This ABCA Podcast features Philadelphia Phillies Mental Skills Coach Hannah Huesman. She is a great example of the bright voices we have in the Peak Performance World and her Mental Sweat Mondays have provided a bright spot during the pandemic. Huesman was a dual sport athlete playing basketball and softball at UT Chattanooga and has her master's degree from UT Knoxville in Sports Psychology and Motor Behavior. Prior to working with the Phillies she worked with the Pittsburgh Pirates and also wo...
Mar 22, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 209
Next up on the ABCA Podcast is current Johns Hopkins and former Yale University infielder Dai Dai Otaka. This is the first time we've interviewed a current player who is also an ABCA member. Otaka played high school ball at University of Detroit Jesuit and started his college career at Yale University with current Minnesota Twins Assistant Field Coordinator Tucker Frawley as an infield coach. Otaka is finishing up his playing career at Johns Hopkins University. At Ivy League Schools, graduate st...
Mar 15, 2021•55 min•Ep. 208
We catch up with Missouri State head coach Keith Guttin and assistant coach Paul Evans on this week's ABCA Podcast. Guttin is in his 43rd season with the Missouri State program as a player, assistant and head coach. He ranks 19th in NCAA Division I with 1,288 career wins in 38 seasons as head coach. Evans is in his 33rd season as an assistant at Missouri State after coaching at Shawnee Community College and Rend Lake Community College. In their 33 seasons together, they have had 127 players sign...
Mar 08, 2021•51 min•Ep. 207
Next up on the ABCA Podcast is San Francisco Giants Minor League Mental Skills Coach Dr. Kellen Lee. Dr. Lee has a diverse background having played baseball at the UC San Diego and independent baseball. Professionally, he has worked with teams and athletes from the NCAA Division I, II, III, high school, youth and professional levels. He also has experience in working with military personnel on how to handle the mental challenges of combat environments. He wrote his dissertation on Effects of Spo...
Mar 01, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 206
Next up on the ABCA Podcast, we have Colorado Rockies hitting coach Trevor Burmeister. Burmeister is entering his second season as hitting coach with the Colorado Rockies and was the 2019 ABCA/Baseball America Assistant Coach of the Year in NJCAA while at Madison College. Burmeister played at Madison and then UW-Lacrosse, before moving into the coaching ranks at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. Burmeister also spent time on the Travel Baseball side, coaching with the GRB Rays, as well as the ...
Feb 22, 2021•1 hr 30 min•Ep. 205
This week on the ABCA Podcast is Chad Busick, owner of Championship Mindset. Busick is a master facilitator with Advance Sports Technology, working with college teams at the Division I, II, III and NAIA levels as well as high school and competitive teams across various sports. In addition, he is a certified trainer for the Power of Positive Leadership Training with the Jon Gordon Companies, is co-host of The Championship Mindset Podcast as well as the author of a new book, The Rock Tumbler. Busi...
Feb 15, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 204
Next up on the ABCA Podcast is our NCAA Division I Preview. We have a stout line up of college baseball media members in this episode with Mike Rooney leading us off. After that, we hand it off to Vinnie Cervino from Perfect Game, Teddy Cahill from Baseball America and we finish it off with Aaron Fitt and Kendall Rogers from D1Baseball. As life long fans of college baseball, this is always an exciting time of the year and we're excited to finally be able to head to the ballpark again to watch so...
Feb 09, 2021•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 203
Next up on the ABCA Podcast is our 2021 NAIA, Junior College, Division III and Division II preview. Robby Gutierrez from NAIA Ball and special guest Cumberland head coach Woody Hunt lead us off. After that, we kick it over to Brian Sakowski from Perfect Game and Noah Sharp from the JUCO Ball Blog to cover all things junior college baseball. Then we hand it over to Jordan Shusterman and Jake Mintz of Cespedes Family BBQ fame and the D3 Baseball Podcast to talk all things Division III. Finally we ...
Feb 08, 2021•1 hr 49 min•Ep. 202
Continuing our Foundations for Optimal Living theme for the ABCA Podcast, we speak with Dr. Erik Korem, CEO and Founder of AIM7. Korem played football at Texas A and M and has since traveled all over the world studying elite performance. He was in the NFL for 15 years as Sports Scientist and High Performance Director and more recently was Associate Athletics Director for Student-Athlete Performance at William and Mary. We cover a lot of territory here in this episode on habit forming, self impro...
Feb 01, 2021•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 201
This week we connect with Dr. Jackie Buell, Sport Dietician for Ohio State Sports Medicine and Consultant to the Department of Athletics. Dr. Buell's has a Ph.D. in Nutrition from Ohio State, a master's from the University of Arizona in Exercise Physiology and a bachelor's in Sports Medicine from Marietta. She was pivotal in starting the Food Innovation Center, which is an Ohio State University program to help feed the people in the state of Ohio. We tackle all things nutrition for coaches and p...
Jan 25, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 200
This week on the ABCA Podcast is the Kansas City Royals Director of Performance Science and Player Development John Wagle. He enters his first year as Director after serving as the Royals Minor League Strength and Conditioning Coordinator since 2019. Prior to joining the organization, he spent three years pursuing his PhD in Sport Physiology and Performance at East Tennessee State. He earned his Master’s in Exercise Science from Western Illinois, an MBA from Loyola and he played collegiately at ...
Jan 18, 2021•1 hr•Ep. 199
Next up on the ABCA Podcast is, China McCarney, Vice President of Jaeger Sports founder of the Athletes Against Anxiety and Depression Foundation. McCarney has been with Jaeger Sports full time since 2012 and started the Athletes Against Anxiety and Depression Foundation in 2016 because of his own personal struggles with panic attacks, anxiety and depression. Their mission is dedicated to providing resources to anyone that suffers from a mental health battle. On this episode, we also dive into w...
Jan 11, 2021•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 198
Happy New Year and to the week of the ABCA Convention! The first part of this episode is with the ABCA staff. The second part is with Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin, a member of the ABCA Board of Directors and ABCA Hall of Fame. He has 753 wins as a head coach and two national championships in 18 seasons at Vanderbilt. This episode is sponsored by Netting Pros. Netting Professionals specializes in the design, fabrication and installation of custom netting for backstops, batting cages, dugouts,...
Jan 03, 2021•1 hr 44 min•Ep. 197
Next up on the ABCA Podcast is baseball coaching legend Jerry Weinstein, recipient of the 2021 ABCA/Wilson Lefty Gomez Award. Weinstein is an ambassador for the game around the world and his resume reads like a wish list for any coach. He coached in a College World Series with Miami as an assistant coach and, as a head coach at Sacramento City College, won 831 games, 16 league titles, a national championship and had 213 players drafted, including 28 big leaguers. He has also coached in the Cape ...
Dec 28, 2020•1 hr 27 min•Ep. 196
This week's ABCA Podcast features ABCA Dave Keilitz Ethics in Coaching Award recipients Lance Spigner and Ryan McGinnis. Dave Keiltitz was the ABCA Executive Director from 1994-2014 and was longtime head baseball coach and later Athletic Director at Central Michigan University. Keilitz was inducted to the ABCA Hall of Fame in 1989. Spigner is first on this week's podcast. He is going into his second season with the brand new junior college program at University of Arkansas Rich Mountain followin...
Dec 21, 2020•1 hr 33 min•Ep. 195
This week on the ABCA Podcast we hear from Los Angeles Dodgers Catching Coordinator Ryan Sienko, who is entering his third season in that position with the World Champions. Sienko will be joining the ABCA Convention Catching Hot Stove in January. He is also the founder of Catch and Throw. Prior to working with the Dodgers, Sienko was an associate scout for the Baltimore Orioles, Director of Operations for the National Pitching Association alongside Tom House and coached in the high school ranks....
Dec 14, 2020•1 hr 8 min
Cleveland Indians Pitching Coordinator Joel Mangrum joins us on this week's ABCA Podcast. He is entering his second season as the Indians' Pitching Coordinator, after two seasons as a pitching coaching the Arizona League, having gone from the college side to pro baseball in 2017. At the collegiate level, Mangrum coached at New Mexico State, Austin Peay, Milligan College and Hinds College. Mangrum will be attending the Virtual ABCA Convention and gives great insight about why coaches will want to...
Dec 07, 2020•1 hr 8 min
Next up on the ABCA Podcast is Driveline Baseball's Director of Youth Baseball, Deven Morgan. His relationship with Driveline started when he took his 9-year-old son into the facility to learn more about what they were doing there. That relationship developed into him heading up Driveline’s youth program and now the Youth Academy. Driveline now has teams from high school-age down to 9U. This episode is going to be a great resource for any parent or coach as we discuss the entire year calendar fo...
Nov 30, 2020•1 hr 33 min
This week, we visit with ABCA Second Vice President Rick Hitt, who is the head baseball coach and Athletic Director at South Florida State College. Hitt organized the 24 main-stage clinic speakers for the Virtual ABCA Convention and serves on the ABCA Board of Directors and Standing Committee. Besides the ABCA, Hitt is the NJCAA Region 8 Assistant Men’s Director, NJCAA Baseball Coaches Association President and is on the NJCAA All-America Committee. He has also coached the NJCAA National Team si...
Nov 23, 2020•58 min
Next up on the ABCA Podcast is University of New Mexico head coach Ray Birmingham, a great example of staying true to yourself and trusting what you teach. Birmingham has head coaching experience at the high school, NAIA, junior college and NCAA Division I levels. He is one of the best offensive minds in the gameand understands how to develop hitters with keeping things simple. He has won championships at every level and has almost 1300 wins at the collegiate level. He won a JUCO national title ...
Nov 16, 2020•1 hr 2 min
Finishing up our ABCA 2021 Hall of Fame Podcast Series is a tribute to Louisiana head coach Tony Robichaux, who passed away in 2019. Robichaux was the epitome of character and leadership. He coached 33 seasons at the NCAA Div. I level at McNeese State and Louisiana and ended with 1177 wins, 12 NCAA Regional appearances, four Super Regional appearances and one College World Series appearance. In this episode, we hear from six coaches that Coach Robichaux impacted greatly: Radford's Karl Kuhn, Lou...
Nov 09, 2020•1 hr 20 min
In our fifth installment of the ABCA Hall of Fame Podcasts, we speak with Wayne Graham. He coached for 38 seasons between high school, San Jacinto College and Rice University. In 11 seasons at San Jac he won 675 games, had an .875 winning percentage and won five national championships in six seasons. He was named JUCO Coach of the Century by Baseball America. In 1992, he took over a Rice University program which had seven winning seasons and no postseason appearances in 78 years. From 1995-2017,...
Nov 02, 2020•43 min
Our next guest in our ABCA Podcast Hall of Fame Series is Don Sneddon, the all-time winningest coach in California Community College history with 1072 victories. Sneddon played for Wally Kincaid, Dave Snow and Augie Garrido and spent 32 years as head coach at Santa Ana College. He also has coaching experience on the pro side with the Colorado Rockies and in the Cape Cod Baseball League. He was an assistant for Jerry Weinstein with the Wareham Gateman in 2016 and 2017 before moving up to manager ...
Oct 26, 2020•1 hr 6 min
Next up on the ABCA Hall of Fame Series is long time Southern University Coach Roger Cador. Cador built the Southern program from no stadium or equipment to one of the best programs in the nation and made a lasting impact not only at Souther, but also with the MLB Diversity program. He retired from Southern with 913 wins, 14 conference championships, 11 NCAA appearances, two HBCU National Championships, and 62 players drafted, including 2003 Golden Spikes Award Winner Rickie Weeks.
Oct 19, 2020•59 min
In the second installment of our ABCA Hall of Fame Podcasts, George Horton joins us. Horton is one of the few people out there who can say he was on a coaching staff with Wally Kincaid, Dave Snow and Augie Garrido. He is a 38-year continuous ABCA member and his 2004 Cal State Fullerton Squad won the national championship. As an assistant coach, Horton was an integral part of helping Garrido build Fullerton into a powerhouse program. In 2007, Horton was hired to bring the baseball program back at...
Oct 12, 2020•1 hr 12 min
This week we begin a new series of ABCA Podcast episodes featuring members of the ABCA Hall of Fame Class of 2021. We start with newly elected Hal Baird along with Samford head coach Casey Dunn, who is representing his father, Sammy Dunn, who passed away in 2004. Baird spent the majority of his head coaching career at Auburn University, where he left as the all-time winningest coach after 16 seasons. His tenure included two College World Series appearances, two 50-win seasons and nine regional a...
Oct 05, 2020•1 hr 12 min
Next up on the ABCA Podcast is Illinois Wesleyan head coach Dennis Martel, who is entering his 34th season and has over 836 wins with the Titan program. Illinois Wesleyan won the 2010 Div. III national championship as Martel was named ABCA/Diamond Regional Coach of the Year for the second year in a row as well as 2010 ABCA/Diamond National Coach of the Year. We discuss what he loves about Illinois Wesleyan, having Div. I, Div. III and Junior College programs within two miles of each other, his m...
Sep 28, 2020•41 min
Next up on the ABCA Podcast is Kent State University head coach Jeff Duncan. Kent State has a long history of winning. Since taking the reins in the summer of 2013, Duncan has guided Kent to two MAC Tournament titles (2014, 2018) and back-to-back-to-back regular season conference crowns in 2016, 2017 and 2018. Prior to Kent State, Duncan had a successful four-year stint at Purdue, which was the Big Ten regular season and tournament champ as well as an NCAA Regional host in 2012. Duncan played ba...
Sep 21, 2020•1 hr 1 min
Up on this week's ABCA Podcast are Eric and Gordie Theisen, a father-son coaching duo from Hillsdale College. Eric is the head coach with Gordie as assistant coach of the NCAA Div. II school, which has reached the NCAA Tournament in two of the last three seasons. Eric was named the GLIAC Coach of the Year in 2016 and the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 2018. Before coming to Hillsdale, Eric was the pitching coach at Siena Heights. Gordie has been Eric's assistant since 201...
Sep 14, 2020•59 min
We put a different spin on the Father and Son episodes of the ABCA Podcast with Jake Boss Jr, head coach at Michigan State, and Jake Boss Sr. From 2008-12, Boss Sr. was Boss Jr.’s assistant coach. Boss Sr. coached baseball and football at Lansing Everett High School for 23 years and coached at Lansing Catholic High School as well. He mixed in college and high school coaching after that with stops as an assistant at Eastern Michigan, Alma College and Michigan State. Boss Jr. has been the head coa...
Sep 07, 2020•1 hr
