CB, Gary and Coach Finny have good news about stadium construction and pictures of the progress. Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator Paul Panik joins the guys for a deep dive on the 20 new guys joining the team. Plus Rodeo Clowns and Zonkeys?

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Hello, Monarch fans.

Welcome to the Hudson homers podcast.

We're back after about a month off.

We've got Coach Finny here.

We got CB here.

Paulie's joining us later.

Got a whole bunch of good stuff for you, but Finny, how's it going?

Awesome, guys.

Yeah, summer, uh, for all, uh, intents and purposes, is over.

School started.

Yeah.

Yeah,

school started.

That's

it.

Got a month on the calendar, I know, but school started back up, guys started

classes yesterday, and, you know, back getting, getting themselves squared

away, and we start, uh, practice on Monday, so getting, getting them all-

That's crazy.

Yeah, I was gonna say, like, at, well, at the end of next month you'll

be playing practice games, right?

Yeah.

Scrimmages.

Yeah.

Yeah, so it, it happens fast, man.

Yeah, yeah, we'll, um, we'll have about, you know, about a month of

work and then we'll, you know, play s-

Mm

… play some scrimmages.

We were talking about that before we came on air.

We've got, uh, four outside, you know, practice games, um, this fall.

We've got Longwood on October 4th.

We've got George Washington on October 24th.

Mm-hmm.

We've got VCU on October 25th, and then we've got VMI on November

7th to finish up the fall.

So we've got them spread out kind of beginning, middle, end, and I like

that, you know, and, uh, we play- Yeah … back to back in the middle there.

Breaks up, breaks up your weeks a little bit, you know.

We'll, we'll have a bunch of inter squads in between all of those and, um, you

know, I think it'll be a, a good, uh, you know, good opportunity for some guys.

Some, some guys will pitch in, you know, one game.

Some guys will pitch maybe more than one.

Some may not pitch in one just depending on what the pitcher

rotation works out to be.

So what I think will probably happen is one group of pitchers will

pitch in each of those first three.

Mm-hmm.

And then by the time we play VMI, there'll be some guys probably shut down.

Um, it'll probably be whoever's not shut down will throw and,

you know- Yeah … that lasts.

We'll play 10, 12 innings in those more than likely.

Oh, wow.

Yeah, something like that and, you know, get some good work in.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, 10 innings of pitching is, is, is plenty, right?

Yeah.

Yeah, and if you got, you know, six guys and they-

Yeah

… they're throwing two innings each, it's a little easier actually to

set up than a inter squad 'cause you're only throwing for one team.

Mm-hmm.

You know, so, um, you, you really, you actually need less guys,

uh- Yeah … as long as they, as long as they throw strikes.

Um-

So-

Well, I, I'm, I'm sure that's a good opportunity too, you know,

seeing guys competing against their teammates is different than when you

put a different uniform against them.

I'm sure you're, you'll learn some things about some guys that maybe

ahead of time that you weren't gonna find out maybe till February before.

Yeah.

That's always the big question, isn't it?

Mm. You know, I, I mean- I think potentially yes.

Uh, and certainly you hope guys go in, you know, the turning their dial up direction.

But there is some opportunity to see, you know, if some guy,

you know, some kids don't.

Um, it's still in the back of their mind.

It does, you know, it doesn't count on your record or anything like that.

Right.

So, it, and, and I like to treat it, you know, you are playing somebody

else, so the, you know, the, um, I think the anxiety level, may- maybe

not anxious, but the, you know, adrenaline will get flowing a little

bit, little bit more probably, right?

Um, and I like the thought of that.

Um, you know, but we also Don't treat it exactly like a real game.

You know, you wanna have the opportunity.

It, it's still practice.

Guys gotta get better.

Yeah.

You want situations to- Mm … come up, like Longwood likes to run,

run, run, run, run, run, run, right?

That's what they do now.

So, and so does VMI.

So that'll be two- Oh, yeah … opportunities for us to

really zero in on defending that.

Um, and you know, we'll prac- you know, be able to practice glove drop

picks and things like that, and stuff that you have to do against those

kind of teams to shut that down.

So it, it's all good.

I think you'll get a couple chirps in there early, in one of those

early innings, and start seeing those competitive juices- Yeah

flowing.

Yeah.

I think that's what you kinda, you kinda wanna test that,

too, with your newer guys.

Like, how are you gonna react if someone is chirping or starts getting competitive?

Yeah, there's no doubt.

No doubt about it.

I agree.

Well, and also, I think all those teams have some local kids, so I'm sure

there's some guys who know each other.

I know, like, you, just off the top of my head, some of those guys played

summer ball together against each other.

So yeah- Yeah … I think there, even if it's friendly chirps, you're gonna

hear some, some fun talking, and this, it will be competitive, yeah.

Yeah, yeah, without a doubt.

Um, you know, you, you, you'd like it to be a good mix.

You, you get your practice part of it in, and you get, you know, some good

competition against, you know, a, an opponent instead of just our, our guys.

Um, I, I don't prefer they make too much of it.

Um- Yeah … 'cause it is just another scrimmage at the end of the day,

and we, and we gotta figure out, you know, who can do what, and put guys in

some different situations, different positions, and things like that.

So, um, you know, Paul's gonna come in and talk about, you know, all the,

the, the class and the newcomers.

But the one thing that I've noticed with this group from a lot of them being

here, you know, most of the summer-

Mm

… um, and then guys getting back in early August, uh, that weren't

here this summer to get back to working out, a lot of the pitchers.

And, uh, it's a good group, man.

They're, they're, um, they're, they're a squared away group so far.

They're where they're supposed to be- Mm. Nice … early, and, and they're paying

attention, and asking good questions.

And I think we got the potential to have a, a good leadership group,

uh, on this, on this team as well.

So, uh, we got some guys that, that, that have, have an opportunity to

be really good leaders, in fact.

So everybody's, uh, you know, when it, when it… The beginning is

always important, uh, 'cause you wanna get off on the right foot, but

you also have to- You know, make guys understand it's what you do every day

in baseball, like, um, you can't be all fired up for day one and then-

Yeah

pitch the rest of it.

That doesn't work.

You're gonna be out of gas by the time February gets here-

Yeah … if

you're too fired up in August.

Yes.

It's a l- it's a long march, that's for sure, and you do have

to pace yourself a little bit as you, as you work your way into it.

But I, I think, you know, from a pitching standpoint, like a b- bird's-eye

view, um, we, we definitely feel like with the guys that are coming back

and healthy and then the guys that we brought in, it's got a chance to

have some really good pieces to it.

I'm excited about some of the newcomers, um, certainly as well, but I'm just as

excited about some of our returners.

Man, some of those guys stayed here all summer and really worked hard,

um, put on some good weight and, you know, they look good right now.

Good.

Glad to hear they've been getting after it over the summer, and I know

CB's gotten to see quite a few of the guys go out and actually play- Yeah

number leagues, putting up some, some wild numbers.

But, uh, glad to hear all of that.

I mean, are they… Have they started class yet or is that next week?

Yeah, class- Yeah, yesterday … started Monday.

Woo.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Gave me anxiety just thinking about going back to classes.

Yeah.

Yeah, I saw, um, yeah, I've seen the guys, like I said, here and there.

I saw a few of the guys at the field hockey game, the exhibition last week,

and we were just talking for about a few minutes afterwards and, and

they were telling me that right now, like, they're all loving each other.

They said it's great, you know, they said, you know, a- said feels

like further along than the same point last year, uh, which is good.

Which, which I pointed out, I was like, "Well, this is good, because if

you can't get along when there's no adversity, uh, you got real problems." So.

Yeah, that's right.

Exactly.

Yeah, you gotta set the foundations so you can get- Yeah … through all that.

Um, yeah, it's been, uh… I, I think our, our assistant coaches did a fantastic job

of, of getting guys to check the boxes of, you know, talent, character, commitment.

Um, you know, good people and, and good players and, you know, it's, it's,

it's, uh, I think we weeded out some of the guys maybe that weren't gonna be,

you know, on the, on the mission bus.

And, and- So that's part of it, right?

Yeah.

You try… You know, I, I always try to tell the guys, like, our first job…

Because any, any year now, half your team's gonna be returning, if you're

lucky, and half the team's gonna be new.

Um, and that's just the way it is.

And certainly in, you know, basketball, it's probably even more than that.

But, um, so you gotta really work hard on getting everybody on the,

on the same page, uh, as soon as possible, and figuring out who the,

who are gonna be the helpers and who are gonna be the ones that need help.

Right?

And so-

Yeah

… that's something you gotta be curious about as a, as a coach more than ever.

And then also if you're one of the team leaders, like, who's

gonna help us lead these guys?

And then who are the guys we gotta try to help- Mm-hmm … first and foremost and,

you know, make sure they can be helped.

So- Mm-hmm

uh, that's what we're going through right now.

And there's usually- And

then also hopefully who figures out how to help themselves

eventually and who doesn't.

Yeah.

That tells you some stuff, too.

Yep.

Yeah.

Yeah, the guys that, you know, pay attention.

You know, I tell all the freshmen, like, just compete every day.

Don't compare yourself to a 23-year-old.

Yeah.

That's not fair to you.

It… That's a dumb way to go about being a college baseball player.

You'll get there if you're smart and you keep your mouth shut and

your eyes open and ears open and listen and ask good questions.

But, you know, you come in here thinking you're, you're already as good as one

of these guys that's got, you know- 300 college at bats- Yeah, right

you're kidding yourself.

Um, there, there's some outliers there, but not many.

So I… And so far those guys are listening.

You know, I check in with the older guys.

They, they, they said the, the new group has, has been really good.

They've meshed, they've listened, they've been respectful.

Um, you know, our, our goal is always to, to give the guys with the least

amount of experience the most help.

Um, in some- Yeah … organizations they're at the bottom, in,

in ours they're at the top.

Like, they get served up- Yeah … by everybody, and that, that's what we want.

Um, but it's interesting, you know, 'cause kids that transfer in here, um,

you know, we've got a, a left-handed pitcher that transferred in who's a local

guy, and he came from another program, and he just said, "Man, I love it here.

The guys actually… We actually talk to each other."

Oh, man.

Yikes.

He's like, "Where I came from nobody talks to you. They, they just-" Yeah

… gotta do their own thing, and hell,

the coaches don't even talk to you half the time."

Mm.

And, um, so he really appreciates, you know, that.

He said, "It's helped me relax and just I'll be better,

you know, a better player-"

Yeah

… so we're happy to hear those things and, you know, you want, you want guys to have

a good experience and, you know, uh, we want them to work really hard, but we want

them to also be comfortable in their own skin while they're doing it, you know?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, I know that you all create a really great environment for those

newcomers to come in, and kind of a passing of the torch from, like,

former captains to the new captains that are coming in and all of that.

Uh, but I got to say, to add to the environment, the, uh, recent

updates to the stadium and that construction are adding another

level of environment for us here.

Uh, unbelievable the, uh, improvement we've seen just in the last, like,

month or two with the stadium.

It's

not even done and it looks like the, the, the concept pictures y'all put out.

I mean,

that's how- Yeah

… I love it.

It, it looks like an AI rendering of the render- Yeah, it does … but

it's actually real life there.

That was, that was real.

That was Saturday.

Yeah.

I mean-

Yeah

… the pictures are great, CB.

Yeah.

They're just- I got my karma on this one.

I, you know, you see I'm up in the stands where I should not have been.

Um, and I got, I, I got my karma 'cause I put my hand on one of the railings

there and I guess it had either that morning or the night before been painted.

Uh- So I got, I, I got a, I got a blue hand for g- being

where I wasn't supposed to be.

It w- There's a CB handprint on the railing permanently

now.

Yeah.

On the railing.

Awesome.

That's

great.

The first repaint job belongs to CB.

Yeah.

Yeah, I mean, the, the, you know, just adding the seats and- Wow … uh,

getting that, getting the- Yeah

the roof finished basically- Uh-huh … uh, the blue on that has really made a big

difference in the aesthetics of it, so.

Yeah.

Um, I just, they just, uh, we still got a ways to go, but we're getting there.

Mm-hmm.

I mean,

it's- Yeah, it really, I mean, it's striking.

I mean, and it looks beautiful from the street, which is always nice.

And then- Yeah … when you're inside, it's like, man, it really looks like a

ball- I mean, and to just say this is the exact same place, just gave it a,

a beautiful facelift is, is wonderful.

Yeah.

Yeah, it's always been- Um- … a great location.

Uh- Yeah … certainly, and, uh, it's just now, now it looks good too.

But

yeah, and the- Yeah, and I didn't-

the navy chair backs and the, and the navy roof and the, you know-

Yeah … all of that tying in together has been, been a big deal.

When they, you know, they got the scaffolding up, so they should be

finishing the press box here shortly, putting the windows and, and all of

that, um, and then the facing on it.

And then we can put, as soon as that's done, we can put the you know, the

permanent backstop net up, and so- Mm-hmm

that'll, that'll really add to it as well, I

think.

Yeah.

I didn't, uh, share it, but I had a picture of just right there on the

side of the, the clubhouse building underneath that, uh, third base side,

you know, you can see, like, it just- the picture I had is just, like, down

a hallway, and it's one of those things that, like, to anybody else it may be

like, "Yeah, whatever," but I, I know what we had before was, like, you walk

in, oh, okay, you're down the hallway.

Yeah.

Before you walk in, it was just, like, one cramped locker room and some showers.

Right.

Yeah.

So just having a hallway and multiple rooms, to me, it's like, wow, like, that

right there- Yeah … it's a picture of nothing, but it, but it … I understand

the context of, like, w- whenever we get a chance to, you know, go back in there

and see what all is there, it's like, that's a lot different for our players.

Yeah, it is, and, you know, down that hallway there's a players lounge on

one side, there's an equipment room and laundry on one side, the, there,

there's a coach's suite at the end of it, there's then a very, very spacious

locker room with, you know, bathrooms and showers in it, then a training

room, and then the coach's locker room.

So there's a lot of stuff that goes off of that hallway.

Um-

Yeah

… you know, that's cool.

That's

what I'm saying, compared to, like- I know … one dinky, you know, c- cramped-

Yeah

… locker room that guys really couldn't change all at the same time-

Yeah

… uh, to this, is impressive.

Yeah, it's gonna be cool.

And that locker room's gigantic, so it'll get plenty of- Yeah

plenty of room in there, for sure.

Yeah, that'll make a good before picture.

I'll bring my stuff.

And we'll have to go back in there when it's done and take another

picture from that angle and just do the comparison, 'cause I, that's-

Yeah, we gotta get all the, the wow stuff in there once it's all done.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

Get the signage and, um, you know, the, and the, the top ceiling

of the locker room is a big backlit, uh, our hat logo, ODU-

Oh,

yeah.

Mm … up in part of the ceiling that's, shines down.

That's really

cool.

Well, even the backside of that building where you can see the, I don- I don't

know if I have a good shot of it, uh, but there, the, the entrance that's gonna be

kinda to that part of the building- Yeah

is, again, just so much … I mean, it's actually looks like a,

you know, a, a professional, you know, baseball field entrance.

It's great.

Yeah.

Yeah, no more driving in the gate, uh-

I thought of that, the, yeah, you won't be parking in the- No,

yeah … behind the concession stands

anymore Those days are, those days are over.

So that's probably- That's

all right

… one of the things that's not as great, but, uh- Right.

Yeah,

I'll

walk.

It's fine

… yeah, the rest of it is, is super nice, so.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Appreciative.

But you, you've called it for a while now, it's like once they get

to a certain point, it's gonna look very different very quickly- Yeah

and that's what I saw when I started seeing some of these pictures and

CB was sending them to me, I started getting excited just because,

like, this is the vision, this is the thing we're going towards.

Yeah.

Uh, and I know a lot of fans will be happy to see that, 'cause they've kinda

seen the construction for a long time, students as well, but, uh, I imagine

they got a little bit of a wow factor when they came on campus, uh, last week.

Yeah, the guys- Yeah … that came back.

You know what else is cool?

Since we put the seats in- We, we're four for four on attendance.

You know, I've been telling them- Yeah … forever, "You gotta get the seats

in. You gotta get the seats in." Yeah.

We're getting, we're getting nos left and right, man.

Yeah.

No one's, you know, no one ca- And then we got the seats in and we

got four in a row, just like that.

The guys walked in- Amazing … they're like, "Wow, this looks

cool. I'm coming." Great.

And, uh, I mean, that, that's not a coincidence, right?

No.

Um, so yeah, that's cool.

And I mean, they didn't even, they, they liked what was going on inside,

but they didn't even care really.

You know?

It's amazing, you know, that that makes that big a difference, but it does.

Yeah, it does.

It really changes the look- Yeah … of that ballpark.

Because- It's, it's great … before they went in-

We lost a kid to a school that I didn't think we should lose him to.

He was a good player and, you know, he d- he picked them 'cause

they had a better facility.

Um, and I think if it'd been a week later, maybe we would've got him.

Who knows?

So, you know, and- Well, send, send

him some

pictures.

I'm telling you, man.

Yeah.

Paulie and Hayes and Mike and Rhino and Ponder, um, they … Those

guys, like, they have, they have absolutely grinded through this, this

deal because it has not been easy.

I mean, you talk about getting a bunch of nos, uh, standing out in those

temporary bleachers and looking at a, a rector set of steel and rubble.

And- Yeah … you know, just getting no after no after no, and we kinda

pushed guys off this summer to try to get more of it done, but, you know,

maybe they, maybe it shows something.

Of course, every time we got a deadline, those dummies, you know, screwed it up.

Um, but- … that, that just, you know, now at least we, we

have something to show for it.

And I told the- Yeah … I spoke to the ODAF board one afternoon just briefly.

They … And, and I told them, I said, "This … You know, there's a lot of

people in that room that gave us money for the ballpark." And I said, "Here's

something that's gonna make you happy.

You know, we got- Mm-hmm … this afternoon we got a yes from a

kid, and the seats are in, and he walked in and he went, 'Wow.'"

And we've- … never heard that before.

Yeah.

Ever since I've been here, has anyone looked at this stadium

and went, "Wow," you know?

And they, they all kinda go, "Mm, okay. Well…"

And, uh, you know, we've just won despite it, so that- Yeah … I think,

I really do believe it's gonna help and, you know, j- and, and, and it helps

in recruiting, but it's gonna help the players feel better about everything,

and the fan experience is gonna be- Yeah

fantastic- Yeah … um, and comfortable.

And, you know, I went up and sat in those seats, and they're nice seats.

They're comfortable seats.

Nice

seats.

The same ones at the Norfolk Tides, if you've been to a Tides

game- Yeah, exact same … 'cause they have the exact same seats.

Yep.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And they're super comfortable.

And I got, and I got a big fat ass, and they're super comfortable.

Yeah.

And like anything, we got a couple configurations we've gotta work through.

Like, there's a-

Mm-hmm … a

couple of the wa- you know, the corners.

Mm-hmm.

You know, it looks like a bowl now, but the corners, I think there's a couple,

you know, that are facing a little wonky that we gotta, you know, maybe take a s-

row of seats out and give people- Yeah

more room or something like that.

But, you know, whatever is 1,900 and change, we're gonna call it

2,000 chair backs, whatever we do.

Yeah.

And that's fine.

Yeah.

Round up.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Love it.

And

I saw some shots, uh, f- like down right Rally Alley is kind of more set back up,

the temporary press box is gone, and then I know that really nice entrance to the

ballpark's gonna be down there across the street from the parking garage.

I, uh, I'm gonna start, start stressing it now, like come

to baseball games this spring.

Yeah.

Come out, catch a couple this fall and get kind of a sneak peek of the

seating arrangement there and kind of figure out where you wanna go.

But it's gonna be a different fan experience in a big way.

If you, if you made it through a bunch of games last year, like this is your reward.

You're, you're gonna see some good baseball- Yeah … and some

nice comfy seats and a lot of other nice amenities there too.

Yeah, yeah.

And we got a good home schedule.

We can talk a little bit more- Mm-hmm … about that later.

Oh, yeah.

Um, it, it'll be a good schedule.

People will be excited about it and, you know, we're, we're, we're so…

You know, we're ready to get practice started.

I mean, nothing's changed from us on that standpoint.

We're still in the temporary digs, so we're still working

our way through all of that.

But at some point we're gonna be there and, you know, it's gonna be great, so

we'll, we'll- Yeah … hope for that day.

And I was telling the guys today, we had a team meeting and I just said, "You know,

the thing you gotta just keep, you know, the, the carrot, uh, out there is like-

Mm-hmm

you're the, this is the only team that's gonna ever be the

first team in that locker room."

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

You're the first name played on that locker ever.

Yeah.

And I think that's, that's a really neat thing to be excited about.

Um, and there's, you know, there's accountability that goes with

that and make, make it a season to remember because of that, you know?

Yeah.

We need to make sure to, to make a big deal about, you know, who gets

the first hit in the, in the new-

Absolutely

… stadium, who gets the first strikeout, all the- Yeah … home, first home run.

Yeah.

Yeah, a lot of balls need to get thrown out because of that Yeah.

Honestly.

The first, the first pitch clearly.

Um- Yeah

and you know, like you said, first strikeout, first hit- Yeah … home

run, all those things, you know, that's just new stuff for the record books.

And I had something you guys, you guys are gonna… Like, this is just me.

So Steph has never seen Field of Dreams.

What?

Oh, I haven't.

Oh, yeah, yeah.

Oh, yeah.

You're gonna bring it up.

And so we're out walking Saturday morning or whenever it was this

weekend- … and I said, "Well, we gotta watch Field of Dreams," you know?

So we- Yeah … we turn it on and we watch it.

And I'm thinking, uh, you know, the, the James Earl Jones speech

where it's all, "The- they will def- they'll most definitely come," right?

Yeah.

They'll sit in their shirts and- Yeah … and eat a hot dog and-

Yeah

… you'll say, you'll say, "It's only $20," and they'll gladly hand over the

money.

That soliloquy needs to get… Like, I was like, "They should put that,

that, that should get played as part of our intro video this year."

Yeah.

I mean, honestly, you-

They will come

and

y- and you can mix it, you mix in some old video, the old play.

You can find really- Yeah … like, '80, '84 fixtures.

Get the new… And, and you know, for the kids, you add in whatever kind

of fun, modern song- Yeah … that's the hip song of the moment.

I mean, you, yeah.

There's- A lot of- Somebody, somebody on our creative team can make

that happen.

And I even thought of doing, like, a spoof of it for a, like, a season ticket promo.

Mm-hmm.

Like, I said, "All right, Paulie, we're gonna put you in

the suspenders and the-" Yeah.

"… New York cap.

You be James Earl Jones and, you know, we'll take one of the guys' daughters

and she can be the little girl and-"

Yeah.

" Paige, you can be Kevin Costner-" Go for it

"'cause you're the good-looking one."

But, uh, you know, but that would be fun, but I think that speech could

be really apropos for us this year.

Yeah.

You know, as you go into the, into the- Well,

it's true for the recruits, apparently.

Yeah.

If you build it,

they will

come.

Four for

four.

Yeah.

You build it, they will come.

Oh.

Uh, oh, anyway, so, so, so the, so she watches it, you know, it's great, it's

a tearjerker at the end, all the, all the wonderful things about that movie.

Um, and so Sunday, I'm on the back porch fixing a light and I'm up

on a ladder, and all of a sudden I hear this, "Psst, hey, Bud."

And I'm like, "I, I, I don't know what that was."

And I, I, I hear it again, "Psst. Hey, Bud, up here." And I'm like, I'm thinking

if he says ease his pain, then- Yeah.

… we're gonna have a problem.

People are gonna be going, "Why, why is Coach Finwood building a baseball

field in his backyard?" And I look up and it was one of the guys fixing

gutters, uh, who was up on my roof.

That's funny.

Oh, man.

Yeah, it was good.

Uh, if you- Thought you had

a mission.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I was like, "Uh-oh, who's talking to me?" Yeah.

Yeah.

Yes.

Uh, but yeah, so that was, that was, that was my weekend, so.

I'm just glad you noticed, otherwise we'd probably be watching live the

helicopter view from, like, Norfolk PD-

looking at you building a baseball field in your backyard.

Guy's lost his mind.

Yeah.

Guy's a loony.

Oh, man.

Uh-

Well, we did, we did see some, uh, something cool in our own backyard.

Um, it's been a few weeks.

That's what's weird, but I think it's, it's almost been three weeks.

Uh, but we got to see our guy, John Holobetz, uh, make his Triple-A

debut for the, the WooSox, Worcester.

Yeah, super cool.

It was so- That was- … cool to see everybody there.

Yeah.

Getting a chance to talk to his parents.

You know, Mike- Mm-hmm … felt good enough to get out

there for, for a little bit.

That was good for M- him to see it.

And, and Johnny, Johnny threw great, man.

He, you know, what?

He was- Six, six innings- Yeah

one run, I think four hits.

Yeah, it was like-

Six strikeouts, walk … five and

two-thirds or something like that.

Yeah.

I mean, he was, he-

Yeah, five and two-thirds,

and he was- I think I saw a, a 98.6 on one of them.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I mean, he was, he was- Yeah … shoving.

He, um- Yeah.

You know, he's had, I think he's had three or four starts.

He's had a, you know, he's had a couple of, you know, rough ones,

obviously, 'cause it's Triple-A.

You're getting used to it, but yeah.

I mean, he, he's right there.

When you're in Triple-A- Yeah … you're, you're on the cusp, man.

Yeah, and then Blake got called up to, to Bowling Green-

Mm-hmm … uh, f- with the Hot Rods.

Yeah.

So that was, that was my home, hometown team-

Yeah

… at Western Kentucky, and I called a couple friends of mine in town and

said, "You gotta look out for Blake."

Yeah.

Look at him.

Uh, so he's, he's having- What

was, what's that hotdog place I went to?

'Cause we went, I went and saw Conor Myers and, uh, PJ Higgins out there.

What was the hotdog place out there that was so good?

Hmm.

I don't remember.

It was really good.

Whatever went to That's a great little

ballpark, though.

Yeah, it was.

Cool little ballpark down, it's right downtown there that's … They

did a nice job with that.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, y- well, I think we looked at if, um, the la- it was, I think it's,

um, it's next week or the last week of the season that, uh, Bowling Green

and Greenville are playing each other.

So there's a possibility of a Blake Morgan, a Dylan Brown match up.

Wow.

That'd

be- I mean, how cool would that be if they got to face each other on the same night?

I mean, I was hoping for Dylan to get called up to double A this

week 'cause they're in Richmond this week, but, you know- Oh,

that's … that obviously didn't happen.

But yeah, he's been killing it, so that's, that's, that's great to see.

Yeah.

Yes, it is.

A lot of our guys are doing really well.

Yeah, I should've booked a trip to Greenville.

I would've guaranteed Dylan Brown would've got promoted to double A 'cause- While

Johnny's down here pitching in Norfolk, I'm in Portland, Maine eating lobsters.

Yeah.

So.

You were, you were hoping to see him and, uh, what, Noah Dean, and Noah winds up

on the injured

list.

Yeah.

So you- Yeah … you, you didn't even go to a game probably, right?

' Cause I didn't even go … we're not going.

Yeah.

Didn't even go to a baseball game.

There's no point.

Yeah.

But, um, but hey, if that's what it takes, I, I told John's mom, Angie- Yeah

I said, "Hey look, whenever you want to go to the Red Sox, I'll just book

my trip to Worcester." to Worcester.

But at least in that case I could drive over to, uh, to Boston and catch it.

Yeah.

Yeah.

But I'm really, really pumped for him.

Uh- Yeah.

It's great … you can tell by those pictures, too, like he's been hitting

the weight room, he's gotten big.

He's like- Yeah … the VLO's gone up.

I mean, he's looks like a major league starting pitcher now.

Yeah.

Yeah.

He's really, he's done a good job on his core, his legs and hips.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Got the, he's get- getting that big pitch, big league pitcher's butt on him.

Yes.

Yeah.

Um,

so yeah.

That thick backside

I'm really happy for him, and hopefully Dylan and Blake are

coming right along behind him.

Yeah.

You know, we had, we had Ben Moore in the office today.

Ben, Ben got released.

He had some arm issues.

Mm-hmm.

But he's gonna work out with us this fall.

He's gonna finish up classes, uh, graduate in December.

Yes.

And, um, just work out with us and get, have some workouts, and

hopefully- Yeah … get signed.

I believe somebody will pick him up,

you know?

I would th- I mean, a talented lefty.

Yeah.

And, and what a blessing to have that guy around your guys-

Yeah.

Yeah … to, to be around and learn and see what he does.

I mean, that's, that's- Yeah … yeah.

Yeah, and he's such a good student, you know?

He's not- Yeah … he's not far away from, from getting his degree, which is,

you know, the whole, the whole point.

So-

Yeah

… um, it'll be, it'll be great.

It's gonna work out fine for him.

I, I think, you know, you, you live and you learn, you know?

I, I personally thought he needed a little bit more time-

Mm-hmm

… um, when he signed, but he, y- you know, I just give my opinion and,

you know, now you- Yeah … I think, you know, in hindsight, right,

if he, he would maybe admit that.

But he, he's gonna get a chance to work with our pitching group

and get himself back healthy, you know, and, and get right.

Mm-hmm.

And then hopefully somebody will give him another shot.

I, I think they will.

Well, hey, if, if we just follow- Yeah, if

you're as talented as

that… Sorry.

Yeah.

W- well, I was just gonna say, if you're gonna follow what's happening in college

football, might, he might be pitching for us here in February and March.

Yeah, if we move the campus to Louisiana- Yeah … we could get

him eligible pretty quick probably.

I, I mean, they're loading them up

when they get cut.

I, I think, you know, and, and on that note, guys, like- Oh my gosh, you know,

this is the fifth year in a row where they changed all the recruiting rules- Mm-hmm

twice during- Yeah … the summer.

And then, you know, we, we actually went round, uh, Evan Holman was

already coming back to be a graduate assistant, so we just said, "Hey, we'll

put you on the roster for the fall. Whatever happens, happens." Mm-hmm.

"And you're coming anyway." Yeah.

You know, the only other one we had, and Evan was a DSA, so we

had a spot on the roster for him.

Mm-hmm.

The other one that it affect, could have potentially affect

was Zach Leite, who was- Mm … a DSA in the same boat as Evan.

Um, and we decided not to bring Zach back because it was a different deal.

He w- Zach graduated.

He, he didn't wanna go to grad school.

Like, he, he would- … have been coming back just to play baseball, and then-

Right

if

Zach pulled out, which last week it did, then he's- Mm … stuck here with

no mo- you know, no money, no nothing.

Okay.

And it just didn't seem like the right thing to do.

So, uh, who knows if it'll change two or three times again, but, uh-

Right

… as of now, that group's not eligible again.

Right.

Uh,

and

so- So currently Evan is, is a what?

Your graduate assistant coach.

Correct.

Correct.

Okay.

Yeah.

Which is awesome.

We love Evan.

Yeah, he's awesome.

He's, he's the best.

You could not- He's the greatest ever.

Yep.

Yeah.

Yeah, it makes me happy to hear that, you know, he was coming back as a GA,

but also like- Yeah … potentially playing, but I think just- Yeah

that veteran presence in your bullpen- Yeah … with all these new arms, I mean-

Yep.

Yeah

… that's nothing but wins there.

He, he has jumped right in, man.

He's fit right in.

You know, with him and, uh, Casey and Bryce, um, those

guys are all doing a great job.

I feel like we're gonna be talking about Evan in, like, 20,

25 years 'cause he's managing-

like, a pro team.

Like, I don't know, I just get that vibe from him.

Right.

Uh- Yeah … I don't know.

You might.

We were badmouthing, uh, Cal Raleigh the other night and then he hit 300.

You can't say, See?" You just gotta keep badmouthing him, man.

You- Which

he, he's an all-time Mariners fan, so yeah, I'm sure- Oh, yeah

he's, he's been dying with that this year.

Um- Yeah … the other night when, uh, Julio Rodriguez threw the ball

in the stands, uh, you probably had to have, um, have Evan on

suicide watch that night, right?

Yeah.

Yeah, I know.

Man.

Well, now's when it gets fun and the, and, you know, I- Right … I start

watching big league games a little more-

Mm-hmm

excuse me, in September, so, you know, and that's when the, they all kinda-

Yeah

… start mattering more.

So, so good, good races.

I mean-

There's some good, yeah.

Well also, with it, I think there's only four American League teams that have

winning records, which is really weird.

That is weird.

Yeah.

It's

' cause the AL

West

stinks.

Yeah.

Yeah.

But I mean, guess they all kind of stink if only four of them have winning records.

I mean, but there's what?

Seven playoff teams?

Yeah.

Eight playoff teams?

Yeah.

Like, yeah.

Think

about that.

They better figure it out here in the- I mean,

three of them are in the East, so.

Yeah.

Right.

So it's not,

not good.

There's only one

in the rest

of the, rest of the league.

Yeah.

That, and that's a weird thing of constant interleague play now, you know, there's

that you… 'Cause before you say like, "How would that be possible?" It'd have

to have like an, you know, 50/50, right?

And nope, not anymore.

Yeah.

That's weird.

And the Dodgers came back down to earth, which- Yeah

that's good baseball.

I mean, that's-

Yeah

… and the team I'm, I mean, I'm a Dodgers fan, but I, I, the team

that I would be definitely afraid of right now is the Padres in the West.

Yes.

Good

call.

Yeah, they got those starting pitchers and, and that, the rest of their

team's kind of heating on up, so I'd be a little worried about them.

Of course, the Brewers are really good, so.

Brewers have great pitching.

Yeah.

I mean- It's fun watching him do this now You know, their, um,

their Triple-A team was in town last week playing the Tides, and I went over,

uh, Jared Koenig, you know- Yeah … who played for us in 2015, you know, he

ended up in the big leagues and- Yeah

with the Athletics and the Brewers, and he, he was, he was in town, and I, I

had his ODU baseball card that I made that I just, it, I made him too late

and I never got to give, so I went over and gave it to him and got him to sign.

We got to talk to him for a few minutes.

It was great.

I was just like- That's

cool

how, how cool- He is- … that he's still hanging around, man,

and still doing- And doing, and doing well … he had good numbers.

Yeah

I mean, I saw him pitch for the Brewers a bunch last year.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

But man, he is a giant dude now, isn't he?

He is a, man, I, he honestly, he walked out, and I was like, and then

my buddy's like, "Oh, there he is."

I'm like, "He is bigger than I remembered." Oh, yeah.

I knew he was a big guy, but he is- He is.

Yeah

… he's not just tall anymore.

He is a, he's a, he's a beefcake.

He's a big boy.

Yeah, yeah.

He's a big boy.

That's for sure.

Yeah.

I hope he gets a chance to get back up, 'cause he, that is- Yeah,

me too.

That's why I told him

um, he, uh, he was banged up when he was here.

Never really kind of-

Yeah

… reached his potential, and then he left.

And he obviously got healthy and, you know, has done great, so.

Yeah.

Although I definitely realized that conversation I had with him, uh,

was the most I'd ever talked to him.

I don't know why.

I just, he just, just not a guy that I, you know- Yeah

had interacted with for whatever reason.

It just happens sometimes, and- And

he didn't- … it

was kind of funny

… take the fun, 'cause he was never really- Yeah … super all the way healthy.

So- Mm … just kind of one of those things, didn't really work

out.

Yeah.

Just happens.

Um, but- But I mean, hey, he made it work, man.

He, he- Yeah, yeah

he, I remember when he got, was getting called to the big leagues,

I was like, "Wait, he's, he's still playing?" And like, yeah.

Good for him, man.

Yeah.

That's awesome.

The guy loved baseball.

Well, Carl Monnemaker who recruited him- Yeah … you know,

Monny wears it on his sleeve.

He's like, "Oh, man." And then he, and when he, when he got

called up for the, whatever the first time was, he sent me- Yeah

a text and goes, "See? I told you I didn't miss on him."

Carl was like, "Yep, you were

right." I mean, you kind of did.

You were right like eight years later.

Yeah.

It eventually worked out.

Yeah.

Well, I saw Vinnie is back from the injured list.

He hit a absolute nuke in one- Yeah … of his first games.

Yes.

Uh, I mean, if he can get a full healthy season- And he,

he came back out as a firecracker.

Yeah.

Um, so that's good.

I'm glad to hear that.

And Vinnie, uh, sent us a text a couple weeks ago.

Um, said he is, uh, donating us a golf cart.

Hey.

All right, who's gonna pay for the modification to put the

little baseball helmet over it and run it from the bullpen?

Yeah.

We need that.

That's cool.

But-

Yeah

… I need to send y'all some pictures.

It's all got the ODU logos and colors, and it's got a Pasquats symbol on the

side.

Oh, nice.

I was gonna say, yeah, we need… I see we're covered in fur or something.

Yeah.

That's awesome.

Yeah, it's awesome.

So-

Yeah … all good.

Benny, man, what a guy.

You know what, Guy's just the best.

Yeah.

I love seeing these guys be successful, like in- Yeah

minors, majors, Indie Ball.

Um, you know- Yeah … have a couple guys get signed and

playing some Indie Ball together.

Just love seeing them be able to just continue their career playing something.

Well, and then somebody told me that Hunter Gregory was, is on the same

team as Sam Armstrong with the Twins.

Yeah, they're with the, the Wichita Wind Surge, double A for the Twins.

Yeah.

That's cool.

Yeah.

Hunter Fitzgerald's having a really good year in double A.

He's like 27 homers, like 88 RBIs- Yeah … like 32 doubles.

I mean, he is killing… I mean, obviously, you know, he's a little bit

older than your average double A. Yeah.

But hey, at the same time, you gotta play where you are.

And yeah, uh, Hunter is killing it.

Mm-hmm.

He's killing it.

Yeah, that's cool.

Glad to see that.

And then Andy and, uh, Carter Specht are- Yeah, he's killing it

too

… on the same team with the Cubs, right?

Yeah,

they're Tennessee, yeah.

Tennessee, yeah.

And Andy, I think, is having a good, good year, isn't he?

I think he's got, he's got over 20 homers.

Yeah.

And playing well.

He's probably hitting a little better than he has in other years.

Yeah.

Yeah, I mean, they're doing great.

That's

good.

A lot of guys, a lot of guys having a lot of success.

We got, I think at one point this year we had 23 former Monarchs

playing pro ball somewhere.

Wow.

That's cool.

I

mean, that's-

Yeah

that's

up there.

And like five of them in the big leagues, I think.

Yeah.

That's awesome.

That's wild.

Well, appreciate you guys keeping up with that.

Yeah.

Well, I know we got Pauly.

Is, is he joined us?

Yeah, he's in the back.

I'm, I'm bringing him on now.

Looks like he's getting his notes together here.

Let's see.

How's it going, Pauly?

What's up, guys?

How's it going?

How are you?

Before you guys get going with him, I gotta- You know, Paulie has a lot of

really good one-liners, but I heard a term that I'd never heard before, which must

be a, a, maybe a western New York term.

We were talking about, you know the term resting bitch face, RBF, right?

And he called it mean mugging.

He called it mean- Yeah.

Oh yeah, mean

mugging.

Yeah … and, like, yeah, you get that in western New York, you

mean mugging, 'cause you don't see the sun for, like, six months.

Man, it is- Man … it is gray, it is rainy, it is cold.

Yeah.

It's snowy from, like, October to, like, May.

Oof.

So I, I f- that was a new one for me, so I, I added that to the vocabulary list.

Yeah, that's good.

Real good.

I, I think, I think about Dylan Brown, like, stalking around

the mound with that mean mug.

Like, that is mean mugging to the death in the-

Right … dictionary … that's the definition of it.

So all right, well, I'm gonna let you guys go.

Rest- resting bitch face.

Resting bitch

face,

yeah.

Um, and, um, thanks again for having me on, and, uh, you're in good hands

now, so I'll let you guys, you know, visit with some of the new faces.

Yeah, thanks so much for joining us.

All right, Finny, we appreciate you, man.

We appreciate it.

All right, guys.

See you, Finny.

Go Monarchs.

Thanks, man.

Go Monarchs.

Go Monarchs.

All right, we're gonna take a quick commercial break.

We'll be back in 90 seconds with some good updates on the newcomers to the team.

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Thanks, Blaine, as always.

Yeah.

I'm also really excited that that premium seating that he's talking about in there

is going to apply to baseball this spring.

Yeah, we like that.

I'm pretty pumped about that.

Oh, yeah.

But we've got Paul Panic here with us from- Oh … ODU Baseball.

Happy to have Paul on.

I think you were last on with us last summer, and I think it was our most viewed

episode ever, so congratulations, Paul.

Hope- Welcome back.

We… Hopefully I can run it back for you guys.

Yes.

The people

know what matters.

Definitely.

How's your summer been?

Oh, man, it's been good.

Uh, recruiting, right?

Obviously plenty nights on the road, and, um, just look for the next Monarchs.

Like, I, like, recruiting's the lifeblood of, you guys know,

it's the lifeblood of any- Yeah

of any good program, right?

So, uh, me and the guys, we beat the trail up pretty good.

And, you know, we worked pretty hard to try to, try to… Hopefully we

ha- we got a good product this year.

So happy to share some info about some of those guys to y'all.

What's… Before we get into our guys, I just, as we're talking about

recruiting, I'm sure you go to some of the p- same places pretty regularly.

Um, two side question.

What's, like, your favorite place, event?

What's the least favorite place, event?

You know, maybe you don't wanna call it- Oh … the event, but maybe a, a place.

Man, it's… So I t- I take what?

I think five trips into Atlanta, into ATL every summer, right?

Yeah.

Um, I go, this past summer it was, uh, PBR's NPI the first week of June.

Then it was both WWBA's, the 27s and the 28s.

Then it was the Lake Point 27s again and for PBR, and then it was the Future Games.

So I think my favorite event, event, event, is probably the Futures Games.

Mm-hmm.

Um, it, it's tough because it's probably the most widely recruited event, right?

You got everybody from, you pick your Power Five, they're all there, right?

So, um, pulling guys gets, gets tricky out of there.

But, um, man, I guess it is the least favorite area, right?

Um- … it's just so, it's, it's hot.

It's concrete.

Hot.

Yeah.

And, and, and you guys know, our days go from, uh, games start at 8:00 AM.

Yeah.

And then sometimes they don't run till after… If there, if there's

a rain delay, uh, sometimes I'm not walking in the hotel till 2:00 in

the morning, and you gotta- Oh, yeah

shower and turn it over, right?

Yeah, yeah.

You know, so it's, it's a blessing and a curse that all the best talent

comes to Atlanta, usually, for those five-ish tournament weekends.

Um- But I know exactly what hotel I'm staying at, where I'm eating- … what

I'm eating that night- Yeah … where I'm stopping for… Right?

So it's good and bad, right?

So.

Yeah.

What's the best food down there?

Oh, man.

Oh, so there's… It just depends on what time you get done with games, right?

So-

Yeah

… if, if you're done early, it's Marlow's, Marlow's Tavern, right?

Okay.

Their Caesar salad, unbelievable steakhouse Caesar salad.

Um, but then if it's later, it's usually gonna be, um, Miller's Ale House, which is

kind of like your Americana-y bar & grill, mac and cheese, wings, burgers, whatever.

Um, and then Taco Mac.

Ooh.

That's kind of like your wings, tacos.

Now, but if you go on Tuesday, but if you're there on a Tuesday event or if

the event starts on Wednesday and you're a Tuesday night, it's Ten Lizzie's.

So-

Mm.

There's, there's spots for each night if, if you can make it.

Got it.

And, but very rarely do you get to choose.

You're always pre- there pretty late.

Yeah, yeah.

I'm hitting you up next time I go to Atlanta for all the food recommendations.

Right?

You got that thing covered.

Food,

hotels, like I stay the same fa- I stay in the same two, Fairfield.

Like it's… And, and then there's a SpringHill in Kennesaw.

Like we got it all covered

Man, you d- he definitely

had a long- I know a barbecue place downtown, but I don't…

I'd have to text my friend the na- But I know the last time I went,

I went three days in a row we were there, and I was, like, moaning

while I was eating every time.

So I, I don't know what that… I, I might have named that.

Like, I'm seriously sitting there at the bar just like, "Mm, mm."

Like, it's like- … just obscene.

Like, frankly, they should have arrested me.

Is it, is it bad that I can get from the airport two different ways through and/or

around the city to the hotel without even putting down my, my phone anymore?

That's great.

Is that bad?

I mean, that's

fantastic.

I mean- Basically a local … you're killing it.

Basically.

Yeah.

The whole, the whole June and July, it's either you're in and out of Atlanta, so.

Yeah.

Wow.

Is there… Now, again, maybe you don't want to say the specific event, but is

there a worst place you, you go to or have been to where you're like, "Man,

maybe I found good talent, but boy, I don't like that place. I'm not a fan"?

Um, man.

I don't know.

I feel like I don't spend enough time outside of- Yeah … the hotel to

the field to, like- Yeah, yeah … be like, "This place stinks." Fair.

Right.

Um, you know, I-

Probably for the best

… I'm fine with it.

I'm fine with it.

I- Yeah … A to B, I got my… do my job, keep my head down-

Yeah … gotta keep her moving.

Although I will say, like, the only time I ever went through Louisiana, I

only like stopped for, like, 20 minutes, and that was, like, number one, just

driving that through, didn't like it, and just stopping, it was disgusting.

So I have-

Well, if you're off the interstate-

It's like when you- … anywhere in Louisiana

when I… I literally don't want to go and go, number one, to the

bathroom because the place is so disgusting, that's pretty bad.

That's, that's a problem.

' Cause I've done that in the woods.

Like, that's pretty rough.

Yeah.

That's a problem.

Now, now I will say what I hate, I used to drive to Atlanta and back.

That drive, not- Oh,

yeah.

Ugh

… because… A- and then once I started realizing like, "Hey, like I can

get from Norfolk or Richmond, you know, wherever I am t- into Atlanta

direct for 200 bucks or less, like a-

Yeah

… a trip," I'm like, "So you're burning nine hours a day on the

front end, nine hours on the back.

You're burning two days." You know?

Yeah.

Like, that's time away from the family, that's recruits, that's

visit, that's just production.

Yeah.

So.

Yeah.

Your time is valuable for sure, and- Exactly … nine hours, nine hours you

two in the car, that's, that's rough.

Yeah.

Ugh.

For sure.

For sure.

Yeah.

All right.

All right.

Well,

Paul texted me the other day.

I know he's got his n- I mean, I know you know what you're talking about, but I love

that you were showing off your prepare.

We also noticed you had a diaper ready in case this goes too long.

Um, and- Where?

Oh, is it behind me?

In the, in the picture you sent, you had a diaper.

Oh.

I don't know right now.

Yeah.

But you, like, right in front- Amen … 'cause I was like, we're

like, "Okay, he's prepa- he's really prepared for this, this, uh, this talk."

We- Hey, hey, there's diapers, there's stuff.

It's kids.

We got, we got Li- PJ's five now, Lilly's three.

Yeah.

PJ's going to kindergarten.

Oh, wow.

And we got school stuff.

Great.

We got clothes.

We got easel they've been working on letters with my wife.

Yeah.

It's-

Love it

… it's good stuff.

So no, I, I just wanted to make sure that like, I-

No, I'm with you.

Like,

I get it.

I didn't mean to miss anybody.

Yeah.

And I get my info, right?

Yeah.

Yes.

No, I, like I said, I know you, I, I got it immediately.

Like, you know you know what you're talking about.

You still wanna make sure.

I, exactly.

I'm, I'm the same way, so I love it.

So-

So do you,

do you wanna ask?

Well, you give me the

floor, man.

Do you want want me to go or you want me to- I,

uh- You

wanna ask about guys and then I'll tell

the guys?

I would first say just like, who d- tell us about some guys and maybe

we'll ask you some stuff, uh, as we go.

And at the end, man, I j- I wanna hear- All right … I wanna hear you talk.

All right.

So, so it's a group, it's a group of 20 new players, right?

11 transfers.

Um, four out of the portal, um, seven junior college, right?

And then nine, nine high schoolers, right?

So we felt, we still feel y- y- you have to recruit high school players, right?

Mm-hmm.

And then your transfers end up becoming your stopgaps, fill in the gap.

This guy left, this guy wasn't good enough.

We gotta m- m- make it work, right?

So, uh, okay, so let's just go alphabetically that way nobody gets

upset with Coach Bennett, right?

We're good.

I'm gonna upset them later when I ask you some other questions.

Sure.

And that, and that's fine.

So transfer on the pitcher's side alphabetically, okay?

So Cooper Bliss, a relief pitcher, right-handed pitcher

from Catawba Valley, all right?

Um, 45 innings, he had 55 punch outs, electric stuff, like he's 92, 94.

When I saw him this spring, he was up to 95.

Now, with him, like, what, what's, what's really cool is he's got two

outlier off-speed pitches, right?

So the change up's negative seven, negative seven on the vert so it's

got like seven inches of, of drop.

And then, um, so that's straight down.

Like that's get lefties out, get lefties, get, get righties out.

And then 22 inches of sweep on his, on his breaking ball, right?

So like that's, so, so, so like that's really big, right?

So- That's

almost two feet.

For sure.

Like it's like, like I was watching him today- Plate's

18 inches.

Like I was watching him today and I was like, "That's pretty good." Yeah.

I was like, "Yeah, that's pretty good."

Right.

Um- Yeah … you know, so, you know, he's in zone with strikes and, and he's part of

that, uh, Catawba Valley team, just like his teammate Silas Mills who I'll go over.

They're part of that 2025, uh- D2 JUCO World Series team, right?

So-

Yeah

… it's winning, right?

It's, it's winning.

All right, so number two in order, Patrick Dudley, Virginia Beach

kid, Atlantic Shores, right?

So he was at South Carolina last year as a freshman.

Um, nine punch in seven innings, um, pitched to a 2.45 and,

and a sub one whip, right?

Like, it's electric, it's left side, it's, it's hard, sharp breaking ball, right?

It's, it's good, good-

Mm

… good zip on the fastball, right?

We're, we're excited to bring him back.

Like, he was- Yeah … one of the guys when he became available, it was like,

okay, like, we have a relationship, right?

Like, you know, with Mack and some of the other guys, some, some of those

local guys, like hey, like, you know-

this, this, this could be a guy, right?

So- Yeah … um, all right, Chase Knight from Modesto-

Now, uh, before you go, I just wanted… with- Yeah … with Dudley, that was

a guy, I saw him in high school too.

Mm-hmm.

Same thing, as soon as I saw him in the portal, I was like, "Man, we should get

him." So I, that was one, you know- For

sure

stuff happens, I never know what you guys are exactly… That was

one where I'm like, I… Same thing with Mack Dye last year.

Right,

right.

Where it was like, "I know this kid. I know this kid's really good. I

hope we get him," and you guys got him, and that's like, I, as, as a

local fan of baseball, love it, man.

Yeah.

That, that's cool stuff to me.

Well, and the hard part about s- like, e- like, the old recruiting way, like

Patrick was committed so early, right?

So like- Mm-hmm … Finny and Mike and those guy- Yep … like, like,

like when they were, obviously I wasn't here yet, but like they

didn't have a chance to recruit him.

South Carolina gobbled him up real quick, right?

Yep.

Didn't even have a chance to get in, so, um-

He wasn't even in high school yet

… correct, right?

So, um- … it's ju- it's just crazy how the recruiting's kind of churned, right?

Um, Chase Knight, a right-handed pitcher from Modesto, uh, Junior College.

Um, California boy.

Um- He pitched to a four in 67 innings.

It was funny, 'cause his whip, he finished with a 1.1.

Um, but when I saw him, he was at like a 0.8.

He, he committed, and then the next outing, like the next day, was

the worst outing of, of the year.

It was just bits.

Oh.

And, and then the whip went over one.

I'm like, "Oh." But like, so again, like- He

was afraid you were gonna call him and, and take it back?

No, no.

So he's, he's like, I saw, when I s- when I went out and saw him,

he was 89, 91, with, he throws, so he throws a very hard cutter.

86, 87 on the cutter with, then with like a land breaking

ball and a changeup, right?

So now, when I saw him, it was actually interesting.

I, I wasn't going out there to see him.

Yeah.

Um, I knew, I knew he was pit- gonna pitch one of the games I was gonna see.

But I was technically, like, like I had recruiting communication with the kid

that was pitching against him, right?

Mm-hmm.

Um, and they were both good.

Sounds good.

Um, he technically out-dueled the other guy, and I'm like, "Finny,"

like, "I want both," right?

Like, so- Yeah.

Then, then, then it ends up working out, like then Chase ends

up becoming like our guy, man.

And you know, it's just, it's competitive.

It's strikes, strike thrower, and he's the converted infielder.

Awesome.

Um, he's only been pitching- Yeah … for a year and a half, right?

So it's some clay that Coach Marren and, and the boys in the shop

get to mold a little bit, right?

Yeah.

Um, you know, so then K.P. Price out of Lane Community College,

um, Portland, Utah, okay?

Utah boy.

Um, so 11 starts last year, 66 innings.

He went eight and two, pitched to a 2.83, right?

69 punch and the, so 66 innings.

Opponents hit 219 against him and a 1.8 whip.

So I, I think some of the… And now last, last but not least, Liam Stewart, right?

Midlothian kid, transfer from- Yeah … Shenandoah, right?

Now he's, he's 6'4", 215.

He looks like every kind of pro reliever body-wise, right?

Mm-hmm.

Um, you know, pitched to a, the 2- 2.03, uh, 40 innings, 55 punch, 17 walks.

That's it.

Um-

Yeah.

Wow.

You know, eight saves last year, right?

All conference, all region, all, all you, you name it, right?

Yeah.

So, like he's 91, 94 with a bowling ball and then a hard

84 mile an hour breaker, right?

So I, I think out of the transfers it was important that we get some stuff, right?

Mm-hmm.

So we started looking at some stuff guys.

We added a lefty in there.

Um, you know, it's stuff, it's different looks, right?

Like, like Chase Knight's very short arm action.

Patrick is smooth, beautiful lefty, right?

Like, like Liam is bowling ball from the top, right?

Yeah.

So it's different looks and it's stuff and strikes and competitiveness

that I think as y- as we go through, man, it's competitive guys.

Yeah.

Well,

some of the- I saw Stewart pitch a few times, um, last year in

summer ball with the Chili Peppers.

This year, I think the very last game of the season, um, and that

last game of the season, it was like, whoa, if he threw that for

ODU, we're gonna- Mm-hmm … do good.

Like, easily.

And, and, and got to talk to him before the game, meet him.

Uh, awesome kid.

What a good guy.

Oh, super, super human, awesome family.

Like, when the family was here- Yeah … like, they actually came back.

Like, they're awesome people.

Awesome people.

He's great.

Yeah.

Well, we talked a, a lot about during the season last year of like w- uh, too

many walks, too many base runners, and it kind of came down to we didn't have

enough guys with that punch-out stuff.

Like, we had some guys that definitely did, and- Correct … pretty much

what I heard from all five of those guys was low whip, low walk

rates, nasty punch-out stuff.

So that's- And, and- That'd get you excited there.

For sure.

And, and again, like, like we said, they haven't thrown a pitch yet.

We haven't played a game yet, right?

Yeah.

But a- at least like w- I think we, we've corrected some… You know, we've

enhanced kind of the, the options that Finny and Coach Mike, Coach Meyer are

gonna have out of the bullpen, right?

Yeah.

And, and, and even some of these guys, like they may start,

like I, I don't know, right?

Like, roles will be defined and, you know, who knows, right?

Yeah.

So-

Anything can happen, as we have seen with the starting

rotation, openers, all of that.

Yeah.

It's, there's more, it sounds like there's more to work with though, for sure.

Mm-hmm.

W- feel, feel better about the depth, right?

Mm-hmm.

Like how far we go down and, and where we feel good about it.

So, um, you know, and, you know, you hope, you hope Tanton and Gatti and Kuskie

and those guys can, can take a step.

You add these guys, you know, hopefully, hopefully you get, you

know, a little piece out of the, out of a freshman or two, right?

And now you're kind of putting it, putting it together.

So, um, let's just kind of run, run the high school arms.

Uh- Yeah … so there's four of them, okay?

So Sawyer Conrad, okay?

So he's from Greenville, Wisconsin, was at P27, right?

So, like that's, you know F- F … and MJ and, and- Mm-hmm … um,

and then Bryce Muchika, who also is in, right, as well from P27.

So Sawyer, man, like he's right-handed.

It's, it's clean, it's beautiful, it's electric.

It's 992, multiple pitches in zone.

Now, it was funny when me and Coach Mike, so I, we were down in Lake Point.

I was supposed to watch another game, right?

I was supposed to be down in the, on the other clover.

Coach Mike's just watching the game on that same clover.

I saw an old buddy of mine, Ryan Pembroke with East Coast Lumberjacks.

He was like, "Hey, hey, hey, who you got?

Who, who you going to see right now?" I'm like, "Eh, this hitter over here.