March 18, 2025 • 26 mins
Darren Headrick talks with Kentucky Baseball Coach Nick Mingione.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is the Nick minchi Oon Show on the UK
Sports Network.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Have a question for coach?
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Minchew tweeted two at UK Sports Network. Now alongside the coach,
Here's no cooyes of UK Baseball Darren Hendrick.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
Good evening everybody, and welcome into the Nick minji Own
Show here on the UK Sports Network. Coach will be
alongside here in just a few minutes. The Wildcats are
fourteen and four, one and two in the SEC after
their weekend series against the Georgia Bulldogs down in Athens.
What a high scoring weekend it was. Kentucky jumped out
to a six to two lead on Friday, but Georgia
(00:41):
came back to win that game twelve to six. The
Wildcats led nine to two on Saturday and won that
middle game ten to seven. Sunday's matchup saw Kentucky jump
out to a four to one advantage, but Georgia, with
a lot of offense, able to come back and win
the series with a seventeen to ten final. The wildcat
That's are back home this week looking to bounce back.
(01:02):
They'll host Murray State tomorrow night at Kentucky Proud Park.
That's a six thirty first pitch. Our airtimes set for
six fifteen on the UK Sports Network. We'll chat with
coach benji on when we come back. This is the
Nick menji Oon Show in the UK Sports Network.
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Speaker 3 (04:19):
Welcome back into the Coach Benjiones Show here on the
UK Sports Network. The Wildcats are getting set to open
a five game homestand with Murray State tomorrow night at
six thirty. Coming off a two and two week the
Cats are number twenty four in the latest Baseball America Pole,
fourteen and four overall and coach, just your thoughts.
Speaker 13 (04:36):
On the week.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
You had the NIU home game that you added late,
and then obviously the trip down to Georgia. Your thoughts
on the week well to go too.
Speaker 14 (04:43):
And two, I was happy with the way we played
on Tuesday. I thought we swan the bat's great, We pitched,
defended at a really good level. And you know, to
add that game, which you know with the weather's been crazy,
so I thought that was good. And then you know,
going down to Athens, I think, you know, when you
look at that weekend, the way we started each weekend,
each game on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Man very very
(05:05):
pleased with that. Obviously wasn't able to hold the lead
in the Saturday or a Sunday game, but we were
able to on Saturday. So obviously tough place to pitch.
I mean that place is it reminds me a lot
of the Olklahagen Stadium. It's all about run production and
run prevention is extremely difficult. But really loved our offense approach.
(05:26):
I loved the adjustment that our team made from Friday
to Saturday. You know, we spoke and spent a good
bit of time Saturday morning explaining and recapping where we
thought we were off and what adjustments we needed to make.
And we were a little too emotional on Friday and
just let too many things out of our control bother
and affect us. And I thought Saturday and Sunday we
(05:47):
did a way better job of that, and I was
proud of the team for that.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
I want to go back real quick to that NIU game,
because this is the second time I can think of
where you've had to add a game in the middle
of the season. When you do that, what kind of
challenges it to scout for that opponent that originally wasn't
there and your staff has to go back and watch
and read up.
Speaker 10 (06:04):
Yeah, you're right.
Speaker 14 (06:05):
And you know one thing, Darren, and I'll give our
staff a lot of credit for is how much time, effort,
and energy we put into scouting our opponents. You know,
I just had this conversation that our staff is amazing.
I've just surrounded myself with amazing people. And I just
asked Trevor fitz this question, who's our director of player development?
(06:25):
I just asked them last week, like t fits, like,
what's some of the biggest things that were Maybe you
thought you knew what was going to be like, or
when you got here what it was really like. And
I asked writer Giles, who we just added in January
and t fits. The first thing he says was, he's like,
the amount of time we put into scouting and preparing
our team for our opponents. He's like, I thought I
(06:48):
worked hard. He's like, but man, I had no idea,
you know, so to your point, you know, we just
spend hours and hours. Now, the good thing for this
particular instance was we do do a good job of
focusing on what's next, and our midweek preparation really is
on Mondays, it's today, so and then it goes into
(07:09):
Tuesday morning before the game. So with us adding that
game and we had it into works, we were able
to get the preparation we needed. But it is hours
and hours and hours when you toll up between myself
and the rest of the staff. I really would like
to know how many hours we put into it. It
would blow people's mind. But we were able to get
(07:29):
it in and accomplish the game plan.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
We're here on the nickmn jone radio show, and the
Wildcats coming off the series against Georgia offensively, a lot
of runs scored but your situational hitting overall I thought
was good on the week even including the NIU game.
And how about Luke Lawrence, a guy who drove in
six runs, he only had two hits on the weekend.
That's getting it done situationally.
Speaker 14 (07:50):
And it wasn't a Grand Slam and a two run
home run. To your point, it's like, how did he
get there? You know? That's one thing that I give
Coach Sloan and Coach Couzy a lot of credit for
is just explaining and teaching to our guys what it
takes to be successful at that moment. And really, Darren,
that in my mind was done and accomplished back in
(08:12):
the fall, all the rounds and all the time and
effort and energy that they put into their hitting groups,
and like, what are we going to do today? What
are we going to work on? You know, how we
can control the barrel just putting them in those situations
before they're ever in them, and then placing the emphasis
on it. You know, you obviously were able to make
it to a couple of our fallse scrimmage games, you know,
and so like to me, that is why people ask
(08:35):
me all the time. I mean, obviously I love the
season and I love the postseason, but I love the
fall like I love it because it is when you're
planning your season watching them grow because you know what's
coming in the spring. So it's like you got to
put all that time, effort and energy into it. And
you know, Luke, like a lot of our guys, you know,
he understands baseball at a really high level and he's
(08:57):
willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done.
And that's how you have six RBIs and on just
two hits.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
One final question before we take our first time out
about this past weekend. The fast starts seven combined runs
in the first inning. I can't think of a better
way for this team to get going and running, especially
on the road.
Speaker 14 (09:14):
Yeah, especially when you think against you know, an SEC
team that's hard to do. That is really hard to do.
And give coach Couzy and coach Loan a lot of credit.
I mean you sat in there, and you know they
spend time and they watch video and they come up
with the game plan and you know, I like to
use the analogy. You know, I love the fish and
don't have much time to ever do it, but but
(09:35):
I love the fish and they're putting them on fish.
They're like keaching them, like the approach and the plan
and the shape of the pitches and where to set
their eyes and where to look. It's like that good
fishing guide who says, hey, cast it right there, or
they take the poll for you and they flip it
and they put it right in there. Next thing you know,
you've got a fish.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
On the line.
Speaker 14 (09:51):
But they've done a great job into the player's credit
to be able to execute and trust their coaches. It's
been fun to watch.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
Let's go ahead and take our first time out here
on the Men's Jones Show. We'll continue chatting with coach
when we come back here on the UK Sports Network.
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Speaker 3 (12:17):
Kentucky getting set to host Murray State tomorrow night at
six point thirty here at Kentucky Proud Park. It's the
first of five in a row at home, including three
this weekend with the Auburn Tigers and coach Butch Thompson,
the head coach of the Tigers. I know you and
Butch go way back? When did when did that friendship?
Speaker 14 (12:34):
First of all, yeah, so we were seven and a half.
We coached together for seven and a half years at
Mississippi State. And interesting enough, when I played at embry Riddle.
He actually coached against me really in the NEIA College
World Series. He was coaching at Birmingham Southern and I
was playing at embry Riddle and the year was nineteen
(12:56):
ninety nine, and we didn't know each other.
Speaker 15 (12:59):
I remember this.
Speaker 14 (13:00):
You're gonna laugh. But I've always since I was twelve
years old, I always knew I wanted to coach. And
when that team, our team made it to the College
World Series, believe it or not, the coaches stayed after
one of our games to scout the other teams. And
you know who asked if I could sit with them
and scout. It was me. So I remember sitting in
(13:20):
the stands while I was still a player, scouting the
other teams at the World Series, and Butch Thompson was
sitting in front of me while he was coaching, and
I was still a player.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
Wow.
Speaker 14 (13:31):
And then we got a chance to be together in
the summer of two thousand and eight, and then it
was the two thousand and nine season, so we've been
friends ever since.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
Is it tough to coach against friends? I know you're
competitive and you want to win the games, but is
it tough to go against a person like Butch and
the other dug outs.
Speaker 14 (13:51):
Well just happened this weekend at Georgia. There you go
against two of my former players, just you know, literally
looking the other dug out. And there's two of my
former players, you know, and a guy and the head
coach at Georgia, Wes Johnson, who I coach with at
Mississippi State for six months. So there was a connection there.
And you know, I don't enjoy coaching against those guys,
but I also understand, like I have a job to do,
(14:13):
so when the game's on, like there is no friendship.
Speaker 13 (14:16):
Okay, right, that's right.
Speaker 14 (14:18):
But at the same time, it's just you know, you
just you don't get enjoyment the same enjoyment out of
beating your friends, right, Like, but we have an obligation
and we want to win and do everything we can
to help Kentucky win. But great man, good friend, his wife,
his daughters, he has three daughters. He was a pitching coach,
so he calls his daughter strike one, strike two, and
(14:40):
strike three. They all know what strike they are. But
just to watch him grow up has been really neat.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
I was curious too, because you and I always sit
here and talk. You play a familiar opponent in the league.
You kind of know the personnel or the tendencies. But
does it help make you a better coach because you
know those other teams in this league have scouted and
they know what Kentucky likes to do.
Speaker 17 (15:00):
When you go up against them, Yeah, you up.
Speaker 14 (15:02):
A great point, Dren. There's a chess match going on,
and you know there's a game within the game. And
I give our staff a lot of credit. Our moves
are calculated. You know, we do want to watch so
much video, We collect so much data that everything we're
doing is calculated and it's not easy to coach that way.
(15:23):
And then obviously you got to go with your gut
feel too. It's not all data driven, right, So like
you got to have a feel for the game and
what's going on, so you know our style of play,
That's what I love about Our style of play offensively
is just really hard to prepare for. And it's what
I love about the job that coach Rozelle does. What
our pitching staff is like our ability to throw multiple
pitches for a strike at any time that is absolutely crucial,
(15:46):
and when we do that, it's really hard to hit
against us. And when we don't, then it's easy to
draw some walks, and like this weekend, we had too
many because our inability to maybe land an all speed
pitch or two for a strike, which we had been
doing all season long. So we got to get back
to that. But there's definitely a lot of strategy and
there's a chess match going on.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
Well.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
Ben Kleaver and Scott Rouse certainly were the tone setters
and the tip of the spear in that ten to
seven win on Saturday. What when you looked back at
the film of the way they pitched against George's lineup,
what stood out to you the most about the way
they performed?
Speaker 14 (16:20):
You know, you and I talk about this all the time,
but you know, offensively, we have six components that make
us a good offense. And for us to be a
great pitching staff, there's components and there's things that we
have to do, and when we do these things, we're exceptional.
And one of them is we have to get ahead
of our hitters and we need to throw multiple pitches
(16:43):
in the zone for a strike. That is like our gift.
Like when people watch our pitching staff, they go wow,
not only do they throw one and two and three
sometimes it's four and five different pitches in the zone
And the reason why that's so important is because they're
trying to get the hitter out and when that batter
hitter is in the box, when they can't prepare for
(17:06):
just one pitch. Timing is so important and it's really everything.
Like I'd rather have a guy with an ugly swing
that gets on time and hits the barrel than a
guy with a pretty swing who's never on time. Right,
So it's like pitching is disrupting timing. And when you
look at the film and you see what Ben Cleve
and Scott Rause did, they were able to land multiple
(17:26):
pitches for a strike at any time, and it's why
they had success and we won that game. And when
we do that, and we do that as a whole
as a pitching staff, who man, we're a hard pitching
staff to be, but it is set up on that.
It is set up on our ability to throw quality
pitches and to be able to land multiple pitches for
a strike. And it's why you and I when we
(17:48):
talk about what's the key, it's it's so it sounds
so simple, but it's so difficult. Sure, but that's us
at our best and those guys did a great job
of that.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
Hayden Smith had a couple of scoreless relief ofppearances for
you this week and he's been he's looked really good
and his midweek appearances is he a guy that is
starting to maybe pitch his way into more opportunities on
the weekend and SEC player.
Speaker 14 (18:10):
You know, he's done what we quite frankly want all
of our players to do, and that's to be prepared
when your time is called, whether that's on the mound,
it's in the box, it's out in the field, whether
it's on the basis, it doesn't matter, like you just
have to be ready and then for you to take
advantage of those opportunities and perform at the upper rangers
(18:32):
of your talent and skill. And that's what Hayden's done.
So just super proud of him. And you know this
was just started back in the fall. His ability to
do that and he came back in the early spring,
did not have a really like exceptional early spring like
he had in a fall, but to his credit, boy
did he just bam. He's turned it around and he's
(18:52):
taken advantage of those opportunities and ran with him and
quite frankly to your point, that's how you get more.
You do well with the opportunities given, but you got
to be ready and you don't get to pick those opportunities.
So when it comes, you better be ready. And he's
done a great job with that.
Speaker 3 (19:05):
Let's take our final time out here on the Nickminsion Show.
This is the UK Sports.
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Speaker 2 (22:07):
BBN Game Day.
Speaker 3 (22:20):
Back in on the nicknjeone Show. It's our final segment
of the week as the Cats get ready to host
Murray State tomorrow night at six thirty and Coach, we
thought we'd start this final segment with a bit of
a fun question because I've heard this comparison a couple
of times. But Cole Hages, your left fielder has been
compared a lot to Jackson Gray. And it's not just
because he can swing a great bat or play a
great outfield. But those two young men are well built,
(22:43):
muscular young men that look like linebackers out there.
Speaker 17 (22:45):
I'm in the physicality of those guys.
Speaker 14 (22:48):
I got a funny story.
Speaker 13 (22:49):
So you know, you go on the.
Speaker 14 (22:51):
Road and the fans love to heckle you and give
you a hard time. Well, when Cole Hage heads, I
am way down the line and some of the fans
are yelling at me to get in the box. And
finally I just turned around. I said, guys, would you
look at the size of that guy's squads. Look how
big his arms are, Like do you really want me
to get hit by a ball right now? And they
(23:11):
started dial living like coach, we don't blame you, stay
back here with us.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
I'm like, all right, thank.
Speaker 14 (23:15):
You, Like I'm mean to tell you everything you need
to know, and uh.
Speaker 17 (23:19):
But yeah, just to first off, I want to say this,
amazing guys, like amazing people, Jackson Gray and Cole Hey,
Like what I mean, what great dudes, you know, but
their physicality.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
You know.
Speaker 14 (23:32):
So so I guess some of the former players were
giving Jackson a hard time that Cole was bigger than him.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
And more.
Speaker 14 (23:39):
So they're like, hey, man, I no, no, this dude's
pipe's like his icteps are way bigger than yours. But man,
when you just think about the two guys that, you know,
the job that Jackson did on that twenty three team,
you know, you know, comparison to them, I'm going to
skip around here for a second. Got a chance to
see Danny Harris, yes, from the twenty two team, and
(24:00):
I just had a really cool conversation with him, just
thanking him for his edge and the toughness that he
brought to our program. And I felt like that carried
over into twenty three and he was just saying how
happy he was, and I just told him, like, his
finger playing prints are all over this So for you
to even bring up Jackson, and you know, that made
me think of Danny. He came to see us and
just some other guys. But man, two physical guys.
Speaker 17 (24:24):
I'm just sitting here thinking about how many calories you
got to eat, how many.
Speaker 14 (24:28):
Like bench presses and push ups you gotta do to
be that bad. But great dudes, And obviously you know
so different. One is one's lefty, one's already one plays center,
one plays left, but both can run and steel bases.
And you know what they both have is a unique
combination of speed and power. Speed and power, I mean
that is hard to find. Normally, you get your power.
(24:50):
Guys are slow, right, Like just watch turn on a
big league game. They're not running hard. But this guy,
he's got speed and power and it's been good.
Speaker 3 (24:58):
For us well. And you may that we had a
chance to see Danny Harris over the weekend. I know
some of the former players came down to Athens to
cheer on the Cats. And I think about the guys
that are in pro ball right now spring training. They
come around in the fall and they're around the guys
and you have former players. It's really neat to see
those guys come back and support the new Cats.
Speaker 14 (25:18):
Oh, you're right, And you know what I was just
telling Matt May this last week, we've had I think
it's seven guys off of last year's team speak to
our team already, like they come back in a fall
and it's like, man, it's your team. Excuse me, talk
to them? What do you got to say? And we
had seven different guys. Wow, already speak to them off
last year's team. That includes coaches. That's not you know,
(25:40):
that's not including coach Madison and others. Yeah, but yeah,
so those guys to come back, and I know some
of those guys made a trip down there and it
was good to see them. They were fired up Saturday.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
I know that well.
Speaker 3 (25:51):
And not only that, but you've got three former players
on your staff with Austin Cuzano, Logan Salo and you
just added Ryder Giles. How big is it to bring
those guys back in the fall and let them coach
the team?
Speaker 14 (26:01):
Now, yeah, that's absolutely crucial. And when you think about Kouzzi,
who played here, as you mentioned, writer played here, and
you know, just Salo played here, and then I had
coached Trevor fitz there you go. So I have three
former players on staff, and there's three. I didn't coach Kouzzy,
but he played here. We have three guys that played
(26:22):
and put on a Kentucky uniform. And when you think
about the life of a student athlete, it is so
important for them to be able to relate to their
coaches and staff, and Darren I got old. Look at
all these gray hairs like it's yeah, I was looking
for years, but I can't see. Don't worry about it,
but you know, it's important for them to be able
to have somebody that they can relate to, and Kuzzi's
(26:44):
lived it.
Speaker 10 (26:45):
DQ presents
This is the Nick minchi Oon Show on the UK
Sports Network.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Have a question for coach?
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Minchew tweeted two at UK Sports Network. Now alongside the coach,
Here's no cooyes of UK Baseball Darren Hendrick.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
Good evening everybody, and welcome into the Nick minji Own
Show here on the UK Sports Network. Coach will be
alongside here in just a few minutes. The Wildcats are
fourteen and four, one and two in the SEC after
their weekend series against the Georgia Bulldogs down in Athens.
What a high scoring weekend it was. Kentucky jumped out
to a six to two lead on Friday, but Georgia
(00:41):
came back to win that game twelve to six. The
Wildcats led nine to two on Saturday and won that
middle game ten to seven. Sunday's matchup saw Kentucky jump
out to a four to one advantage, but Georgia, with
a lot of offense, able to come back and win
the series with a seventeen to ten final. The wildcat
That's are back home this week looking to bounce back.
(01:02):
They'll host Murray State tomorrow night at Kentucky Proud Park.
That's a six thirty first pitch. Our airtimes set for
six fifteen on the UK Sports Network. We'll chat with
coach benji on when we come back. This is the
Nick menji Oon Show in the UK Sports Network.
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Speaker 3 (04:19):
Welcome back into the Coach Benjiones Show here on the
UK Sports Network. The Wildcats are getting set to open
a five game homestand with Murray State tomorrow night at
six thirty. Coming off a two and two week the
Cats are number twenty four in the latest Baseball America Pole,
fourteen and four overall and coach, just your thoughts.
Speaker 13 (04:36):
On the week.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
You had the NIU home game that you added late,
and then obviously the trip down to Georgia. Your thoughts
on the week well to go too.
Speaker 14 (04:43):
And two, I was happy with the way we played
on Tuesday. I thought we swan the bat's great, We pitched,
defended at a really good level. And you know, to
add that game, which you know with the weather's been crazy,
so I thought that was good. And then you know,
going down to Athens, I think, you know, when you
look at that weekend, the way we started each weekend,
each game on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Man very very
(05:05):
pleased with that. Obviously wasn't able to hold the lead
in the Saturday or a Sunday game, but we were
able to on Saturday. So obviously tough place to pitch.
I mean that place is it reminds me a lot
of the Olklahagen Stadium. It's all about run production and
run prevention is extremely difficult. But really loved our offense approach.
(05:26):
I loved the adjustment that our team made from Friday
to Saturday. You know, we spoke and spent a good
bit of time Saturday morning explaining and recapping where we
thought we were off and what adjustments we needed to make.
And we were a little too emotional on Friday and
just let too many things out of our control bother
and affect us. And I thought Saturday and Sunday we
(05:47):
did a way better job of that, and I was
proud of the team for that.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
I want to go back real quick to that NIU game,
because this is the second time I can think of
where you've had to add a game in the middle
of the season. When you do that, what kind of
challenges it to scout for that opponent that originally wasn't
there and your staff has to go back and watch
and read up.
Speaker 10 (06:04):
Yeah, you're right.
Speaker 14 (06:05):
And you know one thing, Darren, and I'll give our
staff a lot of credit for is how much time, effort,
and energy we put into scouting our opponents. You know,
I just had this conversation that our staff is amazing.
I've just surrounded myself with amazing people. And I just
asked Trevor fitz this question, who's our director of player development?
(06:25):
I just asked them last week, like t fits, like,
what's some of the biggest things that were Maybe you
thought you knew what was going to be like, or
when you got here what it was really like. And
I asked writer Giles, who we just added in January
and t fits. The first thing he says was, he's like,
the amount of time we put into scouting and preparing
our team for our opponents. He's like, I thought I
(06:48):
worked hard. He's like, but man, I had no idea,
you know, so to your point, you know, we just
spend hours and hours. Now, the good thing for this
particular instance was we do do a good job of
focusing on what's next, and our midweek preparation really is
on Mondays, it's today, so and then it goes into
(07:09):
Tuesday morning before the game. So with us adding that
game and we had it into works, we were able
to get the preparation we needed. But it is hours
and hours and hours when you toll up between myself
and the rest of the staff. I really would like
to know how many hours we put into it. It
would blow people's mind. But we were able to get
(07:29):
it in and accomplish the game plan.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
We're here on the nickmn jone radio show, and the
Wildcats coming off the series against Georgia offensively, a lot
of runs scored but your situational hitting overall I thought
was good on the week even including the NIU game.
And how about Luke Lawrence, a guy who drove in
six runs, he only had two hits on the weekend.
That's getting it done situationally.
Speaker 14 (07:50):
And it wasn't a Grand Slam and a two run
home run. To your point, it's like, how did he
get there? You know? That's one thing that I give
Coach Sloan and Coach Couzy a lot of credit for
is just explaining and teaching to our guys what it
takes to be successful at that moment. And really, Darren,
that in my mind was done and accomplished back in
(08:12):
the fall, all the rounds and all the time and
effort and energy that they put into their hitting groups,
and like, what are we going to do today? What
are we going to work on? You know, how we
can control the barrel just putting them in those situations
before they're ever in them, and then placing the emphasis
on it. You know, you obviously were able to make
it to a couple of our fallse scrimmage games, you know,
and so like to me, that is why people ask
(08:35):
me all the time. I mean, obviously I love the
season and I love the postseason, but I love the
fall like I love it because it is when you're
planning your season watching them grow because you know what's
coming in the spring. So it's like you got to
put all that time, effort and energy into it. And
you know, Luke, like a lot of our guys, you know,
he understands baseball at a really high level and he's
(08:57):
willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done.
And that's how you have six RBIs and on just
two hits.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
One final question before we take our first time out
about this past weekend. The fast starts seven combined runs
in the first inning. I can't think of a better
way for this team to get going and running, especially
on the road.
Speaker 14 (09:14):
Yeah, especially when you think against you know, an SEC
team that's hard to do. That is really hard to do.
And give coach Couzy and coach Loan a lot of credit.
I mean you sat in there, and you know they
spend time and they watch video and they come up
with the game plan and you know, I like to
use the analogy. You know, I love the fish and
don't have much time to ever do it, but but
(09:35):
I love the fish and they're putting them on fish.
They're like keaching them, like the approach and the plan
and the shape of the pitches and where to set
their eyes and where to look. It's like that good
fishing guide who says, hey, cast it right there, or
they take the poll for you and they flip it
and they put it right in there. Next thing you know,
you've got a fish.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
On the line.
Speaker 14 (09:51):
But they've done a great job into the player's credit
to be able to execute and trust their coaches. It's
been fun to watch.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
Let's go ahead and take our first time out here
on the Men's Jones Show. We'll continue chatting with coach
when we come back here on the UK Sports Network.
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Speaker 3 (12:17):
Kentucky getting set to host Murray State tomorrow night at
six point thirty here at Kentucky Proud Park. It's the
first of five in a row at home, including three
this weekend with the Auburn Tigers and coach Butch Thompson,
the head coach of the Tigers. I know you and
Butch go way back? When did when did that friendship?
Speaker 14 (12:34):
First of all, yeah, so we were seven and a half.
We coached together for seven and a half years at
Mississippi State. And interesting enough, when I played at embry Riddle.
He actually coached against me really in the NEIA College
World Series. He was coaching at Birmingham Southern and I
was playing at embry Riddle and the year was nineteen
(12:56):
ninety nine, and we didn't know each other.
Speaker 15 (12:59):
I remember this.
Speaker 14 (13:00):
You're gonna laugh. But I've always since I was twelve
years old, I always knew I wanted to coach. And
when that team, our team made it to the College
World Series, believe it or not, the coaches stayed after
one of our games to scout the other teams. And
you know who asked if I could sit with them
and scout. It was me. So I remember sitting in
(13:20):
the stands while I was still a player, scouting the
other teams at the World Series, and Butch Thompson was
sitting in front of me while he was coaching, and
I was still a player.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
Wow.
Speaker 14 (13:31):
And then we got a chance to be together in
the summer of two thousand and eight, and then it
was the two thousand and nine season, so we've been
friends ever since.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
Is it tough to coach against friends? I know you're
competitive and you want to win the games, but is
it tough to go against a person like Butch and
the other dug outs.
Speaker 14 (13:51):
Well just happened this weekend at Georgia. There you go
against two of my former players, just you know, literally
looking the other dug out. And there's two of my
former players, you know, and a guy and the head
coach at Georgia, Wes Johnson, who I coach with at
Mississippi State for six months. So there was a connection there.
And you know, I don't enjoy coaching against those guys,
but I also understand, like I have a job to do,
(14:13):
so when the game's on, like there is no friendship.
Speaker 13 (14:16):
Okay, right, that's right.
Speaker 14 (14:18):
But at the same time, it's just you know, you
just you don't get enjoyment the same enjoyment out of
beating your friends, right, Like, but we have an obligation
and we want to win and do everything we can
to help Kentucky win. But great man, good friend, his wife,
his daughters, he has three daughters. He was a pitching coach,
so he calls his daughter strike one, strike two, and
(14:40):
strike three. They all know what strike they are. But
just to watch him grow up has been really neat.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
I was curious too, because you and I always sit
here and talk. You play a familiar opponent in the league.
You kind of know the personnel or the tendencies. But
does it help make you a better coach because you
know those other teams in this league have scouted and
they know what Kentucky likes to do.
Speaker 17 (15:00):
When you go up against them, Yeah, you up.
Speaker 14 (15:02):
A great point, Dren. There's a chess match going on,
and you know there's a game within the game. And
I give our staff a lot of credit. Our moves
are calculated. You know, we do want to watch so
much video, We collect so much data that everything we're
doing is calculated and it's not easy to coach that way.
(15:23):
And then obviously you got to go with your gut
feel too. It's not all data driven, right, So like
you got to have a feel for the game and
what's going on, so you know our style of play,
That's what I love about Our style of play offensively
is just really hard to prepare for. And it's what
I love about the job that coach Rozelle does. What
our pitching staff is like our ability to throw multiple
pitches for a strike at any time that is absolutely crucial,
(15:46):
and when we do that, it's really hard to hit
against us. And when we don't, then it's easy to
draw some walks, and like this weekend, we had too
many because our inability to maybe land an all speed
pitch or two for a strike, which we had been
doing all season long. So we got to get back
to that. But there's definitely a lot of strategy and
there's a chess match going on.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
Well.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
Ben Kleaver and Scott Rouse certainly were the tone setters
and the tip of the spear in that ten to
seven win on Saturday. What when you looked back at
the film of the way they pitched against George's lineup,
what stood out to you the most about the way
they performed?
Speaker 14 (16:20):
You know, you and I talk about this all the time,
but you know, offensively, we have six components that make
us a good offense. And for us to be a
great pitching staff, there's components and there's things that we
have to do, and when we do these things, we're exceptional.
And one of them is we have to get ahead
of our hitters and we need to throw multiple pitches
(16:43):
in the zone for a strike. That is like our gift.
Like when people watch our pitching staff, they go wow,
not only do they throw one and two and three
sometimes it's four and five different pitches in the zone
And the reason why that's so important is because they're
trying to get the hitter out and when that batter
hitter is in the box, when they can't prepare for
(17:06):
just one pitch. Timing is so important and it's really everything.
Like I'd rather have a guy with an ugly swing
that gets on time and hits the barrel than a
guy with a pretty swing who's never on time. Right,
So it's like pitching is disrupting timing. And when you
look at the film and you see what Ben Cleve
and Scott Rause did, they were able to land multiple
(17:26):
pitches for a strike at any time, and it's why
they had success and we won that game. And when
we do that, and we do that as a whole
as a pitching staff, who man, we're a hard pitching
staff to be, but it is set up on that.
It is set up on our ability to throw quality
pitches and to be able to land multiple pitches for
a strike. And it's why you and I when we
(17:48):
talk about what's the key, it's it's so it sounds
so simple, but it's so difficult. Sure, but that's us
at our best and those guys did a great job
of that.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
Hayden Smith had a couple of scoreless relief ofppearances for
you this week and he's been he's looked really good
and his midweek appearances is he a guy that is
starting to maybe pitch his way into more opportunities on
the weekend and SEC player.
Speaker 14 (18:10):
You know, he's done what we quite frankly want all
of our players to do, and that's to be prepared
when your time is called, whether that's on the mound,
it's in the box, it's out in the field, whether
it's on the basis, it doesn't matter, like you just
have to be ready and then for you to take
advantage of those opportunities and perform at the upper rangers
(18:32):
of your talent and skill. And that's what Hayden's done.
So just super proud of him. And you know this
was just started back in the fall. His ability to
do that and he came back in the early spring,
did not have a really like exceptional early spring like
he had in a fall, but to his credit, boy
did he just bam. He's turned it around and he's
(18:52):
taken advantage of those opportunities and ran with him and
quite frankly to your point, that's how you get more.
You do well with the opportunities given, but you got
to be ready and you don't get to pick those opportunities.
So when it comes, you better be ready. And he's
done a great job with that.
Speaker 3 (19:05):
Let's take our final time out here on the Nickminsion Show.
This is the UK Sports.
Speaker 7 (19:09):
Network BBN Game Day h your weekly look inside UK
Athletics Saturdays at nine am on l EX eighteen and
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Speaker 2 (22:07):
BBN Game Day.
Speaker 3 (22:20):
Back in on the nicknjeone Show. It's our final segment
of the week as the Cats get ready to host
Murray State tomorrow night at six thirty and Coach, we
thought we'd start this final segment with a bit of
a fun question because I've heard this comparison a couple
of times. But Cole Hages, your left fielder has been
compared a lot to Jackson Gray. And it's not just
because he can swing a great bat or play a
great outfield. But those two young men are well built,
(22:43):
muscular young men that look like linebackers out there.
Speaker 17 (22:45):
I'm in the physicality of those guys.
Speaker 14 (22:48):
I got a funny story.
Speaker 13 (22:49):
So you know, you go on the.
Speaker 14 (22:51):
Road and the fans love to heckle you and give
you a hard time. Well, when Cole Hage heads, I
am way down the line and some of the fans
are yelling at me to get in the box. And
finally I just turned around. I said, guys, would you
look at the size of that guy's squads. Look how
big his arms are, Like do you really want me
to get hit by a ball right now? And they
(23:11):
started dial living like coach, we don't blame you, stay
back here with us.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
I'm like, all right, thank.
Speaker 14 (23:15):
You, Like I'm mean to tell you everything you need
to know, and uh.
Speaker 17 (23:19):
But yeah, just to first off, I want to say this,
amazing guys, like amazing people, Jackson Gray and Cole Hey,
Like what I mean, what great dudes, you know, but
their physicality.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
You know.
Speaker 14 (23:32):
So so I guess some of the former players were
giving Jackson a hard time that Cole was bigger than him.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
And more.
Speaker 14 (23:39):
So they're like, hey, man, I no, no, this dude's
pipe's like his icteps are way bigger than yours. But man,
when you just think about the two guys that, you know,
the job that Jackson did on that twenty three team,
you know, you know, comparison to them, I'm going to
skip around here for a second. Got a chance to
see Danny Harris, yes, from the twenty two team, and
(24:00):
I just had a really cool conversation with him, just
thanking him for his edge and the toughness that he
brought to our program. And I felt like that carried
over into twenty three and he was just saying how
happy he was, and I just told him, like, his
finger playing prints are all over this So for you
to even bring up Jackson, and you know, that made
me think of Danny. He came to see us and
just some other guys. But man, two physical guys.
Speaker 17 (24:24):
I'm just sitting here thinking about how many calories you
got to eat, how many.
Speaker 14 (24:28):
Like bench presses and push ups you gotta do to
be that bad. But great dudes, And obviously you know
so different. One is one's lefty, one's already one plays center,
one plays left, but both can run and steel bases.
And you know what they both have is a unique
combination of speed and power. Speed and power, I mean
that is hard to find. Normally, you get your power.
(24:50):
Guys are slow, right, Like just watch turn on a
big league game. They're not running hard. But this guy,
he's got speed and power and it's been good.
Speaker 3 (24:58):
For us well. And you may that we had a
chance to see Danny Harris over the weekend. I know
some of the former players came down to Athens to
cheer on the Cats. And I think about the guys
that are in pro ball right now spring training. They
come around in the fall and they're around the guys
and you have former players. It's really neat to see
those guys come back and support the new Cats.
Speaker 14 (25:18):
Oh, you're right, And you know what I was just
telling Matt May this last week, we've had I think
it's seven guys off of last year's team speak to
our team already, like they come back in a fall
and it's like, man, it's your team. Excuse me, talk
to them? What do you got to say? And we
had seven different guys. Wow, already speak to them off
last year's team. That includes coaches. That's not you know,
(25:40):
that's not including coach Madison and others. Yeah, but yeah,
so those guys to come back, and I know some
of those guys made a trip down there and it
was good to see them. They were fired up Saturday.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
I know that well.
Speaker 3 (25:51):
And not only that, but you've got three former players
on your staff with Austin Cuzano, Logan Salo and you
just added Ryder Giles. How big is it to bring
those guys back in the fall and let them coach
the team?
Speaker 14 (26:01):
Now, yeah, that's absolutely crucial. And when you think about Kouzzi,
who played here, as you mentioned, writer played here, and
you know, just Salo played here, and then I had
coached Trevor fitz there you go. So I have three
former players on staff, and there's three. I didn't coach Kouzzy,
but he played here. We have three guys that played
(26:22):
and put on a Kentucky uniform. And when you think
about the life of a student athlete, it is so
important for them to be able to relate to their
coaches and staff, and Darren I got old. Look at
all these gray hairs like it's yeah, I was looking
for years, but I can't see. Don't worry about it,
but you know, it's important for them to be able
to have somebody that they can relate to, and Kuzzi's
(26:44):
lived it.
Speaker 10 (26:45):
DQ presents
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