May 7, 2025 • 43 mins
When the rain washes out a week of games and the state tournament looms on the horizon, how do you keep your pitching staff ready? For Coach Jason Brandt, the answer might surprise you.
Coach Brandt of Wapakoneta High School has crafted one of Ohio's most consistent baseball programs through a philosophy that seems counterintuitive at first glance. "The later we get into the season, the less we practice," he reveals, explaining that rest becomes increasingly precious as tournament time approaches. This season, his team has surged to a 12-1 record despite fielding nine underclassmen among their regular players.
The conversation dives deep into the challenges of schedule disruptions and managing young arms during compressed game schedules. But it's Brandt's perspective on coaching evolution that truly resonates. After more than two decades leading the program, he's transitioned from what he describes as a "fiery" young coach to a more balanced leader who understands that "it's just a game and the kids aren't out there trying to lose." This growth hasn't come without memorable moments, including a hilarious story about falling off a bucket in the dugout during a crucial late-inning situation.
Beyond tactics, Brandt shares invaluable wisdom for aspiring coaches: conduct honest one-on-one conversations with players about their roles, surround yourself with loyal assistants (three of his are former players), and recognize the critical importance of youth programs in sustaining high school success. His approach has led to five district championships and two state final appearances – proving that sometimes the best coaching happens when you know when to back off and let players shine.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Today on Baseball Coaches Unplugged.
How one coach handles hispitching staff as the end of the
season state tournament isquickly approaching and you've
already lost a week's worth ofgames to rain.
And why he practices less thecloser he gets to the tournament
and you want to stick around tothe end to hear the story of
(00:23):
the dangers of sitting on abucket.
All this and more with JasonBrandt, head baseball coach at
Wapakoneta High School in Ohio.
Next, on Baseball CoachesUnplugged.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Welcome to Baseball Coaches Unplugged with Coach Ken
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Baseball Coaches Unplugged is apodcast for baseball coaches
With 27 years of high schoolbaseball coaching under his belt
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We're covering it all.
(00:58):
Whether you're a high schoolcoach, college coach or just a
baseball enthusiast, we'll diveinto the tactics and techniques
that make the difference on andoff the field.
Discover how to build a winningmentality.
Inspire your players and getthem truly bought into your game
philosophy Plus, get the latestinsights on recruiting,
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(01:19):
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Hello and welcome to BaseballCoaches Unplugged.
I'm your host, coach KenCarpenter, and thanks for
checking out the show.
Don't forget to hit thesubscribe button and tell your
friends about us.
Every Wednesday, look for a newepisode with the best baseball
(02:44):
coaches from around the country.
Now let's hear from head coachJason Brandt at Wapakoneta High
School in Ohio.
Coach, thanks for taking thetime to be on Baseball Coaches
Unplugged.
Thanks for having me.
I appreciate it.
Well, we're getting close tothe end of the season here in
Ohio and the state tournament isright around the corner.
(03:04):
Is the season going for you theway you expected and do you
think you guys are capable ofmaking a deep run.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Well, I'll be honest, I I did not think.
We're 12 and 1 right now.
And if you would have asked meback in January, february, even
March, what we'd be, I wouldhave asked me back in January,
february, even March what we'dbe I would have said around 500.
We returned six guys thatplayed varsity last year, but
only two of them reallycontributed a lot and one of
(03:35):
those players actually wasinjured for half the season.
So we really have a reallyyoung team.
We only have one senior starter.
We have nine underclassmen thatplay regularly.
So definitely we've come out alot better than I thought we
would, which is great, but westill have a lot of baseball
(03:58):
ahead of us.
So the next two weeks arepretty important to us to see
how we handle playing every dayand then getting into the
tournament and going from there.
But I mean, I like our team, Ilike how we've gelled throughout
the year, I like how we play,we've thrown the ball really
(04:19):
well, we've hit it really welland defensively I think we only
have eight errors in our 13games.
So that's probably kept us in alot of games or helped us win.
So right now I think we have achance.
But our district is loaded witha lot of guys that can throw
the ball.
You know in the upper 80s, low90s, and we know how baseball is
(04:40):
Like.
It just takes one of those guysto put a team down.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
So what you're telling me is it's it's all
coaching.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
I wish I could say that, I mean, my assistants were
on the same page with me.
So, uh, our kids have just donea really good job.
They, uh, they get along aswell as anybody and they're
pretty gritty.
Um, you know, they yelled at mebecause we canceled a couple
games when it was, you know, 30degrees outside.
I'm like I'm old and I don'twant to be in that, and you know
(05:08):
they want to play every day.
So you know, that's something,as a coach, you really love.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Well, what inspired you to become a high school
baseball coach?
Speaker 3 (05:17):
That's a tough call.
Yeah, I grew up at Anna, whichis just about 10 miles south of
here in Wapak.
I played basketball, baseballand golf there, Really liked my
coaches I had basically the samecoaches for all three sports.
They were great guys.
(05:38):
And then I went to college atCapital University and played
baseball there and while I wasthere I was an athletic training
major but we had to have asecond major and I chose
education and kind of afterabout a year of doing both, I
decided that the education partwas more my style and I just
(06:02):
loved being around baseball andI was able to help out with our
summer acme team at Anna, one ofmy one of my summers of college
, and kind of liked it there.
And then I graduated inDecember and Anna had a JV
coaching job that year and I Ijust took it um, and then I got
hired the following year atWapaw as a teacher as well.
(06:23):
I had a freshman coaching jobthat lasted a year.
I still like doing it.
The varsity job came open and Iwas the assistant for three
years.
Our head coach, then left In2002, 2003,.
I guess I became the head coach.
I guess you say the rest ishistory.
I really enjoyed it here.
We have great facilities.
(06:44):
The rest is history.
I really really enjoyed it here.
We have great, great facilities.
Our administration is great.
We've gotten a lot of thingsthat they've done for us for our
field.
We just got field turf threeyears ago for the infield and
it's just top notch.
So you know, they've made iteasy.
The kids here have made it easy.
The parents here have made itpretty easy to coach and be
(07:06):
successful.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
Well, traditionally there at Wapakoneta, you guys
have been one of the topprograms in that area and you
know, of course, across thestate.
If I talk to your players, pastand present, what would they
tell me about you when it comesto team culture and philosophy?
Speaker 3 (07:28):
um, you know, I think , our philosophy I'll start with
that first.
I, I think, you know, everyyear we just tried to build on
what we've done the year before.
Um, we get some of that in thesummer with our acme, but a lot
of our kids play travel baseball.
And then, you know, we do a lotof just off-season conditioning
(07:51):
weightlifting, running,throwing, hitting, anything that
can get our non-fall and wintersports kids involved with
something.
And there's always usually youknow two to three to four guys
that played the year before thathelp run those and they know
what's expected of everybody.
Uh, and they make it very easyon the coaches.
(08:13):
Um, you know, and then our goalduring the year, it's it's
never to win the league, that'sone of our goals, but our goal
is to be playing our bestbaseball come.
Well, it used to be early May,now it's late May, just because
that's when the tournament rollsaround.
And you know, winning a leaguechampionship is great, but I
(08:33):
know a lot of our kids remember,you know, a district
championship or a regionalchampionship, or even making
state, and those things aregreat because that helps build
your program.
Now, the culture like we, wedeal with guys that want to be
there every day.
Um, and you know, some yearswe'll keep 15 or 16 on the
(08:55):
varsity level and this yearwe're down to like 12 or 13 and
those guys just want to play.
Um, you know, we personalagendas.
We try to keep those asidebecause when guys start getting
into it for the wrong reasons or, you know, wanting personal
stats and things start going thewrong way quick.
And I think in the last five orsix years we've had guys that
(09:18):
were able to shut down those badkarma guys and things like that
to help our program be a littlemore successful.
And I think that's one of thethings this year.
Like, nobody's in it for thewrong reasons.
They're all there just to playbaseball and go out and win some
games.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
Well, I, you know, I know that just around the state
of Ohio, with all the rain we'vebeen getting this past week and
it's still happening right now,it's got to be annoying,
driving you crazy because it's.
You know the pitching rules andthe way that the pitch count
rule is, and how do you?
You know every coach goes intoit knowing that, hey, it's Ohio,
(10:01):
we're going to get a stretchwhere we're going to have
back-to-back-to-back games.
How do you prepare forsomething like that?
Speaker 3 (10:08):
Yeah, I'll go back to the beginning of the season.
We played on that first Fridaywe could play.
It was 75 and sunny, and thenwe turned around and played
Monday when it was 41 degreesand cloudy, and then we had 11
days off.
We couldn't get a game inbecause maybe it was a Wednesday
and we aren't allowed to playon Wednesdays, or like a nice
day, but nobody already.
(10:29):
Everybody else already hadgames scheduled and we just
couldn't find games.
So you know that part of it'sreally frustrating because you
got to work.
Well, these guys need to throwbullpens, these guys are
probably going to start tomorrowif we play.
So we got to kind of hold off onthose guys and then to say, man
, we've been outside almostevery day in the preseason
(10:51):
during practice, especially withthe turf, and then, oh man,
we're back inside and there'snothing worse than going back
inside after you've been outsideand you've played games.
So you know, sometimes we haveto shorten practices up.
Maybe today we're just going tohit and with 12 to 14 guys you
(11:12):
can get through a lot of hittingin an hour to an hour and 15
minutes and the guys kind ofenjoy that because it gives them
a little bit of a break.
You know we're not going two,two and a half hours and then
they're, you know, using alltheir energy up.
So we had to do that now wherewe're getting into the stretch
where we're supposed to have aleague game tomorrow.
But they're also calling for ahalf-inch range.
So you know that might getbacked up to Wednesday and then
(11:37):
you know we might not play againuntil Friday, saturday, but
then next week we have six gamesin six days or whatever.
So throw a bullpen, maybetomorrow, get a couple innings
on the hill and then, you know,hope all those guys are ready
and able to throw strikes whenwe need it next week, just
because they haven't been on thehill a lot this spring because
(11:58):
of the weather.
So you know, you hope you getthe most out of them and go from
there Well you know youmentioned, you know, 10 days
without getting on getting outthere and playing.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
You know I I would love to to see a high school
football or basketball coachhave to have to do that.
That would be, that would befun to watch, because baseball
is a totally different animal.
And you know, I wanted to talkto you because at one I knew you
guys.
You guys are having a greatseason and this is the perfect
(12:31):
time to talk about the statetournament which is coming up
and in Ohio it's lose one gameand you're done and um, over the
years, do you keep the sameapproach, uh, or does your
coaching style change a littlebit once you get into the
tournament?
Speaker 3 (12:51):
We try to keep the same approach.
You know, year to year itchanges.
I know I'll just go like in mysecond year being the head coach
, we won a district championshipand and I didn't know what to
expect I mean, here I am, I'mprobably 25, 26 years old and we
play Walsh Jesuit and they wonthe state that year.
(13:13):
That was 2004.
They had nine men on the fieldand you know we're going up
there and our guys are justhappy to be there because I
think Walpole could only won oneother district championship
before that in baseball.
So you know we go up there andthey wax us pretty good.
We didn't get run ruled, butthey wax us pretty good.
And then we had a stretch ofsome years there where we would
(13:34):
be competitive but not make itout of districts.
And that's always tough as acoach because you know, I'll be
honest, when I first startedcoaching here, wap walk up and
maybe only won one or twotournament games the previous 10
years.
Um, so you know our first yearwas, hey, let's win a tournament
game and and then we went fromthere and we had a really good
(13:56):
stretch from like 2010 to 2018.
I think we won five districtchampionships in there and, and
each year we did somethingdifferent as we progressed.
You know, the later we get intothe season, the less we
practice.
That might sound weird, but I'ma big believer.
Our guys need to have a littlebit of rest and recovery time as
(14:18):
well.
You know, this is another weirdthing we do during tournament.
One day I bring out I got aboutthree or four college bats.
And you know, this is anotherweird thing we do during
tournament week.
One day I bring out I got aboutthree or four college bats.
So we bring out the old dropfive two and three-quarter-inch
barrel bats and we see how farwe can hit it.
One day Everybody backs up tothe fence so nobody gets hurt,
(14:42):
and we just see how far guys canhit baseballs with those bats.
And the guys don't believe howju those bats really were.
But uh, so it's trying to tryto keep them loose and have fun.
Um, you know, and the otherthing is is is once you get to
tournament you really only useabout three pitchers, maybe four
, uh, you know, throughout theweekend and so so the last
couple of years, or the last fewyears, we've thrown our other
(15:05):
guys against our guys just sothey can get a little more alive
.
They're not guys that we'regoing to see in a tournament,
but it's a live arm and it's achance for our guys that maybe
won't pitch in the tournament toprove that they're going to be
ready for us if we need it andgo from there.
But it kind of depends on theteam we have and sometimes the
(15:27):
weather, because if it's 85, 90degrees and that turf's cooking,
we don't want to be out thereas long either, and you know we
go that route.
So you know we don't change alot, but we might shorten things
up, but we might shorten thingsup.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
Well, to a lot of people, coaching high school
baseball looks easy, and they'reusually the fans on the other
side of the fence and not in thedugout.
Over the years, what have beensome of your biggest challenges
in you know, from the oppositeside of it, biggest rewards.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
Biggest challenges is .
I mean, I think sometimes theexpectations have been a lot
higher from the outside thanmaybe what it is from the inside
, with the coaches, you know,because I think the coaching
staff has a pretty good handleon things.
We know what our team's made of.
We know what we can and can'tdo, you know, and a challenge is
(16:33):
like getting beat.
I remember a couple years agoit's been probably five or six
years ago we faced a team in thefirst round Maumee would only
won two, faced a team in thefirst round Maumee who had only
won two or three games in theregular season, and they come in
with a dude throwing 92 againstus.
We did beat him 2-1, but it'slike, holy cow, where did this
come from?
Because we don't do a lot ofscouting north of us.
(16:55):
Usually we play a team thatwe've already played during the
season for the first round.
We knew the kid was good.
I didn't know he was 92 good,you know, and that's really
tough and that's hard to coach.
You know your kids up, you know.
Maybe another challenge was, youknow, in 2012 and 2018, we were
(17:17):
maybe an hour away from winninga state championship.
Both games Got beat by one onegame and got beat by two in the
other, but played lights out inboth games.
You know it's disappointingthat we lost but in the whole
realm of things it's awesomethat we got there and our kids
had a chance twice to bring homethe title to WAPUG and we just
(17:40):
felt short.
But I was proud of those guysas much as I could be.
Uh, some of the rewards.
I mean I've coached both mysons.
My oldest son, um, is asophomore in college now.
Uh, pitching out at LackawannaCollege in Pennsylvania.
Um my youngest son is asophomore on our varsity team
this year playing second basesports.
My youngest son is a sophomoreon our varsity team this year
(18:01):
playing second base sports.
You know I could also say it'sa challenge because they're kind
of like me and they get alittle fiery at times and they
might shoot back at me orsomething and I'll get back at
them, but it's been really funto coach them.
You know they always want.
You know they always say nevergive up.
And those guys want extrabatting practice every day and
you know, as long as I can do it, I'm going to be up there
(18:23):
throwing to them and that's sometime that you won't get much
more of once you know they'regraduated and things like that.
The other rewards are justseeing all the kids come through
and then getting a text, arandom text message from one of
them saying hey, great jobtonight or keep up the good work
, or you get an invitation to awedding.
You know you try to get to mostof them.
(18:44):
It's sometimes tough in thesummer with my own sons playing
baseball, but you try to getback and go to those and all
those things.
And then just the relationships, like two of my former players.
Three of my former players areactually coaches for us right
now.
So you know, I hope that one ofthose guys gets gets the head
(19:05):
coaching job when I decide togive it up here, because they
put in a lot of time and they'vebeen here and they know what
what it takes and we can go fromthere.
So you know, the rewards are sothere's so many.
You know whether it's a teamreward, a personal reward, a
community reward, it's just,it's fun to be around.
Um, you know, and we have greatcommunity support.
(19:28):
No matter where we go, we havetons of fans and, and you know,
our parents have been likealmost perfect to a t for the.
You know, 22, 23 years I'vebeen the head coach and I know
that's not true at all places.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
Well, let me ask you this you were, if you were asked
to sit down and give someadvice to coaches who want to
become a high school head coach,what advice would you give them
?
And the reason I'm asking thatis I spoke to a coach who's a
Hall of Fame member recently andhe's still coaching, and he was
(20:10):
the type of guy that would have20, 20, 20 freshman JV varsity
and he'd end up having to cut 15, 20 guys and he'd end up having
to cut 15, 20 guys.
And he told me now that nowhe's down to 43 guys total in
the program.
So baseball's.
You know it's tough because ofall the changes that happen.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
What would you tell someone who aspires to be a high
school head coach?
Number one, I think, firstforemost, is it's time consuming
.
You know, if you want to have asuccessful program, you got to
put in a lot of time, and Ithink we've put in a lot more
time as the years have gone onand gotten closer to where we
are now than we did at first andnot saying that we didn't put
(21:01):
in time early on, but it's a lotdifferent now.
We didn't lift weights untilprobably 2012.
I'll be honest, the weight roomwas not a thing.
We did a lot more agility,speed, things like that.
But now, when you incorporatethe weight room a little more
and you have your extra, you'rethrowing, you're hitting, you're
open fields, you're.
And then you have, you know,your expert.
You're throwing, you're hittingyour open fields, uh, you know
(21:22):
you're looking at a couple hoursa day, times two, three, four
times a week, um, and in thesummer, like I mean, we go three
days a week in the summer,early morning, weight room and
agility, um, and we're going toadd into some more like small
group settings this summer.
We've already discussed that.
So time commitment is number one.
(21:43):
If you're married, have areally good wife that supports
you.
You know, I mean, my wife hasbeen at probably every game, or,
if she wasn't there, she was atone of my son's games, and that
helps a ton.
Both of my boys have been inthe dugout, probably, and that
that helps a ton.
Um, you know, both of my boyshave been in the dugout probably
not as much as other coaches,sons, um, but they, they've
(22:06):
learned the game through thedugout.
Um, I think, surround yourselfwith good assistant coaches.
Uh, one of my coaches coachedwith me, uh, from the time I
started up until 2018, and thenhe left to become a head coach
somewhere else.
My one assistant coach now hasbeen with me all, but like two
(22:27):
or three years during that time,my other assistants, like I
said, played for me.
So, you know, that helps a ton,and they've all been there like
eight years now, nine years now, so that helps a ton.
Getting all those guys Don't beafraid to ask questions.
You know, I think a lot ofcoaches have a lot of pride.
(22:47):
They don't want to askquestions.
They feel like, oh, I shouldknow this.
And one of the best guys, Imean Tom Held at Defiance, you
know, even though they're in ourleague.
He was a guy that would I meanwe still text all the time, you
(23:10):
know, whether it's aboutbaseball or anything else Like
he's a guy that would give youknow, good advice up until the
time you're playing and thenafter that, you know, then it's
back at it.
We have a good group of guysthat I'm in a text message with
throughout Ohio we're allplaying this weekend down at
Lancaster in the CurveballClassic Ten different coaches
from all over the state thatwe've gotten to know through
(23:31):
clinics and national conventionsand things like that.
That you know we shoot thingsall the time in there, so those
are all good things.
You know we shoot things all thetime in there, so those are all
good things.
You know.
And I guess you know make sureyou do things the right way and
do them for the right reasons.
You know you're not in it forthe fame, the fortune, anything
(23:52):
like that, because there's notmuch fortune in it and unless
you win every year, you'reprobably not going to have much
fame.
You know those are all a lot ofbig things and you know I guess
probably have some thick skinbecause you're going to get it
from time to time, probably froma parent or a player, you know,
because emotions run high.
(24:15):
And then, probably, lastly, theone thing that we've done a lot
more lately is we haveone-on-one, real conversations
with every one of our playerspreseason, sometimes midseason
and then again postseason, andwe tell them what their role is,
we tell them what we expect outof them.
We send the paper home so momand dad can see it, mom and dad
(24:38):
sign it, send it back.
That way, if and when there's aproblem, boom, there's the
paper.
This is what we told you.
You know, some guys exceed whatwe tell them and that's great,
you know.
But for the most part, mostguys are spot on, because we ask
them where they think theybelong to.
And kids know more than youthink Like.
(25:00):
They know where they belong andthey probably could make a
lineup up every day and have itpretty close to what us coaches
have.
But you know, those are thethings that I think that if you
look at and discuss with thekids and it'll help you be
successful as well.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
Well, you know there are a couple of things that you
mentioned there.
You know I always admiredcoaches when you'd see them at a
state or national conventionand they're sitting there
towards the front and they'retaking notes and you're like
holy cow, that guy's won threestate titles.
You know there's a reason whythose guys win, because you know
they're not hanging out talkingto their friends or whatever.
(25:40):
They're learning from somethingfrom somebody new.
And you know, the other thingthat you mentioned, derek, that
I always try to do at thebeginning of the season was I
handed out a sheet of paper andtold everybody make your
starting lineup.
And it's amazing, like you said,how close those players are to
what the coaches are thinking.
(26:01):
And it also helps if you dohave that one player that maybe
a parent gets upset and you say,look, your son doesn't even
have himself in the startinglineup.
So it kind of helps you in thatsense too.
Well, let me ask you, when youevery coach kind of changes and
(26:21):
progresses or, you know, maybeadapts their coaching style,
what are mistakes that you'vemade or you have seen other
coaches make?
And how do you, how did youchange to make you and the
others, uh, around you better?
Speaker 3 (26:39):
Yeah, I think probably when I first started I
was pretty fiery.
I would let a lot of thingsaffect me.
You know I wouldn't say I wouldjump players, but I would get
on players a little bit at timesAfter a loss I would let it
(27:02):
affect me and I mean, I thinkthat's human nature at times,
especially early in your career,because there's games that
every baseball coach has lost,that they should never lose, but
there's also games that you win, that you have no reason
winning those games.
So you know, I think over thecourse of time you know
(27:26):
understanding that it is just agame and the kids aren't out
there trying to lose the game.
You know they're giving youeverything they have, they're
doing everything for the rightreason and and sometimes the
other team's better than you.
So you know you accept that.
You shake their hands and yougo back and get after it.
(27:48):
Um, I think more recently I'vebeen a little more relaxed.
I still get fired up, don't getme wrong.
Um, you know there's been times.
I know that we have a little uh, it's like a story shit at the
end of our dugout and I might goin there once in a while, you
know, just to vent something tomyself or you know, just so it's
(28:10):
out of the way.
But I understand, like I said,that these kids are really
trying their best.
Like I said, these kids arereally trying their best and you
know it makes it easy when youwin, but when you lose at times
like that's when sometimes thebad side comes out.
I think I've learned to dealwith losing and get better.
(28:34):
Now I will say our one lossthat we had this year we have an
AWARE camera system where wehave six camera, camera angles,
and I probably watched that gamefor about three hours again
after we got be just trying tosee what we might have done
better.
But you know it wasn't.
It wasn't anything that anybodydid wrong.
It's just one little play thatthat happened and, uh, you know
(28:55):
it is what it is and and you getbetter.
So I think that's the big thing.
Just I've I've probably comefull circle with going, you know
, being a little more fiery to alittle more, you know, calm and
laid back and and things likethat.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
What would you tell travel coaches or, in your part
of the state, you guys arereally big into the Acme
baseball.
What would you tell the coachesand parents of those levels to
help their players get ready forhigh school baseball?
Because I've talked to so manydifferent coaches where they say
that kids show up as freshmenand they struggle with a lot of
(29:36):
the stuff that you think thatthey should already know.
Speaker 3 (29:39):
Yeah, that's something that I've probably
changed a bunch too over theyears.
I used to be play Acme, acme,acme, acme, because we used to
play 30 games in the summer.
You play the whole month ofJune, you know, and that was
great.
But that was also 20 years agowhere travel baseball really
(30:00):
still wasn't big in the area,you know.
Then I started saying go playsome Legion baseball, because
Legion baseball around here wasstill was still pretty big at
the time and you could stillplay some Acme baseball as well.
And now I'm I'm full circle,like both my boys have played
(30:20):
travel baseball.
We probably have 12 to 14 kidsin our program right now that
play travel baseball.
But I also only play on Monday,tuesdays and Wednesdays,
therefore allowing our kids toplay travel Thursdays through
Sunday.
So our kids that really, really, really want to play baseball,
they play every day anyway inthe summer.
(30:42):
The other thing we have to workaround is at Walpurg.
Even though we're a fairly bigschool, we still have, I think,
every kid on our varsity team,but one is at least a two-sport
athlete and there's a couplethree-sport guys.
So you know you got to also usetheir time wisely and not burn
(31:06):
them out Now, when it comes toplaying summer ball, and what
would I tell the summer coaches?
You know, I think the big thingis the kids have to be honest
with the summer coaches firstand foremost.
You know, I don't like the factwhen I see some of our kids
throw Thursday, saturday, sunday, all on the same weekend.
You know, no kid is going totell their coach, hey, I can't
(31:30):
throw today because they won'twant to let the team down.
But as a head coach and I talkabout it all the time with my
assistants like, ooh, this kidthrew Thursday, he threw
Saturday and he threw Sunday andhe may not throw a lot of
pitches any of those days, butit's like that's tough on a kid.
You know, I think, as summercoaches and I help coach a
(31:51):
summer team.
So we've come now that they'rein high school, like, you're
going to start on Thursday,you're not going to pitch
anymore this weekend.
You know we're going to try toget as many out of you on
Thursday and you try to havesome, like you know, early
weekend guys that can get youthrough pool play.
And that's what I'd like totell coaches Like use these guys
in pool, use these guys when itcomes to tournament time in the
(32:14):
summer.
So the big thing there is onarms, especially just not
overusing arms, uh, and then youknow, I know in the summer
sometimes a kid might be myshortstop but he might go play
second base or third base orcenter field.
I'm okay with that.
Learn, learn to play anotherposition, uh, and make yourself
(32:35):
really good, make yourselfreally versatile, because if you
want to play college baseball,the the chances are you're
probably not going to be ashortstop, or every kid that
comes in with you will be ashortstop.
So you know, be versatile.
And I tell our kids, hey, go dowhatever they ask, but be
honest with them when it comesto pitching.
And then you know, just, wewant them to have fun, but we
(32:57):
want them to work hard.
We don't want them to go backdigress, I guess during the
summer because there isn't asmuch practice time, it's just
show up for games.
So you got to work on your owna little bit or hope that the
organization that you play formaybe they take BP every day
before they play.
(33:17):
And you know, those are thethings that you hope and can
build on.
Hate losing or love winning?
Probably hate losing, but Ithink that's just the
competitive nature in me, youknow, I just, I feel like I mean
it is fun to win, don't get mewrong.
(33:38):
And yeah, I just, I is fun towin, don't get me wrong.
Uh, and I, yeah, I just, I hateto lose.
Uh, you know, I, I, I reallycan't say anything else other
than that All right?
Speaker 1 (33:48):
Well, you're coaching an MLB team and you can add
three outfielders to your team,Group A or group B.
Group A you got Ty Cobb, WillieMays and Ken Ken Griffey Jr,
(34:13):
and Group B you got RickyHenderson, Ted Williams and
Roberto Clemente.
What?
Speaker 3 (34:15):
group are you taking?
Probably taking group A, Ibelieve.
I mean I know I wasn't aroundto see Ty Cobb but I heard he
played the game as hard asanybody and he would go hard in
the second, just old school.
(34:37):
I think both groups have, Imean from a perceptive guys that
were all about themselves alittle bit.
Ricky Henderson was all abouthimself, you know.
I think Ken Griffey Jr had alittle bit of that in him.
But Ken Griffey Jr was man backin his prime.
I mean I loved watching him.
He's probably one of myfavorite guys and he could play.
(35:00):
So I think Devlin, who was thethird guy in group A, was it Ted
Williams also watching him.
He's probably one of my myfavorite guys and he could play.
Uh, so I think, definitely, whowas the third guy in group a?
Was it ted williams?
Willie mays, willie mays, yeah,I mean one of the greatest as
well.
I mean I, I like I said I onlyreally watched griffey and saw
ricky a little bit, you know,but but I mean group a, I think,
hands down.
Speaker 1 (35:21):
At least if you had Ricky in your dugout, you'd have
a lot of great stories.
Yes, tell me a funny story fromyour time either as a coach or
a player.
Speaker 3 (35:32):
I can say one would be this year, and a couple of my
players actually saw it happen.
Like I said, we sit back in ourlittle storage shed at the end
of our dugout.
We leave the garage door open.
We try to tell people that'swhere the media guys should go,
but they never go in there.
It'd be perfect.
So we sit in there as coachesand we were playing a league
(35:54):
game.
It was 1-0, top of the seventh,two outs.
And our pitcher has an 0-2count on the guy and hits him.
And I'm sitting on the bucketand I went and I kind of like
hit the bucket well, I must havebeen a little bit leaning
forward because the bucket flewout from under me.
I fell straight back and theguy that does our camera system,
(36:18):
he's like helping me up and I'mlike, oh you know, like man.
Hopefully nobody saw that.
So after the game, my shortstopand left fielder both saw it
happen and uh, they're likecoach.
I couldn't stop laughing and uh,you know, so I, I, you know
it's probably a little bit of anembarrassment to myself.
Uh, but that fiery side, Ipunched the bucket but forgot
(36:40):
that I was sitting on an emptybucket first of all.
So you know anything's going tohappen.
And then I just kind of slippedback and things like that
happened.
You know, it's pretty funny.
I can laugh about it because wedid win and a couple of the
guys got a chuckle out of it.
You know, I would say that'sprobably one of the funnier
things that I can remember rightnow.
(37:01):
I'm sure the players have someother stories about me.
I probably make up some wordswhen I'm talking to in the
middle of a, you know, aconversation with the team or
something.
I know I've made up words, I'vetold funny stories, some of
them probably aren't, you know,repeatable.
Speaker 1 (37:20):
But hey, we'll go from there.
You know what's funny is that,shortstop and left fielder, you
guys might go on to win a statechampionship and 20 years from
now, that'll be the storythey'll be telling their friends
and their kids probably well,and I even said something after
the game and and none of theother guys saw it, thankfully.
Speaker 3 (37:36):
but then those two like oh no, I saw it, I saw it,
I mean, and they were stilllaughing and they had to tell
all the players.
Speaker 1 (37:41):
So yeah, Well, I had a similar story happen and I had
a rival coach on and he toldthe same story about their whole
dugout.
So it happened to me and I waslike, oh boy, that's just
totally relate to you.
Yeah, well, to finish up,totally relate to you.
(38:05):
Yeah, well, to finish up.
What can we do to keep growingthe game of high school baseball
to make it better for players?
Speaker 3 (38:09):
and coaches.
That's a tough question,because I think we talked a
little bit earlier how I thinknumbers are dwindling a little
bit, um, and I'm not sure why.
Um, you know, this is probablyour lowest.
This is our lowest amount ofkids that we've had since I've
been the head coach here, but wealso only have three seniors,
(38:29):
so that part's a little morechallenging.
After this year we'll be backup number-wise.
You know, I think some of it, Ithink you know youth was very
important, uh, getting our youthteams, and and here in wapok we
used to have, like we have recbaseball, which is great.
Um, and then, like, from therewe did just youth travel in our
(38:54):
hometown.
So you know the I won't evensay the best any kid that wanted
to try out, uh, for, like ournine-year-old team, our
10-year-old team, our11-year-old team, our
12-year-old team, they could tryout, and then we'd go around.
We have a lot of local, uhcommunity tournaments throughout
the summer, pretty much mid-maytill the end of june, even
(39:14):
middle of july, um, so our kidscould play in four to six
tournaments during the course ofthe summer.
Uh, we've had some years here,though, where we haven't had
enough kids to make a team.
This is the first time now,back in probably three or four
years now, that we've had eight,nine, 10, 11, and 12-year-old
teams that'll play throughoutthe area.
(39:36):
So first thing, I think, isjust play as much baseball as
you can when you're young, andkids that enjoy it will continue
to play.
First thing, I think, is justplay as much baseball as you can
when you're young, and kidsthat enjoy it will continue to
play, and then, as they getolder, you still have to make it
enjoyable.
I think a big thing with kidstoo is on Friday nights in the
(39:56):
fall you can hear your nameannounced.
Friday nights in the winter youcan be out in front of 1,500
fans and hear your nameannounced.
In the spring there might be 20fans and they're all family
members and it's 40 degrees andyou might be lucky if you hear
your name announced.
You know, I think not all kidsplay because of that reason.
(40:20):
Right there, I think weather ishuge.
I would have never said thatbefore, but now I think you know
I don't think we'll ever changeour seasons with football and
baseball, but I feel like wecould back up our season here in
Ohio.
I know we've done it in thepast, but I think we could back
it up a little more, just so wehave better weather, because I
(40:46):
feel like a lot of people don'twant to be out when it's 30
degrees or raining sideways orsleeting or snowing or all of
the above during a game.
That's something.
And keeping our youth involved,you know, and winning at the
high school level helps growyour younger programs.
(41:09):
So when young kids see a highschool team having success, what
do they want to do?
They want to play and you knowwe've been fortunate here with
that and I hope we continue todo that.
I just want to help build ouryouth back up to where it was 5,
10, 15 years ago.
So I think keeping the youthinvolved I can't say travel
(41:34):
because I like travel baseball Ireally do because a lot of
times you're best played thereand you get to go compete
against your best but I thinksome travel teams are watered
down.
You know every community hastons of travel teams now and you
know we've played some reallygood travel teams in the summer
(41:57):
and we've played some really badtravel teams.
And I think sometimes parentsget bad advice Like, oh, your
kid can do this the summer andwe played some really bad travel
teams and I think sometimesparents get bad advice, um, like
, oh, your kid can do this, it's.
It's tough to play at the nextlevel.
Um, and and, and we I as headcoaches we know that, uh, but
sometimes I feel like travelcoaches not all, because there
(42:17):
are some really good travelcoaches, uh but some don't
always tell the truth to parentsand that hurts our kids,
because then you know, oh well,this coach told them this.
Well, not the case.
So you know, I think beinghonest with our travel coaches
in the summer, being honest withour high school kids, that
(42:37):
helps, you know, build it aswell a little bit.
So might have went off a littlebit there, but I kind of feel
like that's one of the thingsthat we can get better at.
Speaker 1 (42:46):
Yes, Totally agree.
Well, it's Jason Brandt, headbaseball coach at Wapakoneta
High School.
Coach first, thanks for takingthe time to do this.
You're back at school and it'salmost nine o'clock at night.
And two, hey, best of luck therest of the way and I'd love to
see you make a run and get tothe state championship again.
Speaker 3 (43:08):
Thank you, that's going to be very difficult, but
you know, if it happens thatwould be awesome.
Speaker 1 (43:14):
All right, thanks again, coach, thank you.
Baseball Coaches Unplugged isproud to be partnered with the
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(43:36):
As always, I'm Coach KenCarpenter.
Thanks for listening toBaseball Coaches Unplugged.
Today on Baseball Coaches Unplugged.
How one coach handles hispitching staff as the end of the
season state tournament isquickly approaching and you've
already lost a week's worth ofgames to rain.
And why he practices less thecloser he gets to the tournament
and you want to stick around tothe end to hear the story of
(00:23):
the dangers of sitting on abucket.
All this and more with JasonBrandt, head baseball coach at
Wapakoneta High School in Ohio.
Next, on Baseball CoachesUnplugged.
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Hello and welcome to BaseballCoaches Unplugged.
I'm your host, coach KenCarpenter, and thanks for
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Don't forget to hit thesubscribe button and tell your
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Every Wednesday, look for a newepisode with the best baseball
(02:44):
coaches from around the country.
Now let's hear from head coachJason Brandt at Wapakoneta High
School in Ohio.
Coach, thanks for taking thetime to be on Baseball Coaches
Unplugged.
Thanks for having me.
I appreciate it.
Well, we're getting close tothe end of the season here in
Ohio and the state tournament isright around the corner.
(03:04):
Is the season going for you theway you expected and do you
think you guys are capable ofmaking a deep run.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Well, I'll be honest, I I did not think.
We're 12 and 1 right now.
And if you would have asked meback in January, february, even
March, what we'd be, I wouldhave asked me back in January,
february, even March what we'dbe I would have said around 500.
We returned six guys thatplayed varsity last year, but
only two of them reallycontributed a lot and one of
(03:35):
those players actually wasinjured for half the season.
So we really have a reallyyoung team.
We only have one senior starter.
We have nine underclassmen thatplay regularly.
So definitely we've come out alot better than I thought we
would, which is great, but westill have a lot of baseball
(03:58):
ahead of us.
So the next two weeks arepretty important to us to see
how we handle playing every dayand then getting into the
tournament and going from there.
But I mean, I like our team, Ilike how we've gelled throughout
the year, I like how we play,we've thrown the ball really
(04:19):
well, we've hit it really welland defensively I think we only
have eight errors in our 13games.
So that's probably kept us in alot of games or helped us win.
So right now I think we have achance.
But our district is loaded witha lot of guys that can throw
the ball.
You know in the upper 80s, low90s, and we know how baseball is
(04:40):
Like.
It just takes one of those guysto put a team down.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
So what you're telling me is it's it's all
coaching.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
I wish I could say that, I mean, my assistants were
on the same page with me.
So, uh, our kids have just donea really good job.
They, uh, they get along aswell as anybody and they're
pretty gritty.
Um, you know, they yelled at mebecause we canceled a couple
games when it was, you know, 30degrees outside.
I'm like I'm old and I don'twant to be in that, and you know
(05:08):
they want to play every day.
So you know, that's something,as a coach, you really love.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Well, what inspired you to become a high school
baseball coach?
Speaker 3 (05:17):
That's a tough call.
Yeah, I grew up at Anna, whichis just about 10 miles south of
here in Wapak.
I played basketball, baseballand golf there, Really liked my
coaches I had basically the samecoaches for all three sports.
They were great guys.
(05:38):
And then I went to college atCapital University and played
baseball there and while I wasthere I was an athletic training
major but we had to have asecond major and I chose
education and kind of afterabout a year of doing both, I
decided that the education partwas more my style and I just
(06:02):
loved being around baseball andI was able to help out with our
summer acme team at Anna, one ofmy one of my summers of college
, and kind of liked it there.
And then I graduated inDecember and Anna had a JV
coaching job that year and I Ijust took it um, and then I got
hired the following year atWapaw as a teacher as well.
(06:23):
I had a freshman coaching jobthat lasted a year.
I still like doing it.
The varsity job came open and Iwas the assistant for three
years.
Our head coach, then left In2002, 2003,.
I guess I became the head coach.
I guess you say the rest ishistory.
I really enjoyed it here.
We have great facilities.
(06:44):
The rest is history.
I really really enjoyed it here.
We have great, great facilities.
Our administration is great.
We've gotten a lot of thingsthat they've done for us for our
field.
We just got field turf threeyears ago for the infield and
it's just top notch.
So you know, they've made iteasy.
The kids here have made it easy.
The parents here have made itpretty easy to coach and be
(07:06):
successful.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
Well, traditionally there at Wapakoneta, you guys
have been one of the topprograms in that area and you
know, of course, across thestate.
If I talk to your players, pastand present, what would they
tell me about you when it comesto team culture and philosophy?
Speaker 3 (07:28):
um, you know, I think , our philosophy I'll start with
that first.
I, I think, you know, everyyear we just tried to build on
what we've done the year before.
Um, we get some of that in thesummer with our acme, but a lot
of our kids play travel baseball.
And then, you know, we do a lotof just off-season conditioning
(07:51):
weightlifting, running,throwing, hitting, anything that
can get our non-fall and wintersports kids involved with
something.
And there's always usually youknow two to three to four guys
that played the year before thathelp run those and they know
what's expected of everybody.
Uh, and they make it very easyon the coaches.
(08:13):
Um, you know, and then our goalduring the year, it's it's
never to win the league, that'sone of our goals, but our goal
is to be playing our bestbaseball come.
Well, it used to be early May,now it's late May, just because
that's when the tournament rollsaround.
And you know, winning a leaguechampionship is great, but I
(08:33):
know a lot of our kids remember,you know, a district
championship or a regionalchampionship, or even making
state, and those things aregreat because that helps build
your program.
Now, the culture like we, wedeal with guys that want to be
there every day.
Um, and you know, some yearswe'll keep 15 or 16 on the
(08:55):
varsity level and this yearwe're down to like 12 or 13 and
those guys just want to play.
Um, you know, we personalagendas.
We try to keep those asidebecause when guys start getting
into it for the wrong reasons or, you know, wanting personal
stats and things start going thewrong way quick.
And I think in the last five orsix years we've had guys that
(09:18):
were able to shut down those badkarma guys and things like that
to help our program be a littlemore successful.
And I think that's one of thethings this year.
Like, nobody's in it for thewrong reasons.
They're all there just to playbaseball and go out and win some
games.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
Well, I, you know, I know that just around the state
of Ohio, with all the rain we'vebeen getting this past week and
it's still happening right now,it's got to be annoying,
driving you crazy because it's.
You know the pitching rules andthe way that the pitch count
rule is, and how do you?
You know every coach goes intoit knowing that, hey, it's Ohio,
(10:01):
we're going to get a stretchwhere we're going to have
back-to-back-to-back games.
How do you prepare forsomething like that?
Speaker 3 (10:08):
Yeah, I'll go back to the beginning of the season.
We played on that first Fridaywe could play.
It was 75 and sunny, and thenwe turned around and played
Monday when it was 41 degreesand cloudy, and then we had 11
days off.
We couldn't get a game inbecause maybe it was a Wednesday
and we aren't allowed to playon Wednesdays, or like a nice
day, but nobody already.
(10:29):
Everybody else already hadgames scheduled and we just
couldn't find games.
So you know that part of it'sreally frustrating because you
got to work.
Well, these guys need to throwbullpens, these guys are
probably going to start tomorrowif we play.
So we got to kind of hold off onthose guys and then to say, man
, we've been outside almostevery day in the preseason
(10:51):
during practice, especially withthe turf, and then, oh man,
we're back inside and there'snothing worse than going back
inside after you've been outsideand you've played games.
So you know, sometimes we haveto shorten practices up.
Maybe today we're just going tohit and with 12 to 14 guys you
(11:12):
can get through a lot of hittingin an hour to an hour and 15
minutes and the guys kind ofenjoy that because it gives them
a little bit of a break.
You know we're not going two,two and a half hours and then
they're, you know, using alltheir energy up.
So we had to do that now wherewe're getting into the stretch
where we're supposed to have aleague game tomorrow.
But they're also calling for ahalf-inch range.
So you know that might getbacked up to Wednesday and then
(11:37):
you know we might not play againuntil Friday, saturday, but
then next week we have six gamesin six days or whatever.
So throw a bullpen, maybetomorrow, get a couple innings
on the hill and then, you know,hope all those guys are ready
and able to throw strikes whenwe need it next week, just
because they haven't been on thehill a lot this spring because
(11:58):
of the weather.
So you know, you hope you getthe most out of them and go from
there Well you know youmentioned, you know, 10 days
without getting on getting outthere and playing.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
You know I I would love to to see a high school
football or basketball coachhave to have to do that.
That would be, that would befun to watch, because baseball
is a totally different animal.
And you know, I wanted to talkto you because at one I knew you
guys.
You guys are having a greatseason and this is the perfect
(12:31):
time to talk about the statetournament which is coming up
and in Ohio it's lose one gameand you're done and um, over the
years, do you keep the sameapproach, uh, or does your
coaching style change a littlebit once you get into the
tournament?
Speaker 3 (12:51):
We try to keep the same approach.
You know, year to year itchanges.
I know I'll just go like in mysecond year being the head coach
, we won a district championshipand and I didn't know what to
expect I mean, here I am, I'mprobably 25, 26 years old and we
play Walsh Jesuit and they wonthe state that year.
(13:13):
That was 2004.
They had nine men on the fieldand you know we're going up
there and our guys are justhappy to be there because I
think Walpole could only won oneother district championship
before that in baseball.
So you know we go up there andthey wax us pretty good.
We didn't get run ruled, butthey wax us pretty good.
And then we had a stretch ofsome years there where we would
(13:34):
be competitive but not make itout of districts.
And that's always tough as acoach because you know, I'll be
honest, when I first startedcoaching here, wap walk up and
maybe only won one or twotournament games the previous 10
years.
Um, so you know our first yearwas, hey, let's win a tournament
game and and then we went fromthere and we had a really good
(13:56):
stretch from like 2010 to 2018.
I think we won five districtchampionships in there and, and
each year we did somethingdifferent as we progressed.
You know, the later we get intothe season, the less we
practice.
That might sound weird, but I'ma big believer.
Our guys need to have a littlebit of rest and recovery time as
(14:18):
well.
You know, this is another weirdthing we do during tournament.
One day I bring out I got aboutthree or four college bats.
And you know, this is anotherweird thing we do during
tournament week.
One day I bring out I got aboutthree or four college bats.
So we bring out the old dropfive two and three-quarter-inch
barrel bats and we see how farwe can hit it.
One day Everybody backs up tothe fence so nobody gets hurt,
(14:42):
and we just see how far guys canhit baseballs with those bats.
And the guys don't believe howju those bats really were.
But uh, so it's trying to tryto keep them loose and have fun.
Um, you know, and the otherthing is is is once you get to
tournament you really only useabout three pitchers, maybe four
, uh, you know, throughout theweekend and so so the last
couple of years, or the last fewyears, we've thrown our other
(15:05):
guys against our guys just sothey can get a little more alive
.
They're not guys that we'regoing to see in a tournament,
but it's a live arm and it's achance for our guys that maybe
won't pitch in the tournament toprove that they're going to be
ready for us if we need it andgo from there.
But it kind of depends on theteam we have and sometimes the
(15:27):
weather, because if it's 85, 90degrees and that turf's cooking,
we don't want to be out thereas long either, and you know we
go that route.
So you know we don't change alot, but we might shorten things
up, but we might shorten thingsup.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
Well, to a lot of people, coaching high school
baseball looks easy, and they'reusually the fans on the other
side of the fence and not in thedugout.
Over the years, what have beensome of your biggest challenges
in you know, from the oppositeside of it, biggest rewards.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
Biggest challenges is .
I mean, I think sometimes theexpectations have been a lot
higher from the outside thanmaybe what it is from the inside
, with the coaches, you know,because I think the coaching
staff has a pretty good handleon things.
We know what our team's made of.
We know what we can and can'tdo, you know, and a challenge is
(16:33):
like getting beat.
I remember a couple years agoit's been probably five or six
years ago we faced a team in thefirst round Maumee would only
won two, faced a team in thefirst round Maumee who had only
won two or three games in theregular season, and they come in
with a dude throwing 92 againstus.
We did beat him 2-1, but it'slike, holy cow, where did this
come from?
Because we don't do a lot ofscouting north of us.
(16:55):
Usually we play a team thatwe've already played during the
season for the first round.
We knew the kid was good.
I didn't know he was 92 good,you know, and that's really
tough and that's hard to coach.
You know your kids up, you know.
Maybe another challenge was, youknow, in 2012 and 2018, we were
(17:17):
maybe an hour away from winninga state championship.
Both games Got beat by one onegame and got beat by two in the
other, but played lights out inboth games.
You know it's disappointingthat we lost but in the whole
realm of things it's awesomethat we got there and our kids
had a chance twice to bring homethe title to WAPUG and we just
(17:40):
felt short.
But I was proud of those guysas much as I could be.
Uh, some of the rewards.
I mean I've coached both mysons.
My oldest son, um, is asophomore in college now.
Uh, pitching out at LackawannaCollege in Pennsylvania.
Um my youngest son is asophomore on our varsity team
this year playing second basesports.
My youngest son is a sophomoreon our varsity team this year
(18:01):
playing second base sports.
You know I could also say it'sa challenge because they're kind
of like me and they get alittle fiery at times and they
might shoot back at me orsomething and I'll get back at
them, but it's been really funto coach them.
You know they always want.
You know they always say nevergive up.
And those guys want extrabatting practice every day and
you know, as long as I can do it, I'm going to be up there
(18:23):
throwing to them and that's sometime that you won't get much
more of once you know they'regraduated and things like that.
The other rewards are justseeing all the kids come through
and then getting a text, arandom text message from one of
them saying hey, great jobtonight or keep up the good work
, or you get an invitation to awedding.
You know you try to get to mostof them.
(18:44):
It's sometimes tough in thesummer with my own sons playing
baseball, but you try to getback and go to those and all
those things.
And then just the relationships, like two of my former players.
Three of my former players areactually coaches for us right
now.
So you know, I hope that one ofthose guys gets gets the head
(19:05):
coaching job when I decide togive it up here, because they
put in a lot of time and they'vebeen here and they know what
what it takes and we can go fromthere.
So you know, the rewards are sothere's so many.
You know whether it's a teamreward, a personal reward, a
community reward, it's just,it's fun to be around.
Um, you know, and we have greatcommunity support.
(19:28):
No matter where we go, we havetons of fans and, and you know,
our parents have been likealmost perfect to a t for the.
You know, 22, 23 years I'vebeen the head coach and I know
that's not true at all places.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
Well, let me ask you this you were, if you were asked
to sit down and give someadvice to coaches who want to
become a high school head coach,what advice would you give them
?
And the reason I'm asking thatis I spoke to a coach who's a
Hall of Fame member recently andhe's still coaching, and he was
(20:10):
the type of guy that would have20, 20, 20 freshman JV varsity
and he'd end up having to cut 15, 20 guys and he'd end up having
to cut 15, 20 guys.
And he told me now that nowhe's down to 43 guys total in
the program.
So baseball's.
You know it's tough because ofall the changes that happen.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
What would you tell someone who aspires to be a high
school head coach?
Number one, I think, firstforemost, is it's time consuming
.
You know, if you want to have asuccessful program, you got to
put in a lot of time, and Ithink we've put in a lot more
time as the years have gone onand gotten closer to where we
are now than we did at first andnot saying that we didn't put
(21:01):
in time early on, but it's a lotdifferent now.
We didn't lift weights untilprobably 2012.
I'll be honest, the weight roomwas not a thing.
We did a lot more agility,speed, things like that.
But now, when you incorporatethe weight room a little more
and you have your extra, you'rethrowing, you're hitting, you're
open fields, you're.
And then you have, you know,your expert.
You're throwing, you're hittingyour open fields, uh, you know
(21:22):
you're looking at a couple hoursa day, times two, three, four
times a week, um, and in thesummer, like I mean, we go three
days a week in the summer,early morning, weight room and
agility, um, and we're going toadd into some more like small
group settings this summer.
We've already discussed that.
So time commitment is number one.
(21:43):
If you're married, have areally good wife that supports
you.
You know, I mean, my wife hasbeen at probably every game, or,
if she wasn't there, she was atone of my son's games, and that
helps a ton.
Both of my boys have been inthe dugout, probably, and that
that helps a ton.
Um, you know, both of my boyshave been in the dugout probably
not as much as other coaches,sons, um, but they, they've
(22:06):
learned the game through thedugout.
Um, I think, surround yourselfwith good assistant coaches.
Uh, one of my coaches coachedwith me, uh, from the time I
started up until 2018, and thenhe left to become a head coach
somewhere else.
My one assistant coach now hasbeen with me all, but like two
(22:27):
or three years during that time,my other assistants, like I
said, played for me.
So, you know, that helps a ton,and they've all been there like
eight years now, nine years now, so that helps a ton.
Getting all those guys Don't beafraid to ask questions.
You know, I think a lot ofcoaches have a lot of pride.
(22:47):
They don't want to askquestions.
They feel like, oh, I shouldknow this.
And one of the best guys, Imean Tom Held at Defiance, you
know, even though they're in ourleague.
He was a guy that would I meanwe still text all the time, you
(23:10):
know, whether it's aboutbaseball or anything else Like
he's a guy that would give youknow, good advice up until the
time you're playing and thenafter that, you know, then it's
back at it.
We have a good group of guysthat I'm in a text message with
throughout Ohio we're allplaying this weekend down at
Lancaster in the CurveballClassic Ten different coaches
from all over the state thatwe've gotten to know through
(23:31):
clinics and national conventionsand things like that.
That you know we shoot thingsall the time in there, so those
are all good things.
You know we shoot things all thetime in there, so those are all
good things.
You know.
And I guess you know make sureyou do things the right way and
do them for the right reasons.
You know you're not in it forthe fame, the fortune, anything
(23:52):
like that, because there's notmuch fortune in it and unless
you win every year, you'reprobably not going to have much
fame.
You know those are all a lot ofbig things and you know I guess
probably have some thick skinbecause you're going to get it
from time to time, probably froma parent or a player, you know,
because emotions run high.
(24:15):
And then, probably, lastly, theone thing that we've done a lot
more lately is we haveone-on-one, real conversations
with every one of our playerspreseason, sometimes midseason
and then again postseason, andwe tell them what their role is,
we tell them what we expect outof them.
We send the paper home so momand dad can see it, mom and dad
(24:38):
sign it, send it back.
That way, if and when there's aproblem, boom, there's the
paper.
This is what we told you.
You know, some guys exceed whatwe tell them and that's great,
you know.
But for the most part, mostguys are spot on, because we ask
them where they think theybelong to.
And kids know more than youthink Like.
(25:00):
They know where they belong andthey probably could make a
lineup up every day and have itpretty close to what us coaches
have.
But you know, those are thethings that I think that if you
look at and discuss with thekids and it'll help you be
successful as well.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
Well, you know there are a couple of things that you
mentioned there.
You know I always admiredcoaches when you'd see them at a
state or national conventionand they're sitting there
towards the front and they'retaking notes and you're like
holy cow, that guy's won threestate titles.
You know there's a reason whythose guys win, because you know
they're not hanging out talkingto their friends or whatever.
(25:40):
They're learning from somethingfrom somebody new.
And you know, the other thingthat you mentioned, derek, that
I always try to do at thebeginning of the season was I
handed out a sheet of paper andtold everybody make your
starting lineup.
And it's amazing, like you said,how close those players are to
what the coaches are thinking.
(26:01):
And it also helps if you dohave that one player that maybe
a parent gets upset and you say,look, your son doesn't even
have himself in the startinglineup.
So it kind of helps you in thatsense too.
Well, let me ask you, when youevery coach kind of changes and
(26:21):
progresses or, you know, maybeadapts their coaching style,
what are mistakes that you'vemade or you have seen other
coaches make?
And how do you, how did youchange to make you and the
others, uh, around you better?
Speaker 3 (26:39):
Yeah, I think probably when I first started I
was pretty fiery.
I would let a lot of thingsaffect me.
You know I wouldn't say I wouldjump players, but I would get
on players a little bit at timesAfter a loss I would let it
(27:02):
affect me and I mean, I thinkthat's human nature at times,
especially early in your career,because there's games that
every baseball coach has lost,that they should never lose, but
there's also games that you win, that you have no reason
winning those games.
So you know, I think over thecourse of time you know
(27:26):
understanding that it is just agame and the kids aren't out
there trying to lose the game.
You know they're giving youeverything they have, they're
doing everything for the rightreason and and sometimes the
other team's better than you.
So you know you accept that.
You shake their hands and yougo back and get after it.
(27:48):
Um, I think more recently I'vebeen a little more relaxed.
I still get fired up, don't getme wrong.
Um, you know there's been times.
I know that we have a little uh, it's like a story shit at the
end of our dugout and I might goin there once in a while, you
know, just to vent something tomyself or you know, just so it's
(28:10):
out of the way.
But I understand, like I said,that these kids are really
trying their best.
Like I said, these kids arereally trying their best and you
know it makes it easy when youwin, but when you lose at times
like that's when sometimes thebad side comes out.
I think I've learned to dealwith losing and get better.
(28:34):
Now I will say our one lossthat we had this year we have an
AWARE camera system where wehave six camera, camera angles,
and I probably watched that gamefor about three hours again
after we got be just trying tosee what we might have done
better.
But you know it wasn't.
It wasn't anything that anybodydid wrong.
It's just one little play thatthat happened and, uh, you know
(28:55):
it is what it is and and you getbetter.
So I think that's the big thing.
Just I've I've probably comefull circle with going, you know
, being a little more fiery to alittle more, you know, calm and
laid back and and things likethat.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
What would you tell travel coaches or, in your part
of the state, you guys arereally big into the Acme
baseball.
What would you tell the coachesand parents of those levels to
help their players get ready forhigh school baseball?
Because I've talked to so manydifferent coaches where they say
that kids show up as freshmenand they struggle with a lot of
(29:36):
the stuff that you think thatthey should already know.
Speaker 3 (29:39):
Yeah, that's something that I've probably
changed a bunch too over theyears.
I used to be play Acme, acme,acme, acme, because we used to
play 30 games in the summer.
You play the whole month ofJune, you know, and that was
great.
But that was also 20 years agowhere travel baseball really
(30:00):
still wasn't big in the area,you know.
Then I started saying go playsome Legion baseball, because
Legion baseball around here wasstill was still pretty big at
the time and you could stillplay some Acme baseball as well.
And now I'm I'm full circle,like both my boys have played
(30:20):
travel baseball.
We probably have 12 to 14 kidsin our program right now that
play travel baseball.
But I also only play on Monday,tuesdays and Wednesdays,
therefore allowing our kids toplay travel Thursdays through
Sunday.
So our kids that really, really, really want to play baseball,
they play every day anyway inthe summer.
(30:42):
The other thing we have to workaround is at Walpurg.
Even though we're a fairly bigschool, we still have, I think,
every kid on our varsity team,but one is at least a two-sport
athlete and there's a couplethree-sport guys.
So you know you got to also usetheir time wisely and not burn
(31:06):
them out Now, when it comes toplaying summer ball, and what
would I tell the summer coaches?
You know, I think the big thingis the kids have to be honest
with the summer coaches firstand foremost.
You know, I don't like the factwhen I see some of our kids
throw Thursday, saturday, sunday, all on the same weekend.
You know, no kid is going totell their coach, hey, I can't
(31:30):
throw today because they won'twant to let the team down.
But as a head coach and I talkabout it all the time with my
assistants like, ooh, this kidthrew Thursday, he threw
Saturday and he threw Sunday andhe may not throw a lot of
pitches any of those days, butit's like that's tough on a kid.
You know, I think, as summercoaches and I help coach a
(31:51):
summer team.
So we've come now that they'rein high school, like, you're
going to start on Thursday,you're not going to pitch
anymore this weekend.
You know we're going to try toget as many out of you on
Thursday and you try to havesome, like you know, early
weekend guys that can get youthrough pool play.
And that's what I'd like totell coaches Like use these guys
in pool, use these guys when itcomes to tournament time in the
(32:14):
summer.
So the big thing there is onarms, especially just not
overusing arms, uh, and then youknow, I know in the summer
sometimes a kid might be myshortstop but he might go play
second base or third base orcenter field.
I'm okay with that.
Learn, learn to play anotherposition, uh, and make yourself
(32:35):
really good, make yourselfreally versatile, because if you
want to play college baseball,the the chances are you're
probably not going to be ashortstop, or every kid that
comes in with you will be ashortstop.
So you know, be versatile.
And I tell our kids, hey, go dowhatever they ask, but be
honest with them when it comesto pitching.
And then you know, just, wewant them to have fun, but we
(32:57):
want them to work hard.
We don't want them to go backdigress, I guess during the
summer because there isn't asmuch practice time, it's just
show up for games.
So you got to work on your owna little bit or hope that the
organization that you play formaybe they take BP every day
before they play.
(33:17):
And you know, those are thethings that you hope and can
build on.
Hate losing or love winning?
Probably hate losing, but Ithink that's just the
competitive nature in me, youknow, I just, I feel like I mean
it is fun to win, don't get mewrong.
(33:38):
And yeah, I just, I is fun towin, don't get me wrong.
Uh, and I, yeah, I just, I hateto lose.
Uh, you know, I, I, I reallycan't say anything else other
than that All right?
Speaker 1 (33:48):
Well, you're coaching an MLB team and you can add
three outfielders to your team,Group A or group B.
Group A you got Ty Cobb, WillieMays and Ken Ken Griffey Jr,
(34:13):
and Group B you got RickyHenderson, Ted Williams and
Roberto Clemente.
What?
Speaker 3 (34:15):
group are you taking?
Probably taking group A, Ibelieve.
I mean I know I wasn't aroundto see Ty Cobb but I heard he
played the game as hard asanybody and he would go hard in
the second, just old school.
(34:37):
I think both groups have, Imean from a perceptive guys that
were all about themselves alittle bit.
Ricky Henderson was all abouthimself, you know.
I think Ken Griffey Jr had alittle bit of that in him.
But Ken Griffey Jr was man backin his prime.
I mean I loved watching him.
He's probably one of myfavorite guys and he could play.
(35:00):
So I think Devlin, who was thethird guy in group A, was it Ted
Williams also watching him.
He's probably one of my myfavorite guys and he could play.
Uh, so I think, definitely, whowas the third guy in group a?
Was it ted williams?
Willie mays, willie mays, yeah,I mean one of the greatest as
well.
I mean I, I like I said I onlyreally watched griffey and saw
ricky a little bit, you know,but but I mean group a, I think,
hands down.
Speaker 1 (35:21):
At least if you had Ricky in your dugout, you'd have
a lot of great stories.
Yes, tell me a funny story fromyour time either as a coach or
a player.
Speaker 3 (35:32):
I can say one would be this year, and a couple of my
players actually saw it happen.
Like I said, we sit back in ourlittle storage shed at the end
of our dugout.
We leave the garage door open.
We try to tell people that'swhere the media guys should go,
but they never go in there.
It'd be perfect.
So we sit in there as coachesand we were playing a league
(35:54):
game.
It was 1-0, top of the seventh,two outs.
And our pitcher has an 0-2count on the guy and hits him.
And I'm sitting on the bucketand I went and I kind of like
hit the bucket well, I must havebeen a little bit leaning
forward because the bucket flewout from under me.
I fell straight back and theguy that does our camera system,
(36:18):
he's like helping me up and I'mlike, oh you know, like man.
Hopefully nobody saw that.
So after the game, my shortstopand left fielder both saw it
happen and uh, they're likecoach.
I couldn't stop laughing and uh,you know, so I, I, you know
it's probably a little bit of anembarrassment to myself.
Uh, but that fiery side, Ipunched the bucket but forgot
(36:40):
that I was sitting on an emptybucket first of all.
So you know anything's going tohappen.
And then I just kind of slippedback and things like that
happened.
You know, it's pretty funny.
I can laugh about it because wedid win and a couple of the
guys got a chuckle out of it.
You know, I would say that'sprobably one of the funnier
things that I can remember rightnow.
(37:01):
I'm sure the players have someother stories about me.
I probably make up some wordswhen I'm talking to in the
middle of a, you know, aconversation with the team or
something.
I know I've made up words, I'vetold funny stories, some of
them probably aren't, you know,repeatable.
Speaker 1 (37:20):
But hey, we'll go from there.
You know what's funny is that,shortstop and left fielder, you
guys might go on to win a statechampionship and 20 years from
now, that'll be the storythey'll be telling their friends
and their kids probably well,and I even said something after
the game and and none of theother guys saw it, thankfully.
Speaker 3 (37:36):
but then those two like oh no, I saw it, I saw it,
I mean, and they were stilllaughing and they had to tell
all the players.
Speaker 1 (37:41):
So yeah, Well, I had a similar story happen and I had
a rival coach on and he toldthe same story about their whole
dugout.
So it happened to me and I waslike, oh boy, that's just
totally relate to you.
Yeah, well, to finish up,totally relate to you.
(38:05):
Yeah, well, to finish up.
What can we do to keep growingthe game of high school baseball
to make it better for players?
Speaker 3 (38:09):
and coaches.
That's a tough question,because I think we talked a
little bit earlier how I thinknumbers are dwindling a little
bit, um, and I'm not sure why.
Um, you know, this is probablyour lowest.
This is our lowest amount ofkids that we've had since I've
been the head coach here, but wealso only have three seniors,
(38:29):
so that part's a little morechallenging.
After this year we'll be backup number-wise.
You know, I think some of it, Ithink you know youth was very
important, uh, getting our youthteams, and and here in wapok we
used to have, like we have recbaseball, which is great.
Um, and then, like, from therewe did just youth travel in our
(38:54):
hometown.
So you know the I won't evensay the best any kid that wanted
to try out, uh, for, like ournine-year-old team, our
10-year-old team, our11-year-old team, our
12-year-old team, they could tryout, and then we'd go around.
We have a lot of local, uhcommunity tournaments throughout
the summer, pretty much mid-maytill the end of june, even
(39:14):
middle of july, um, so our kidscould play in four to six
tournaments during the course ofthe summer.
Uh, we've had some years here,though, where we haven't had
enough kids to make a team.
This is the first time now,back in probably three or four
years now, that we've had eight,nine, 10, 11, and 12-year-old
teams that'll play throughoutthe area.
(39:36):
So first thing, I think, isjust play as much baseball as
you can when you're young, andkids that enjoy it will continue
to play.
First thing, I think, is justplay as much baseball as you can
when you're young, and kidsthat enjoy it will continue to
play, and then, as they getolder, you still have to make it
enjoyable.
I think a big thing with kidstoo is on Friday nights in the
(39:56):
fall you can hear your nameannounced.
Friday nights in the winter youcan be out in front of 1,500
fans and hear your nameannounced.
In the spring there might be 20fans and they're all family
members and it's 40 degrees andyou might be lucky if you hear
your name announced.
You know, I think not all kidsplay because of that reason.
(40:20):
Right there, I think weather ishuge.
I would have never said thatbefore, but now I think you know
I don't think we'll ever changeour seasons with football and
baseball, but I feel like wecould back up our season here in
Ohio.
I know we've done it in thepast, but I think we could back
it up a little more, just so wehave better weather, because I
(40:46):
feel like a lot of people don'twant to be out when it's 30
degrees or raining sideways orsleeting or snowing or all of
the above during a game.
That's something.
And keeping our youth involved,you know, and winning at the
high school level helps growyour younger programs.
(41:09):
So when young kids see a highschool team having success, what
do they want to do?
They want to play and you knowwe've been fortunate here with
that and I hope we continue todo that.
I just want to help build ouryouth back up to where it was 5,
10, 15 years ago.
So I think keeping the youthinvolved I can't say travel
(41:34):
because I like travel baseball Ireally do because a lot of
times you're best played thereand you get to go compete
against your best but I thinksome travel teams are watered
down.
You know every community hastons of travel teams now and you
know we've played some reallygood travel teams in the summer
(41:57):
and we've played some really badtravel teams.
And I think sometimes parentsget bad advice Like, oh, your
kid can do this the summer andwe played some really bad travel
teams and I think sometimesparents get bad advice, um, like
, oh, your kid can do this, it's.
It's tough to play at the nextlevel.
Um, and and, and we I as headcoaches we know that, uh, but
sometimes I feel like travelcoaches not all, because there
(42:17):
are some really good travelcoaches, uh but some don't
always tell the truth to parentsand that hurts our kids,
because then you know, oh well,this coach told them this.
Well, not the case.
So you know, I think beinghonest with our travel coaches
in the summer, being honest withour high school kids, that
(42:37):
helps, you know, build it aswell a little bit.
So might have went off a littlebit there, but I kind of feel
like that's one of the thingsthat we can get better at.
Speaker 1 (42:46):
Yes, Totally agree.
Well, it's Jason Brandt, headbaseball coach at Wapakoneta
High School.
Coach first, thanks for takingthe time to do this.
You're back at school and it'salmost nine o'clock at night.
And two, hey, best of luck therest of the way and I'd love to
see you make a run and get tothe state championship again.
Speaker 3 (43:08):
Thank you, that's going to be very difficult, but
you know, if it happens thatwould be awesome.
Speaker 1 (43:14):
All right, thanks again, coach, thank you.
Baseball Coaches Unplugged isproud to be partnered with the
netting professionals, improvingprograms one facility at a time
.
Reach out to Will Miner and histeam and contact them today at
844-620-2707 or visit themonline at wwwnettingproscom.
(43:36):
As always, I'm Coach KenCarpenter.
Thanks for listening toBaseball Coaches Unplugged.
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