ODU Baseball Sophomore Efrain Morales joins the guys to talk about his big bounce back from injury. Coach Finny hops on to recap 4 games against Top 10 opponents and the big win Friday.

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Yeah.

Hello Monarch fans and welcome to the Hudson Homer podcast.

Got CB here as always.

Coach Finney joining us as well after, well, I think I'm just

gonna dub as as hell week, I think with four top 10 opponents

in one, but we went one in three.

We did get a big win on Saturday about got one on Sunday.

I feel a lot better coming outta that Sunday game now than I did

let's say after the UVA game with cb.

How you doing?

Yeah, I'm with you.

That was, uh, it felt a lot like, you know, again, you don't hate to say

there's no moral victories, but it did feel like, okay, this is what we've

been saying when we talk about this team every week and we believe in and

we say, Hey, if you guys play like you can, here's what you could do.

Um, so that was, it was nice to see on Sunday that happens and or Saturday.

Yeah.

We're all getting our days all mixed up on Saturday.

Yeah, that's

right.

Yeah.

Yeah.

We were day short this week, uh, day up anyway, because 'cause of

Easter and hope you guys all had a good Easter and everyone, and.

Uh, it was a nice day until it rained and then it cooled off and

got cold again for, for a minute.

Uh uh, we got a chilly chilly night tomorrow, I think, up

in Williamsburg ahead of us.

Mm-hmm.

Uh, and then warming up again.

I always look at the weather whenever we've gotta go to Huntington,

West Virginia, because Yeah, up in there in April when it's snowing

snow and, uh, that is a fact.

That's not a, no,

I believe it.

Um, but it looks like the weather's gonna be pretty good there.

So.

Nice.

Um, it's good to see.

And a, and a really nice, they build a really nice ballpark,

so this will be our second time going, you know, to play in that.

And they've had good crowds when the weather's been nice, so that makes

for a nice atmosphere for sure.

Is

their, their new stadium is off of campus, right?

It's a couple miles

away.

No,

it's, it's on campus.

It's on campus.

Okay.

Football stadium.

Yeah.

They've got softball right next to it, right, right next to football.

Um, their indoor area right there.

It's all right.

Kind of there together.

Yeah, they did a nice job with it.

Um, the location of it's good as well.

I think so.

Um, yeah.

After years of the other way, it's, it's all, it's great that they, uh, they've

got that, that's what you wanna see.

Yeah.

You talked about planes, trains and automobiles.

Man, we played 'em in, uh, well, YMCA one time stories.

Now going back to my playing days, playing Marshall.

You know, we played in some place called St. Cloud Commons,

which was up on top of this hill.

It was a terrible field.

Uh, they played in the old Huntington Cubs.

Which was, uh, Appalachian League, Chicago Cubs, rookie League field that

played in that for a while, and that sat at the bottom of a floodplain when,

when it rained real hard, they'd open the floodgates to the river and it

would flood the field and go out there after they closed them after a dream.

And there'd be fish.

People would be picking fish up off the field.

Make that up.

I swear.

It's true.

We

got dinner tonight, boys.

Yeah,

yeah.

Um, that I played against them at, um, their, uh, across the state line, actually

in Kentucky, at Boyd County High School.

Um, yep.

Uh, and, and everywhere in between Beckley, West Virginia,

uh, Charleston, West Virginia.

Yep.

You know, and now at, at the YMCA field that was there in,

in, uh, in Huntington and in.

That

was where we set the team record for home runs that

game.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

We had like 17 home runs in that series.

Um, and now, now in, uh, they've got a real nice ballpark, so long

time coming and, and well deserved.

Yeah.

So happy for those guys.

Um, for sure.

So yeah, la recapping the week, you know, um, coming back off

the road from South Alabama.

And, uh, traveling up to Charlottesville, uh, we knew that was gonna be a tough

task with midweek, you know, arms going up there and, uh, they got a really good

club, you know, I think they've got at least two and maybe three big leaguers,

you know, on that team, uh, shortstop center field and maybe first base.

And those guys had about 10 or 12 rbis outta those 16.

Between the three of them, I think we couldn't do much to stop any of them.

And, you know, 10,

10 rbis, I'm looking at it.

Yeah.

Yeah.

They're a lot better than us right now, and especially with those guys.

So, you know, you get some of those hybrid teams from coaching changes.

The, the guys that, the good guys that didn't leave and the guys

they brought with 'em from Duke.

Um, and they got a, you know, they got a good club and even they, you

know, it's college baseball though.

They've lost their last two series in the a c to Boston College and

then at Home to Florida State.

So, uh, it's all relative.

Um, so we had to get home and regroup.

Um, you know, Thursday gets Southern miss.

We just got, you know, the, the, the theme, right.

We got behind early, but I, I didn't, I I did think I saw some,

some better things from Darren Ky.

He didn't

Yeah.

You know, pack it in.

He kinda hung in there and, and was able to give us five

innings, which was we needed.

Um, and not blow a bunch of people up and get killed.

And we had some good at bats in that game too.

I, I, I really, I really think so.

And I told the guys after the game, you know, hang in your

head ain't gonna do nothing.

Like, you gotta get out here tomorrow, ready to go and, you know, if you play

better, you can have a chance to beat 'em.

And guys came out the next day and, and we played a good ball game, you know?

Um.

We had a bunch of big at bats, you know, uh, got the lead, expanded it,

and then, you know, we just, we, we, we had, uh, one out and, you know,

10 to three, one out, nobody on, and we walked a daggum, you know, nine

hole hitters, a pinch hitter who's they're, you know, they're just putting

some guys in the game sitting Oh, 65.

Yeah.

And we walk him and then that's where it snowballs from there.

And they end up getting five.

But we get the win.

We made error.

It's short on a routine battle.

We walked a guy, we hit two guys, we made an error.

We gave him four free base runners in that inning.

I feel like Bailey took you literally when he threw, was throwing back foot sliders.

'cause he was literally bouncing 'em off of their back foot it felt like.

Yeah, and Bailey, Bailey was really good up until then.

Man.

He comes in, strikes out their, their three hole guy with two outs and to

finish the seventh and then just goes.

Clean inning in the eighth.

Mm-hmm.

Um, and it, for whatever reason, the ninth inning just gets him.

And so, uh, we were trying to squeeze one more out of him, you know, with the, with

the bigger lead and just didn't work out.

But I think so then he threw the ball.

Well and you know, like I said, you know, David should have thrown three pitches.

Had Ben outta that thing.

We, we team ball short.

Yeah.

And

you just can't do that.

I mean, if you wanna play shortstop at this level, that play has

to be made plain and simple.

Um, that's just all I can say about it.

So yeah, there was, because I, I mean, I think Bailey made two good pitches.

Like one would've been a double play.

We only get the out at second and then the other ground ball that was hit to short.

Yeah.

Let me mention something about that because I heard that

from Ted too on the broadcast.

Re re reviewing a couple things, every ball that's hits the middle infield or in

the double play ball, we weren't playing double play depth because when you're up

by seven, you're just trying to get outs.

Um, you, when you're, when it's a two, three run, one ball game, yeah.

You need double plays.

Uh, if there's runner on third, things like that.

But when you're up by a bunch, um, we're playing the guys

back on the edge of the grass.

Not necessarily every ball is a double play ball.

So that was in that case, I, I'll, I'll take responsibility for that.

'cause we had the guys at Max Range, we weren't, you know, you

don't need to force a double play.

You need to trade out and you'll trade outs for runs at that point.

Yeah.

So I think that's something to, to make clear.

And, um, I heard, I heard Ted say that, and I understand the, you

know, the inclination of every ball, you know, ball hits the second base

should be a double play ball, but in that case, that's not the case.

Um, that was hit the second and we were telling the guys, make sure one,

uh, let's not force something and try to throw a ball away and get no outs.

Trying to be too quick.

Sometimes, you know, when you're up big, you're just getting that out

and that was the case on that one.

Now should we made the ne you know, the one the short a hundred

percent, you gotta make that play.

But that was, that was the case on that ball path right there.

Uh, if you get the lead out, great, uh, but we're not gonna,

not gonna force that right there.

Um, you know, and then, and you know, they nickel and DMed

him a little bit after that.

Mm-hmm.

And

yeah.

And this is something else that's interesting.

Not once but twice.

I think on Saturday we had two foul popups.

That a hundred percent are caught.

Yeah.

The temporary backstop up, I mean that's right.

We,

we,

I think we mentioned that in the dugout.

Yeah.

And they're right.

It's right there.

Not even close to where the regular wall would be.

Mm-hmm.

And I, I'm just thinking Valley Core,

I said it twice.

Thanks.

Uh, because

it's a good, like eight feet

back there that at least it might be more like, yeah, 12.

It's a, it's a good distance.

And the, the bounces are funky off of that too.

We've had some weird ones skip the plate and hit the, hit the backstop and go over.

I mean, it's, it's a noticeable difference to what we used to have.

And I, I imagine that's gonna be a little difficult on getting dirt ball

reads too, if you're at second or third.

Yeah.

It's, it's, it's weird.

It's part of this year's journey, I guess.

But those are two outs.

One of 'em, one of 'em came with, one of them came with two

outs and that inning's over.

Yeah.

Yep.

And that guy singles to tie it up.

Uh, and then the next, next inning, I think one happened with one out,

but could change completely change.

It definitely changes the one in it 'cause we're in the dugout.

Right.

And it could have changed the next thing, but it didn't happen.

Didn't work out.

Um, anyway.

But you know, that, that, that Friday game, I thought we played good baseball.

We, we, we made, we played good defense up until that play in the ninth.

Mm-hmm.

Uh, made the routine plays.

We got some big hits.

Um, we're able to, you know, expand the, expand the lead and

take advantage of, you know, some walks and some of their mistakes.

Um.

And, and, and then although we, you know, did make it a

closer game, we, we hung on one.

So, uh, that's a good win for us.

And then, you know, Sunday we got, got down again.

Um, you know, uh, but we came back and, and the guys, you know, they kept

fighting and we got the lead there, you know, um, in the seventh and, um,

just, just weren't able to keep it.

But I thought the guys, you know, again, we, those two games we played better.

We, we got some big hits, um, when we needed 'em.

And I thought getting, I thought Tyler Zedalis did a good job at, at third.

Yeah.

Um, and you know, he had to play next two games with his foot all bruised up.

'cause he got hit squarely on the foot on, on on Thursday.

Um, you know, had the big base load for us in game three and

made the routine plays at third.

And that's something we haven't been doing all year.

And

y'all almost made an amazing play there in like the shortstop

hole, uh, on the um, yeah, yeah,

yeah.

And you know, it seemed like wherever we played 'em, they

were hitting somewhere else too.

Yeah, yeah.

That was a, which is just a sign of good hitters, because that was Yeah.

Yeah.

You know, we, we talk all the time about what you wanna see in a hitter is I want

you to want to get on base no matter what's, and you saw that a lot with those

guys, where it was like, especially with two strikes, like, I'm gonna put this

ball in play and make something happen.

It's not that thing of, like, you, you beat the shift that way.

You, the shift works when a hitter says, I'm gonna do it my way, no matter what.

The shift doesn't work when hitter says, I'm going to get on base no matter

what.

A hundred percent.

And they stayed in the middle of the field, probably more than 18.

We've played this year.

Mm-hmm.

And yeah, maybe we, you know, hindsight's 2020, we, maybe we

play 'em a little more straight up.

Things are different, but when we were playing 'em straight up, they

were hitting where we weren't.

Yeah.

It was perfectly right up the middle, you know, and, um, you

gotta give them credit for that.

I, I'll tell you something else, you gotta give 'em credit for

their shortstop played great.

Mm-hmm.

Unbelievable.

And I, he's a mobile player, Alabama guy, and I, you know, he hasn't

played much his first two years there.

Um, he's been a backup, a defensive sub and third and some things like that.

And he's been there every day, shortstop this year as a junior.

And Mandy, he makes some great plays on the run and everywhere and accurate

throws Really, really impressive.

Um,

eight, eight hits offensively for him too this

weekend.

Yeah.

He

was time.

So he, and a bunch of those were two strikes, like you were saying, ccb.

Mm-hmm.

He had, he had a bunch of big two strike, uh, hits for them, you know, so, um.

I thought we, I thought we sw the bats better the last two days and, you

know, um, had more competitive at bats.

I thought er, Morales had a pretty good weekend for us.

It was nice to get him back in a lineup.

Mm-hmm.

You know, um, in there and

different energy when he's playing.

Yeah.

And

it just

kind of makes things go.

Yep,

yep, yep.

He's a good competitor and you know, it's nice to see him back

healthy and, and playing again.

Certainly.

Mm-hmm.

Um, so

the, the two out hitting for you all on Friday and Saturday was huge.

I mean, you, you scored six runs in the sixth end up getting the win.

All those came with two out and then when you made the push in the

seventh inning and the final game of the series, I mean, you put a six

runs across the board, you take the lead in the bottom of the seventh.

I think we've been kind of waiting for that.

And you just saw those at bats just start to stack and the pressure

was on Southern miss at that point.

And I mean, they have a great pitching staff and we, we, we beat

'em up two outta those three games.

Yeah.

Well their coach said, never seen Colby Allen do that.

Um, they brought in on Friday.

Uh, it was first team off conference last year, I think as a, but he, uh,

he, he's been pretty special for them.

And, and you know, he wa he, he walked some guys and then we took advantage and,

you know, late hits the big home run to, to wrap up scoring in, in that ending.

So, um, yeah, that was, that was, that was good to see.

So, um, you know, you look back, I, I thought, I thought Jackson

Ocon really battled for us, man.

That was probably the longest he's gone this year in terms of pitch count,

you know, we had to get him in there.

I don't know, it's just been one of those things, you know, Cole Lanford last couple

outings in relief, he's been pretty good.

And then he couldn't get an out on Sunday, you know, unfortunately.

Mm-hmm.

So, um, we've seen some guys blow up fast and, um, we wanted to try to get one

time through the lineup with Nick Ezio.

Um, he did a pretty good job there and.

Lanny, you know, last weekend throws four in four, shut out inning, force out the,

yeah.

Um, and you know, this weekend he is can't get, he can't get an out outta him.

So, uh, it's, that's tough.

You know, when they do that and by the time we got Jack, then we ran parking

and he'd give up a couple and then, you know, you're down, you know, four or

five to nothing before you get going.

Um, but JL Battle Force, he's going to, he's gonna show him some good signs.

I thought, I thought he, you know, outta the freshman.

I thought he threw the ball real well.

I thought Maddox Jack threw the ball real well on Thursday.

Yeah, he's been doing great.

Um, he's been getting better and, and Ben Tanton threw the ball well on

Friday, you know, and, and in relief.

And JJ Gati, that was his second quality start, you know, in a row.

Um, he gave us four good ones against South and then he gave us five good

ones and, and battled through it.

Wanted that fifth inning and we let him go back out there and he did a good job.

So.

That's progress, uh, on that.

And we just gotta find a way to get, you know, kuski back going because,

you know, he's, he's just getting hit.

Um, it's, I've never seen a guy get hit like, with, with good

stuff that gets hit like that.

Yeah.

That first inning Thursday was, it was kind of nuts.

'cause you look up, it's like six hits and a bunch of runs and you're like,

man, and like you said, the stuff looks good and it's just getting smoked.

And it, it was really nice to see him fight back and work through

and, and, and get you a long start.

Uh, because yeah, that's obviously not a thing that's been happening,

so it's, it was nice to see.

And you hope that he builds on that part of the game, not the first

inning.

Yeah, totally.

I hope so.

You know, he's gotta find a way to, to get through those, those first two innings.

One of those first two are getting them every time, you know, and maybe

if he can get through that, um, he can get, get some, get some work.

But, so yeah, like we, you know.

I liked our, our lineup better, obviously with F in it.

Mm-hmm.

Scotty Young I thought had a pretty productive weekend.

Um, and although Nick didn't really do much offensively, he robbed a couple extra

base hits in center field and, you know, that's just like an RBI in in my book.

Mm-hmm.

I mean, when you're a premium defender, um, you know, he's running out there

like Spider-Man up on that wall.

Yeah, he was, yeah.

He, um, he's just a work in progress as a hitter.

He is gonna be fine.

I think he just is young and gotta get stronger and gotta, gotta

work on his approach at the ball in the middle of the field more.

And he does work on it and uh, you know, I told him in the, you know, you gotta

get your bunts down and you gotta play good defense and you're gonna play,

you know, a bunch the rest of the year.

'cause we need that in center.

Um, and, um, you know, getting to Zedalis in the third allows us to get f in that.

That DH spot, which, which mm-hmm.

You know, helps us now, Scotty, I thought Scotty Young played good.

You know, he got hit in the head on Saturday and, and has,

you know, had some concussion symptoms, so we had to take him out.

Mm-hmm.

Um, it probably won't play tomorrow 'cause of that.

We're hope to get him back for the, you know, for the weekend.

And, and I think we will.

Um, hopefully.

Well, it's like my mom said, it hit him in the head.

It didn't hit anything that was gonna hurt anything.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I know.

Yeah.

I, I talked to him after the game, just asked him how he was doing.

He said he was good for a while until the noise and then he felt like

he got flash banged a little bit.

So, uh, 'cause he, he stayed in and ended up scoring, uh, later

in the inning after he got hit.

But yeah, I don't think the symptoms showed up till later.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That's often the case with those, those getting hit.

And I, and I think it glanced him just enough, you know, you turn enough, so,

yeah.

Usually when it knocks your helmet off like that, it glances you enough that.

It, it's not a direct

mm-hmm.

Hit because those are the worst ones.

Um, there are none of 'em are good.

I know, but

no, always scary.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So tomorrow,

yeah.

The kid for Southern, miss the catcher that got popped in the chin,

I mean, he was still, he had had big bandage on even on Saturday.

He didn't, he didn't get any hits and then, then we got hit in the chin and Dr.

Home Run is next step.

Whatcha doing?

Like, you know,

um, oh, it's going.

But he, uh, so tomorrow I think, um, we'll probably, you know, trying to give Max's

catching all three games on the weekends.

We're trying to give him a blow on, on the week.

I think we'll catch, uh, Jack Slater tomorrow.

Uh, his hamstring seems to be better and Jack has just got

back in time to hit today.

He had to go take his.

Physical fitness test in Richmond for a secret service.

Oh yeah.

That's

great.

I

think it's, um, max pushups in a minute.

Max Situps in a minute, and then you gotta run a mile and a half for time.

So, um, he did the, he drove to Richmond last night.

Did that this morning.

Drove back and, uh, it was pretty gasped by the time we got back, I'm sure.

Probably so after that.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, you're talking about Mac, I mean, there was the, the most important

thing that happened all weekend is.

You get two quick outs to start the inning.

You call time and go talk to Mac, and then he hits a tank in the left field.

Everybody wants to know.

What did you tell him?

What did you tell him?

Coach?

I blew a little magic pixie dust on him.

We were laughing about it because after he hit the home run, uh,

their third baseman's a great kid.

We were buried.

He's an Alabama kid, grew up not too far from Auburn.

So we always talk about that when we play them.

But, um, he said, what'd you, did you tell him, coach?

You tell him hit a home run?

I said, I, yes I did.

He said, that's good coaching.

That's

good.

Coach you.

Well, uh, that's great.

You know, Mav made one pitch out after, after that we had a long inning and, or

that, or that was the second actually.

I think Mav made the second out maybe.

And it was about a three pitch inning at that point.

And I called Tom 'cause our pitcher probably needed to blow.

I said, look man.

I know they think we're, we're standing here talking about take a strike,

but it might be the best one you get, but if you get one, don't miss it.

Yeah.

Be on it.

Hook one.

Pitch one, get it out.

Yeah.

And if you miss it, hit it off the key dog right there.

Don't be laying on it.

And then he did miss it, man.

He hit it over the bleachers.

Did he?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Or into the bleachers.

Yeah.

Um, it looked like it went just over the top railing too.

I mean, that, that's, that's the home runs we've seen from Mac.

They're just laser beams getting out of there.

Yeah,

yeah, yeah.

So, hey, you, you told him if you, if you see the pitch, you like don't miss it.

And he did

not.

He was laughing when he came around third he said, I said, good job man.

You didn't, that's fun when guys.

Trust themselves enough to take shots like that.

Yeah.

That's cool.

And Matt got the barrel, he is getting the barrel out front better now.

I, I think he's coming along.

He's, I expect him to drive some balls this second half of the season.

Mm-hmm.

Even more so.

I really believe he'll,

he's pumped that average up over the last couple weeks.

I mean, I was, I was surprised when it popped up on the scoreboard this weekend.

He was hitting well over 300 and like, okay, max Max's coming together.

'cause he's got the power for sure.

You know, sometimes you forget, you know, he, he was at, um,

Liberty has a great season.

Just like you expect, you know, he is a good ball player then, you know,

okay, I'm going to UNC big time and a CC and doesn't get to play a lot.

Doesn't have a lot of success in the time.

I'm sure for a guy who's never failed in his life, that's gotta

rock your ego a little bit.

It,

yeah, it

takes a little bit, I think, to come back from it, so, yeah.

It's good to see him being himself.

Yeah, it is.

He's, he is a great kid.

He is a, he is a great teammate.

He is a great competitor.

Um.

You know, he's, he's, he's really starting to, to get that swing down.

So I'm really happy to see that.

I think there's a lot of power potential in there.

Um, you know, he just was a little bit long and around the

ball and he is starting to get that barrel out to the front.

You know, BP now, we just call it kill the third basement.

I go, I want you to just like send the third bases up there and just kill him.

And, uh, he, he does,

he, he is the guy when I'm taking pictures in, in the ODU u

dugout, I am always very nervous.

Yeah.

' cause he will hit those line drives.

Like he would put a hole through my chest like a superhero.

Yeah.

I mean, he, and, and I think that gives us the chance to, with those guys,

we gotta get mad going to get him.

Mm-hmm.

I didn't think he had a great weekend.

I mean, he hit the, he hit the one home run, but, um, he's got, we gotta get him.

Back on track.

And I, I think he will, he is been a guy that, you know, in April and May has

really hit for us in the past two years.

So, fully expect him to keep doing that.

Um, and if all those guys, you know, swing the bats, like they're capable

of it, it allows you to absorb a, a defensive player like, like Nick

Felton, who's maybe not gonna mm-hmm.

You know, get a bunch of hits right now.

Uh, he's gotta have competitive at bats and move runners

and, and play great defense.

So I like, I like the, the thought of that anyway.

Yeah.

Uh, when's the last time Cole McKenna played left field?

I know he ended up getting subbed in late in the third game because of the injuries

and things hitting it going on, but, uh, I heard Nick giving him good coaching,

uh, when he was warming him up out there.

Yeah,

he, um, yeah, he, he, he's, we've been working him out there

in center and mostly in center.

But we, I wanted him to play left 'cause the sun was.

At that point it was tough and center.

And if you haven't been out there, that can get you.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

And he, you know, he got the one ball and caught it fine.

And so that was good.

Yeah, he's a good runner.

Um, you know, it just gives you another defensive, you know, option

when games kind of get weird like that you play a, I I, I, yeah, probably

should have had him in there instead of Siegel the ending before, but mm-hmm.

I thought with the right end maybe we'd get Siegel in that bat and

he ended up striking out, but,

so Yeah.

And, and, and Scotty got whacked in the back of the head.

That was, you can't foresee that.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Changes, you know, that was unfortunate.

'cause it would've been nice to have him hit in those spots too.

So, um, but it is what it is and, you know, we drop, we gotta,

you know, I mean it's after this weekend, you're halfway through the.

The conference schedule.

So

yeah,

you're gonna have to find a way to win some series to get

in that tournament for sure.

And we, we know that.

Um, but if we can play like that the last two days

mm-hmm.

Then you're gonna find yourself in those positions.

That's not a given, but you're capable of it.

And that's what we talked about.

I want the guys to keep their heads up.

Um, you know, just, you, you just gotta find ways to, to play good baseball.

And, and we did that those two days.

So, you know, we went one-on-one.

Um, but we played good baseball and I, I can live with that.

Yeah.

I think I said that, you know, at the end I was like, this is one of the

first games we've lost all year, where you go like, Hey, we lo we just lost.

Yeah.

A lot of the games we've lost, it's like, man, we gave this away

and just got our heads beat in.

Yeah.

And this is one, it's like, Hey, you know what?

They just, they beat us today just a little bit better in this one.

Yep.

And you know, you can handle a lot easier I think when you lose

and you played really, really well and it just didn't work out.

Yep.

No doubt.

I, I agree with you, cb, that's, um, that's a hundred percent the way I feel.

So, and, and, and people just don't get that, that haven't

really coached or played much.

It's like, yeah, it's hurts to lose, but

yeah.

It, it hurts worse when you play crappy.

Um, yeah.

Or you know, it, it, it, it, it is really about how you play

because that's what lasts mm-hmm.

You know, over the course of a season.

And, um, we've had plenty of ups and downs on that, and sometimes

you're just not good enough.

I think Tuesday, you know, that was the case.

I mean, they just a lot better us right now.

Um, so you just gotta move on from that one.

Uh, you know, people don't like to hear that, but it's the reality.

Talk about team that's got, you know, who knows how much money on that field.

Yeah.

Oh, insane amount.

It is what it is.

So, um, that doesn't mean you can't beat 'em on the right day if

you're cooking on all cylinders.

We weren't, but we came back and played a, you know, and now having said that,

you guys watched all four of those games.

That's where the rankings are skewed, right?

Like Virginia's a way better team than Southern misses.

Yeah.

It was fascinating to me.

They put 'em out this morning and they still, most, pretty much all of them

still had UVAA few steps behind and, and coastal a few steps behind Southern miss.

It's like, all right.

That's, uh, an interesting take.

I guess I'm taking

anything away from Southern.

No, they're a very good team.

Team, yeah,

absolutely.

I just think from a, on the field talent wise, yeah, I, I would say that,

I mean, you talk about a team with maybe three big leaguers as opposed to,

you know, that, but that's, you know, and that's just, that's how I feel.

So, um, we haven't played coach to yet, so I don't, I don't know,

but I thought Virginia was by far the, you know, the best team.

We played talent, talent wise this year for sure.

So, and around the league you're seeing everybody, you know, um, south out.

You know, finally broke Coastal's 34 game.

Yeah.

Winning Streak was something ridiculous like that.

Never was.

Yeah.

A million games in a row.

They won in the Sunbelt Concrete Uhhuh.

Uh, and they whacked them pretty good on, on, uh, yeah, on that game, you

know, after Coastal, I think might have 10 run them the first game.

And then I think Coastal walked him off in game three.

So it was another good, good game.

Um, the South's pretty good, you know?

And then, um, I mean, I, I saw JMU Beat Louisiana won that series, that

Coastal Media was some interesting

stuff going

on.

Oh, that, yeah.

One old game.

He had some, some fighting, some objections.

He had all kinds of stuff happening in there.

Yeah.

It was like wwf, right?

Like yeah.

Yeah.

Your boy, your boy Ike

getting in

it.

And Gene Anderson coming off the top rope man.

I was like, woo.

Um, so, and then the M'S coach got thrown out and went berserk.

Yeah.

Against Georgia State.

Uh, I didn't see what the other, um, well, Appalachian beat Marshall

at home, two out of three, I think.

Um, mm-hmm.

So there were, there were some interesting games.

Um, for sure.

It's wild when you look at the standings.

You got coastal 11 and ones Yeah.

Safe in one, three games in the standing separate second from last.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So you could literally have, if you go and sweep somebody in a

weekend, you could go from 14 to two.

Yeah.

I mean, it's the, I it's crazy.

Yeah.

There's no doubt.

It's, um, so it's, you know, and, and that's the thing you

want the guys to understand, like

mm-hmm.

You know, you're four and eight, but a couple, couple, two out

of threes and Yeah, you're right back in the, in the, in the deal.

So.

Uh,

quickly,

you know, Marsh's got good pitching, uh, especially on Friday that, that left.

He's been there for 40 years.

Yeah, he, uh, he's tough.

Seventh year senior.

Yeah, but he's good.

And you're gonna have to play good.

He's good.

But we have beaten him before.

Last time we went there, yes.

He threw on Saturday and we won that game, like, I don't know, four

to two or four to one close game.

But we, we won it.

And um, you know, so, you know, playing, playing anybody at

home is always a good challenge.

So gotta go up, go up there, you know, play well.

But we got, uh, we'll get, we'll get a bunch of guys in the game tomorrow night

and we marry and try to get looped up for the weekend and hopefully keep everybody

healthy, you know, and, and I think we leave early, early Thursday morning to

drive over to Huntington and, you know, hopefully get a good workout in over there

Thursday evening and get ready to roll.

There

go.

Um, what do you, any ideas on, uh, pitching for William and Mary?

Are you going just kind of an ending a pop?

You Hubble who, what you thinking there?

We're gonna start Lanford.

Okay.

Um, get him back on the horse.

Yeah.

And um, you know, we need 'em to just go as long as he is effective.

I think three innings probably be the max, but like to see him and Hubble

try to cover some of that game for us, um, and get us into it certainly.

And, you know, um, then, then some of the relievers that need to get

out there, you know, maybe an ending a piece and too so they can have

more flexibility for the weekend.

So normal, normal midday stuff and or midweek stuff for sure.

Yeah.

Cole really feels like a guy you can build with to the future.

You, you know, he is, I mean, obviously working back from some stuff last year

with a brain injury and things like that, but he just, he's got kind of some,

some fi We know he is got some fire.

We know he is got some stuff.

He, so those guys, you really, him and Ante is a kid too.

Every time he comes to the game, I'm like, God bless this kid.

You can get, get all this to be together, man.

There, there's some arms.

Yeah.

I mean, and they're all freshmen, so you'd like to, you know, uh, Cole and and MJ are

richer freshmen, but they're all freshmen.

So you, you, you like the, the thought of that, it, it is just

the consistency, like, you know

Yep.

Talking to Cole, like you can't be really good, crappy, really good crappy.

Mm-hmm.

Like, we don't know.

Like we gotta know what we're getting out there.

And that's part of being young without a doubt.

But he is a good competitor.

He is a great kid.

Um, and when he's got it going.

You know, um, then that's good.

Now the two, two times he's really thrown, well, were at Troy and at South Alabama.

Mm-hmm.

And we were down by, you know, five or six runs in both of those.

So don't be that guy.

That can only throw a good one.

The cow.

Yeah.

Like we need you to be good when it matters too.

Um, and that's part of growing up and just being tough.

And, uh, I think those are just part of the learning curve.

So hopefully, you know, he'll give us a good start tomorrow

and, but we need to see that, you know, 89 90 with a cutter and

mm-hmm.

Can't be 84, 85 like it was the other day.

His his entrance song.

Yeah, his entrance song has been stuck in my head since I've heard it.

I had just gotten it out from the last home saying that queen of my double wide

trailer song, it just, it stuck in here.

It will not come out like I've listened to it, I've tried.

So thanks for that call.

Appreciate it.

Well, if you know, I mean, it is very apropos, so.

Yeah.

I thought

that Well then, and then Maddox Jack too.

Yeah.

I mean, he's

really looking good thought.

Yeah.

That was some electric stuff coming out there.

Yeah.

Um, and, and that's, that's in him, you know, max is one of those kids.

Super nice kid.

He's just gotta get bigger when he is pitching.

Yeah, that's fair.

He is always smiling.

It's true.

And I, and I think, I think Ryno said after he threw Thursday.

Where's that guy been?

And he said something like that, that's the old Maddox.

And he goes, well bring him every time.

New guy.

Bring the old.

So I mean, these, these kids, you know, I, I think the, it's that part of it.

I can't remember.

Maybe 18.

We had a bad year that year and mm-hmm.

But we threw a bunch of young guys, a lot, a lot

of young guys.

Yeah.

Because we had two injuries and whatever, but those guys were, ended up being

the backbone or very important parts.

You know, Ryan Moore, hunter Gregory.

Mm-hmm.

Jason Hartline.

Those guys were really important parts of that 21 team.

Yeah.

And they had to go out there and get their brains beat in for a

year to figure out how not to.

Right.

I think that 18 team had like seven or eight guys that needed arm surgeries.

I mean, that was a, a

rough

year.

Yeah, it was a bunch of them.

Yeah.

And we, and we've had some weird arm injuries like that this year.

Yeah.

A little bit of, of a similar scenario.

So, um, but yeah, those kids are doing fine.

They just gotta keep working and their attitude's been good and you know, it'll

be fun to watch them continue to progress.

For sure.

Yeah.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

Well, we're definitely looking forward to it.

Uh, game up at William and Mary on Tuesday, then normal

Friday, Saturday, Sunday series.

They can stop messing us up when we're trying to talk about

these games up at Marshall.

ESPN Plus will have all the broadcast, uh, we'll be, be tuning in, uh,

looking forward to just, uh, I I felt good leaving there after

Saturday, even though it was a loss.

Mm-hmm.

And I haven't had that this year, at least after a loss anyway.

No, me neither, Gary.

Yeah.

Um, on the, on the good note, you know, we, Ken not allowed

to talk about it on here.

We got a big commitment from a, a really good left-handed hitting

shortstop, junior college kid.

Hey, about that.

And, uh, you know, we got some more coming in.

So, um, you know, we're, uh, we're working hard on that.

Uh,

all right.

And the Valley Corps can get moving.

They, they can help us by getting that stadium done.

Yeah.

Yes.

Oh, and, uh, you know, after the game on Saturday, it was kids

run the bases and autographs.

I think that's always a good way for the guys to kind of get centered

and kinda get back in touch with some reality after a tough series.

Uh, so it was great and pretty much every single guy stayed out

there, signed, made the kids' day.

I saw 'em waving guys around third base telling 'em to go home.

So, you know, it's still de despite everything that's going

on with the stadium, I mean, it's still an awesome fan experience.

Yeah.

Uh, I also really, like on the game on Friday when it started getting

really tight there in the ninth inning, the crowd came to life and kind of

got the energy back up on the field.

So, uh, did they Yes.

They were getting loud out there because I was, that was the

first time outside of a home run.

I had heard them get loud all game.

Uh, so yeah, give them, give them credit.

We appreciate it.

I can't hear it at all, but I, we,

yeah.

Yeah.

And there's a, there are times, man, there is no question that

having a good home crowd helps you.

Yeah.

And you know, it's not no one, I mean, it's not anybody's

fault that they're out there.

Right.

They're trying, they're, and it's great, um, when the right on top

of the players is when it really

mm-hmm.

Really can help you Yeah.

And hurt the other team.

Um,

yeah.

When the other team can hear everything the random frat bros were saying

to him, it really helps a lot.

Right?

Yeah.

Yeah.

For sure.

Uh, but, you know, and Marshall's a good example of that, man.

They're, they're, they built their stadium the right way.

Like the, the, and ours is that way.

I think the seats are very close to the field.

Mm-hmm.

When, you know, like, uh, and you know, the dugout and, and everything.

Um, some places build 'em so far away, like South Allen, Troy, the stands are so

far away, it doesn't really bother you.

Mm-hmm.

Our place when it's full is gonna be, they're gonna be on top of you.

Um, between the new area at ground level that goes all the way around.

Mm-hmm.

The, the chair backs are right on top of the dugout.

You got rally alley down there.

It, it's going to get, um, you know, it can get, I think it's gonna

get suffocating in there and loud.

Um, ENC closed and all of that.

You know, it's also always been open, so no matter how many people

fell in their noises everywhere when it's enclosed, that matters.

Yeah.

So we're excited about that as well.

Uh, for sure in the future.

Yeah.

Surround them with sound and then just

that pressure.

Yeah.

Marshall can have a thousand people in there and it feels

like it's a lot and it's loud.

Mm. And and I think that's, that's what you want, you know?

Yeah.

Um, so where some of these other places could have, you know, a thousand people

in there can't, it doesn't matter.

It's, it's a,

it look like South Alabama could get a thousand over the whole season.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I know.

I mean, I just saw what I saw on tv.

I don't know, I, maybe I had perspective.

No, they weren't big crowds.

Uh, any of those three days for sure.

Shame,

uh, at all.

Yeah, I know.

'cause they got a good ball club.

Maybe they'll start coming out here.

Yeah.

You know, 'cause they're winning some so they hopeful you'd like to see that.

Go watch college baseball man.

It's awesome

guys.

Yeah, it is awesome.

It awesome.

Alright.

I know you got f uh, coming on and we're real happy.

He's back in there and.

He is a great kid, great competitor, and um, we hope he can stay

healthy the rest of the season so we can keep him in the lineup.

Yes,

absolutely.

All right, well Finn, thanks so much for your time.

Appreciate it.

Good luck this week and we'll be uh, cheering you on.

Alright guys, go Monarchs.

Thank you.

Go Monarchs.

Go Monarchs.

The Old Dominion Athletic Foundation are commonly referred 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

to ensure that our coaches and student athletes have the resources

necessary to compete for championships.

The ODAF is integral to the success of ODU Athletics and is the channel through

which our fans and alumni can partner with our coaches and student athletes for

the advancement of the athletics program.

Through the generous efforts of our donors loyal fan base and community,

the ODU alumni from around the globe, the OD DAF raises money for student

athletic scholarship support and endowments, capital projects, program

specific support and athletic department operations Funds are raised through

annual giving, multi-year pledges, events, premium seating, and plan giving.

With questions about how to get involved in one or more of these

initiatives, reach out to an ODAF representative, give to the OD DAF.

Our investments in the lives of our student athletes od DA members

receive exclusive benefits such as priority points for postseason and

away games, seating, parking, VIP, and hospitality experiences and more.

Because of you, we create winners in the classroom, in

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Contact the ODAF and become a member today.

Thanks Blaine.

Uh,

hey, Blaine, on the radio when I was driving home, he was, uh,

talking about, he said he was meeting with Dan Hudson today.

He's, uh, we meeting people.

Yeah.

And I was like, yeah, Huddy.

So maybe we will get some, uh, get some, uh, donation

bucks for baseball from Huddy.

Yeah.

One of

the best guys on the planet.

Yeah.

Fellow, fellow classmate of mine from, uh, from back in the day of 2009.

Uh, another thing I wanna plug too, related to the ODAF piece, uh, Aaron

and Mike, uh, on the Monarchist channel, put out an interview today

with Dr. Ron Moses talking about a lot of things are gonna be changing

for the athletic department, including Monarchs Plus, which is coming out soon.

Uh, but it's, it's us weaponizing rev share NIL to try to flood as much money.

Support everything you can into these athletic teams, including baseball,

football, basketball, you name it.

Uh, we're trying to, trying to just up the game a little bit, so

it's a good one to go listen to.

Dr. Moses does much better than I do talking about it, and he knows all the ins

and outs, but I, I think you're gonna see some changes in a very good way for this

athletic department over the next year.

Now when I, you say Monarchs plus, I think of like Disney plus.

Do we have a a, a baby Yoda?

Maybe we need like a baby blue.

We need like a little puppet, like baby blue that we can get around.

He can be adorable and just coo at every Ooh, oh, only do that.

And then that's, that's money.

That's all I'm saying.

We can do it.

We can make our, uh.

The Monarch, the Monarch Laurean, and Baby Blue.

I feel like Aaron Zelensky is a good candidate for all Blue Body paint and

he can be blue monarchy OTA there.

Yes, be good.

There we go.

I'm into it.

Uh, so yeah, so that's my plug.

Go, go check out that episode if you listen to this one.

'cause baseball's definitely gonna be impacted in a very positive way by it.

Yes.

Yeah, Ron Moses is on point.

The dude is, uh, about it.

He's about that

life.

He's, he is awesome.

And obviously we are very much involved there as well, the best we can.

But speaking of people coming in and making a positive impact, yes, we

bring on our player guest this week, Efrain Morales, who has returned

to a monarchs lineup this weekend.

There he is.

Welcome to the show.

How's doing, how you guys doing,

buddy?

Good.

Very good.

Yeah.

Glad you're here man.

How you feeling?

I know you're a little, little nicked up.

I think it was, was a hand injury to kind of start the year a

little bit.

Yeah, yeah.

Um, my TFCC was, uh,

mm-hmm.

Uh, there was a lot of built up fluid in there.

Um, so I got swollen, so I was hurting to like snap the wrist

there hitting a little bit.

Yeah.

So not good for hitting?

No.

Not good for hitting at all.

No.

Yeah.

But no, it feels good now.

I feel great.

I feel a hundred percent

good.

Well, you could tell this weekend.

Yeah.

Yes, sir. I felt good.

I mean, I felt great this weekend.

Yes, sir. That's

all.

It's, I, I mentioned that to Finn.

I was like, it's just a whole different energy when you're in the ball game.

It's number one, just what you do with the plate.

All you're hitting, but then just how you are, just as a lot of like.

Upbeat energy that just, it feels a lot more excitable when you're in the game.

No doubt.

Thank you.

I mean, that's just who I am as a, as a player.

I just love to bring out the energy.

No doubt.

What about that?

Uh,

well, one of my favorite pictures from the weekend was this one right here.

Like three runs coming in on Tyler's analysis, double in the gap, and you

and TJ just getting fired up there at the plate as we take the lead.

Yeah.

Let me tell you, I think me and TJ both blacked out right there.

I'm gonna be honest.

I

believe

it.

I mean, we both were just super hyped up there.

Um, I, I'll have to see if I

can make a, uh, a GIF out of that.

'cause that's, the whole series was pretty good.

Yeah,

no doubt.

It was.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, tell us a little bit about this weekend.

I mean, you know, things don't start off well with that first game, but

looks like a different team comes in, you get the big two out rally and

then just really kind of came down to the end there in the final game.

But how are you feeling throughout this weekend?

I mean, I feel great.

I feel like we did a, I feel like we did a great job.

I think we should be proud of ourselves.

I mean, unfortunately, yeah, we wanted to win that series, of course.

Um, but I feel like we can look forward into like, I think

we took a step, uh, for sure.

And I think we're gonna be good going into the conference games coming up for sure.

It felt like a different energy.

You know, after the game on Friday you get the win.

Obviously everyone is hyped up, but when I got there a little bit early for the

game on Saturday and like, there was still just like a lot of confidence, a lot

of positivity guys with their heads up.

Yeah.

I mean, were you kind of feeling that between games?

I mean, no doubt.

I feel like we're like, even if we're, if we're down, I mean, I feel like, like

there's, like with our attitude as a team, I feel like we can always come back.

I mean, um, and for that to happen we're gonna have, we have to have to keep

our heads up and have the energy up.

So.

So you've been, uh, playing different positions this year.

I know you were

Yeah.

Working out at second base that had, that hadn't really happened in the, in

the games here, but you've been playing some outfield here during the season.

How's that been going for you?

It's been going well.

It's been going well.

Um, I know that I haven't been out there a lot.

Um, I mean, I've been, I've been hurt, of course.

Um, but it's been going well.

I feel like I've, I've gotten a lot better out there.

I've, of course, I CB see me play some second base Yeah.

In the fall.

You did alright.

Yeah, I was not, I was like, okay, this is fine.

I mean, it was for sure, it was for sure a challenge.

Um, but I always looked forward to those.

It was a lot of fun for sure.

During the fall.

And I feel like I could be a position where I can still keep up

and I could always train it out.

I mean, I love to do hard things of course, so that'd be nice.

Have you, now, I have to imagine as a guy who has been a catcher so much,

is that something that you miss?

I, I mean, I'm sure, I feel like most catchers like really love catching.

No, yeah, of course.

I, I mean, I miss it.

Um, uh, of course, like the injuries, uh, with the two concussions,

it's kind of a bummer, of course.

Um, but yeah, I miss it.

Um, uh, I mean, you are always in the game catching.

I mean, there's no better feeling than that.

Of course.

So

now, is that something you think you'll ever be able to get back to, or is

this kind of like, Hey, you know what, just for your, for your brain and your

life might be better off to, to avoid?

I mean, that's a question of like, I haven't really asked my that

question a lot, uh, as of right now.

Um, but I mean, this, it is always something.

I mean, of course, I mean, I still miss it, so it's always there for the table.

I mean.

I feel like that's something where I can go back to.

Of course.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I mean it was that, the one series over there at War Memorial last

year and I, I was sitting so close, I saw the backswing come and whack

you right in the back of the head.

I was like, you gotta be kidding me.

I think he did just slate like the next time he was up.

I

know.

Yeah.

Same, same guy and everything.

Yep.

Same hitter.

That was crazy.

That was crazy.

Yeah.

But you know, going back two weeks when you were kind of getting back

in into playing shape, getting your wrist back online, you had a couple

pinch hit opportunities and I'm pretty sure your first one you just smoked a

double into the gap and it just like, it felt like the team changed when

you hit that double, like were you feeling that as you were getting those

pinch opportunities coming back in?

I mean, no doubt.

I mean, I feel like my role in this team is to bring energy and, and

of course, I mean, every time I get an opportunity to go up there.

And to hit, I feel like I gotta bring some energy to this team

and try and be a spark plug.

I mean, that's something that I've always been my whole life.

And I just like to bring energy to any team.

I mean, and this team in particular, I mean all the guys,

I love everybody in this team.

So

one thing I, it's funny, I kind of noticed this 'cause you, yeah, I

was looking, you had four walks this week and I was like, well, I never

thought, thought of you as a guy.

I think of you as a guy who you kind of put the ball in play.

You don't really strike out or walk much.

So I looked, so last year, seven walks 130 at bats.

So you like, kind of bears my point.

Not a lot of walks this year.

You got 10 walks, 51 at bats.

So is that something you constantly worked on, is just a byproduct

of being more confident, more comfortable as a D one hitter?

What do you, what do you attribute to that, to you think?

I mean, talking with H and talking with coach P and, and it's just like,

it's just me maturing as a hitter.

Um, I felt like last year, um, I was still this aggressive hitter.

Like I'll swing at, at anything that was close to the plate.

And, and this year I'm starting to learn how to pick my pitch.

Um, um, and just like learning.

I mean, I can't, I can't cover the whole plate.

It's really hard as a hitter to do that.

And it's just, I've been, I've been, uh, it's something that, I mean, you

can't really work that on that during practice, but I mean, I definitely feel

like I'm just maturing as a baseball player and, and that's probably the

reason why I've been getting more walks.

Yeah.

'cause it doesn't seem like you're not being aggressive.

It's just

No,

no.

So it is interesting.

I think it, I agree.

I think it seems like just maturing and just getting better

and you can see the strike zone.

You know what you can and can't.

Take and hit Well,

exactly.

And you foul off the other stuff.

Yeah.

That kind of stuff's impressive.

It's those kind of trends where you see like, okay, that's

showing a growth, which is nice.

Which is, thank you, thank for, for, for you, when you've had some,

I mean, last year, you know, you probably got your season cut by

about a third at the end, right?

From getting injured, and then this year cut your season by almost a third,

getting injured in the beginning.

So, I mean, being able to grow when you're not in the field is impressive.

Yep.

No doubt.

And as I think it's just like, even when, when you're not in there and you're hurt,

I feel like you could always do something.

I mean, as a baseball player, like you can always like get

on the machine and like mm-hmm.

And like, just like work on time and you don't have to swing the bat.

That's something that, that you can do when you're hurt.

And that's something that I did of course too.

So.

Oh, I, I see you running around there, whether you're in the game or not, or

just ding, like you're running past me on the wall pretty frequently.

I mean,

yeah, yeah.

Do, do you pop in the cage when you're in that DH role?

Like if there's gonna be a long inning or something?

Uh, so what I do is like, usually when, like we're warming up, um, or something

like that, I feel like if I'm ding I feel like I have to move around.

'cause I feel like, like I have to stay in the game.

And the, the only way I can do that is by moving around.

Um, I usually grab A-P-A-P-P-C pipe and like stretch out, try and like stay

loose and like, I just feel like when I'm ding I can't, if I get cold, then

I feel like I'm outta the game and I just gotta stay warm the whole time.

That's just what I feel.

Yeah, that always made sense to me as a dh.

You shouldn't just be sitting there.

But the only time I ever saw that work was, um, I saw David Ortiz in spring

training toward the end of his career.

He was in like, yeah, he was playing in the backfield in a, in a double A game.

And he, they were playing the twins who he had originally signed with, and so mm-hmm.

He was sitting actually in the twins dugout with the coaches that he

knew 'cause he had played with them.

And so he'd like just sit there and talk to him during the inning.

That was his time to go up and bat against their pitcher.

He'd go up, hit a, a home run off of the guy, and then came back and the dad was

sitting next to him the next half inning.

But yeah, so he, that's a guy, you know.

Yeah.

Once you're at Dave Ortiz's level Yeah.

You can sit there and just talk.

Yeah,

exactly.

Go up and hit.

I mean, but yeah, I agree with you.

Yeah, no doubt.

No doubt.

I feel like it's also like a, like some people can do it, some people can do

it and some people can't, you know?

Yeah.

I feel, I feel like I'm the type of baseball player that

that has to be moving around.

Um, but there's some, there's some guys that are just like the chill vibe

ones that just, that, that could hit and go sit back right in the dugouts.

But I'm definitely not one of those, I can tell you

that.

No, you're not.

You're no chill with Rin, huh?

No.

Gotta be moving around echelons constantly.

No, I feel like you're itching.

Just go like, sneak into left field and tell somebody else

to go sit down real quick.

That's what I feel like.

No doubt.

I always wanna be in the game.

Yeah.

Have you hit in the two hole before, like on a pretty regular basis?

I have not, no, I have not.

Um, maybe like in 14 U 15 U, but, um mm-hmm.

Ever since, I mean, during high school I was never a two hole.

Um, I was usually like, uh, I, I, I think I've been like, um, a one

hole, or like at P 27, I was like, I mean our team was really good.

Like, I was like in the bottom of the lineup, uh, at P 27.

So

that must have been a good lineup if you were down on the bottom of it there.

Well, we got a few more, we got a few, uh, blacksmiths on the way too, right?

Yeah.

We got two on the way.

Yeah.

Yeah, we got two.

It

is, it is, it is

opening up the pipeline.

Well, w with you and the two all, I feel like our one through three is really solid

and knows the strike zone really well.

I mean, like tj, I feel like he knows it inside and out.

I know the umpires were talking to him about us tapping the top of his helmet

after one of the calls on Friday.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And, and then of course Zach, like, I mean, I think he sees the ball

exceptionally well from the left side.

Uh, are you able to get pretty good reads off of like TJ's

at bat and start off games?

Uh, yeah, no doubt.

I mean, TJ usually always works, uh, the bat, uh, very well.

Um, so I'm able to see like what's the pitcher sequence and, and I get

to see like, like TJ always works the counts, I feel, and I feel like he

gets every single pitch 'cause they're always trying to work, um, around him.

Of course.

Um, so I mean, I feel like I, I'm in a good spot 'cause he's

always, he's always having good at bats, which is the good thing.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So I know last summer you were supposed to play for Charlottesville, obviously

didn't want to do that, you know, have recovering from the concussions.

What did you do during the summer to, to work out and, and keep yourself ready?

Uh, during the summer?

I mean, I just, I have this, uh, place, uh, like back at home.

It's like this like little barn that has batting cages and, and a weight room.

Um, and all I do is just like go in there every day.

Um, I mean, my dad would be, my dad is like always feeding

me, uh, off the machine.

And, um, and then like lifting wise and all that, I went to like, um, this place

that's like just supposed to train and make you faster in that because I feel

like it's something I need to work on.

Um, and that's all I did.

And then I came here during the summer for a whole month.

Okay.

So I was one month at home, one month here.

Are you faster?

I feel like I am.

All right.

So that's that.

I like that answer.

'cause that wasn't a, like no, but I feel like

no.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

Imagine not having all the wear and tear of catching on a daily basis.

It's gotta be making your legs feel fresh anyway.

Yeah.

Yeah.

My legs feel a lot, uh, they, they are a lot more fresher than they

were last year, I will say that.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Just getting that into the, the power behind your swing, I feel

like it's more than anything.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Uh, so you, you spent a month on campus.

Was that kinda the first summer month that you've been here?

I can't remember if you were here before the fall last year.

No.

My, my freshman year I was, I was here, uh, we stayed in the dorms all summer.

I think we, we came here in June.

Okay.

Um, and then we went back home in August for like two weeks.

But I was here, uh, my freshman year, uh, during the summer

coming into the, the school.

You feel?

You got

pretty good.

Who are you?

Uh

oh, go ahead.

I was gonna say, who are you rooming with this year?

Uh, I'm rooming with, uh, Ben Tannin and Nick Felton.

Okay.

Okay.

That seems, it seems like a, a pretty quiet, chill house.

I feel like there's

not

a

lot

of

noise

in the house.

It's very chill house.

Yeah, it's

a very chill house.

I feel like you guys go to other people's houses, they don't come to yours.

Yeah, we do go to other people's houses, but no, it's a vibe in our house though.

We're always playing music.

Yeah.

Um, but it's definitely a vibe in our house.

But yeah, we definitely be, do, uh, go inside.

So

I wanna say a clean house too.

Right?

You guys probably all pretty

clean.

It's a very clean house.

Yes.

Yeah.

Okay.

I don't wanna call you guys a bunch of nerds, but like, you just, all,

all three of you guys are, are pretty quiet, pretty just like polite guys.

Like, I just don't see a lot of like nonsense.

We've had a few other ones where it's like, oh yeah, I bet that house is messy.

Yeah, our house is clean.

It's funny.

Yeah.

Well, when you're not in baseball and you're not in classes and all

that stuff, like, what have you found as kind of your fun things

to do down in Norfolk and 7, 5, 7?

Um, definitely like, uh, hanging around with the guys.

Um, and something I like to do is just like.

Sit, like, uh, you know, where like Whitehurst area

is, like at the beach area.

Mm-hmm.

I like Whitehurst.

Just sit there and just watch the beach.

I mean, just relaxing.

Yeah.

Um, the

beach at like sunset is like, that's, that's a whole activity,

especially the sunset's here.

I mean, they're, they're good.

Like there's some good sunsets here.

Solid.

Yeah.

Nah,

yeah.

Especially

it's a underrated little romantic spot.

Just, just throwing that out there.

It's gonna be away for about 20 years now at least.

No doubt.

Yeah.

Um, but yeah, just going to the beach as well is always something.

Not in the cold though.

During the cold I probably stay in my house.

Yeah.

Uh, but yeah, I mean, I like to go to the beach a lot.

Nice.

That's awesome.

And now, in terms of classes, I mean, what are you pointing

at now in your second year?

Are you, are you close to finding that major or are you just like,

well, another semester I'll figure it

out?

Um, I, I don't, I don't know what I want to do.

Uh, but as of right now, I'm in general studies.

But, um, I don't know what I want do, uh, for my career yet.

You wanna play baseball?

We know you know what you wanna do.

Of course.

Yeah,

yeah, yeah.

I think, I think the key is to figure out, you know, obviously I, I believe

the baseball career can go for a while.