I'm Hunter Fitz. She, and you're listening to the Marus.
podcast
I'm Aaron
Uh,
and you're listening to the Monarch podcast. Our monarchs have won 24 games and are battling for a conference title, and Jake Tyson is a big part of that success. Joining us on the show is the 6 7 245 pound junior outta Prescott Valley, Arizona. Jake, welcome to the best and only o U podcast.
Thanks for having me guys. I'm.
we're stoked to have you. Thanks again for joining us. this is your first year at odu. How is Norfolk treating you So.
Norfolk, uh, was definitely a big change for me coming from the junior college in the middle of nowhere, Kansas. But, uh, you know, it took a little bit of adjusting at first, you know, again, used to the East Coast, five and all that. But, you know, I've started to blend in with the guys a little bit more and, uh, Everybody's had open arms, and I've really gotten used to it here, and I can say that I, I really like it here now.
All right, Jake, so a few weeks ago, Mike and I had the opportunity to meet your dad and your brother Wade in rally alley. just like we were chatting a little bit before, they were talking and, Wade said that he was there watching you and my brother and you guys aren't exactly the same height. So at first I just kind of listened to it a little bit, but I wasn't sure if they were just messing with us, cuz we talked to a lot of folks in, in rally alley.
But uh, turns out they really were your dad and your brother and they, they're awesome, awesome folks and it was really cool to see how excited they. To watch you play and kind of celebrate your success. talk to us a little bit about the, your, your family and kind of growing up playing baseball, because I know your brother played as well.
Yeah, well, you know, my dad, my dad's my hero. He's, uh, been my coach ever since I could pick up a baseball and a bat, and, uh, he's taught me everything I know. I give him. All the credit in the world to where I am right now. And, uh, I'm so thankful for what he's done and the sacrifices he's, he's made to help me become as successful as I can be. And I'll never, never stop thanking that man for what he does.
And, uh, my brother, he's, I'm so thankful to have such, such a loving family and be so close with my family and, uh, I would consider my. One of, if not my best friend, and, uh, you know, he's, he's always been there for me. He's been through it. He, uh, he went to the Navy. He went through, uh, navy sealed training like four different times. And I mean, he went through it, man.
And, uh, you know, during that time I was in junior college, I was playing baseball and it didn't matter if my brother had a, he was up for the past 24 hours. And he was running 20 miles on the beach and swimming five miles in the ocean. Didn't matter how tired or how beat down it he was, he always made time to call me and check in on me and make sure things were going good. And he would always put my problems before his.
And he just, he's such a selfless man and I pride him on that so much and I'm just so thankful for him to be a part of my life. They're great. I.
I did 11 years in the Navy and I, I had four friends from Officer Cannon School that went to Buds. so I've got some more stuff to talk with Wade. The next time I see him, uh, those dudes are cut from another cloth and, uh, have extreme mental toughness in being able to perseve.
I'm sure that he's been able to share some stuff with you to kind of, you know, as, as it's different, but as a ballplayer, you're gonna go through, you know, times where you're mentally struggling at the plate or being away from home or whatever it is, is he talked with you about some of that stuff.
Yeah. I mean, he is, he was also a baseball player growing up, so he knows all about it. But, uh, I mean also through the Navy and all. Life lessons he's been through. He's always known how to be positive and how to, you know, grit your teeth and just work through it. And that's, that's something that has always resonated with me is, uh, how tough can I be when, when it hits the fan, you know?
That's great. send Wade our thanks for his service. obviously as you mentioned, you came here from Kansas Colby Community College where you produced at an insane rate, 21 bombs and 47 games, 58 runs. Bat it in. Can you talk to us about your JUCO experience a little bit and how ODU kind of got into the picture and what made ODU the school unit ultimately decide to join?
where I come from, baseball wasn't a huge thing, so the exposure wasn't the best out there. So my options for college were a little limited, it was kind of a shot in the dark going to Colby Community College. but thankfully enough, I knew a few, few of my buddies prior that were attending Colby Community College and, uh, and you. I was like, all right, let's do this. And I went there and I had my doubts, and it was a town of probably 3000 people in the middle of nowhere.
I mean, you go to the highest point in the city, do a 360 view. All you see is just corn fields and, farms. I mean, that's just how it was. Like we, uh, I mean, we didn't, we didn't have much money, so, uh, what, how we would raise our money for the baseball team was in the fall and some in the spring as. Our team would go to these, uh, to these silage pits on farms and we would cover silage pits with tarps and then throw tires on top of them.
And they were big projects, like hours on hours during the day, just working hard, like crazy, right after practice or before practice. Like we were just working and that's how we made our money. And uh, you know, it was hard. It was a grind, but I'm so thankful. Be able to have that experience and really know what it's like to work, work and earn it, you know? Colby Community College wasn't very big, but we were able to do some pretty big things with the team that we, we had coming in.
We had a lot of good players. Uh, one of my buddies last year got drafted from there, Alex Cook. He was a really good pitcher. JUCO was amazing and I'm, I'm so thankful for everything that happened there. And, uh, but the one thing that I can take away from Juco, if anything, is just the work ethic that it taught me. And, uh, the way I got in touch with, Old Dominion, we always heard, uh, like stories about Matt Cooney and what he's been doing at Old Dominion. And he was a legend at Colby too.
Like we were always talking about him and my coach was always trying to mold my swing and my approach and to kind of the ways that he taught Cooney. I actually, I was committed to Charleston Southern University, my fall. My fall semester of my sophomore year at Colby Community College, and I was committed there for a while, and then in the summer, pretty much all the coaches left and a bunch of kids were leaving.
And it's kind of my sign that I needed, I might need to find a different place to play at. And so I was talking with some, some friends I knew about, uh, opportunities I could have. And uh, just, you know, talking behind the scenes, whatnot. And. Uh, I ended up making a decision to decommit from Charleston Southern, and I called up my junior college coach, uh, coach Ryan Carter. We call him Rock, but I called him right after and I'm like, Hey, man, just what's going on?
I need to find another college. And he was like, he's like, Hey, um, what do you think about Old Dominion University? I'm like, well, I mean, I didn't think. That was gonna be the first option he gave me. Like, okay, I mean that sounds pretty cool. And he was like, yeah, old Dominion now called us about you a couple weeks ago and asked if you were still available. And at the time he said, no, cuz I was still committed to Charleston Southern.
And he was like, and he, I was like, yeah, Get me in contact. And he was like, cool. So he set it up, set me up with Logan Robbins, who left this year, but, um, started talking to him and uh, you know, right, right when I got on that first phone call with Logan Robbins and he told me about what ODU was about and, uh, what their offense was like, and how I'm gonna be so protected in that lineup. And they got a bunch of good guys coming in, It was pretty easy decision for me to make that decision.
the way Cooney came into Old Dominion and developed himself and how he did so well and he came from the same junior college I did. I thought it was pretty much just the clear path for me. There was really no other.
Awesome. So you talked a little bit about work. Kind of playing in the middle of nowhere. when we talked with Hunter, he talked to us a little bit about the JUCO scene in Florida and how good the baseball is. we did a little bit of research on our own and found out that, a lot of people probably don't know this, but there's some crazy good baseball out there where you were at. that being said, what has been the easiest transition and the most difficult transition for you being at Old Dominion
I would say the easiest transition was probably the resources I have here. just being able to have specific coaches, specific drills, certain equipment that I can use and. Data that I can use and look back and look at videos and just the technology part of hitting and baseball. Like there's just, there's just endless amounts of resources here compared to junior college. I'm not saying we didn't have resources at junior college, but it was junior college, so it was pretty limited.
I would say the hardest part about junior college, coming to Old Dominion was probably. Not so much the talent of pitching I'm facing, it's more so the consistency of talent because in juco, like there was, there was definitely a lot of guys that were throwing mid to upper nines and just dicing people left and right. But there were also a lot of guys that were throwing 85 and could only throw two pitches. That's kind of how JUCO was. It was either you're gonna get a dog or you're gonna.
Someone who's average, you know? what I've noticed here is just the consistency of pitchers and them being able to locate the ball a little more. Because in junior college, I, I can't even count, but I, I think I had over 20 hit by pitches each year at Colby Community College. I mean, I was getting hit a lot, the control's a little better here, which makes, makes it more competi.
that's like the Tommy Bell syndrome, man.
Yeah, I know.
ball magnet.
Yeah, that, that's what I thought. After the, I think it was the first or second game of this season. I got hit three times in one game. I'm like, is it really gonna be like this again? I thought this was gonna be different. I was like, come on, man.
So it's interesting you say that, the consistency is the. The big change cuz Hunter said the same thing. there's no guy, there's not an bat you're gonna have, you're not facing a dude. You're gonna face some tough dudes every time you come up a plate. so we were talk, you talked briefly about swing mechanics and before we talked, we started the episode, you talking about your height and how you get that reach and your swing path. So do you ever tweak your swing at all? And if.
How do you get to that point to, or that decision point where you think, all right, I need to make some changes here.
A lot of it has to do with how I'm getting pitched and how I'm gonna attack that. I'm gonna defend myself against that. with me especially being as tall and as big as I am, like there's so many levers and moving parts that I have to work with. if I don't get to the same position in my swing every single time, like it's gonna be a disaster. Pretty much the, just the consistency of being able to get centered and be on time is the biggest thing for me.
like I said before, I'm such a big eye of all these moving parts. It's, it's really hard to stay consistent with them all the time. That's why. I'm always in the cage hitting early with Coach Hara. I call him H but uh, I'm always in there with him, working on my swing, trying to find adjustments. Like one of the biggest things for me is making my swing as simple as possible because I already have the size, I already have the power doesn't take me a lot to hit the ball outta the park.
The biggest thing about me is consistency in making contact with the ball, so I. Therefore lift the ball out of the park. a lot of the changes that I've made recently and since the fall is, uh, I've moved my hands from pretty much all the way up over my head to close to my chest, pretty much resting now, and I've opened myself. With my feet and tried to stay as planted as possible with them. So I'm not diving into the plate and I'm staying centered and balanced as much as I can.
with my load, with my hands, I'm trying not to bring them up over my head as much and trying not to get 'em past my shoulder too much. Trying to just stay centered and keep at that launch position and then just go from there. Cause once I get all these loading, moving parts, Hard for me to stay, to be on time and be as consistent as possible with every pitch.
That's awesome. Thanks for sharing with everybody that I think a lot of folks don't realize exactly how many moving parts and how many things, uh, go along with hitting a baseball.
yeah, it's, it's always a changing process. It always is.
All right, so this is one that's always a fan favorite. I want to know what your walkup music is and how you picked it.
so my walk-up song is Self-Care by Mac Miller. so the past two years at junior college, I had some pretty, uh, aggressive kind of dark walk-up songs and they're. I mean, if you guys could hear him now, you'd, you'd be like, wow, that's kinda scary. But, uh, my goal is kind of just to like go up to the plate and try and intimidate the pitcher as much as possible. here it's a little bit of a different story just because I, we got a bigger crowd, bigger group of people that are coming to watch us.
a big thing for me coming. Coming into the season was trying to feel as comfortable as possible in the plate. Cause that's a big thing for me is once you, once you feel good, everything else is gonna fall into place. And I was, uh, just going through a bunch of songs, a bunch of really aggressive, laid back songs that I was gonna pick for my walkup. And I just kept stumbling upon self care by Mac Miller and. Like right when he says, yeah, yeah, yeah. And then the B drops.
It's just like, it's just such a vibe and it just always gets me locked in. It just puts me in a good mood. Just uplifts me, gets my, puts my mind at ease a little bit. It's just, just one thing that keeps you centered. Such a big thing at baseball. Everything is just mind tricks on yourself, trying to get yourself the way you're comfortable.
As a golfer, I completely understand. I will say when it comes to the darker, heavier music, there is a big hardcore scene in Norfolk, so the fans might actually enjoy it if you did come out to that stuff. But I completely understand the centered and. Why you picked that song, so, all right. Do you have any superstitions? We know baseball's a superstitious game, so.
I have a lot of superstitions when it comes to like, home games. I wanna say like superstitions more so like routine. in the morning I'll always have one to two cups of coffee and then I'll eat my breakfast from most of the time dunking. I'll go and get a sourdough breakfast sandwich, one donut, and then come back to the house, eat that, eat a. And then have one or two cups of coffee, and then I'll fill up my like Yeti or whatever and fill it up with coffee.
And it has to be black coffee only, black coffee. And then I take that to the field and I drink probably half of it until the game, and then I save the last half of it. For the rest of the game. that's kind of a big one. I do that. Everybody kind of thinks it's funny, like I'm always drinking black coffee, but, uh, it works for me.
another thing is probably when I'm on the on deck circle, I like to, uh, spread out my legs, stretch down to my right side, stretch down to my left side, stretch down the middle, come. And I do a little squat twist both ways. And then I got my, uh, weight on my bat and I go up around my head, twist it a few times, and then I start taking my practice swings. But if I don't do those certain things, I, everything feels off.
And then once I get into the box, uh, one thing I, I always like to do right before I step in the box is I stick up my bat and I. Like line it up with, uh, the left field foul pole, and I'll just think of something funny in my mind. I'll just think of something funny that makes me laugh. Get a little giggle out of it. Take a deep breath, get in the box, and then let's go.
if you had to say who your funniest teammate is, who is it, and share an example with Monarch Nation.
Um, okay. Well, I, I was thinking about this interview earlier today and I'm like, I have a feeling they're gonna ask me about who I think the funniest person is. And I already have my answer. It's Kyle Edwards and I have a feeling people have said that before. But yeah, it's Eddie Eddie's just, he's always cracking jokes in the locker room, always making fun of people, but like, in a good way, he always has something to say. He's just, he's always a positive, funny guy.
But, uh, one thing that I think is really funny is when we do our, uh, our little circle before the game in left field with all the headers, we say our prayer, and then we, uh, stand up, say what we're thankful for, and then we'll play like a game where we look. And then we'll look right up at each other. And then if you look at make eye contact with someone, you're out of the game. And last one standing gets to do the Go Monarchs, that kind of thing.
And, uh, every, every time after everybody says, we're thankful for everything, Kyle just. Just starts screaming and then just jumps in the middle of the circle, falls on his face, and just throws his hands up and starts screaming. And then, we go right into the game. And it's just, it's just a really random thing, but it's, it's like a ritual we do before every single game. But yeah.
You weren't wrong. hunter did say, call Edwards, and we got a kick outta him, calling himself the Batman.
Yes.
Yeah, he, he does call himself to Batman. Yeah, he does do that.
All right, we asked Twitter for any, questions they'd like to hear. And this is the first one for all the parents who have young kids getting into baseball. Do you have any pointers or training that you would suggest that maybe led to your success of the play?
I would say first off, before anything find things that are gonna be able to center yourself mentally. When there's chaos going on and there's pressure and you're scared that you're gonna strike out or you're scared, you're not gonna play the next game, stuff like that, you need to be able to train yourself to play in the present and to try and have fun.
Because if you're worried about one thing, if you're worried about striking out, not being able to play, you're worried you're not gonna drive this guy in, you're gonna make an error. What's gonna happen? Baseball doesn't care about your feelings, so it's going to do exactly what you don't want it to do. And you're gonna strike out, you're gonna make an error. And if you're not mentally tough enough to combat that, then it's just gonna eat you alive. Other, other than the mental aspect.
I would say get in the weight room, work, workout, do explosive movements, stay consistent with it, and eat a lot. Eat more than you think you need to, because a lot of kids these days will be like, man, I'm in the weight room three to four times a week and I'm not getting big. I'm not my, my lips aren't going up. All this. And most of the time it's because your diet's off and you're not getting enough protein, you're not getting enough carbs.
Drinking too much soda, not getting the electrolytes you need, not drinking enough water. So definitely try and be as healthy as you can and stay consistent with it. And, uh, on the heading and fielding, throwing actual baseball side of it, stay consistent and do the extra work. Cause the extra work is always gonna help you out in the future. It always does. It always gives you some sort of, Shoulder to lean on kinda thing, you know?
All. We have another question from Twitter, and they want to know if you think an umpire made a bad call on a strike, which we know never happens.
Oh
your usual reply, look or comment?
man. Uh, I mean, I feel like I'm Aaron Judge up there sometimes with the calls these guys been making on me. I mean, I'm six seven, you gotta adjust the strike zone a little bit. I'm not gonna, I'm not going to, I'm not going to say the name of this umpire or what game it was, but we were away for this one game and this guy just. Just kept making calls just at my ankles.
They just, balls were down all game and it was like my third or fourth at bat and it was just a terrible call and I'm like, I'm like, man, that is down. Like that's always down. That's not a strike. He's like, and I think the catcher went to do a meeting with the pitcher, so I was able to talk with the umpire. And he was like, he was like, Jake, you know, I understand that you might not think that's a strike, but I have to keep the same strike zone for everybody.
I can't just adjust it because you're six seven. I'm like, hold up. That's not how that works. That is not real. Like I'm six seven, I don't have the same strike zone as someone who's five eight. Like it does not make sense. I'm like, I. Man, that's not right. Like you can't do that. And I just thought that was just blasphemous. I, I was so stunned that an umpire said, yes, I understand that's a ball, but I have to call it anyways.
And, uh, but yeah, usually when that happens I'm just, I'm just like, really, man, like, Come on, that's down. Like, you know that's down. And sometimes they're like, yeah, I know. Or they'll be like, no, that's, that's not down. That's a strike. I'm like, well, that's, it's not my ankles. It's never been a strike. But yeah, no, it, it's, it happens a lot. It's been happening a lot this year, but I try to keep my cool and just take a deep breath. But I usually give them about one, maybe two.
Two chances if they mess up more than two times. I'm like, really? Like we, we have a problem now.
I also wonder that the, the, the little guys, are they playing with the same strike zone as you? Cause it's not fair to them either.
Yeah. Like a pitch. My ch my, my letters is gonna be a pitch at their head. You gonna call that a strike too?
Yeah, it's, that's insane. Okay. So what is your favorite play to make in a baseball game? I think we all know what it is. Offense, defense, whatever you. What is your favorite play?
I feel like that's kind of an easy answer for me, I would say hitting a home run, there's nothing like hitting a home run. I, I always say it. There's no better feeling of euphoria.
Adrenaline in this world and hitting a home run, especially in a high pressure situation when you really need to get your team going and you just, you make contact with that ball and it feels like you need to touch it, and you just see it just fly off the bat and you know it's gone and everybody's cheering and everybody's just happy and you put your team up front. There's no better feeling in the world than that.
right. So Jake, it's clear earlier in the season, it was said you'd hit the parking garage with a home run in a game. Have you gone over there and signed where the ball hit?
No, I, I can't say I have not yet.
It was probably too high in the parking garage anyways,
Yeah. Oh boy.
and. I'm gonna ask this Mike, and then go into the fun questions. So you mentioned the feeling of hitting a home run and it's kind of indescribable. The first home run you hit as a kid, how did that make you feel? Like, what was that like? What was the first one you ever hit?
oh man. I. So the first one I ever hit, I was, I think 11 years old. It was a doubleheader and, uh, the game before, I mean, my dad was a coach and I think I went like, oh, for four or something. Like at that age you never go, oh, for four. Like, it was a really bad game and I was so upset in the parking lot. And my dad was just, he was kind of giving it to me a little bit and, uh, he. Teaching me how to hit again in the parking lot. He's like, Jake, we gotta do this.
we gotta think about the string attached to your hand, to your foot. Gotta think about the load. just get in there and swing what you do. And I was like, all right. And uh, so then the next game of that double header fir first ab, I go up there and I just don't even think about anything. Just swing. Hit a ball over the right field fence. And I remember, walking down first base line and I don't know who did it in the majors. I'm trying to think about it.
It might be, it might have been Kirk Gibson when they hit the home run and they were running down first base and doing like the windmill with one arm kind of thing. Like I was like, go, go, go. Yeah. Something like, Yeah, I remember doing that and I was just so happy. It was, it was such a great, great experience. I, I'll always remember that. Yeah.
All right, so these are the phone questions. Quick, no explanation needed. What is your favorite restaurant in Norfolk so far?
Ooh, fish and pig. Fish and pig. For sure.
All right. When you're not in the cage or you're not at the bud, what's your favorite spot on campus?
Probably Chick-fil-A in the web
All right. Favorite thing to do in your free.
right now. Like right now probably play m l v, the show, the new show that just came out.
All right, if you're grabbing the fellas to watch a baseball movie, What's it gonna be?
Ooh. Ah. What's that? What's that one movie? It's on the tip of my tongue. Uh, the one with Forest Gump and not Forests Gump. Uh, Tom Hanks,
Uh, league. A League of their own.
yeah, leave their own, leave their own. We're watching that one. Yeah. Yeah.
There's no crime in baseball. All right.
Yep. And baseball.
Favorite band or musical?
Um, probably Suicide Boys. I don't know if you guys have ever heard. They're a rap group,
All right. If you had to pick the most dangerous animal in the world, which one is it? And.
great white shark, because they're just fierce predators. I mean, they're 20 feet long and they got razor sharp teeth, and if you're in the water with a gray white shark, like you're, you're done for, there's nothing you can do about it. You can't, you can't punch it in the nose and expect it to run away like, You're down,
All right. If you had the opportunity to hit against any pitcher in the world, who are you picking? Why and what are you doing with that pitch?
I think. I think I would like to face Max Scher and I, I'd like to face him just because I know he's kind of a psycho and he's doing literally everything in his power to make sure that I. Get out and I think I would go first pitch heater that he's gonna challenge me with and I'm just gonna be on time for that and commit to it and hit the home. Run over ride fence.
All right, so in addition to being on the baseball squad if you had the opportunity to play on another sports team at odu, which one would it be and why?
Probably, probably the basketball team. I feel like I'd fit in there. I mean, I've talked to a few basketball guys and I don't know if it's cause of my height. I feel like it has a little bit to do something to do with that. But, uh, basketball guys are always nice and talk to me and, uh, always messed with me about saying, oh, you should come and play basketball. You're that tall. Why are you playing baseball? I dunno.
Well, currently if you did join the basketball team, you would be the second tallest player, so,
Yeah. Yeah, that's crazy.
All right, so what is your top personal goal for this year and team goal for this year, and what will it take for you and the team to get there?
top personal goal. I would say hitting 20 home runs. that's definitely my goal. team goal. Making it to a regional, I think we can do that. I think we, we should and we will do that.
All right, so on. Coach Finn would show the Extra Finnings podcast. They are always making notes of what Coach Finney is reading. Mike and I aren't quite the pilots gentleman that Coach Fin Wood is. So do you have any Netflix or streaming recommendations for all the folks who are listening?
Ooh, sun's Anarchy. That's a good. Sons of Anarchy is a really good show. Um, also Arrow. Arrow is, uh, it's the DC Comics Show. It's really good.
So I did Sons of Anarchy, but have you done the, the spinoff, the about the May.
No, I haven't yet. My dad's watched it though, and he said he loved it, says it's really good. It looks
give it a chance. It, it's a little bit slow at the very beginning, but if you're a sons fan, you definitely like the
show. Yeah, I'll, yeah, I'll definitely give it a watch.
All right, Jake. So me and Aaron are part of the monarchist and the past two years. This will be year three. We've helped, organize dollars for Dingers. It is a fundraiser for the baseball team where fans commit to donating a dollar or two, $2 or however much they want per home run hit by the team. So last year, 128, year before 105. obviously we want the most home runs we could get out of you guys to make it easier. we raised, I don't know what was the total last year.
Right about $15,000.
And that, that's all going to the baseball team. So obviously we want you to hit as many home runs as possible, and I know that's what you want to do, but we had to make you aware of it before we let you go. now that I've done that, do you have a closing message for Old Dominion and our fans?
I would say keep on coming to the games, keep cheering us on and. Watch us hit the ball over the fence because that's what we're gonna do. And this last half of the season we're going to, we're gonna get going like we, like we should be. And it's gonna be game time.
Awesome. Well, thanks for coming on, Jake. If people wanna find you on social media, where the, where can they find.
probably Instagram, it's uh, Jay Tyson 13. And yeah, that's ma. That's mainly what I use,
We appreciate you coming on. We'll be uh, watching on the plus when you guys are on the road and we'll be back at the bud for the next home stand.
Awesome guys. Thank you so much for this.
Absolutely.
Thank you. Come on ours.
All right,
Go,
go Monarchs. Let's go.
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