I'm Jake Tyson, and this is the Monarchist Podcast.
podcast
I'm Aaron.
And I'll Mike.
And you're listening to the Monarchs podcast, a Monarchs have won 28 games and are fighting to claw their way to the top of the conference, and Thomas Wheeler is a big part of that success. Joining us on the show is a six foot 200 pound senior center fielder out of Roy Washington. Thomas, welcome to the best and only ODU U podcast.
Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.
Thank you so much for joining us, Thomas. This is your third year at odu. how has Norfolk treated you over this period of time?
Oh, I mean, it's a, it's a great family that we have here. Community-wise wasn't what I expected when I got here, was not expecting it to be so humid. I mean, back in Washington it rains probably 65% of the year. So, coming here and seeing the humidity in the summer and it being 90 every day I couldn't ask for anything better.
Well, Mike and I were talking a little before, and we were curious about where you come from, about Roy. Tell us a little bit about Roy so the people that are listening can be a little more educated on that.
Yeah, absolutely. So obviously Roy Washington. It's on the, the northwest. It gets as far northwest as you can think. We're about an hour and a half south of Seattle. So kind of in the, I guess you could say rural area. More land, more mountainous. We're about 45 minutes from Mount Rainier. It's like the big mountain that everyone goes to. We go hiking all the time. We go snowshoeing, sledding, just cuz there's always snow up on that mountain. So we're, we're in the mountains for sure, big time.
Good deal. I appreciate that. All right, so Mike and I were on social media a lot for ODU Baseball, and it's really, really easy to see how big of a fan that your mom is. We see her on Twitter a lot, which is totally awesome. This season, you and your brother Tyler Reunited, you're playing together, which is super cool. Talk to us a little bit about family and what it's been like to play with your brother this last season of college Ball.
I mean, absolutely. Having this last year to play baseball with my, with my big brother is what we call him, even though he is only four minutes older than me. But he's He's just a huge part of my life and I, I can't expect anything more from him. And he's just an energy guy to me. We we're more competitive and more competitive every time we step in the box with each other, whatever it may be in the weight room, I try to out lift him. He tries to out lift me.
He, he thinks he can outrun me, but that doesn't end up happening. But just anything we do, I mean, he's, he's he'll always be my big brother. And he's, he's kind of my lifeline and my support in everything we do, especially with my mom posting and stuff. I know she doesn't really have a, a page where she posts stuff, but she, she likes to comment on everything. I do know that.
When, Tyler hit that line drive to left field the other night, what was your reaction as soon as he hit that thing?
Yeah. I mean, I was just coming off of a strikeout, so like I. I come back in the dugout. I wasn't too happy with my ab bat, but I mean, that's baseball. That happens. And then I just, like, I turn around and I look at him and he's like, he gets to oh two really quick. And then I look around, he's at full count again, and then I'm paying attention. I'm like, oh, he's, he's stringing an ab batt together. He just smokes a line drive to left field, and it got out in a hurry.
So I look and then like, we're bouncing up and down. We're like, let's go. Just freaking out. And to tie the game in the, I think it was the, was that the bottom of the ninth right there?
It
Yeah. I don't know if you, you guys probably can't hear us over in rally alley, but yeah, we went, we went bonkers too.
Yeah. Yeah. I mean it, I mean, a bunch of fans that cleared out by then just cuz we were down early. But for us to be able to come back and just make it a competitive game, even though we ended up losing it was, it was such a great game and it, it got, gave us a lot of momentum I think going into liberty this week.
Yeah, I mean, I think it's the first game this season that you guys have had a big deficit that you've. From and I, I can see how that could be something you could build off of. But that ball was an absolute,
Yeah.
I know it didn't get up that high. It.
No, I looked like I had a little bit of top spin on it too. I was just hoping that it was gonna get over. I mean, it was, it was a rope.
Yeah, I mean, I look, I look in left field and he's, he's a pole side hitter anyway, and that's his first home run of the year. So I look, I'm like, I'm like, oh, stay fair, stay fair. And then I like, keep looking. It, it just, oh, it took off over the fence. So I was, I was excited for him. He, he deserved that. Absolutely. I.
It was an awesome moment, so, You came to ODU from our pipeline out West Tacoma Community College. Talk to us a little bit about your journey how ODU jumped on your radar, and what ultimately made you decide to pick dominion.
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, The way I heard about Old Dominion was from Brock Gallardi obviously kind of started the pipeline that we call nowadays. And he I know they needed an outfielder. I don't know if they specifically needed a center filter at the time, but I just knew they needed an outfielder. And I was the only coming into that year because that was the covid year or at least the year after Covid and. Coming in my junior year, I was the only JUCO transfer.
Everyone else was either freshman or returning. And so I was the only guy they recruited as a JUCO guy that year. And I remember Logan Robbins coming to me talking to me and he, he can talk, that's for sure. And I mean that in the best way cuz he, he persuaded me like no other it was, no, no question hands down was the place for me to be. And Brock kind of started that. And then I got into contact with Logan and then Finny. And they, they sold me quick.
I, I didn't have to think about it for long. I think I talked to Logan on a Monday and then committed by a Wednesday. I mean, it was so quick.
All right, so you're the first guy that we've had on that didn't have seem to have a bunch of stops in between. We've asked about kind of easiest and hardest thing of transitioning, usually from playing a lot of junior college baseball to Sunbelt schedule. What was your transition? The easiest and hardest thing coming from playing high school baseball to college baseball.
I would just say velocity. And then obviously velocity from JUCO to to Division one baseball. That was a huge jump as well. But yeah, I would just say velocity and then guys being able to command pitches. Well just cuz coming from that Graham Roy area in Washington you would have every once in a while a school that guy's pumping. Maybe mid to upper eights. Not, not anything crazy, but they, they had no command of their breaking ball, no command of their off speed really.
So then come, coming into juco, you had guys who were throwing mid eights and they can, they could command more than one pitch and then obviously JUCO to now it's just hands down, huge difference. Guys, guys are throwing low to mid nines consistently with three to four pitches in their arsenal, which is makes baseball a lot harder, but, That's why, that's why we're here. It makes it more fun and more competitive for sure.
Yeah, that's consistent of what the two of us have heard both from Hunter and from Jake. You know, they're gonna say, you guys can't just can't take a pitch off. You know, every guy that comes in is just locked on. And if you're not locked on, you know you're not gonna have a chance.
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, especially coming from Hunter and Tyson, who are kind of our power hitters nowadays. So you wouldn't think that they have issues I'm getting sped up at any times. But I mean, baseball's baseball, it, it humbles you in ways you can only imagine. And it's humbled me. And I know that if you take a pitch off, you're, you're more or less screwed.
So you kind of just gotta be locked in and if if somehow you get beat, you just gotta shake it real quick and either get to the next pitch or get to the next that bat. That's kind of how, kind of how you gotta think.
So not long before you got the old Dominion they built that indoor heading facility using that facility, how often do you tweak your swing? And if you do tweak your swing, how do you kind of decide to tweak it?
Yeah. I would say they're more, especially in season they're more minimal adjustments. But we're in there daily and we're in there for hours on end. Obviously a little less. During the season, but I, I would say when it comes to tweaking my swing, it's more or less like minor adjustments, like getting my timing off of a machine kind of seeing where my hands are. I like to take a lot of video less during the season.
Obviously you don't wanna make a huge drastic adjustment, especially if you're, you're playing well, but even if you're not playing well, I don't think it's always the best decision to make a drastic adjustment this late in the season. But there's things we look at video, me and Hara are looking, me and Cody are looking all the time. If there's, if they see something like my shoulder's over rotating, my hands are getting stuck back there, I'm not getting my foot down on time. Stuff like that.
I would say they're, they're minor adjustments. If anything at times,
So I, I know they have a TrackMan, right?
yes, we do.
When you're looking at that exit view low are you trying to see what you can top or how does that push you?
I know some guys do, but I personally hate looking at exit velo cuz sometimes the, the saying we have is barrels are overrated. That's just kinda, kinda what we, what we say sometimes. Cuz you'll, you'll see guys smoke a line drive at like one 12 off the bat. Especially Hunter and Kenny lately. Kenny, he's been getting screwed. He, he'll just, he'll, he'll smoke a ball in the gap and it gets caught and then you'll just, next at bat, it'll be like a little diker over the second basement.
So we kinda have a saying, barrels overrated. And that kind of plays in every aspect of the game.
All right, so one of the favorite things that fans like to ask about is how you pick your walkup music. So what is your walkup music and how'd you choose it?
My walkup song this year is nobody nobody knows, or something like that. By casting crowns. Or God only knows by casting Crown, something like that. And that song is near and dear to my heart, but not in like a, a family or anything, that type of way. I just I was listening to it one day and I'm a Christian, so I listen to a lot of gospel music, stuff like that.
And just one day it kind of tugged on my heartstrings and every, every time I hear it now, even, even to this day, I've heard it hundreds and hundreds of times. But even to this day, I, I just love that song. It kind of just tugs on my heart a little bit. So I kind of draw it near to me, though.
All right, so baseball is known as the most superstitious sport there is. Do you have any superstitions.
I know it's tough to kind of hear it, but I don't have any superstitions, just cuz I don't like to think of it as a superstition, but rather like a tradition or like a kind of like my routine, I guess you could call it. I think superstitious is like, you get so caught up in it that like if you don't do it, you're just gonna get mentally. Mentally sidetracked and it's just gonna affect your day. But I think I like to think of it as a routine.
Like anytime I'm in the cages, I have a routine that I do. I do like to drink a bang or like an energy drink before games. I know most guys do. I like to have gum a lot of times. I know like the Charlotte series this year I had a, I had a bad day, the first, the first day. And I chewed gum, but I felt good at the plate, so I was like, you know what, I'm gonna chew gum again. So I chewed gum again that second day, and I went five for five for the first time in my career.
So I was like, you know what? I really liked that I'm, I'm like, I'm gonna stick with that. But stuff like that,
So is there a consistent gum brand or is it whatever you can get?
I mean, oddly you say that lately it's been this.
Look you. You've got it right at the ready too
Yeah, I mean, it's the, I mean that,
great. Right. Is that scrape
this is actually the blue. This is the blue raspberry. I don't know if it's new, but I like the blue raspberry
you see, when I played, they didn't have Blue as I think we had like regular and grape.
and grape. Yeah.
it. They've evolved.
Yeah. They've grown.
But that pouch doesn't last very long.
Oh no. I mean, especially with how much I put in. That's, that's probably three, may, maybe two worth.
Yeah. All right, so we've established that you don't have any superstitions, you just have routines, which is cool. Do any of your teammates have any weird or funny superstitions?
Ooh. The answer is yes. I wanna say Kenny. Kenny, he, he's, he's a strange guy, and I mean that in the best way because he, he is awesome. He's full of energy and I mean, there, like, he's probably the most superstitious guy I've ever met. If he has a good day, the day before, he has to wear the same socks. He needs to have two energy drinks, one prior to the practice starting, like both our pre-game work and then one like 30 minutes before.
And then he, during the national anthem, he He's out there, but he like keeps his hat like lower than his chest. I don't know, it's so weird. He like keeps it lower than his chest so he can have his like, hand over his heart. I don't know. It's, it's weird though, but definitely Kenny, I know Hunter has some, I can't, I can't pinpoint those ones, but yeah, for sure.
Well, technically Hunter said they're all routines.
What, and so did
Oh, he did say
and so did Jake.
Yeah.
I think our coaches are like telling us, no, superstition is not a thing. They're routines.
I, I think, I think you're absolutely spot on cuz when we had Finnie on this year, we asked him about that. And I don't think he's a superstition guy. I think it's more of routines, which is I think is a coach thing because Coach Jones with basketball, you know, is like, you know, completely out there. Don't none of that stuff.
I agree. I think if you get caught up, I think there's a video out there like, I can't even remember who it was like an m l B pitcher. He's like talking about superstitious and routines. He's like, if you get caught up in the superstitious, you get, you get too focused on it and it'll take you out of your game. But if you, if you focus on those routines, it's it'll, it'll set you in the right direction.
When I think of baseball and superstitions, I just think of Nomar Garcia Pars gloves. When he was getting into the box, he would fail on the pitch clock every time. Now strapping his gloves obsessively. For a good 45 seconds before he gets into that box.
Yeah, I know with that pitch clock stuff this year, it, it kind of initially, it, it messed a lot of us guys up. We would get, we'd get to oh one too quick because we wouldn't step in the box. We'd kind of wait for our walkup song. I. To like play through at least. But then, then you gotta get used to it, like umpire's, like, no, let's go, let's play the game. So you get used to it. You just gotta step in the box. You can't call time anymore, which sucks.
But that's, that's the way baseball's going though, just to make it quicker.
All right, so we have a leader in the club. It's Kyle Edwards for this question, but we'd love to hear if you think it's someone else. Who is your funniest teammate and can you share an example with Monarch Nation?
Ooh, that's tough. I mean, Kyle Edwards I call him Eddie. He, he's definitely up there. He's, he's one of those guys to where everyone kind of gets energy from. Even though he is a young guy, they kind of look up to him in the sense like he's, he's always gonna bring the energy. He's always gonna be a guy you can look forward to, to keep a smile on your face. But I'd say Bryce Jones also a sophomore, a young guy he, he brings the most energy, I think I wouldn't even say like funny.
Per se, even though he is, and I can't really give an example, but he definitely brings so much energy, like our pre-game breakdown. He's always acting goofy, doing some weird stuff, and it just makes you laugh, kind of makes you giggle, gets you ready for the game sets you in a right direction.
All right, so anybody that's watching any games at the Bud or on ESPN Plus knows that you can be a terror on a base path for opposing pitchers. How long does it take for you to know if you've got the pitcher's number?
Ooh, like, specifically on the base path, are you talking.
yeah, absolutely. You're on first base and you're looking at second. You know how long before you really know that you got this dude, or you know, or it's gonna be tough.
Yeah. I would say if the pitcher is outta the stretch initially, like before I get on the base path, and I can see that I'll have his number before I even get to first and that that's because I'm timing him up. Pre-game or like pre-pitch, I guess you could say. And if he, if I see that he is in the stretch and he's a big leg kick guy I, I'm gone like I'm going just cuz he is usually a one five maybe even slower than that to the plate.
But like a guy like Tanner Hall, I think that's his name from Southern Miss the Friday guy. He was super quick to the plate. I still think I stole a bag off of him. I can't remember. But he was like a 1 1 1 twoo to the plate, which is very quick. And a guy like that, you just kind of have to have like natural instincts and get a jump.
But if I'm on first and I see a lefty guy who's like, he crosses over his legs a lot I'll, I'll, I'll just take off right there cuz I, I can see that he, he can't pick, has to go to home or else it's a box. So I just see that oh one five to the plate. Thank you. And it's more or less just like you gotta have confidence on the base path and if you don't, you're not gonna be successful.
So you, you mentioned how quick a guy works. There was a Liberty pitcher earlier this season who was working extremely fast. It felt like he was getting ready to throw the ball back as soon as he got it. I'm not sure if you remember this picture.
Was it the guy with like the pink or pink glove or something like that? Yeah, the righty. I
He was working fast.
that's who it was. Yeah. He, he was, I wanna say a 1, 1, 1, 2 to the plate which is very quick. And he worked quick, like he wanted to like, just get the ball and go. But as a hitter, you're allowed 10 seconds before you need to get in the box. So, don't, don't let him speed you up kind of thing. If you're in the box just take your time within the time limit and you should be good.
Just don't, don't ever let the pitcher speed you up as kind of like the advice I, I always get from coaches and stuff like that.
All right, so when a balls hit the center field, nobody in rally alley is stressed with you out there. What positions did you play growing up, and when did you kinda lock in on center?
Yeah, I mean, it was kind of late. I know in like select ball and travel ball, all that, like kids had their position set. Everyone wanted to play short. Everyone wanted to pitch, and everyone wanted to catch and Growing up, I was, I was a lefty obviously, so I was very limited in my choices. It was either pitch play first or somewhere in the outfield. So I, I grew up pitching pitched all the way through high school. I was our, I was our guy in high school to pitch.
I didn't throw very hard, but I was our guy. And then I played first for a while my freshman year of high school. And then I'd say, Freshman to sophomore year of high school is when I realized that I can play the outfield very well. So it was kind of late comparatively to other guys, and once I realized that I could, I could run and I could track the ball down, it was it was center field for sure. I, I love tracking balls down and laying out for stuff.
So with your speed, you're rarely out of position on a play. But I gotta imagine the scouting reports come in hand. As well, can you walk us through the type of information you get in a scatter report and how you can use that data in a game?
Yeah, so, so the scouting reports we get, it's just like for every hitter. So let's say you have John Doe I just don't wanna name any names, but let's say you have John Doe. He's a right-handed hitter. You have Blake Morgan on the mound. He's a left-handed pitcher. Likes to throw a lot of off speeds to rides, especially he's change up. So for a guy like John Doe, I would, and he's a guy who likes to spray the ball oppo.
So what it would do is have a spot for the left fielder and it would say oppo. Spot for the center, filterer oppo, for example, and then the right filter could be like flair, which is in and over. I know that's kind of complicated, but you guys, you guys know sports, so I know you guys know. So it just like, it tells us like specifically where to line up and those aren't like set locations where we have to be.
If a guy looks like he's on time for the fast ball and he's gonna like be out in front and early, I'll line up, pull side and it's kind of instinctual. I'll initially line up where the card tells me, if it tells me to line up oppo, I'm gonna stick to the oppo. Cuz I think that's, that's where he is gonna hit it mostly. And it's usually where, where they like to live.
Lately I've, I've been spraying the oppo gap, so if I were playing myself as a hitter, I would line up a little oppo on myself just lately. For a guy like Tyler, my brother you're, you're all a pull because he's, he is a pull hitter. We all know that. So it's just kind of what you see in the spray chart and what, what hitters are good at, what can, what can they do what their strengths and weaknesses are, stuff like that. And then we, as al filters go from there.
That's awesome. I appreciate that. I know fans will enjoy listening to that thought process There.
Yeah,
All right. Your favorite playing baseball. It could be at the plate, it could be in the field, but when you're kind of dreaming about that dream play for you personally, what is it?
Oh definitely laying out for either laying out for a ball, like, like superman diving. Or robbing a homer, like, like scaling the wall like Mike Trout and just like going over the wall and doing that. It's not every day you get to do that. That is probably one of the rarest things you get to do in baseball. People hit homers all the time. It happens. I know I only have five, but hopefully I can get more in the season. But people hit homers. That's what, that's what baseball's all about.
But robbing a home run like that is just unheard of. So that would definitely be my dream one.
All right. What is your favorite restaurant in Norfolk?
Oh. In Norfolk specifically, would
Hampton Roads. You can do any.
Yeah. Okay. So I would say in Norfolk Spec specifically, I would say no frill. I don't know if you guys have heard that place. I'm sure you
Oh yeah, of course there's no matter what you want, you can find it on the menu. We got something for everybody.
literally for everybody, like whether you're craving a burger, Some, some seafood. Like, oh, that place is amazing. I love that place. A cool atmosphere. It's like right down the road, five minutes away. So I, I love that place. That definitely my best place in Norfolk.
All right, so if you're not at the bud or you're not hitting in the facility, what's your favorite spot on campus?
Favorite spot on campus? It used to be the src, the Student Rec Center. I used to lift there every day if we weren't lifting as a team, but then I was told I'd have to stop lifting there because my, my body was shutting down the first year I got here. So I was told I can't lift in there no more. And other than that, I would say just being outside kind of like in the quad right there, or like at the front of the web center where that Monarch is. I just love being outside and walking around
All right. What is your favorite thing to do in your free time?
Hmm. I run a lot. I love to run. It's just something I've always enjoyed doing. I eventually wanted me and Josh Trujillo, I know you guys know him. He, he said once our baseball career is over, he is like, you gotta run a marathon with me. And I was like, okay, dude, let's, let's train for that first. Cuz he's a gazelle. We all know that he's a gazelle. He, he used to run track, he used to run cross country. So, just being able to keep up with him is kind of my end goal.
So hopefully I can run a marathon, but I just love to run. That's probably one of my favorite things to do.
So if you're getting the fellows together and you got a couple hours of downtime and you get in and watch a baseball movie, which one is it gonna be?
Oh, I would say, me personally, maybe not the guys, I might get some, some hate for this, but I'd say rookie, like the rookie, that that's a good movie. I. I really like that one. Either that or what's that one with? Oh, what's that movie called? I want to say it's like the big leagues or something like that.
Little big league.
Might be, I can't, I can't even remember, but it's either that one or maybe the Sandlot. I used to watch the sand lot growing up, so that's a
There we go. That's that's always safe.
Yeah, no. Yeah, that's a safe, I like that. That's a safe card right there.
All right. Favorite musical artist or band?
Ooh. I like Christian rap. As I said, I, I love that. So I'd say Lecrae. Yeah, Lecrae's a good artist. I know some people don't know that, but for those of you who do love Lecrae,
All right. If you had the opportunity to, to sit down with any person, past or present and have a conversation, who would it be and why?
Ooh, that's a good question. Really good question. Past or present? Hmm. I mean, I gotta go with a big league or, I know it's a lot of people's answer, but I'd say Mike Trout, I mean, he's one of the guys that I like just watching baseball all the time. I just, I love the way he plays. He plays so aggressive with so much confidence and he just, he flies around and he is just a stud in the game. And I love the way he plays. I know other people nowadays are like, oh no show.
Hey, Otani, Aaron judged, stuff like that. I'm like, no, Mike Trout, Mike t Trout's, the guy. I would say either him or Ken Griffy Jr. Just cuz I'm a Seattle Mariner fan.
And both of those guys are doing those home run stealing catches.
Oh, all. Yeah. I mean, I feel like it's, it's consistent with them too. It's, they do it on the daily and I'm like, I just want one.
And Ken made it look so cool like.
Oh.
So smooth.
And everything he did his swing, the way he runs, the way he catches everything. Oh, he, he just made everything look so easy.
All right. If you had the opportunity to hit against any pitcher in the world, past or present, who would you pick and what are you gonna do with that pitch?
Woo. Randy Johnson.
That's the exact opposite guy of who Hunter wanted to face.
Well, no, I mean, the re okay. The reason I say that, and I, I agree with Hunter's statement, but the reason I say that is because I, I've heard so many stories about like Finny talking to us. Guys he knew and a guy like guys who used to face Randy Johnson especially left on left and they said that they, their toughest picture to face ever was always Randy Johnson. If it was a lefty.
And so I just think facing him and him being a Seattle, former Seattle Mariner I think that would just be a dream come true if, if he throws strikes and doesn't, doesn't like try to hit me or anything.
And I'm sorry I interrupted in the middle of that. Mike wanted to know what you were gonna do with that pitch.
Ah, hopefully put it in play. That's always the goal. But I mean, you gotta, you gotta have the mindset. You're gonna hit a line drive always. When you're in the box, you gotta have the, all the confidence in the world that you're better than the pitcher, no matter how you're doing, no matter how you're, you're playing lately. You gotta have confidence when you're in the box. So, I'd like to say I hit, hit a line drive off of Randy.
And if it's Randy for Seattle, you gotta make sure you're not hitting it near Ecker Martinez and Ken Griff's
Yeah, I mean,
you gotta worry about Alex Rodriguez over there or Joey Cora.
Yeah, that team was tight until they, until they busted it up.
Yeah, I mean, they're just the, I mean, we all know the Mariners, how they play in the playoffs. It's not, not too good. We know that the way that goes. But I'm, I'm a Seattle Mariner for life, so anyway. Any way we can get it
That team was loaded.
loaded. I mean, it was, they were so good. I.
All right, Thomas. So eventually when it's time to hang up the spikes, what's the career goal?
As of, I've been thinking about it a lot since it's my last year and I mean, obviously we'll see what happens for the future, but I'd like to be a coach. I really would like, not just, not just like a little league coach, not a high school coach. I, I truly believe that I can hopefully coach a team one day, whether it's at the college level, JUCO level, whatever, whatever it may be.
I just, I've learned so much coming here and I. My former experience at JUCO and then coming here with all these different coaches, Finny, Logan, Marin, h Wiz I mean, just like the best coaches I could ask for, honestly. And the closest family I could get with the guys that we've had these past few years. And it's just made me love baseball so much more. And I, I think being able to share that with a younger generation, as I get older, I, I would love to be able to be a coach one day.
All right, we're close to wrapping up here. Thomas, we really thank you for joining us. What is your top personal goal and team goal for this year? And I guess how is it coming along
Yeah, I mean, I'll start with the individual goal, just cuz I'd like to get that out of the way. Cause I always like to think about the team first. I think that's the most important thing, especially this late in the season. But individual goal, it's always been my dream to hit above 300. I mean, I know average it's whatever nowadays, but I've always wanted to hit above 300 at the college level or at least the division one level. And I haven't done it yet.
So hitting above 300, that's a, that's a really good goal that I'd like to hopefully finish with this year. And then the team goal, I would say. I would say just cuz after that, that 2021 season, not winning a reach win, winning a regional, that is just a dream, dream come true to even, to even make it to one is once in a lifetime.
But to be able to, to be able to play and, and win a regional that is just, Something I wanna do, especially after we, we didn't win for Matt Cooney, for Kyle Battle, for Jason Hartline, hunter Gregory, Ryan Moore, all those guys who were, who were making it big now. I mean, that, that is just something I wanna do for this team cuz I think we can get there. I thi I, I really do. I know it's been been a rough.
Couple series and we've had some hard fought battles, but if we can play together have good defense, have good pitching, have an offense when we, when we know we can. I know for a fact we can get there. We, we are good enough too. I know we're young and we're kind of new to each other, but we're getting there. I promise you we're gonna get there.
All right, so on Coach Fin Wood's podcast, the Extra Finings podcast is always talking about books, always talking about reading, and I know he shared some of that stuff with you. Unfortunately, Mike and I were not quite that sophisticated. We're more of a TV show streaming kind of guy. Do you have a Netflix or any other streaming recommendation for the listeners?
I mean, I have a friends poster that's literally like in my room right now. So I love friends. It's just a, a show that makes me laugh. I know some people think it's cheesy, but I love it. The, another one that I just recently finished was the 100. I don't know if you guys have seen the 100. The last few seasons got a little rough, I'm not gonna lie. It got
think I saw like the first three or four, but you know, I wish I'd have known your answer was gonna be friends, cuz maybe I would've convinced Mike. For us to ask you, you know, who on the team would be each of the guys in The friends cast you?
Oh, I hope, I hope none of the guys listen to this later. Cuz then if I were to like, name the, the three girls that are on there, like Monica and Rachel, all them and Phoebe. Like, who, who's them? I'm like, I don't want to, I don't wanna respond to that.
Hey, well we told you. We told you. You can refuse to answer any questions, so there you go.
Yeah, I have to refuse that one.
All right. Well, thank you again for joining us today, Thomas. Obviously we had you on here to help promote the baseball team, and part of that is promoting dollars for Dingers. We hope everyone listening is ready to. Contribute and get involved with dollar for dingers. You guys have, I think, 87 home runs at this point
so, something like that.
which with how many games you got left, a hundred is not outta the equation. And that would put you guys top three of all time, which would mean you have been on the top three home running hitting teams at Dominion History in your three years here, which is pretty cool.
Yeah, I'd say that's insanely cool. I mean, just being able to see people hit home runs and be able to hit 'em myself. It, I mean, they're game changer for sure.
All right, before we let you go, tell people where they can find you. If you are on social media, I know you're not on Twitter, but if you're on social media, tell 'em where they can find you.
Yeah. I had an Instagram and I know it, like for some people it still shows up, but I try to stay away from social media. I people get caught up in it. I used to get caught up in it just like scrolling forever. So I, I got rid of that even though my page will still show up on Instagram. So, you can follow me if you want. I don't even know my handle or whatever you call it, but I don't, I don't have social media anymore, so.
I think a lot of people are gonna like you saying that, so that's great.
Yeah, yeah. Thank you. Appreciate it.
All right, well thanks again and best of luck.
Yeah. Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it.
Thanks, Thomas. Go Monarchs.
Go Monarchs.
Go Monarchs.