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Hello monarch fans and welcome to the hudson homers podcast I am gary and I am joined as always by my awesome co host cb wilkins cb. How was your weekend, man?
Uh, weekend was great. ODU came out, uh, won the series against Charlotte. They, and then after, uh, the walk off against ECU. So, I mean, and then Sunday is the most beautiful day of the year so far. So, that was a fantastic way to cap off a great weekend of winning.
I'm, so jealous because I could only get down there for the game on friday Had some other stuff here at home saturday and sunday, but got to watch the games, but I was so jealous The crowd looked awesome on sunday. I know the temperature was like upper 60s lower 70s Perfect weather to go drink some beers and rally alley and watch the game and see a monarch win. So jealous if anything
Yeah, it was nice. I ran into um, uh, brian bashar It's a vincent's older brother that played at odu Um, and he was out there with his wife and their and their babies and uh, he was saying they were there on saturday And he was like well once they woke up sunday. It was like well, we got to go back
Yeah, that is that is awesome, uh I haven't i've tried not to look at the weather for this upcoming weekend because i'm not going to be able to be there either Way, uh, but hopefully we have some more awesome weather days like that because you could hear it on the TV broadcast that the crowd was into it. The dugout was into it. Uh, just a big game against a good team. And ODU comes out with the wind to take the game and the series, which I think got to pay some dividends down the road.
Yeah, I mean, so we we we are the best team in the american conference is what I got out of this weekend Uh this week,
I mean, you start your week off with a walk off win against East Carolina,
it's number 11 east carolina Number 11 east carolina is the best part
Yeah. And I mean, they've, they've had a good season too. They've earned that ranking for sure. Uh, but man, Stephen Meyer walk
Yeah, and what a great moment.
I mean that was one where um, I know if you follow the monarchist, uh, social medias, I I uh shared the pictures I got of that walk off win and you know, Whenever we have a situation going in the in the nines or extra innings where I think we can have a walk off I like to get them a little the little uh Place in the stands kind of right above the dugout looking at home plate hoping to get that moment You know like all the guys at home plate waiting for the guy to come in And, uh, and Stephen hit
that ball and just hit it perfect spot. And, uh, I think the wind probably took a little bit, uh, which is fine. That's he hit the right place. And, and so you got that perfect moment. I mean, it was just a, just such an awesome way to cap off a good game, you know, a good game with good pitching and good hitting and, and just a phenomenal moment.
Yeah, the shots are you got were incredible. Uh, we use them at od monarchist. com for matt o'brien's post game recap uh threw a couple extra ones in there and made sure we blast that out on social media Just to celebrate a really cool game, but it didn't quite start out great Uh, you've given up a first inning three run homerun kind of felt like, Oh, no, here we go again, like the Rutgers series, but that game was very, very different.
So the plus side of the bad experience of the Rutgers series, we're seeing that the team could fight back, you know, even though Saturday didn't get all the, you know, they fought back and still not losing because of that solo home run and then Sunday, you know, got down again and had to come back from behind and win. And then Tuesday got down again, the head cover.
So the, there's a downside that keep getting down in every game, but showing that they can come back and fight, you know, that's, it's really great to see.
Yeah, and obviously the big story going into the East Carolina game was Blake Morgan's return to the mound. Really, the only mistake pitch that he had in that inning was the pitch that went for the three run homerun. Three for two innings, give up two hits, three runs, walk to no strikeouts. Uh, but I was just happy to see him back out there on the mound throwing. He looks, he looked like he was healthy
Yeah. I mean, I I, think I talked to him for a minute this weekend and he was saying, he said, felt great, excited to keep going.
and that is awesome. And I'm imagining that we'll see him again at some point this week, uh, with, with two midweeks against William and Mary. So he's probably going to get another opportunity there. So if you miss him the first time, hopefully you catch him on Tuesday. But man, just a slugfest of a game. I mean, we answered back right away. Alex Boucher, two run bomb to left center, three to two. And I think at that point everyone knew, all right, we're in for a fun one here.
Yeah, I mean, I was one. I kind of had to, uh, had to watch part of it. Um, what I shouldn't have been doing, uh, just kind of keep it up with the, the score at work. And I got there by about the seventh inning, got to see the end. So it was, yeah, I mean, it was, it was just great to see the guys just fighting in big moments. And again, like you, you've said it a couple of times here, our dugout, the volume, uh, and the excitement our guys are showing is just phenomenal.
And that is kind of thing. Can't be understated. You know, sitting there rooting for your teammates is a big deal. Yeah. And these guys can feel the energy, they can feel the love, and they're playing for each other. It's really fun to see.
Yeah. And it was definitely one of those games. I'm sure they'll remember for a while and be able to draw on that energy going into the future. You definitely saw it some, uh, this weekend to bounce back and win, uh, the last two games, that series, but Stephen Meyer, it was, it was kind of his show that day, you know, two for four with two home runs.
Just doing some some really great things out there But you know also want to highlight some of the guys that maybe don't get the spotlight that set up some of these big plays We end up having three sacrifice hits in that game Gavin Abrams had one TJ Aiken Evan Holman and Kyle Edwards had a sacrifice fly that brought a run in so really Even though we were we were hitting some bombs and getting our dinger count up in that game We were still doing a lot of those small ball things to kind of help
set some things up
Yeah, TJ had that great bunt. I think it was in the, uh, eighth inning. Um, it ended up, nobody scored off of it, but it was one of those moments he came up to the plate and you're like, well, you know he's going to bunt. So, and I'm sure the ECU guys knew he was going to bunt. You had a really tough pitcher on the mound, and here's a freshman. And I, I guarantee TJ wasn't bunting in high school.
Um, so for him to come up in that spot and lay down a really good bunt, that's, that's big time from a freshman.
Yeah, absolutely It goes that that kind of team first mentality that we hear So much from guys on the team and from the coaching staff about the chemistry within the team It's if you need to come up in lay down a sacrifice bunt do it If you're only going to come in and pinch run and go steal bases, you're gonna do that and it seems like everyone's pretty Pretty bought into that and it was a good example of it there on Tuesday against the number 11 ranked team in the country.
Yeah, looking back, Luke Waters he's such a quiet guy in general. And then as a baseball player, he's kind of quiet. He just, he goes out, he gets his hits, you know, he, he, yeah, a little home run, but he's not hitting like a big towering, you know, huge home run. So just as a, as a person, as a player, Luke is so quiet and you kind of, you forget, Oh yeah, Luke had three hits in that game. And I think I have to look at, I got him here in front of me, but he had a great weekend too.
He's just been, he's so quiet and consistent. He's playing a good right field. And so we got to make sure Luke Waters gets his credit and his love.
absolutely. Lucas had a phenomenal season. I think you're right. He kind of sneaks by some some guys Uh, you know doesn't quite get the uh, the talk that a lot of people do I know we talk about him quite a bit and highlight him, but he's hitting a 302 now on this season Uh 842 OPS Uh, I mean just just playing good baseball and playing consistent baseball Uh, he's also, you know He's stolen three bags too. So he can throw that into the mix as well.
And, and, you know, Luke's, he's not slow, but he's not a super fast guy. He's just very smart. He's just a really good baseball player. You know, his dad's a coach, um, played for a lot of good programs. So he just, just a excellent baseball player. It's very fun to see.
Yeah, absolutely. Well, before we go on and chat about the games over the weekend, I want to give you all an update on dollars for dingers. Uh, we are now at eight on the season, uh, thanks to three in the East Carolina game, uh, and then one against Charlotte from Kenny LaVarie and then the other side of the equation, the bucks for bags 23 for 23.
Bugs for bag.
It's unbelievable. 23 for 23. Stephen Meyer leads away eight for eight. Uh, Kyle Edwards, four for four. Luke's three for three, but we even have guys that are not even getting that many at bats. They're coming into those pinch run situations and making the most of it. So Carter Sunderman.
He's three for three on stolen bases and only has nine plate appearances this season Hunter cole also three for three stealing bases and he only has six plate appearances this season So just seeing it all throughout the lineup of guys being able to come in there and and get over So that other guys in the lineup can get them in.
it's, it's very fun to see. I mean, you know, like I said, if you're, if you're not going to be the big, huge hundred home run team, which, you know, Hey, we might still be, but I'd be surprised, uh, being this team that can take extra bags and, and take and steal bags, it's, it's very good, fun baseball. So, and like I said, and picking their spots and making sure they're, they're not getting thrown out on the bases.
Yeah We'll we'll see how long we can keep this perfecto street going of 20 of a 23 for 23 because that is pretty damn impressive to not get thrown out even at least once considering the High level of competition that we played Uh, so we'll we'll keep that perfection streak going as long as we can but they're going to put up some numbers on the base Pass this year.
Yeah, I think we're gonna see it. We're gonna see a very high number. It's probably going to be the most we've had in a year in a long time.
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. We're going to eclipse that mark I think here, uh pretty early into into conference play But we'll jump ahead now and take a look at this game against charlotte on friday the opener Uh, not a great weather day It's a little cold, and, uh, you know, it was a good four, two ball game. Unfortunately, ODU was on the wrong side of it, but kind of like what we saw in the rest of this series, it was pitching dominated for sure.
Yeah, was it 17 strikeouts? ODU struck out 17 times and uh, Charlotte struck out 16 times. There wasn't a lot of hitting in the game of the, you know, the Johnny Trich, um, who playing, center field for Charlotte. Actually a local kid from here. He played, played at Lance Town High in Virginia Beach before going down to IMG in Florida. Um, he had a nice homecoming, got himself a, a three run Homer. Um, but aside from that, you know, there really wasn't a ton of offense for either side.
Just a lot of really dominant pitching.
Yeah, the pitching was great. And it's, it's funny. You bring up Sutrick, you know, I was sitting there kind of joking that,, he was hitting basically.
500 going into that series and then he's the one that hits the the three run home run Uh in out of all the guys in their lineup that can hit pretty well You know he's the one that ends up Hitting uh hitting the home run down the line and getting it out of the park and it proved to be the deciding factor In the game, but outside of that, uh, there wasn't a whole lot of offense from that charlotte side the rest of the series
No. Yeah. Uh, I think you put it up earlier. What do you say, 23, uh, scoreless innings in a row form
It's, they've given up one run in their last 23 innings, which is pretty, pretty unbelievable. And it's a team that hits as well as Charlotte does.
And consistently hits, I mean, year after year after year, they have really great hitting. So that's, I mean, that says a lot about our pitching staff. They were pretty disgusting this weekend.
absolutely. On the weekend as a whole, there were a combined 89 strikeouts. Uh, ODU pitching had 49 of those. Uh, but I want to drill down a little bit more and we'll talk to, to Jay Cassidy a little bit about this later, in our sit down with him. But the lefty dominance for Old Dominion was on full display this weekend. Uh, our lefty pitchers faced 56 batters. They struck out 30 of them. So 54 percent of the batters they faced, they struck out.
And they gave up one run over 15 innings of work against again, A Charlotte team that can hit the ball. I was blown away when I was adding those numbers up earlier today.
It's hard to find one or two good left handed pitchers. And, uh, you were right. I think several people mentioned this weekend, you know, that They just kept bringing in lefty after lefty. I mean, you got Cassidy and, uh, Mattel, uh, and Moore and Trobaugh and Gomez and Dylan Brown started the game. And I mean, it's just guy after guy, after guy, just going out and dicing people up, I mean, that's, it was something else.
It's wild. You know, even on major league rosters now you might see one, maybe two left handed pitchers coming out of the bullpen and we're just trotting these guys out. And we're almost surprised when they don't strike out the side at this point. That's how many strikeouts they've been racking up.
I mean, you know, I'm, I'm one of those big, uh, you know, the line from Bull Durham, um, trying to throw some ground balls is more democratic. People talk about the, the Immaculate Inning, right? The Immaculate Inning is, uh, what, nine, nine pitches, uh, three strikeouts, right? To me, the Immaculate Inning is three pitches. To me, it's three ground ball dribblers to the first baseman on the first pitch. I think that would be the perfect game, right?
The perfect, perfect game to me is 27 pitches. I think that the, you know, the goal should be to get him, put the ball on play, ground him out, throw less pitches, but strikeouts are cool, man. It's the, it's the pitching equivalent of a home run and they're super fun to watch. So if we're going to be striking guys out, I'm all for it.
They were getting after this weekend with the strikeouts, uh, and, and looking at Friday, I do want to point out Charlotte's pitching because I think Charlotte pitched exceptionally well on Friday. Cole Reynolds got to start, went five innings, gave just one earned run and struck out nine. He looked great. Uh, and then on the back end. Tony Rossi. If that guy is not on a draft board, I, something is wrong with you.
man. I, yeah, I didn't get to see Reynolds obviously because, uh, because it works, but I got to see Rossi at the end and man, that kid was disgusting. That's why I was like, I was talking earlier about TJ bunt off of him. I mean, that's, that's not easy.
He was throwing his fastball 94 to 96. He had, I think it was a slider that was somewhere in that like 85 to 87 range. And then he'd bust you with an off speed that was 80 to 82. I mean, just. Just filthy. He was in full command to get the two innings save there. And in the bottom of the ninth, uh, we basically opted. We were not going to put another right handed batter up at the plate against him. We were pinch hitting just about every lefty we could.
Uh, and it threw him off a little bit because one, it's, it's, uh, the righty on lefty matchup that you want. Uh, but also. Probably not much scout on the guys that they were bringing in to pinch hit. And we were able to get a couple of guys on, just weren't able to get them home. But, Tony Rossi, that is one to watch. If you're a fan of a major league baseball team, you should absolutely be on your draft board.
Yeah, really good picture and and you know again as we're talking about right handers in that game Brandon Pond You know, Brandon Pond came in through another to scoreless look look just outstanding in that game So I mean it was that's one thing you say I don't think the offense was necessarily that fun to watch this weekend at the bud But the pitching sure was
brandon pond through the last two innings of that game. Uh, only give up one hit, no runs, no walks struck out three of the seven batters that he faced. So just another outing out of the bullpen. I know I've talked a lot about the lefties just because it's. Odd that we have so many lefties, but everybody else coming out of the pen has been pitching pretty damn well. Also.
It's exciting to see I will say that if you can If you can pitch the hitting will figure itself out by the end of the year Um, we've definitely seen some teams have some really good seasons. Uh At other schools who they were very good at pitching and hitting was a little kind of like, yeah, we'll get it here and there
In a weekend where you don't score a whole lot of runs to take two out of three from a team like Charlotte, just based on your pitching alone is, is pretty impressive because if we get that all together, where the pitching is, is doing its thing like it has been, and the hitting comes around, uh, it's going to be a whole lot of fun, here in a couple of weeks. We'll jump ahead now to saturday.
Uh end up being I think a four o'clock start time for this one Odu wins it four to one and it was a theme on saturday theme on sunday The monarchs jumped on him early and made him pay for some mistakes and ended up taking a 3 0 lead right there in the first inning
It's always great when you can score early I mean, that's what you the goal every time is your pitcher go out Shut them down the first and then you put some runs on the board and they were able to do that and and never look back, you know, which is Exactly what you want. I mean walking away, uh, we gave up Well, we had to shut out right there to the ninth and just kind of they got that run.
So, you know, whatever um, but it I mean that was This is a really good game again the hitting, not the best aside from maybe that first inning But enough, you know, sometimes we said if you got the dominant pitching just score enough runs
Early in that game It's kind of what ruckers did to us last weekend where they're able to get the ball in play get some guys in motion and then take advantage of of errors and plays that don't work out the way that you want to. So, we did score all three of those runs in the first inning unearned, uh, in the scores column, but we earned them by putting the ball into play, single through the right side, single through the left side.
There was an error that occurred in the outfield working a little bit longer counts, uh, just kind of being able to manufacture some runs. And, the three Oh lead was, was. Pretty big in a game that ends 4 1.
It's one of those things that you got to realize it's not major league baseball. Um, I mean these guys are very very very good, but they're not major leaguers the reason the major leaguers have gone to Trying to hit the ball in the air trying to hit the ball out of the ballpark is because You hit the ball on the ground the big leagues those guys throw you out It really doesn't matter where you hit it on the ground the second base third base shortstop.
They're all going to get you Um, you know, college ball again, this is high level D one. These guys are really, really good, but they're still, they're not pros. They're not big leaguers. If you put the ball in play, you can find holes and sometimes it's them making some errors. Sometimes it's, you know, you just hit the ball a little bit to where they can't get it and you get on. So if you put the ball in play, good things will happen.
Absolutely, and shout out to our whole pitching staff that day. Dylan Brown got the start, went four and a third, no runs, one hit, two walks, seven strikeouts. So, uh, he was electric. Pitch count got a little bit up there. I think that's what ended up kind of knocking him out of the game, but congratulations to Lincoln Ransom picking up his first collegiate win on the mound. inning in two thirds, no runs, one hit, uh, just really, really great job on the mound.
And then Jacob Gomez getting another three out save. I had five strikeouts during that. You put someone out there on the mound and they just produce outs for you. That must be a really nice feeling if you're on that coaching staff.
That's the nice thing about Jacob, uh, that when you put him in there in the seventh inning, you know, you can tell him that, Hey, you got this. I mean, there was, nobody was warming up in the bullpen at any point in that, in that Jacobs, even when he got a few guys on, gave up a run there in the ninth. He was, it was him there, there was a full of complete confidence that Jacob was gonna finish off that game,
Yeah, absolutely. Jake Tyser was, uh, DH ing bat and cleanup in that game. He did have a double, he had a hit, uh, against East Carolina on Tuesday, or I'm sorry, uh, on Friday against Charlotte. He had a single. And then we see Kenny LaVarie break out a little bit on Sunday in that, that series clenching win.
So glad to see some of those guys that have been struggling a little bit to start the season, being able to contribute, uh, against some really good pitching from Charlotte and Get the rhythm going a little bit for the first time this season.
I really like what Finney did, especially on Saturday and Sunday. Um, he'd been kind of tinkering around the lineup a little bit, you know, Tuesday and Friday. You know, Tyser, I think didn't play a couple of games and, and Kenny was kind of moving around the lineup. And I think you can kind of tell in the way he constructed it Saturday and Sunday, it was like, look, these are my guys, you know, Jake Tyser is my DH. Kenny LaVarie is my third baseman. These are my guys. I know they can play.
I know they're really good. And it seemed like he just said, you know, yeah, maybe I could put somebody else in and maybe they get hot or whatever, but he, it was very clear, at least to me that he's, he, there was that idea that. These guys if I stick with them and let them work it out We're going to have the dividends and so and you saw it you saw you saw jake and kenny Both have some hits this weekend both have some productivity and hopefully That's going to be moving positive.
So I really like that. He just Said hey, let me just trust my dudes
And I think, you and I both and, and probably the players on the team too would love to see a little more production, out of the five through nine spots in the lineup. Looking back to the East Carolina game on Tuesday, uh, seven of our eight hits were from the top four in the lineup. So Edwards, Meyer, Waters, and Boucher, um, that was seven of the eight hits and they drove in all six runs. Uh, so we're really not even.
close to firing on all cylinders from an offensive standpoint, but we're still winning games having a three in one week. I mean, that's pretty, uh, pretty good spot to be in and really goes back to that pitching aspect of being so dominant.
I mean we're really looking for somebody to take a hold of left field and second base Uh, those are a couple spots, you know He's he's let I think three or four guys play left field had a few guys play second base and we're dying for somebody To just decide hey, this is my spot and i'm gonna have it for a while until you take it away from me um, so the opportunity is still there I mean any of these guys with a with a good game or two could really All of a sudden become the guy and that's what
you're really hoping to see because they're they're very talented ballplayers You know, I mean if he was gavin abrams as a he's an outstanding hitter and so far He's been scuffling at the plate, you know And it's just a matter of he's just got to get going because he's extremely good same thing with maverick stallings Um, i've got to see both these guys a fair amount in the fall and they're really really really good hitters I mean again, you know, they're facing our pitchers.
Well, we've seen how good our pitchers are So if these guys were getting hits off of our pitchers That tells you something about good. They are hitting. Yeah.
early in the season. I feel like we've talked a lot of baseball. We've seen a lot of games, but. Luke Waters has the most at bats of anyone on the team right now with 43. So we don't even have a player with 50 at bats yet. So still a long way to go. Still several weeks to figure things out. Um, but to be able to win games when you haven't quite figured out on offense is a luxury, in my opinion.
They're wins that you're going to really enjoy having, getting down that selection show, uh, hopefully at the end of the year when we're figuring out where we're going to go play in a regional.
That's the goal. And like I said, figuring out how to win these guys have shown a lot of heart and figuring out how to come from behind. There's a lot of positives. I mean, you know, you never really want to see struggles. You'd rather just go out and blow teams out of the water and win 20 to nothing every game, but learning how to win and learning how to win together. There's a lot of pluses there and they really will battle test you I think
And with this schedule that we have in the non conference, I mean, it's intentionally difficult to make the Sun Belt seem a little bit easier. But I'll tell you, if you looked around some scores of the Sun Belt over the weekend, it is going to be insane when we get into conference play. I mean, Texas State had an absolute slugfest with Texas down at Menomee Park. And it was just, like, Texas State got up 6 0, Texas came back just hitting tanks, tanks, tanks.
And then Texas State Ends up hitting a two run shot in the ninth inning and shutting them down, uh, in the bottom half to win that game. Like there are teams like that all throughout the Sunbelt that are really, really good. And it is going to be a fun battle to watch when we come, uh, conference time.
My mom will be stressed. My mom gets extremely stressed that when uh, they're not just winning 10 to nothing.
Yeah, I, I don't, I don't think you're going to have many of those games. I think they're all going to be just sweat fest, uh,
Yeah
getting through them. Give your heart a couple more tests there before we hit summertime. And, football comes back here in the fall. It's going to be, uh, it's, you're going to go see your cardiologist at the, uh, the end of the spring, I think.
Yeah, well, I'll tell you, well, Saturday, uh, was an exciting one that didn't really test the heart too much because the, the pitching just dominated. They picked up the three nothing shutout. Um, and I mean, our guys, you know, started out with Trent, uh, and Trent, you know, actually, while I take that back, Trent did, uh, give us some, some heart attacks there. He had to kind of battle and fight.
Um, but again, four scoreless innings, you know, he threw four scoreless because and, and worked through every one of them. I love that he stayed out there and, and fought through it.
His pitch count got up, but he kind of looked a little more dialed in there in the third and the fourth inning. Finally got a good, clean inning out of it. But he's progressed. If you look at, you know, the, the Rutgers game last Sunday, uh, they were able to, to get in some runs on him. Uh, and he was able to bounce back in that game and now he looks even better. So I think he's just slowly getting ramped up in the right way.
Uh, then Hudson Trobar ends up picking up the win inning in two thirds, no runs allowed one hit three strikeouts. Again, just kind of adding to the, the weekend that pitching staff had.
Yeah, and it's great to see a kid, uh, you know, freshman coming out and getting his opportunities and really making the most of them. Um, I got a chance to, to see, I went and saw Hudson pitch in the, um, Maryland State Championship game, uh, last spring. And he, he pitched great. They ended up winning on a walk off. Um, and so, very talented kid and stuff. It's exciting to see him get to come in and make a mark already.
Yeah, and kelvin davis came in a mid inning got an out, uh to kind of get us out of I guess you could call it A jam, we'll go with calling it a jam for now
That at bat was ridiculous. He, he got behind 3 0 on the guy. And on 3 0, their hitter took a terrible swing and just dribbled the ball back to Kellen that he threw the first baseman. It's like, that, what a terrible piece of hitting that that, I don't even know who he faced. I don't want to, I guess I'm calling him out, but that's just awful, awful, awful, awful batting. I'm glad that Kellen got him out, but just terrible approach.
You kind of started seeing the wheels come off a little bit there for charlotte later in that game I know that they had uh, the first baseman got ejected I think for for chirping that umpire after a called strike three uh, you could feel that that tension building because they were They were amped up and pretty loud on Friday to come away with the win, but they didn't have a whole lot to cheer about the rest of the weekend. And I can't say I'm sad to see that occur.
Yeah, I I mentioned it, uh on the last podcast charlotte is the most litigious And complaining team you're ever going to play. I mean, I know I know for a fact that our coaches prepared our players for it um, because it's a tactic they use they really believe I guess that if you just Are constantly complaining you'll get the umpires to go your way.
I think a couple times they did get that Um, but I mean, it's just it's they're constantly Talking constantly complaining the number of reviews or through their eyes It's amazing.
The games didn't take forever because they're constantly stopping and talking about something I mean, it's just it's It's got to be a tiring to watch if you're a fan of them all season But that's you know, it permeates to the players because the players were talking the whole time and yeah They're their first baseman found it I think they finally the umpires are pretty fed up with it by the end of the weekend Not the umpires did an amazing job. The guy friday was terrible.
That's one of the worst umpiring i've ever
Yeah, I want to talk about Friday a little bit because one there were more reviews. I think that I've ever seen in a baseball game there was at one point where it was like a review a pitch and then another review. I figured at some point they were just trying to finish up the episode of Netflix.
They were actually watching there in the camera room because they obviously were not looking to see where the runner was on that ground rule double, you know, being four foot short of second base and somehow ruling that He had achieved second and scored when the ball went out of play. Uh, no idea how that came, so I just figured they were catching up on, you know, Bridgerton or something like that, uh, in, in the media room.
Yeah, the guy the guy who umpired friday night. He the home plate umpire. He has no business being d1. He that was embarrassing for him, frankly
Yeah, it was not ideal, but despite that we get the series against charlotte. I was happy to see it got to celebrate it up a little bit on sunday I'm sure the guys in the dugout liked uh chirping a little bit there through those later endings Uh to make sure that charlotte remembered that but I think that was the hundredth meeting between the two schools this weekend Was that right?
I do not know that off the top of my head. That's that I'll, I'll say yes, just cause he
Yeah, I think Andy Michaud was saying that on the ESPN plus broadcast, uh, but I mean, that's a that's pretty awesome to play one team that many times and I'm sure that we will be back down there next season to, to go after him again, because it's, it was a pitching dominated series, but it was a pretty fun one, especially if you are an ODU fan.
Yeah. I don't know if it's our third or fourth weekend next year, but we, I know we were going down to Charlotte next year, uh, early season.
Love to keep that rivalry going with them. Well, Monarch fans stay with us. Uh, we had a few minutes to chat with Jay Cassaday, to talk about this, this past week of baseball, and all things baseball related within the team.
He also has some good insight as to what exactly goes on in the bullpen before that bullpen gets tapped, uh, to come into games, then we'll follow up with that by look ahead at a five game week for ODU with William and Mary in Northeastern, stay tuned and we'll be right back. Welcome back Monarch fans to the Hudson Homer's podcast. We are joined here by Jay Cassaday. Jay, who had an incredible performance on Friday, just a tremendous night on the mound.
Three innings pitched, giving up one hit, no runs, nine strike outs, got all nine of his outs by strikeout. Jay, thanks so much for hopping on with us today.
Yeah, absolutely. Thank you guys for having me. I'm really excited to be on here. I
So I gotta ask you, at any point in your career, have you gotten all nine outs in a three eating span by strikeout?
I can't recall any, any start or relief appearance where I punched all nine guys. Um, in my past, a lot of it was starts. So I never really had the opportunity to strike out everyone I faced. Obviously, um, most starters, if they can go nine innings, you go nine innings and typically you don't strike out all 27 or however many innings you play. However many strikeouts. You know, you can have in a game. So, um, I just went out and try to get guys out, try to get the win for the team.
It looked like your stuff was just really, really working and they had just no chance at the dish against you. Did you, anything specific you were doing on Friday or was it just a good night where everything was working?
well, we were coming off like kind of a mediocre outing, um, against Rutgers, who's a good team, um, a lot of good hitters on that, on that team. So me and coach Marin kind of talked and discussed some adjustments to the, uh, mindset against right handed hitting. We decided when I was throwing my best, we were really attacking, um, middle in, using my fastball kind of middle in and up against right handed hitting and everything else kind of plays off that.
The fastball is effective at the top of the zone, and we can use that to kind of go in with a cutter and the slider. Um, and a commitment to that mentality really helps in this last outing. I think hitters were, were very uncomfortable, especially, you know, I got a lot of looking strikeouts with the curveball, um, and it just plays really well off the fastball at the top of the zone, I think. So that was a big adjustment I made.
And hopefully a commitment to that plan going forward is going to yield similar results.
I really like hearing that because there's so many guys that I think are afraid to pitch up at all. Um, when it's such an effective place to pitch to, I mean, just if only because guys don't see it often.
Yeah, absolutely. It's a, it's definitely a mindset shift in baseball. In the past guys really wouldn't like to attack the lower half and try to get the ball and play on the ground, but swings are built differently now. And the stuff, especially in college and the major leagues, um, is so much more explosive than it was. People's fastballs, the velocity, the average velocities, um, such a significant increase off speed stuff is harder. It's sharper.
So I think you can really blow up bats at the top of the zone. If you execute correctly.
seemed like the entire pitching staff this weekend was, was just on fire, uh, striking guys out, I mean, 49 total strikeouts over the four games, really, if you go back to East Carolina, uh, and then lefties in particular, uh, they faced 56 batters, got 30 strikeouts, that's just ridiculous in the short span, and it's not like you're playing cupcake opponents either, I mean, these are the teams that were picked to finish one and two in the American this year
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, as a staff, each guy knows what their job is. Basically. Um, they know what their strengths and weaknesses are. And I think our coaching staff does a really, really great job. Explaining that to guys and then giving them the ability to implement that in play. So a lot of the strikeouts, a lot of the success that we see is just that commitment to being in our zones and doing the things that we do well.
So it's, it's really the results are amazing and great and hopefully they continue, but it's more of a process thing. And I think our guys are doing a really great job with that.
You transferred into Old Dominion from Christopher Newport, had a really great career there. What's been the the biggest difference in your opinion from going from a really a Division III powerhouse, uh, now coming up to Old Dominion? What are the biggest differences that you've experienced, uh, in the, I guess, nine months or so you've, you've been, here with Old Dominion?
Yeah, that's a great question. I think. Coming in and meeting all the guys, you could tell that there's an aura of, of talent and experience. Among the guys, they know good baseball. They've been around good baseball and we had that at Christopher Newport as well. But, I mean, the guys are typically a little bit bigger, a little bit stronger, a little bit faster. They hit the ball a little bit harder when it's put in play. So I think those are the immediate things you see.
Um, obviously, the talent level in competition is better. I mean, we've been playing some of the best, what feels like the best opponents in the country. I mean, we've played UVA, we played East Carolina, Rutgers was really good. Even Charlotte this last weekend, they were, they were a good team as well. So you come up and you're facing the best of the best. It's, it's definitely different. Um, but at the end of the day, you are still going to tow that rubber.
You're on the mound and you need to execute regardless. So. There hasn't really been too, too much of a difference like a game is a game, if that makes sense. So whether it's for Christopher Newport, whether it's the old dominion, you are the guy on the rubber and your team is dependent on you. So, um, I think the coaching staff has. Helped me become a better pitcher than I was at Christopher Newport. So that's obviously a large confidence boost for me.
Um, so I know that the competition is significantly better probably than the division three, Christopher Newport school was, but, um, I would say the competition. The guys I'm around are, are very different. And, um, it's just awesome to, to be a part of a division one school. Um, the treatment's a little better as well. So those are the biggest things I would say.
And you aren't alone in that transition from division three. You've got Hunter Cole, who is a stud at Randolph Macon and Brandon Pond, who won a national title down at Lynchburg. The three of you kind of bonded together based on those similar backgrounds.
Yeah. So I've been playing Hunter. I've been playing Hunter and Brandon for the last three years at Christopher Newport. And I, I always thought that they were great competitors. It was, those were the guys that. You kind of looked at and you were like, those are the guys on their team. So Hunter Cole with Randolph Macon, that was like one of their guys, you know, and so was Pond. And I just remember watching Pond be very dominant in division three baseball.
Um, I was always really impressed with the way he handled himself. And we had a, we had a nice conversation. I believe it was. My sophomore year at Christopher Newport, he was dealing with the shoulder injury at the time, but I just remember, um, thinking about how, how great of a competitor he was and he seemed to be and Hunter Cole. I remember playing first base, a game, maybe it was my sophomore year and I was playing first base.
And he might've hit the farthest ball I've ever seen at captain's park. It, it was launched over the scoreboard and right field. I turned around and I was, I was shocked. He had an amazing game for them and they ended up beating us. So I just remember those two being great competitors and that's something we bonded over for sure.
That's awesome to hear. Funny how things end up working out. You're on first base with him when you're on first when he hits just a tank over the scoreboard over there at Captain's Park. That is pretty cool. We talked to, uh, Jake Gomez, uh, we talked to Stephen Meyer on the podcast before, but just curious, you know, like a living situation, like who is, who is in your house, who you're relying on and who are you spending a lot of time with, uh, outside of baseball activities.
Yeah. So I live with Gomez, Mueller and tone. It's been, it's fun, been fun living with them. I, I really try to maximize my time with each guy. I think each of my teammates has such a beautiful uniqueness to them. Um, I don't really want to like pick and choose. I just want to, I just want to maximize my time with each one, but I'd say I find myself hanging around like Pond, um, Kewl, Dylan Brown, Trent, Harker. And then the guys who live with, who live with bash a lot.
I would say those are probably my biggest, guys I hang out with the most. So, but honestly, I would be happy to spend time with literally any of my teammates. I think they're all great guys.
It's awesome. CB, do you have any, uh, any questions there? I've got some other fun ones if you don't.
I love the beautiful, beautiful uniqueness of each of your, your team. And that's a wonder. I know, uh, Finney, the, uh, the English major and both of us would, we'd be happy to hear that. That's a wonderful phrasing, Jay.
Yes. Thank you.
I do wonder, are you going to be, uh, you, you bugging Finney, you're bugging page any to get some action there at the plate. If you can get some at bats, I mean, you, if anybody doesn't know, J plays first base, Christopher Newport. I'm looking here 214 at bats got a 315 batting average You got 14 doubles 38 ribbies. Like this is these are solid numbers.
Thank you. Um, I came here to be the best pitcher I can be and. And I wanted to get better so that I would have the possibility of playing professionally, but I will sometimes I'll throw in a joke to Hage or to Finney or whoever's really around, like, if you need a left handed pinch hit home run, like, I'm your guy or something along those lines. Um, they usually laugh, think I'm joking. There's like, it's like 95 percent joking 5%, like, maybe it could happen.
Um. But I'll tell you what, these division one arms are no joke. I would definitely need some time to get acclimated. You know,
I was gonna say you might not know this. Um a few years back morgan mcguire uh was a pitcher for us and he Ended up kind of being our ace by his senior year and it was dominant and by the end of the year I don't I don't know exactly What the the deal they worked out was but by the end of the year they gave him an at bat Um, and he took his hacks I mean he went down we went down swinging but i'm just saying there's there's precedent you can work out a deal with him That's all i'm saying
that's awesome.
It's too bad you were already out of the game on Friday because we were going through left handed pinch hitters pretty quickly there in the bottom of the night. That could have been your chance if we got a couple more guys on.
Yeah, that, that guy would not have been fun to see though. I'll tell you what, coming out and first, they'd be seeing 95, 96 with two off speed pitches. That would not have been a fun reintroduction to the hitting side of baseball.
Yeah we asked this question to Jacob. We're going to ask it to anyone who comes out of the pen, who comes on the podcast. Every bullpen has some weird thing that's going on, something to occupy the time. Uh, so we're gonna ask you, what's, what's the weird thing that happens out there in the Old Dominion bullpen to, uh, to occupy the time before you come into the game?
Well, we've been playing. A lot of password recently. So it's like a game where you've got a partner and you try to guess the word that, um, basically your partner comes up with, you're, you're given like synonyms and you try to guess what the original word is. Um, we do that a lot. We play a lot of like hacky sack and soccer touch. You probably heard that from Jacob. Um, we will toss the football around, do handstands, um, just try to keep things fresh and new.
Um, and then I would say most of the bullpen guys who are hot, they'll go down and, and run down and like the fourth or fifth inning to start getting, start getting going. But other than that, most of the guys are kind of locked into the game in the dugout. Um, probably the best way to be. For that. Um, what else do we do? I think, I think that might be it. We do, we've got a fun little dance as well. So we love the two ball. So someone gets on, someone gets on first, less than two outs.
We, we induce the bounder. So we dance. So we like all the guys in the bullpen have been doing that. And that's super silly. Um, but it's so that we can roll a double play and it's happened a couple of times and it's. Super, super fun and hilarious when it happens after the dance.
Yeah, imagine the celebration when that works is, uh, pretty epic down there.
It's awesome. It's awesome.
All right, cool. Well, uh, one last question for you. Uh, we know that the EA Sports college football game is coming back this summer after like a 10 year absence. I know CB and I, or at least I do, I missed the college baseball version of that that used to come out as well. I still have an old copy. I think it was like 07 or 08. I was I think it was in, in college at ODU at the time. Uh, so if they were to fire that college baseball game back up, what rating are you giving yourself?
And then how much would you dominate your teammates playing that? Maybe.
Oh, wow. That's a great question. So who would be a 99 in college baseball right now? Like Caglione.
Yeah, oh, yeah, that's a great choice Because he'd be 99 on both sides.
That's tough. Wow. That's a great question.
You can get your head fast that way.
I'd have better hitting stats than the rest of the pitchers, but I mean, it wouldn't be, it wouldn't be that impressive. I don't think, I think from a pitching side, maybe a humble, like 83 and a half. Um, I think I'll, I'll lose a couple of ticks for, for velocity. If I was sitting 95, I think my rating would go up a little bit, but I think I'll craft. Yeah, I'll craft you for sure. Um, Worthy of some rating points. They're definitely can feel the ball.
So, you know, the PFPs are going to be highly rated. Um, but yeah, I'd say probably like 83.
so the, the sneaky 83 that you put in there and then come out of nowhere and, and end up, uh, just dominating the game. I like it.
exactly right. It's like the 83 that you, you pick because you like to pitch with them. It's not like, you know, Garrett Cole might be a 99 and MLB the show, but like, maybe you want to throw with someone else, you know, because it's more fun.
I mean, I was going to say, if you have like an 83, anybody can, you know, anybody can beat you with the 99, but if you've got some skill, you pull out the pitcher with the 83 and you beat him with that. I like that.
Yep.
on, you just kind of mess with them too, right? You're, you're just throwing them breaking stuff that is pinpoint located. And then they're just really mad trying to figure out why they keep swinging, five seconds too early on a breaking ball.
Yeah. It's like, it's, it's good enough to, uh, to sneak by bats early in the count, a one top of the zone, like catches you by surprise a little bit from my, uh, release height and just kind of how I throw it and hide it. And then, you know, like the off speed stuff, we'll just put you away. That's the idea. Hopefully.
I like it. Hopefully that game will come back at some point so we can build the, uh, the ODU team on there and have some fun. I'm sure Finney would, uh, not be pleased. Cause you guys would just be playing that all the time. Kind of like coach Ronnie for football is worried about that over the summer.
Absolutely. It would definitely be, we'd be playing that All the time. All the time.
All right. Awesome, Jay. Well, we really appreciate you spending a few minutes chatting with us talking about the weekend and talking about ball. Uh, we hope to have you on at some point again here in the future. Uh, but thanks so much for joining.
Absolutely. Thank you guys so much for having me. It was a blast.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Welcome back to the Hudson homers podcast monarch fans. Hope you enjoyed that conversation with jay. We sure did Awesome. Awesome guy cb's been raving about him, uh for a while, but really cool to chat with him
Yeah, I'm a huge fan. Got to see him pitch for the peninsula pilots in the summer. Um, had me texting, Marin, our pitching coach every week, every time I saw him, uh, trying to get him to go break the rules and get him to come from Christopher Newport, uh, to the point where it's like, I can't do this. Stop. Um, but he's great kid. And, and, and so it's very exciting to see all the success he's having.
Watching him in person pitch on friday, you know getting those nine strikeouts over three innings I was just sitting there wondering how in the world Did he ever end up in division three? I think we have, we found out some, he played some in the field, he was out there and really developed, but he's got that goal of, of trying to make it professionally as a pitcher. And if he can do what he did on Friday and keep replicating that, that is not a goal that is out of reach for him by any means.
Yeah, I mean you keep showing up and pitching big, you know, the scouts find you that's for sure I asked him a couple years ago when he was with the pilots I thought they were a couple of teams were going to draft him then
and there were definitely quite a few scouts around this past week, I know, especially, uh, some on, on Friday. I'm sure they were looking at a couple different guys, but, um, yeah. I mean, to have that performance with some, some eyes on you does not hurt things,
sure doesn't
All right, well, we're going to look ahead to a five game week for the Monarchs. A little bit more hectic schedule. We're going to have a two game set with William and Mary. The first one on Tuesday at three, uh, down here at the Bud. And then on Wednesday, they're going to travel up to, Williamsburg for a three o'clock game, uh, to return the trip there with the tribe. And then we have Friday, Saturday, Sunday with Northeastern coming to town.
Looking at William Mary, they're eight and three overall. At one point this season, they have won actually eight in a row. Uh, I think they, they stepped up in their competition a little bit and lost some games.
Coming off the Central Virginia Classic where they went one and two, Beat, central Connecticut state and then lost some really close games to Boston college, who was a really, really strong program and lost a one run game to sacred heart, uh, earlier in the year, swept UMass Lowell, uh, and they did beat university of Richmond 10 to one.
That's the only road game they've had this season, but they obviously played pretty well there on the road and just looking through their lineup, looking through their stats and some video and things, they've got some dudes that can hit the ball. And I know. CB, you wanted to talk about Jerry Barnes III a little bit since he's a local kid.
yeah, jerry, He's from uh right here in virginia beach went to first colonial Uh great kid big thick body strong catcher guy would just hammer the ball in high school Um, I think he's a sophomore now he's hitting what 345 Uh, 992 OPS. I mean, really just doing great. Um, so it's good to see for him. I'm glad he got, he worked his way and got himself in the lineup. Um, very exciting. You know, he again, just a great ball player. So it's, it's always fun.
You see the local kids and see him doing well.
Yeah, absolutely. Joe De Los Santos, uh, he is the big bat to watch in their lineup. He's in his fifth year with William Mary. He's, you know, casually hitting 435 this season. Uh, 1. 297 OPS. He's got four bombs, 15 ribbies, and he's also 5 for 5 stealing bases. Uh, so he is definitely someone that, will be a big focal point for the pitching staff to get him out, limit the damage that he is able to do.
They also have a division three transfer, just like we have a couple of those and talking with Jay about some of them, uh, Ben Parker came in from Whitman college, had just about every accolade and award you possibly can from a conference standpoint, uh, all American when he was there at Whitman, he's got a 1. 038 OPS, he's hit three home runs, got 13 RBIs, uh, so those are three guys there with Joe De Los Santos, Jerry Barnes III, and Ben Parker. You need to watch in the lineup.
Pitchers, they've got a couple guys that can throw the ball pretty well, but Mark Hendy is the reliever you want to watch out for that. We're likely to see at some point over these two games, 0. innings pitched 16 to three strikeout to walk ratio. They've they've got a tough team that's going to be tough these next two days.
And William Mary, even when they don't have a tough team, they play, uh, ODU extremely tough every year. Um, so I'm, I'm sure they'll be up for these two games or rated. I mean, there was one year where they were just terrible and they came in into the bud and beat us pretty good. Um, it was honestly kind of embarrassing. I think that really might've actually kept us out of the tournament.
Um that year so it's it's gonna be you know, hey, you gotta go in I think i'm sure on paper and probably in reality odu is a better team. You just got to go out and prove it
Yeah, and we've seen plenty of upsets across college baseball. I think East Carolina lost to Southeastern, Louisiana on Sunday Which is a game that they definitely should not lose with the team that they have So we've got to bring it for these two midweeks Get one at home and one on the road get get some more road experience there I think will be good pay some dividends for us later on
Yeah there I saw on on uh on twitter their fans were uh going a little uh, you know Having a normal one over it. They were you know, very normal reactions to losing a baseball game
Yeah, it's always in them and I was at South Carolina They got beat by Clemson a couple times this weekend and their fans had just an amazing reaction to losing to their rival. I think again, um, look it on to the weekend series. We've got Northeastern. Uh, they're kind of an interesting one to try to figure out.
They were Ranked in the preseason in several polls anywhere from I think I saw him as high as 19 and one Uh down to 25th and another they have since fallen out of the rankings at least for most of them There's like a billion college baseball ranking systems out there Uh, but they're you know, five and three, uh to start the season.
They've got a midweek on tuesday, against georgia tech They're kind of doing this like big, uh southern tour here While the the weather is somehow worse up in up in the boston area where they uh, they had two out of three to Mercer. They've got the midweek with Georgia Tech,, but they did beat Minnesota. They had a two game set with Minnesota down in Florida.
They beat them both times and they had pretty cool, uh, thing that, that I think we used to do with the tides where they got actually an exhibition game against the Red Sox earlier this season. So they've definitely seen some decent pitching, and played some, some good teams, but they are definitely coming to the end of a very long road trip coming into Norfolk.
Well, they got they had their they played the red socks at the little fenway down there in uh, fort myers florida, um, but yeah I know and I will say I looked through I looked at the box score of that and I did not recognize a single name Of the red socks, uh players except for I think nick york was their first round pick a few years ago so I I hope that the the real big league guys were at least there that they could got to meet them some but still It's pretty amazing to get to play.
I mean that ballpark itself the spring training park of the red socks is amazing Um and getting to play on the field against guys who at least are pro players and it's been two to seven there wasn't like they Didn't hold their own.
I'm sure that the uh, you know guys on the the 26 or 27 man roster Whatever it is now, we're not throwing but you still probably saw some some decent minor league arms that are coming in there So but just cool cool experience for them especially kind of liven up this long road trip they have to start the season, but They've got two pretty big boppers in their lineup. Alex Lane, big guy. I think he's like six foot five, plays first base outfield. DH is for him.
He's got a 1. 353 OPS, three bombs, 10 ribs. Uh, he can absolutely crush a baseball and then, uh. Tyler McGregor, 1. 123 OPS, so two pretty big boppers in our lineup. They've got some other guys too, not, not trying to sell them short, but those are two that stuck out to me just with just how strong they are. And that OPS is pretty crazy, especially early in the season.
They're banging averages high I mean this especially for you know, having kind of what a five and three records You're not exactly killing, you know the wins and all but yeah, they're They're clearly hit can hit so this is going to be uh, that'll be a good contest for their hitting versus our pitching
And a couple of, pitchers I want to talk about too. Wyatt Scottie, who's going to be their Friday starter. If you look at his numbers, they don't look that impressive. And really that goes back to a tough outing that he had to open the season against Arizona. Uh, but he's been pretty good since. Threw five scoreless against Minnesota. Only gave up two, earned runs. And five and a third against Mercer. Uh, so I would expect him to be pretty sharpened up.
Uh, when he comes in to pitch on Friday, and obviously we've had some struggles on Friday through our first two, series openers, recently, against some good pitching. So hopefully you're able to get on and tag him earlier. Uh, and then coming out of the bullpen, they've got a big lefty. His name's Will Jones. He's got a 1. 38 ERA over 13, uh, innings pitched and a 13 to one strikeout to walk ratio. One thing I noticed from their top line guys is they do not issue very many walks.
That's the way to win if you keep guys You know, that's one thing i've been loving the og dugout every time they get a walk. It's like we love the free ones I mean, that's the reality of you. If you can limit your own mistakes, it makes it hitting a lot harder.
As you saw on Saturday, we, or it's all over the weekend, really, we were able to put the ball in play, take advantage of some of those mistakes and scratch out runs to, to get those wins. So I would imagine to expect to see much of the same, just maybe with fewer number of free passes.
If our good pitching can beat their good hitting and we can keep our, you know, guys, like I said, we have a few guys, it seems like they're kind of finally getting things moving in the right direction and get some more timely hits, you know, no reason we can't come out of here with another series when
Three in one weeks are great, but you know, it's better than a three in one week. A five and a week. Uh, so I would love to see everybody break out. That'd be amazing.
I mean, yeah, I, again, I'm all for, like I said, the way my mom likes it. I'd love to see a 20 to nothing in every game and just blow them out of the water. And we all come in the next Monday feeling amazing about things.
That would be great. That's, some pretty high expectations, but we've got, got two ball clubs. They're going to give us everything they've got. So it's, uh, we're going to have to go out there and earn it just like you were talking about. Play good baseball. Do your job.
Uh, but I'm, I'm really hoping to see some of those, those bats continue to break out and get some production from the bottom part of the lineup, because if they do, and we get a repeat of the pitching we had this past week, whoo, look out. We may be, uh, we may be racking up those, uh, dingers and stolen bases a little bit more quickly this week.
It's interesting to say that you got a team hitting what, where you're 215 as a team. Um, And, you know, but you're looking at it, this could be a special team. This pitching is very special and the lineup, the pieces are there. They just need to see some more production. So far guys, can you just keep having the right approach? Um, keep really, you know, attacking things the right way. Um, I was talking to one of the coaches this weekend, um, and he was.
Saying, you know, I just wish the guys would trust the data more, you know, as far as the hitters, like I wish, they would realize, they spend this time, they compile these things. They say, you know, we know these pitchers are going to do these things in these situations and, you know, trust that more, you know, fine. Again, just have that really good approach and you come up.
So. It's yeah, it's weird to look at this team and the way they're going right now Especially offensively and say I think they could be special but this we've got the makings of a special team, I think
I forgot to mention this earlier. We're talking about the East Carolina game, but you're talking about special team, having some things together. Evan Holman's play at the plate against East Carolina, really in Luke Waters throw coming in from right field, but for him to hold his ground, deal with the dude trying to jump over his head and basically look like he just ran smack into a wall. Uh, that was one of those, I think, special moments that you'll look at along with.
The walk off home run, but that was a huge play in that game. And our dugout was pumped as soon as we knew that evan was okay
Yeah, i'm glad you remembered to bring that up because evan deserves all the credit in the world He is, uh, he's a brick wall back there. He's a tough guy. You can tell the pitchers like throw into him I think when some things get going he's gonna be a very solid hitter On top of all that but just defensively and it's what he does Uh wearing the mask is something special and that that played it Right. That was amazing some of that again. I wasn't there for that.
But some of the pictures that people got Of that were amazing Yeah,
that does the cameras that hang there over the dugout actually released like a compilation video of it The next day we put it out on the od monarchist twitter and it got spread around quite a bit Uh, but just an amazing play In an amazing game that we won in just a cool fashion with the walk off You want to probably go ahead and clip that and save that for your highlight reel at the end of the season because that was A big reason why we won that game, but it was a big reason why those guys were
so fired up the rest of the way
I mean you you got to have big guys make big plays and big moments It sounds cliche, but it's that for a reason.
All right. Well that will do it for us for this episode of hudson homers We appreciate you listening in remember to Tell your friends, tell everyone, like and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform. I'm Gary. Thanks so much for listening. Go Monarchs.
i'm cb. We appreciate you go monarchs