So that's, uh, but you can still watch them online.

There you go.

Can't stop

it.

The comfort of your own home.

And in

the summer ball we got, um, let's see, we got, uh, Mack Dye, Tyler Zedalis,

and, uh, Jackson Runyon, um, are going to the Pilots right now, and then Efrain

Morales is gonna go probably early July and play the second half over there.

Um- Nice ... and then we'll, we got a bunch of kids that are gonna be in

this, this Tidewater Summer League.

Um- Okay.

We even got our, I think we got four of our incoming freshman, uh, hitters

in that, uh, that'll be playing in that, and a few of our younger players.

You know which

team they're gonna play for, or do you...?

I think the, uh, that's a good que- Oh, uh- I

know they change them all the time.

Yeah.

I'm, I think they're playing for Roland's team.

Okay.

The Thunderbirds?

Um, yeah.

I know Jackson Okonkwo's playing in that league and he's just gonna hit.

He's not pitching.

Yeah, I heard that.

Oh, okay.

He's playing on Dooley's team.

Um, and then I think Chris Cavalcante is playing on Dres' team.

Um-

He's gonna see the whole league on any given day.

You'll see some of

the- Yeah.

Yeah.

We'll have some other young arms.

I think Maddox Jack- Okay ... might throw a few innings in that

or something like that.

So yeah.

All right.

So we're, we're, uh, you know, I- Yeah

I'm really, I, I like what they're doing with that league.

I think it's better than what they've-

Yeah

... done in the past, so, um, yeah.

Yeah, that league goes through, like, all kinds of cycles of some

years it's like, "Oh, this is pretty well run." Some years like, "What

are you guys doing this year?" Yeah.

I think

they've taken some of that out of, uh, the one guy's hands and, you know,

they're co-opting it a little bit more.

And anytime you got Roland Wright, um- Yeah ... and Dyer

involved, it's gonna be run

better.

You know?

Anytime you let Roland run something, man, he, when, when, when I go to

one of y'all's camps and Roland is kind of m- making the engine go, it's

like, "This thing's gonna be great." When Roland's not there, it's like,

"We're gonna be in for a long day."

Ro-Ro will make it run quickly and efficiently.

Yes.

That is a

fact.

Yeah,

no doubt.

Hoping, I'm trying to go see their playoff game on Wednesday.

Hoping the weather, uh-

Wednesday, yeah

... stays.

What do they got, LC Bird or something like that?

Yeah.

Yeah, LC Bird, I think it was.

I, he said, uh, yeah, 'cause he said, um, that he's not throwing, uh, the

one, the one kid to softball at all, so.

Yeah.

But yeah, so they, um, so that's, uh, we're, we're working, working through that

and recruiting and, you know, fortunately this year we don't need that many guys in

the portal and, uh, I think we're still looking for a couple arms, preferably

left-hand pitchers, I believe, and then maybe a infielder and one outfielder.

So that's kind of what we're down to.

So should be exciting couple weeks.

Yes.

Yeah.

Well, there's, there's one more Summer League guy that I've got to mention here.

Yeah.

Just so I don't know when we back on.

Uh, Scotty Young announced today he's gonna go play for the

Savannah Bananas this summer.

Yeah.

So if you find yourself around Savannah, Georgia this summer, make sure to go

check him out and support him there.

What a perfect landing spot for Scotty.

I mean, you talk about a marriage made in heaven.

I do.

Like, it's perfect.

I, I told him when he told me that, I said, "I, it kind of feels like you've

been playing for the Bananas since you got here." Sometimes I wonder if

you're playing with different rules or... Hey, Scotty is so much fun.

We're so appreciative of his time here, man.

Yeah.

He was, uh, just a shot in the arm.

Yeah.

He's a, he's a really, you know, grateful kid.

He appreciates things, great teammate, super competitor.

I can't say enough good things about him, and it was so cool that he was

able to get another year back and-

Mm-hmm

it's

been his first time ever being at a place for two years.

Yeah.

Um- And, you know, he, he just, like, he's one of those guys you feel like you

stay in touch with for a long, long time- Yeah ... because of his personality.

And so we wish him the best.

And I, I mean, you know, I said, "Man, if you guys ever, you know, we get the

stadium going and all that, maybe we need to get the Savannah Bananas-" Yeah.

Baseball.

ODU, yeah.

And you know, I was like, "You gotta work on your dance moves a

little bit now. Let's go," you know?

I

can't wait.

Yeah.

So yeah,

it'll be a lot of fun.

He, he's... And it's a perfect situation for him.

Yeah.

Yeah, he's, he's gonna make a lot of fans very happy being on the Savannah Bananas.

Yes, he will.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So how that works is they put you in their training program first.

They have all these teams down there, and they all live in Savannah, and then

you, you know, they farm you out to one of these different teams, and then if

you end up on this, in this one group, then you got kind of a guaranteed,

uh, as long as you don't get hurt, to, to go end up with the Bananas.

So they have so many teams now that play in their organization.

Um, so-

Yeah, we had, there's a local kid, um, the, South Trimble that plays-

Yep ... for, uh, the Firefighters.

Yeah.

And yeah, so it's been really cool to see.

He's a really good kid.

You get to see him, he played at George Mason, you get to see him

kind of make that transition to, you know, from being a pretty, pretty

solid college player to now- Yep

he's at least three, maybe four years he's been doing that.

He's the Magician now.

So yeah, it's really neat to see him

to- Yeah.

It's cool.

It's cool.

I wish I'd have thought of

it.

Um- Yeah, right?

Yeah.

Who'd

have, who'd have thought you could have fun playing baseball?

I don't know.

I, I really do think it's actually hurt, not the s- you know, necessarily the

catching a foul ball is an out, that kind of thing, but the idea of like,

oh, you can have fun playing baseball, you can definitely feel that more in

the overall sport in the last, you know, five, six years they've been around.

I agree.

I agree.

I think it's super cool.

I mean, and, and in a summer league situation, why not have rules like that?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Like, obviously people are like, "Thank God, he's out." Yeah.

Right.

Try to do that in a, in, you know, in one of our games, guys would be-

Yeah ... throwing those in the head.

You get to the championship 'cause Joe Blow with a bag of peanuts

caught a foul ball, you gotta

be kidding me.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah,

no.

But yeah, it's cool.

The Banana Ball rules are fun, and I, I think it's neat.

I think it's neat.

I, I really do.

Yeah, be excited for them and we'll get some more information as we learn more

about summer leagues throughout and we'll push the Pilots and all that good stuff.

Um, summer league ball is, uh, I think like one of the best things in sports.

Loving the Pilots.

I'm already, already got my plans to go to the Pilots on Friday.

Oh, good.

Good.

Yeah.

Um, there's a couple, couple kids throwing, uh... Are they playing

the Chillicopters by any chance?

Uh, not that, not Friday.

Maybe Saturday they might be.

I'm not sure.

I know Friday is I think the, the Australian team, the Devil Dogs.

Oh, that's the all Australian group.

That's

cool.

Yeah.

Which is crazy.

Yeah.

We'll see how, we'll see if they can maintain that through the whole summer.

I'm curious, you know, how they change players so much sometimes.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Well, there's a couple, you know, again, in the portal, like there's some kids

we have that are going in that are- Okay

you know, a couple different teams, and it's always helpful for us if they

end up playing, you know, against the Pilots because it's easy, easy to go.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

So... Or we just send our chief recruiter, CB Wilkins there.

Yeah.

I think, I think Morehead City is the Saturday game

that I'll be at too, so yeah.

Okay.

So yeah, you let me know if there's ever somebody you're curious about.

I'll, I'll keep an eye out, you know.

Absolutely will.

I'm

not as good as y'all, but I got a basic understanding of what, what

somebody sucks or doesn't suck.

That's, uh, hey, that's a big part of it.

It's better sometimes, like, "Hey man, this guy's trash.

Don't, uh, don't bother."

If we call in the first, uh, sentences, "Well,

he doesn't suck."

Yeah.

Good

start.

That's a problem.

Oh, and, and I just thought of another, um, uh, Cam Tellefson is playing, uh,

in the Valley League for Winchester.

Oh, nice.

Okay.

And I think he's up there, I think, uh, JJ Hand and- Uh,

Brody

... and Brody are playing there as well.

Yep.

Okay.

Yeah, but Cam, Cam's going up there to play, so really

proud of Cam this year, man.

He worked his butt off in the weight room.

I mean, he is an animal now.

He is a big- He's

huge.

Um- He's

a large human.

Yeah, yeah.

He really took advantage of his red shirt year and worked hard, so, um, hopefully

that'll pay off for him next year.

Yes.

Good competition for first base at the very least.

Yep, yep.

We're excited about all of that, man.

It's, it's a good group coming in and, uh, a good group coming back

and, um, you know, we just gotta wrap this thing up hopefully in the next

few weeks, and then we'll move on to the high school kids in, uh- Yeah

in July.

So-

Okay ... it's

all about the, the g- the up, you know, the older kids in, in the end of

May and, and the first part of June.

Yeah.

Yeah.

All right.

Well, we'll, uh, you know, we'll start doing this about once a month.

So we'll, we'll come back, you know, probably a few weeks and have an episode.

Maybe we'll get Hage or- Perfect

or Marin or, uh- Yep ... Panik or somebody on, talk to us about recruiting stuff

and- That'd be great ... but Finny, we, as always man, we appreciate you.

I mean, again, can't thank you enough for, you know, everything you do

for us and it's just, it's a joy having you- Well- ... on here, man.

It's my pleasure, and I appreciate you guys and, and I think you guys have

figured out how to thread the needle on providing content and honest content.

Um, and then, and then also be able to slant, you know, slant things in as,

as positive a direction as possible.

You know, we had a rough first half of the season, we just did, and

we wanna own that and, and not- Yeah ... run away from it certainly.

Mm-hmm.

But I didn't ever feel like you guys were, you know, piling on, which

some people like to do that, right?

Like, um-

Yeah, man.

Some

people love

that.

Some

people- I don't know why.

Yeah,

especially in the era of social media.

Um, and I, I don't, you know, I learned a long time ago never, never read

any of that because if you win then they think you're way better than

you are, and if you lose then they think you're way worse than you are.

So- Um, yeah, but you guys, you guys, that, that, that is a area that

you guys have to deal in, and for content and for y'all's, you know,

publications and things like that.

So I understand that.

I, I just appreciate, you know, how you, you guys are ODU fans and supporters.

Oh, yeah.

I think that comes over all the time, no matter what, and it means a lot to

all of us coaches, man, it really does.

'Cause people can have a tendency to look at coaches as

less than human, uh, at times.

Yep.

You know, they think we're all just cyborgs or something and-

Yeah ... uh, but we're not, man.

We got families, and we laugh and we cry and we bleed and all, all the things

that everybody else does, and it, you know, we just happen to coach a sport.

And it means an awful lot to us.

You know, I don't think, I think if anybody thinks there's anybody that

feels worse about a loss than the coach and the coaching staff of that team-

Yeah ... they are kidding themselves.

Yeah.

Crazy.

Because, you know, I tell our guys all the time, man, when we play, when we

don't play, I don't sleep at night.

Like, I'm up- Yeah ... pacing the floor all night trying to

figure out what's going on.

And when you play good, I still don't sleep great at night,

but I sleep a little bit.

Uh, so, you know, but that's the reality of it and it's, it's always been that

way, it's always gonna be that way, but I think any chance I get to point that out,

people that are supportive and honest, um, because I do believe you can do both,

and I do believe people can disagree on things without, you know, being, uh,

overzealous or, um, disrespectful as well.

Well, that's definitely the goal but, uh, it's been awesome having you on this year.

Excited to have you keep coming on throughout the rest of this

year and into next season.

Yep, yep.

And finally, the new ballpark.

Yes.

Finally, the new ballpark.

It is here.

And the best thing that's gonna happen this week is I

get to go down Thursday- Yeah

and hug my grandson, Sterling, for the first time.

Yes.

Oh,

that's awesome.

I'm gonna be down there Thursday through Monday.

Um, so I, I'm just beside myself just thinking about that.

So can't wait and, you know, I'll, uh, I'll have some pictures for- ... for the

next episode of, of me and my- Excellent.

Yeah ... me and Mr.

Sterling.

So, uh, that's gonna be awesome.

That's great.

Yeah, give Chrissy and, and, uh, Gray big hugs, and Sterling too.

It's, they're all wonderful folks, and I, I'm sure that... That

kid is, that kid's already lucky 'cause he's got them as parents.

He is.

No doubt about it.

So, uh, he, he, he might have missed a little bit on the

granddad draw of the card-

but we're gonna make it work, so.

Not

much

we can do about that one.

Um, yeah.

I'll be the granddad that gets his own child... Hey, don't

tell your mom but- That's the

guy.

That's the job.

That's the job.

All right.

Whatever happens at Granddad's house, like, don't tell on me.

But,

but he'll

be swinging left-handed before too long, I can guarantee it.

There you

go.

Love

it.

Love it.

Way to do it.

All right, guys, thank you.

Thanks for everything, man.

Y'all the best, and go Monarchs.

Go Monarchs.

Thanks, man.

Go

Monarchs.

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to as the ODAF, was established in 1964 as a nonprofit organization.

The mission of the ODAF is to raise financial support for ODU Athletics

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Yeah.

All righty.

We are back.

Thanks, Blaine.

We

are back.

Thanks, Blaine.

Uh, great as always having, uh, Coach Finny on.

Yeah.

I think w- this is the 18th episode of this year for us.

I think he's been on all but two of them.

Um- Yeah ... glad to get almost nearly an hour with him at the

end of the season here- Yeah, yeah

so we understand, like, what's going on in his world, what's

going on with the Monarchs.

And we didn't even talk

about the game.

Uh, we didn't.

Well, I don't know if there's much to talk about.

Let's

not.

Let's just not.

Maverick Stallings hit a solo home run, um, you

know, it was a- That wasn't a home run

... yeah.

That

wasn't a home run.

Yes.

That's, that's... The people might not know there, if you look on that

outfield wall, there's, there's, like, the padding, it's about eight feet like

normal, and there's, like, a fence.

Well, the top of that fence above the padding, there's actually a yellow line.

That's actually where a home run is.

His ball hit the fence above the padding, which in most places you're

like, "Oh, that's a home run."

Why the umpires, nobody else knew?

Well, I guess because of the score, the other team didn't care.

Um, that's, it's a double.

It sort of got stuck in the padding.

It should've been a ground rule double.

Uh, whatever.

It's, you know That was, that was, uh, the trip down there was so fun and it was so

exciting until then we played the game.

Yes.

Uh,

yeah.

I was the only person left up there in the media perch, uh, at that point because

it was so late and I'm looking down at s- seeing Maverick's ball sitting on top

of the pad and he's rounding the bases.

Everyone's doing this, and I'm just being quiet.

Not saying a word- Yeah ... not doing anything.

I think I had the only view 'cause we know they didn't have camera angles.

But, uh, yeah.

But either way g- glad he, uh, he goes out with a, a nice bang

there to end his college career.

Yeah.

But I'm sure he would trade that gladly for a different outcome.

Continuing to play, play some games.

Yeah.

But you know, it's, that's, uh, that's just how it goes.

That's, you know, unfortunately the game that's... We, we know

how the team was this season.

They were, they were consistently inconsistent and that unfortunately

kinda showed up the last game.

We, was it 17 to 1?

Only got two hits.

Um-

Yeah

... you know, I mean even, even, and then Tanton, you know, has been

about the best pitcher all year.

He gave up a two run homer that realistically is a fly ball.

That thing was about 308 feet.

That little- Yeah ... part where it juts in.

I mean, so nothing was going right.

It was just a, you know, that's just unfortunately how it went.

That's kind of, a- and, uh, I didn't, I didn't do the, I didn't pull it

together or look through the schedule, but we had far too many games like

that where we had, we got blown out.

Um, we didn't even have, I mean, we had what, 26 losses on the season?

I don't know how many we actually had that were like within reason

where it was like, oh, we actually had a shot to, to win this game.

I mean-

There weren't many

... there were, if there were 26, maybe 6 of them were the ones where

it was like, okay, we, we just kind of, we lost, it was close.

There were a lot of, like, when we lost games it was like, boy, we got whipped.

No, we, we blew it

all out.

We won games.

It

was

kinda like, yeah, when we won games it was kinda like, man, we, we killed them.

Like we, it was, it was a very, very strange season.

Yeah.

It was either like we blew 'em out or it was a walk-off.

There was no like, oh, we won nice, clean- Yeah ... and tidy

four to two and that was it.

Yeah.

Uh, but Georgia State, they were a, a hot team.

They f- they finished with the, uh, series win over App State to get in.

They were fired up and I mean, they just from the jump they were on the ball.

It didn't matter where you threw it, what you threw, it

was, it was getting tattooed.

Uh, they made a little run, but that, their, their time came to an end.

I think we may have a little bit of a rivalry now with Georgia State, just

from the chippiness on the field.

I don't know if that was just the two guys, but, uh, it was,

it was, it was chippy for sure.

Yeah.

You know, that's, hey, I'm all for whatever.

You know, having conference rivals is never bad.

I mean, that was, I think that was a kind of a late CAA rivalry for

the football team- Yeah ... kind of with Georgia State too.

So I, I'm all for it.

You know, Atlanta's not too far.

You, you're, we'll probably play them every year in every sport, so why not?

Yeah.

Yeah, absolutely.

Sure.

I think, I think for me it starts going back to football a couple

years ago when the dude knocked out Lemarian, uh, James- Oh, yeah,

yeah ... on the field and was like mimicking him sleeping on the sideline.

ODU won that game and they haven't lost to Georgia State

All right.

Let's

talk about some good things.

Yes.

We want to do our year-end awards here?

Yes.

And I have-- You'll put them up in whatever order you have them.

I don't know what you got, so you tell me.

Um- Hey, look at that guy ... Freshman

of the Year.

Yeah.

So, um, this one, not much of a surprise, right?

I mean, he, you know, th- there really wasn't a deep competition,

I think, for Freshman of the Year.

I mean, really you could argue Okonkwo was up there.

Mm-hmm.

Um, Nick Felton was up there.

But the guy who clearly stood out as the best freshman was Ben Tanton, right?

He ended up, he was 7-0, a 2.19 ERA, uh, 37 innings, 41

strikeouts, um, only 13 walks.

I mean, so he was, he was great.

17 games.

His, his worst game was his one start.

So- Yeah ... if you take that out, I think his number's even better.

I mean, Ben was just... Y- you don't expect a freshman to come in and be

this good out of the bullpen and be this much of a, a solidifying force.

I mean, he was a beast.

Uh, when, when he came into games, you knew you were going to hold the lead,

you were going to be in great shape.

Uh, also just so cool and calm and poised.

No matter what was happening, no situation was too big.

Uh, it, it's... When he's up there on the mound and you got a lead,

you just feel like, all right, we've got the Dominic, uh, closing door.

He is not going to let someone beat him right now, and that's pretty

much what we saw from him all season.

No, it's funny you talk about being poised because, you know, as a photographer,