April 11, 2025 • 30 mins
Darren Headrick and Darren Williams sit down and preview the upcoming Baseball season!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The one thing that excites me the most about watching
Fall practice and thinking about the season coming up is
the youth that was on the team last year and
played and learned behind stars like Amelian Peatree, Grant Smith,
and Mitchell Daily. Those guys are going to get opportunities now.
It's Kaya Scarget's turn, it's Ethan Hindle's turn.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
I can speak from experience. When you come and you're
the guy in a mid major who's really really good,
you want to do it here like it just means more.
Is so true, because a lot more eyeballs are on you. Right,
It's a bigger stage, it's bigger stakes. The fan bases
are bigger, like the moments are bigger, the stadiums are bigger.
And every single one of those dudes who transferred in
(00:44):
and we could list off all of them, they want
to pitch on Friday Night against a first round pick
at KPP under the lights and go get a win
and a big time performance, just like Trey Pooser did.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
For us last year. Yeah, the boys will be ready
to play that weekend. They will so that.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
I'm fired up about the season, man, I can't wait
to get back to it. Like I said, you're just
itching for this six week stretch from the start of
the year until opening day is the longest six weeks.
You're inside, you're cold, cooped up, You're ready for baseball.
Baseball season start.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
After a winter hiatus. We are excited to be back.
Welcome in to another edition of Behind Kentucky Baseball. We
are brought to you by American Trust Wealth, a Kentucky
proud wealth services firm offering financial planning and investment management
for over forty years. You can find out more at
American Trustwealth dot com. I'm Darren Heddrick, joined by my
(01:50):
co host once again, Darren Williams. We call him Dub
on this show. Just to make sure nobody gets confused
about who's who. We don't have a guest on today's show.
We just wanted to talk about the season coming up.
There's a lot of excitement, obviously, Dub. With the calendar
turned officially to January. Now, we are just what about
four or five weeks as we're recording from the start
(02:11):
of the baseball season, and you can already kind of
feel a tinge of excitement around Kentucky Prout.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Park, especially because the tweets are starting to come out
from SEC Baseball, D one Baseball, like all kinds of
people is like, look up, we're four weeks away from
opening day as it stands right now.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
Yeah, it's coming quick.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
There's some specific SEC schools who are already over basketball
season looking towards baseball season, which I've seen some stuff
on the internet that's funny about that. But man, it
comes quick. But also at the same time, it is
the longest month of the year because all you want
to do is play that opening day game, and it
just drags out.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Take me into the mindset of a player in January.
You've gone through fall practice, everything is set, and now
it's kind of like the workouts building up to the
start of the season in February. What is the process
like once you get into January.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Well, I would say the first thing is to stay
warm because it some of those days can get really cold.
And coach Rozelle coach managed do a really good job
of getting in a noter indoor when it's gross outside
like it is now with snow on the ground and everything.
A lot of anticipation, like I was just talking about,
like you really want to get to opening day, right
and like one eye is on opening day. But the
(03:27):
other side of the equation is okay, especially as a pitcher,
right that can That's where I speak from, is okay,
I'm not ready yet for opening Day. I got to
do something this week and stack it and do more
next week and like build that process up. You're not
a finished product yet, You're they're not literally not ready
for opening day because they're arms. They're built up a
(03:48):
little bit, but they're not ready to rock and roll
like they will become mid February.
Speaker 3 (03:53):
It's almost like spring training for the college.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
It is it is, and they're about to get into it.
I know here a week to when opening practice starts
because they're playing three four inner squads.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
A week and let's go.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Yeah, I mean it's go time real quick. I think
they got like three weeks of doing that so well.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
It's going to be a brand new team this year,
as Kentucky lost several starters, including pretty much the entire infield.
We'll go into that in a moment, but it's a
new team and we've got some new digs that we're launching,
relaunching our podcast with here brand new studio for those
of you watching on the video feed on our digital platforms,
incredible room, incredible facility to do these podcasts in. We're
(04:34):
excited to do this and it sounds great.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
I love this book, Like this is insane, you know,
the the renderings of the new rep arena and to
get down into it, into this new space is We're
awfully lucky, Darren, Luckily. I don't know how we got
this kick, So I wanted to actually ask you about
it because you may know more about this than me. Right,
you were talking about, Oh, the brand new team. Essentially
(04:57):
there's only a few returners back. You get to be
with the women's basketball team every single day, and what
coach Brooks has done for that program.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
So far is awesome, just amazing.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
Yeah, the people are behind, like that's a fun brand
of basketball to watch. Yeah, and that's a whole new team.
How do you think that these coaches are dialing in
when they have to replace it essentially everybody?
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Well, I think the biggest thing is you see some
programs that just want to go out and get everybody
the best available, sort of like a draft, you just
want the best available. I think what coach Ben Gione
has done with baseball and what coach Brooks did with
women's basketball and what coach Pope has done with the
men's team. They went out and got talented players, but
they culturally fit the program and the system that these
(05:44):
coaches want to run. I have been so amazed at
what Kenny Brooks has done with this program in short order.
And it helped a lot when you bring an All
American point guard with you from Virginia Tech. But he
went out and found players that weren't necessarily shining at
their original schools. But they have taken a step forward
in their development this year. They've bought into the system
and you see the dividends as we record their fifteen
(06:06):
to one and undefeated in the league. I think coach
Menjiona has done that on the baseball side, going back
to when you were on the mound for this Kentucky program,
I guess it's been three years ago now, a team
that didn't make a regional but built the foundation and
sort of established the standard and expectations of the program,
and now we just see it continue to building. It
(06:27):
culminated in the World Series appearance.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
Yeah, I mean it was such a that twenty twenty
two group. It was such a blend of old guys
and transfers right that you had to build the right
psyche of the transfer portal class. They did a great
job of at maya second year in twenty three doing that,
and then twenty twenty four.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
They did a great job of it.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
I would assume that it's going to be the same
exact thing because the guys who have still been in
the program for a few years now that have cultivated
that success and that culture they're going to bring in
or transfer like this is what it looks like. This
is how you lead, and you only get three months
to get acclimated and then you're a leader in the clubhouse,
like you gotta be on it every single day.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
So, well, we talk about the brand new team, and
it's not hard to look around the locker room or
around the field and see it. Kentucky's returning sixteen letterman
or letter winners from last year, but they lost twenty four,
including eleven starters, seven position players, four pitchers, and thirty
new faces on the roster this year fourteen freshmen and
(07:29):
sixteen transfers. And I think this is where a lot
of people raise their eyebrows a little bit. When the
preseason rankings, which don't mean anything, but when the preseason
rankings came out, Kentucky wasn't listed among the top twenty five.
They replaced an outstanding team with a top ten portal class,
a really strong freshman class that includes perhaps one of
(07:51):
the best shortstops in the country that bypassed a potential
multimillion dollar deal to come play for Kentucky.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
I sent out the tweet after those ranks good, you know,
because last year unranked in the preseason polls, year before
unranked in the preseason polls. It is kind of like
what you got to do as a Kentucky baseball player.
You've got to go out there and prove it right
before anybody starts paying attention. And obviously there the first
four weeks the non conference is going to be what
(08:21):
it is. It's them first three or four sec weekends
where the guy's got to be rolling and they got
to come out on fire and with something to prove.
I think when you when you talk about this year's team,
I don't know how to start any other way than
with the guy behind the plate and Devin Burks. Yeah,
I know for a fact that Devin Burks is going
(08:41):
to have them boys ready to go and practice today,
let alone opening day, let alone opening day of SEC play.
When we go down to Georgia first weekend of March
or whatever it is, second weekend of March, like, these
guys are going to be ready to rock mentally. It's
just you've got to get in a groove right and
Georgia may play a really great game on that Friday. Okay,
you've got to come back on Saturday and you've got
(09:02):
to be ready to roll again.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
And it is what it is.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
You can't wait until May unfortunately, like we did in
twenty twenty two to get rolling. These guys got to
be rolling come February and March.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
And the good news is this year at Devn Birks
they added some depth to Catcher with a veteran receiver
from Kansas State Pelotier who can give Devon a night
off here and there.
Speaker 3 (09:24):
And it's added some depth to that.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Ca who we've heard really good things about and we've
seen him in a couple you know, inner squads this
fall talented veteran like you need. Obviously, the thing that
Devin does great that's unappreciated, it not in the stats,
is how he handles the pitching staff, how he communicates effectively,
how he calls games, how he plays defense, how he blocks,
how he throws out runners.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
How he leads literally from behind the plate.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
And to have somebody that can go in there on
a Tuesday or one day on the weekend and give
Devon just a breath of fresh air where he doesn't
have to be full go for literally five months, every
single day in a row.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
Is it gonna be very valuable?
Speaker 2 (10:02):
I believe in Devin's season come May and June.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
The one thing that excites me the most about watching
Fall practice and thinking about the season coming up is
the youth that was on the team last year and
played and learned behind stars like Amelian Petrie, Grant Smith,
and Mitchell Daily. Those guys are going to get opportunities.
Now it's Kaius Garget's turn, it's Ethan Hindle's turn. Let's
(10:26):
see how they handle that and how they take that
opportunity and run with it.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
I don't know how much you pay attention to the
tweets in the summer, but it felt like, and we
talked to him already this fall, like every day I
felt like Matt May was tweeting out, you know, Kayus,
garget Ethan Handle, Eli Small or Griffin Cameron do go
off in a summer league game. I'm excited to see
how they take that jump. I think one of the
(10:52):
biggest jumps you take is from freshman to sophomore year.
I think you take a bigger jump from sophomore a
junior year, which we'll I'm sure talk about with those
guys next next year. We're looking for all four of
those guys to really help us out. Yeah, like you said,
we had a lot of turnover this year, so those
four are going to have to step up and play
some minings for us, get some key hits, you know,
make some plays in the field. I think they'll be
(11:12):
ready for it. Though they're all four, they got their
heads on straight. They're super talented, super athletic, like they're
ready for this. They've been building for this for you know,
sixteen seventeen months now in college.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
I think they're ready for that.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
I don't know how you see that in other sports
and football and basketball where they take a big jump
and they haven't played, but they've practiced against these.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
Guys they can so much. Yeah, yeah, surely, I believe
in them.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
I think they can I've seen them absolutely rake in
some ball games.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
So let's talk about him real quick.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
We've already mentioned that Kentucky's got a first round pick
out of the MLB draft that elected to come to school.
That's Tyler Bell. Perhaps the most I don't want to
say hyped, but he certainly has a reputation about him.
Of course, super talented young man. I guess we couldn't
use the term hyped, but obviously perhaps one of the
(12:03):
biggest rising stars that Kentucky has added in quite some
time in terms of the notoriety and the talent around
him and the MLB draft pick. I'm excited to see
what this young man does because in the fall, he
just went about his business and he had a maturity
beyond his years, which I think is going to serve
him well in this league.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
I wish I could have seen every single in our squad.
Unfortunately only saw a handful of him. But yeah, very
mature at bats out of the kid. And what I like,
and we've talked about the culture is I don't believe
there's gonna be a lot of jealousy about that. I
think it like Devin Burks and Evan Byers, these guys
who have been there that Eli Small is the you know,
(12:42):
the Kais Gargettes aren't going to be like, oh, he's
a first round pick, Like I don't want him to know,
like you're really, really talented, Like you can help this team.
You can help now get back to Omaha, Like yeah,
put my arm around your shoulder, because I don't care
how talented you are. Every single player in the SEC
goes through patch because it is the best league in
(13:02):
America in every sport too. So at some point you're
gonna get punched in the face. How do you respond
from it? How do you come back from it? How
do you respond? And I think he will very well
because of how talented he is. And once you go
through that first rough patch and you get out of it,
you're way more mature baseball player at this level.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
I was thinking the other day about the shortstops that
Kentucky has enjoyed under Nick Binging, Trey Dawson, Ryan Ritter,
Austin Schultz played the position for a little while, and
then of course Grant Smith and now Tyler Bell. It's
almost like Kentucky is turning into one of the shortstop
us in the country.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
And I mean you could put Danny Harris or a
million Petricks exactly shortstop wanted to Yeah, absolutely, the middle
infield development, I give a lot of credit to, you know,
the guys who we've had helping coach manage and coach
manage not only recruit, but develop guys. Because Ryan Riddard
did nothing but get better here, right, you know.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
And now I mean he's been the minor league player
of the year. Yeah, he's a lead player of the year.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
He's going to be a big leaguer. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
A Million Petrie did nothing but get better here. Grant
Smith did nothing but get better here. Like it's not
just now you've got a fancy glove. It's like I'm
making every routine play, I'm leading the defense, I'm talking
to the pitchers, I'm communicating with the outfitters. Like every
aspect of the defensive part of infield has been cultivated
NonStop and coached really really really, really really hard to
(14:27):
these super talented athletes. And we get Tyler Bell for
two three years, like he's going to be the same
exact thing because of how hard our coaches are going
to coach a shortstop to be not only a really
good defensive shortstop and elite defensive shortstop and it's fun.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
It's fun to watch for us though, oh.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
No question about it, and you know the talent's going
to be there. I think the biggest question is how
quickly will that chemistry develop that we saw between Grant
Smith and Million Petrie where they were basically one body
playing two different positions. How quickly does that develop between
say a guard head or a Luke Lawrence and a
Tyler Bell and Aneathan Handle. How quickly do they get
there to that level.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
I mean, it's tough for me. It takes time.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
It's tough for me to say because I never played
the position. But you do have to have that chemistry.
You've got to be on the same wavelength at all times.
I think in Luke's case, he's been around college baseball
for a few years where he is probably going to
be the mental leader, you know, of that middle infield
and be able to communicate at all times. He's shown
(15:31):
some real promise in these inner squads in the fall
and in the early spring. I think he's going to
be a stud for us. Speaking of Luke Lawrence, but
you have to have that leader in the middle where
it's not like, okay, just go do your thing, freshman,
go do your thing over there at short stop. No, Like,
we got to be on the same page at all times,
and you've got to be on for three hours every
(15:52):
single day.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
Hey you good, bud, you go over there. Yeah, you know.
Now you need to be dialed in.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
Yeah, And it doesn't matter if it's a Tuesday game
in March, like those games matter. And speaking of the
non conference, we got to come out hot.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
We can't drop games because the RPI twenty twenty two
happened before well.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
And I just wanted a real quick touch on the
outfielders because outside of James McCoy, that's going to be
a brand new group out there. But they went again
to the transfer portal and brought in some guys. I
cannot wait to see Sean Montoya because that young man,
he can cover some ground.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
I think you're gonna have some really good calls this
year with the last name of Montoya. We're going to
get some sound bites, some highlights for that kid.
Speaker 3 (16:32):
But it's speed. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
I think of the outfielders that we brought in just
speed man.
Speaker 3 (16:36):
Like even Will Marcy's in there in that conversation.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Griffin Cameron, who's a sophomore now, like speed, legit speed,
and you got to have that to play at KPP
as a defender because we do have the biggest we
do have the biggest ballpark in the SEC by far.
You got to be able to cover gaps and play
elite defense out there, and then when you get on
them bases, wreck and help and go go go. I
(17:00):
think Montoya and Griffin Cameron both can do that for sure.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Pitchers, I know this is your area of expertise. Obviously
some key arms, including your weekend rotation, are no longer available.
By the way, just real quick, how awesome was the
story last year of watching Trey Pooser go from being
the transfer from the College of Charleston to a Friday
night ace in the Southeastern Conference that shut offenses down.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
I think did we do the Arkansas Friday night game together?
Speaker 3 (17:30):
I think we did? And he was fun to watch.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Yeah, and that regional, that first game, the super regional,
Watch the super regional, fun to watch, first game in Omaha,
fun to watch. You gotta have that come May, in
May and June, and somebody is going to emerge out
of that. But if we're talking about what this team
looks like in February and March. I love the fact
(17:53):
as a pitching staff, we start out with our bullpen
and work from the back to the front. Robert Hogan,
Simon Gregorson, Jackson Novey, Evan Byers. I'm starting off my
bullpen with those four pieces. I'm feeling really good about.
If we have a lead in the sixth seventh inning,
we got it, you know, and we'll figure out the starters.
(18:15):
We'll do that. They've brought in great arms. They've brought
in a lot of older talent, and three or four
are going to emerge to go the distance for us.
But I love where our bullpen starts out. I think
that for me is what I'll be watching most in
the first month of the season. How do those four
guys hold it down when we have a lead? About you,
what do you think so far?
Speaker 1 (18:36):
No, se I'm excited about some of the arms, no doubt.
That's the thing that I'm most excited about. I keep
using the word excited. Is the potential of this team.
And you know who's going to be that star that
emerges from the transfers that may have been proven at
the school they came from. But now you're in the SEC.
Who's going to be that person that steps up and
(18:57):
proves they're the man in the SEC? That's what you
that's the story that you wait on. In what I'm
looking forward to, I.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
Can speak from experience. When you come and you're the
guy in a mid major who's really really good, you
want to do it here? It just means more, is
so true, because a lot more eyeballs are on you. Right,
It's a bigger stage, it's bigger stakes. The fan bases
are bigger, like the moments are bigger, the stadiums are bigger.
And every single one of those dudes who transferred in
(19:27):
and we could list off all of them, they want
to pitch on Friday Night against a first round pick
at KPP under the lights and go get a win
and a big time performance, just like Trey Pooser did
for us last year.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
You know what I think about the last two years,
those teams that made Super Regionals and went to Omaha
the first series of the year started out, it's just
like kind of get through it and stack those wins
while you figure things out. And then about March, as
the calendar gets closer, to the SEC.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
You see it start.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
Coming together, and then they just exploded in the SEC.
What last year's team did in the first run through
the Southeastern Conference doesn't happen, Like even the national champion
SEC teams didn't start off fifteen to zero or whatever
it was. That was such an incredible accomplishment. But then
they didn't tail off. They stubbed their toe here or there,
but they just kept going and they rebounded once a
(20:18):
series against Arkansas and Vanderbilt and took home a share
of the league title.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
I mean, you're gonna stub your toe in this conference, right.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
Yeah, yeah, it's coming.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
I think a lot of people are seeing it in
men's basketball now. It's like, oh my gosh, the conference
is so great. It's like we've been dealing with this
every year in baseball for years. You don't get a
weekend off, you don't get a Sunday off against maybe
the worst team in the league. No, Like, those dudes
are really really good baseball players. And it's the strongest
conference from one to sixteen now. Because Texas and Oklahoma
(20:48):
are both County KPP this.
Speaker 3 (20:50):
Year, Kentucky will face both of them this year.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
Two great programs historically. In baseball, it doesn't stop anywhere, man,
and so you do stub your toe. But it's like
the sun comes up tomorrow after a series of loss,
and we got to go right back to right and
you just got to put the hard bat, hard hat
back on it.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
Think it.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
You have to think about baseball differently than you would
basketball or football, because in those sports you want to
win all those games. Although in basketball you can afford
to drop one here and there and rebound as long
as you take care of your home games. But in
baseball you almost have to think about it as well.
If we go two and one every weekend, we're twenty
(21:30):
and ten at the end of the SEC.
Speaker 3 (21:31):
Season super regional host.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
You're a super regional host, and you either win the
league or you're in the top two or three with
twenty wins. So that's the way you cut. It's the
same thing in professional baseball in the major leagues. If
you go four and three every week, that doesn't sound great,
but at the end of the year, you've won almost
ninety games and you're probably a division champion and you're
in the playoffs. So baseball is just different that way.
(21:54):
But still, you know this team's going to take the
field wanting to win every game.
Speaker 2 (21:58):
We know that maybe my Cincinnati Retz need to hear
that speech from you four and three every week.
Speaker 3 (22:02):
Come on, boys, we.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
Just go four and three every week. But we know
this team wants to win them all. But if you
know you do.
Speaker 3 (22:09):
And I that's what bothered me so much.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
I was at home watching the SEC tournament last year
and people were like, oh, do you even want to win?
I'm like, man, you are stepping on the field, and
I know that if you lose, like you lose, we
go home and rest for the for the regional. But like,
if you step on the field, it's in my DNA
to go win. And I promise you, if coach sees
me not want to win, I'm getting pulled out right
(22:33):
somebody else and somebody else is coming to play as
hard as they physically can.
Speaker 3 (22:37):
That bothered me.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
One thing I want to talk to you about because
of Texas and Oklahoma joined and we have said this
for a long time. I don't know how long they've
set up, but ever since I've been in the program
from twenty twenty two, we had a conversation. You got
to get to fourteen wins to get into a regional
that's the number circle. It like literally nothing else matters
(22:59):
except you getting to fourteen SEC wins before the end
of the regular season. With the addition to Texas and
Oklahoma in the league now and the league just getting
that much harder, yeah, and these teams getting that much better.
Do you think it goes down to twelve or thirteen?
Speaker 1 (23:13):
I don't know about twelve. I could see thirteen sneaking
in number. I almost feel like last year, did we.
Speaker 3 (23:19):
Not have a couple of teams we did have?
Speaker 1 (23:21):
We I think that had thirteen and snuck in and
it was a little controversial. Yeah, yeah, yeah, and then
look what they did, right And we said all year
that was the one team you did not want to
let into the postseason, and look what happened. Yeah, I
mean no, I think that's a fair question. And then
you also wonder with the PAC twelve no longer a
(23:42):
part of the automatic four or the power for what
does that kind of do to the Big Ten because
they've you know, the Big Ten's been kind of a
one or two bid league, but now you've got really, yeah, Oregon, UISC,
and UCLA's in that conference. So I'll be interested to
see how that kind of lifts up the Big ten
and the grand scheme of things. But I could see
(24:04):
a thirteen win team in the SEC easily make it
in this year depending on their RPI and strength to schedule.
Speaker 2 (24:10):
I mean, eventually it's gonna come up, right, You're gonna
get thirteen wins one of these years do you get in?
Speaker 1 (24:16):
And that's where I think SEC teams have an advantage.
You think about last year's Await Kentucky schedule. Their strength
the schedule was two or three going into SEC play,
and it never dropped because every week the RPIs and
the nets and all that just stayed up because of
who they were playing.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
Yeah, I mean, like I said, every weekend's an absolute
dog fight, Like you're playing first rounders every single weekend.
That's another thing that's been kind of ingrained into the
culture the past few years, even though through the Hot Stars,
I think we started nine to one twenty three, and
then fifteen and one and twenty four. Something very similar
is like, it doesn't matter until you get to fourteen.
(24:51):
So congrats, you did great. You gotta go play Friday
night because if you don't have fourteen wins, you aren't
done yet, like go and then when you get to fourteen,
you don't take your foot off the guest. We got
to host a super regional, Go get to seventh, try
get to nineteen, win the league. So it really never
stops that button. It's always on go.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
The goalpost just keeps moving.
Speaker 2 (25:11):
Yes, it is always on go because that next goal
is very important to cross if you want to get
to Omaha.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
Now.
Speaker 2 (25:18):
I know there's plenty of teams that have gone on
the road to regionals, gone on the road to win
super regionals.
Speaker 3 (25:23):
And gotten to Omaha.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
But it I feel a lot better about our chances
if we're in Old Lexington.
Speaker 3 (25:28):
No no question about it.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
So looking at this year's schedule real quick before we
wrap up this show, they open with Lipscomb on the
road and then the next week they go to Belmont.
I think that's brilliant scheduling by coach Benjion because it's
two quality opponents that you face and you're doing it
on the road, which is only going to help in
the scheme of the RPI than it and the strength
of schedule and all those metrics that they use at
(25:52):
the end of the year.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
Yeah, I mean, it just gives me ten days on Broadway,
So like I say, for ten days, but I love it.
Coach Bench's really changed that right since I was first here,
and it's like we're going on the road early and
because the road winds mathematically count for almost one and
a half or two home wins, So you know, you
(26:13):
need to go play quality mid majors, which both Lipscomb
and Belmont have been historically. You can imagine schools in
Nashville get a ton of solid recruits from the South
and from the Nashville area, so they're gonna have good teams.
And I can tell you from being in Eku's locker
room exactly what Lipscomb and Bellmont are thinking. They got
Kentucky circled. The SEC's coming here like them boys are
(26:36):
going to be ready to play, and they're eighteen to
twenty three year olds. Man, they're ready to play. So
just like we said, it doesn't stop. Every time you
step on the field, you gotta be ready to roll
because that other team, that other team is fighting too.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
Speaking of EKU, Kentucky's got a nice little two game
series home and away with them in the middle of
the week this year you've got Louisville again midweeks home
and away. But that SEC schedule, I thought it was
so critical when they opened last year against Georgia at
home and swept that series. That put Kentucky on the map,
and it was a statement series and from there.
Speaker 3 (27:10):
On Charlie Condon the entire weekend.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
That was impressive and from there they soared. They opened
at Georgia this year. That's gonna be an important series
to get started on the road warm weather.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
I think they're number eight in the country. Ye right,
I mean it's gonna be tough down there. Athens is
a weird ballpark.
Speaker 3 (27:28):
It is.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
It is totally and that's another difference between you know, basketball, football,
and baseball, Like the ballparks are weird, it's different. Georgia
is a launching pad, right Whereas that series in Kentucky
last year, they were hitting balls to the fence, caught yeah,
ball to the fence, caught out defense, which would have
been gone in Athens. So it's interesting. We're gonna have
(27:51):
to bring the bats that weekend, for sure. I know
both of us have already talked about getting down there
for that big series. Hopefully we're rolling going into it
because I know our boys are gonna be ready and
we got some We got some business to take care
from the last time we went down to Athens at
Easter Sunday debacle, the doubleheader. That was a rough day
for us. Lost two twenty three years. That was a
(28:13):
frustrating day at the ballpark.
Speaker 3 (28:14):
For everybody. To put that behind me, thanks for it.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
Yeah, that one's behind us. But yeah, the boys will
be ready to play that weekend.
Speaker 3 (28:21):
They will. So I'm fired up about the season. Man.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
I can't wait to get back to it. Like I said, man,
you're just itching for this. This six week stretch from
the start of the year until opening Day is the
longest six weeks. You're inside, you're cold, cooped up, You're
ready for baseball season to start.
Speaker 1 (28:39):
I was looking at some of the other series they have.
Texas and Oklahoma are both on the schedule, but they
are both at Kentucky Proud Park.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
That helps good.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
Yeah, bring on here, show them what it's all about.
Speaker 1 (28:50):
For sure. Some of the other highlights. You go to
Tennessee this year. Tennessee's going to have a renovated stadium,
and we know how how raucous that series has been.
The last year too, how competitive that series has been.
So there's some fun things coming up on the schedule
this year. But as we've come to expect, it's going
to be a challenge Kentucky.
Speaker 3 (29:09):
You'll be ready for it.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
I mean, they gotta be right, you have to be.
All these guys have committed to Kentucky, whether it's freshman
or the transfer portal, to compete against the best in
the country and not just compete, to win against the
best in the country, and to end up on a
dog pole and end up in Omaha, just like the
boys were last year. And I don't see why we
can't go back there. That's right, we might as well
(29:32):
do it, right.
Speaker 3 (29:33):
That's right. That's going to do it for our show.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
We hope you enjoyed this little sec slash season preview
for Kentucky Baseball. Our next episode will be joined by
Hall of famer in the studio. Keith Madison is going
to join us, the all time winning as coach in
Kentucky baseball history. We hope you'll tune in for that.
But Dub, I'm ready for the season to start. Man,
it's gonna be fun.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
We got a few episodes right here where we're gonna
get some previews out, hopefully, have a good conversation with
coach men hearing a couple weeks, get his thoughts on everything,
and let's get rolling.
Speaker 3 (30:04):
Man, let's back on the saddle. This has been behind
Kentucky baseball. We'll see you down the road.
The one thing that excites me the most about watching
Fall practice and thinking about the season coming up is
the youth that was on the team last year and
played and learned behind stars like Amelian Peatree, Grant Smith,
and Mitchell Daily. Those guys are going to get opportunities now.
It's Kaya Scarget's turn, it's Ethan Hindle's turn.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
I can speak from experience. When you come and you're
the guy in a mid major who's really really good,
you want to do it here like it just means more.
Is so true, because a lot more eyeballs are on you. Right,
It's a bigger stage, it's bigger stakes. The fan bases
are bigger, like the moments are bigger, the stadiums are bigger.
And every single one of those dudes who transferred in
(00:44):
and we could list off all of them, they want
to pitch on Friday Night against a first round pick
at KPP under the lights and go get a win
and a big time performance, just like Trey Pooser did.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
For us last year. Yeah, the boys will be ready
to play that weekend. They will so that.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
I'm fired up about the season, man, I can't wait
to get back to it. Like I said, you're just
itching for this six week stretch from the start of
the year until opening day is the longest six weeks.
You're inside, you're cold, cooped up, You're ready for baseball.
Baseball season start.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
After a winter hiatus. We are excited to be back.
Welcome in to another edition of Behind Kentucky Baseball. We
are brought to you by American Trust Wealth, a Kentucky
proud wealth services firm offering financial planning and investment management
for over forty years. You can find out more at
American Trustwealth dot com. I'm Darren Heddrick, joined by my
(01:50):
co host once again, Darren Williams. We call him Dub
on this show. Just to make sure nobody gets confused
about who's who. We don't have a guest on today's show.
We just wanted to talk about the season coming up.
There's a lot of excitement, obviously, Dub. With the calendar
turned officially to January. Now, we are just what about
four or five weeks as we're recording from the start
(02:11):
of the baseball season, and you can already kind of
feel a tinge of excitement around Kentucky Prout.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Park, especially because the tweets are starting to come out
from SEC Baseball, D one Baseball, like all kinds of
people is like, look up, we're four weeks away from
opening day as it stands right now.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
Yeah, it's coming quick.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
There's some specific SEC schools who are already over basketball
season looking towards baseball season, which I've seen some stuff
on the internet that's funny about that. But man, it
comes quick. But also at the same time, it is
the longest month of the year because all you want
to do is play that opening day game, and it
just drags out.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Take me into the mindset of a player in January.
You've gone through fall practice, everything is set, and now
it's kind of like the workouts building up to the
start of the season in February. What is the process
like once you get into January.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Well, I would say the first thing is to stay
warm because it some of those days can get really cold.
And coach Rozelle coach managed do a really good job
of getting in a noter indoor when it's gross outside
like it is now with snow on the ground and everything.
A lot of anticipation, like I was just talking about,
like you really want to get to opening day, right
and like one eye is on opening day. But the
(03:27):
other side of the equation is okay, especially as a pitcher,
right that can That's where I speak from, is okay,
I'm not ready yet for opening Day. I got to
do something this week and stack it and do more
next week and like build that process up. You're not
a finished product yet, You're they're not literally not ready
for opening day because they're arms. They're built up a
(03:48):
little bit, but they're not ready to rock and roll
like they will become mid February.
Speaker 3 (03:53):
It's almost like spring training for the college.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
It is it is, and they're about to get into it.
I know here a week to when opening practice starts
because they're playing three four inner squads.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
A week and let's go.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Yeah, I mean it's go time real quick. I think
they got like three weeks of doing that so well.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
It's going to be a brand new team this year,
as Kentucky lost several starters, including pretty much the entire infield.
We'll go into that in a moment, but it's a
new team and we've got some new digs that we're launching,
relaunching our podcast with here brand new studio for those
of you watching on the video feed on our digital platforms,
incredible room, incredible facility to do these podcasts in. We're
(04:34):
excited to do this and it sounds great.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
I love this book, Like this is insane, you know,
the the renderings of the new rep arena and to
get down into it, into this new space is We're
awfully lucky, Darren, Luckily. I don't know how we got
this kick, So I wanted to actually ask you about
it because you may know more about this than me. Right,
you were talking about, Oh, the brand new team. Essentially
(04:57):
there's only a few returners back. You get to be
with the women's basketball team every single day, and what
coach Brooks has done for that program.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
So far is awesome, just amazing.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
Yeah, the people are behind, like that's a fun brand
of basketball to watch. Yeah, and that's a whole new team.
How do you think that these coaches are dialing in
when they have to replace it essentially everybody?
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Well, I think the biggest thing is you see some
programs that just want to go out and get everybody
the best available, sort of like a draft, you just
want the best available. I think what coach Ben Gione
has done with baseball and what coach Brooks did with
women's basketball and what coach Pope has done with the
men's team. They went out and got talented players, but
they culturally fit the program and the system that these
(05:44):
coaches want to run. I have been so amazed at
what Kenny Brooks has done with this program in short order.
And it helped a lot when you bring an All
American point guard with you from Virginia Tech. But he
went out and found players that weren't necessarily shining at
their original schools. But they have taken a step forward
in their development this year. They've bought into the system
and you see the dividends as we record their fifteen
(06:06):
to one and undefeated in the league. I think coach
Menjiona has done that on the baseball side, going back
to when you were on the mound for this Kentucky program,
I guess it's been three years ago now, a team
that didn't make a regional but built the foundation and
sort of established the standard and expectations of the program,
and now we just see it continue to building. It
(06:27):
culminated in the World Series appearance.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
Yeah, I mean it was such a that twenty twenty
two group. It was such a blend of old guys
and transfers right that you had to build the right
psyche of the transfer portal class. They did a great
job of at maya second year in twenty three doing that,
and then twenty twenty four.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
They did a great job of it.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
I would assume that it's going to be the same
exact thing because the guys who have still been in
the program for a few years now that have cultivated
that success and that culture they're going to bring in
or transfer like this is what it looks like. This
is how you lead, and you only get three months
to get acclimated and then you're a leader in the clubhouse,
like you gotta be on it every single day.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
So, well, we talk about the brand new team, and
it's not hard to look around the locker room or
around the field and see it. Kentucky's returning sixteen letterman
or letter winners from last year, but they lost twenty four,
including eleven starters, seven position players, four pitchers, and thirty
new faces on the roster this year fourteen freshmen and
(07:29):
sixteen transfers. And I think this is where a lot
of people raise their eyebrows a little bit. When the
preseason rankings, which don't mean anything, but when the preseason
rankings came out, Kentucky wasn't listed among the top twenty five.
They replaced an outstanding team with a top ten portal class,
a really strong freshman class that includes perhaps one of
(07:51):
the best shortstops in the country that bypassed a potential
multimillion dollar deal to come play for Kentucky.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
I sent out the tweet after those ranks good, you know,
because last year unranked in the preseason polls, year before
unranked in the preseason polls. It is kind of like
what you got to do as a Kentucky baseball player.
You've got to go out there and prove it right
before anybody starts paying attention. And obviously there the first
four weeks the non conference is going to be what
(08:21):
it is. It's them first three or four sec weekends
where the guy's got to be rolling and they got
to come out on fire and with something to prove.
I think when you when you talk about this year's team,
I don't know how to start any other way than
with the guy behind the plate and Devin Burks. Yeah,
I know for a fact that Devin Burks is going
(08:41):
to have them boys ready to go and practice today,
let alone opening day, let alone opening day of SEC play.
When we go down to Georgia first weekend of March
or whatever it is, second weekend of March, like, these
guys are going to be ready to rock mentally. It's
just you've got to get in a groove right and
Georgia may play a really great game on that Friday. Okay,
you've got to come back on Saturday and you've got
(09:02):
to be ready to roll again.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
And it is what it is.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
You can't wait until May unfortunately, like we did in
twenty twenty two to get rolling. These guys got to
be rolling come February and March.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
And the good news is this year at Devn Birks
they added some depth to Catcher with a veteran receiver
from Kansas State Pelotier who can give Devon a night
off here and there.
Speaker 3 (09:24):
And it's added some depth to that.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Ca who we've heard really good things about and we've
seen him in a couple you know, inner squads this
fall talented veteran like you need. Obviously, the thing that
Devin does great that's unappreciated, it not in the stats,
is how he handles the pitching staff, how he communicates effectively,
how he calls games, how he plays defense, how he blocks,
how he throws out runners.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
How he leads literally from behind the plate.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
And to have somebody that can go in there on
a Tuesday or one day on the weekend and give
Devon just a breath of fresh air where he doesn't
have to be full go for literally five months, every
single day in a row.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
Is it gonna be very valuable?
Speaker 2 (10:02):
I believe in Devin's season come May and June.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
The one thing that excites me the most about watching
Fall practice and thinking about the season coming up is
the youth that was on the team last year and
played and learned behind stars like Amelian Petrie, Grant Smith,
and Mitchell Daily. Those guys are going to get opportunities.
Now it's Kaius Garget's turn, it's Ethan Hindle's turn. Let's
(10:26):
see how they handle that and how they take that
opportunity and run with it.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
I don't know how much you pay attention to the
tweets in the summer, but it felt like, and we
talked to him already this fall, like every day I
felt like Matt May was tweeting out, you know, Kayus,
garget Ethan Handle, Eli Small or Griffin Cameron do go
off in a summer league game. I'm excited to see
how they take that jump. I think one of the
(10:52):
biggest jumps you take is from freshman to sophomore year.
I think you take a bigger jump from sophomore a
junior year, which we'll I'm sure talk about with those
guys next next year. We're looking for all four of
those guys to really help us out. Yeah, like you said,
we had a lot of turnover this year, so those
four are going to have to step up and play
some minings for us, get some key hits, you know,
make some plays in the field. I think they'll be
(11:12):
ready for it. Though they're all four, they got their
heads on straight. They're super talented, super athletic, like they're
ready for this. They've been building for this for you know,
sixteen seventeen months now in college.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
I think they're ready for that.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
I don't know how you see that in other sports
and football and basketball where they take a big jump
and they haven't played, but they've practiced against these.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
Guys they can so much. Yeah, yeah, surely, I believe
in them.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
I think they can I've seen them absolutely rake in
some ball games.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
So let's talk about him real quick.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
We've already mentioned that Kentucky's got a first round pick
out of the MLB draft that elected to come to school.
That's Tyler Bell. Perhaps the most I don't want to
say hyped, but he certainly has a reputation about him.
Of course, super talented young man. I guess we couldn't
use the term hyped, but obviously perhaps one of the
(12:03):
biggest rising stars that Kentucky has added in quite some
time in terms of the notoriety and the talent around
him and the MLB draft pick. I'm excited to see
what this young man does because in the fall, he
just went about his business and he had a maturity
beyond his years, which I think is going to serve
him well in this league.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
I wish I could have seen every single in our squad.
Unfortunately only saw a handful of him. But yeah, very
mature at bats out of the kid. And what I like,
and we've talked about the culture is I don't believe
there's gonna be a lot of jealousy about that. I
think it like Devin Burks and Evan Byers, these guys
who have been there that Eli Small is the you know,
(12:42):
the Kais Gargettes aren't going to be like, oh, he's
a first round pick, Like I don't want him to know,
like you're really, really talented, Like you can help this team.
You can help now get back to Omaha, Like yeah,
put my arm around your shoulder, because I don't care
how talented you are. Every single player in the SEC
goes through patch because it is the best league in
(13:02):
America in every sport too. So at some point you're
gonna get punched in the face. How do you respond
from it? How do you come back from it? How
do you respond? And I think he will very well
because of how talented he is. And once you go
through that first rough patch and you get out of it,
you're way more mature baseball player at this level.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
I was thinking the other day about the shortstops that
Kentucky has enjoyed under Nick Binging, Trey Dawson, Ryan Ritter,
Austin Schultz played the position for a little while, and
then of course Grant Smith and now Tyler Bell. It's
almost like Kentucky is turning into one of the shortstop
us in the country.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
And I mean you could put Danny Harris or a
million Petricks exactly shortstop wanted to Yeah, absolutely, the middle
infield development, I give a lot of credit to, you know,
the guys who we've had helping coach manage and coach
manage not only recruit, but develop guys. Because Ryan Riddard
did nothing but get better here, right, you know.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
And now I mean he's been the minor league player
of the year. Yeah, he's a lead player of the year.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
He's going to be a big leaguer. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
A Million Petrie did nothing but get better here. Grant
Smith did nothing but get better here. Like it's not
just now you've got a fancy glove. It's like I'm
making every routine play, I'm leading the defense, I'm talking
to the pitchers, I'm communicating with the outfitters. Like every
aspect of the defensive part of infield has been cultivated
NonStop and coached really really really, really really hard to
(14:27):
these super talented athletes. And we get Tyler Bell for
two three years, like he's going to be the same
exact thing because of how hard our coaches are going
to coach a shortstop to be not only a really
good defensive shortstop and elite defensive shortstop and it's fun.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
It's fun to watch for us though, oh.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
No question about it, and you know the talent's going
to be there. I think the biggest question is how
quickly will that chemistry develop that we saw between Grant
Smith and Million Petrie where they were basically one body
playing two different positions. How quickly does that develop between
say a guard head or a Luke Lawrence and a
Tyler Bell and Aneathan Handle. How quickly do they get
there to that level.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
I mean, it's tough for me. It takes time.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
It's tough for me to say because I never played
the position. But you do have to have that chemistry.
You've got to be on the same wavelength at all times.
I think in Luke's case, he's been around college baseball
for a few years where he is probably going to
be the mental leader, you know, of that middle infield
and be able to communicate at all times. He's shown
(15:31):
some real promise in these inner squads in the fall
and in the early spring. I think he's going to
be a stud for us. Speaking of Luke Lawrence, but
you have to have that leader in the middle where
it's not like, okay, just go do your thing, freshman,
go do your thing over there at short stop. No, Like,
we got to be on the same page at all times,
and you've got to be on for three hours every
(15:52):
single day.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
Hey you good, bud, you go over there. Yeah, you know.
Now you need to be dialed in.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
Yeah, And it doesn't matter if it's a Tuesday game
in March, like those games matter. And speaking of the
non conference, we got to come out hot.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
We can't drop games because the RPI twenty twenty two
happened before well.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
And I just wanted a real quick touch on the
outfielders because outside of James McCoy, that's going to be
a brand new group out there. But they went again
to the transfer portal and brought in some guys. I
cannot wait to see Sean Montoya because that young man,
he can cover some ground.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
I think you're gonna have some really good calls this
year with the last name of Montoya. We're going to
get some sound bites, some highlights for that kid.
Speaker 3 (16:32):
But it's speed. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
I think of the outfielders that we brought in just
speed man.
Speaker 3 (16:36):
Like even Will Marcy's in there in that conversation.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Griffin Cameron, who's a sophomore now, like speed, legit speed,
and you got to have that to play at KPP
as a defender because we do have the biggest we
do have the biggest ballpark in the SEC by far.
You got to be able to cover gaps and play
elite defense out there, and then when you get on
them bases, wreck and help and go go go. I
(17:00):
think Montoya and Griffin Cameron both can do that for sure.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Pitchers, I know this is your area of expertise. Obviously
some key arms, including your weekend rotation, are no longer available.
By the way, just real quick, how awesome was the
story last year of watching Trey Pooser go from being
the transfer from the College of Charleston to a Friday
night ace in the Southeastern Conference that shut offenses down.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
I think did we do the Arkansas Friday night game together?
Speaker 3 (17:30):
I think we did? And he was fun to watch.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Yeah, and that regional, that first game, the super regional,
Watch the super regional, fun to watch, first game in Omaha,
fun to watch. You gotta have that come May, in
May and June, and somebody is going to emerge out
of that. But if we're talking about what this team
looks like in February and March. I love the fact
(17:53):
as a pitching staff, we start out with our bullpen
and work from the back to the front. Robert Hogan,
Simon Gregorson, Jackson Novey, Evan Byers. I'm starting off my
bullpen with those four pieces. I'm feeling really good about.
If we have a lead in the sixth seventh inning,
we got it, you know, and we'll figure out the starters.
(18:15):
We'll do that. They've brought in great arms. They've brought
in a lot of older talent, and three or four
are going to emerge to go the distance for us.
But I love where our bullpen starts out. I think
that for me is what I'll be watching most in
the first month of the season. How do those four
guys hold it down when we have a lead? About you,
what do you think so far?
Speaker 1 (18:36):
No, se I'm excited about some of the arms, no doubt.
That's the thing that I'm most excited about. I keep
using the word excited. Is the potential of this team.
And you know who's going to be that star that
emerges from the transfers that may have been proven at
the school they came from. But now you're in the SEC.
Who's going to be that person that steps up and
(18:57):
proves they're the man in the SEC? That's what you
that's the story that you wait on. In what I'm
looking forward to, I.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
Can speak from experience. When you come and you're the
guy in a mid major who's really really good, you
want to do it here? It just means more, is
so true, because a lot more eyeballs are on you. Right,
It's a bigger stage, it's bigger stakes. The fan bases
are bigger, like the moments are bigger, the stadiums are bigger.
And every single one of those dudes who transferred in
(19:27):
and we could list off all of them, they want
to pitch on Friday Night against a first round pick
at KPP under the lights and go get a win
and a big time performance, just like Trey Pooser did
for us last year.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
You know what I think about the last two years,
those teams that made Super Regionals and went to Omaha
the first series of the year started out, it's just
like kind of get through it and stack those wins
while you figure things out. And then about March, as
the calendar gets closer, to the SEC.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
You see it start.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
Coming together, and then they just exploded in the SEC.
What last year's team did in the first run through
the Southeastern Conference doesn't happen, Like even the national champion
SEC teams didn't start off fifteen to zero or whatever
it was. That was such an incredible accomplishment. But then
they didn't tail off. They stubbed their toe here or there,
but they just kept going and they rebounded once a
(20:18):
series against Arkansas and Vanderbilt and took home a share
of the league title.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
I mean, you're gonna stub your toe in this conference, right.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
Yeah, yeah, it's coming.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
I think a lot of people are seeing it in
men's basketball now. It's like, oh my gosh, the conference
is so great. It's like we've been dealing with this
every year in baseball for years. You don't get a
weekend off, you don't get a Sunday off against maybe
the worst team in the league. No, Like, those dudes
are really really good baseball players. And it's the strongest
conference from one to sixteen now. Because Texas and Oklahoma
(20:48):
are both County KPP this.
Speaker 3 (20:50):
Year, Kentucky will face both of them this year.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
Two great programs historically. In baseball, it doesn't stop anywhere, man,
and so you do stub your toe. But it's like
the sun comes up tomorrow after a series of loss,
and we got to go right back to right and
you just got to put the hard bat, hard hat
back on it.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
Think it.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
You have to think about baseball differently than you would
basketball or football, because in those sports you want to
win all those games. Although in basketball you can afford
to drop one here and there and rebound as long
as you take care of your home games. But in
baseball you almost have to think about it as well.
If we go two and one every weekend, we're twenty
(21:30):
and ten at the end of the SEC.
Speaker 3 (21:31):
Season super regional host.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
You're a super regional host, and you either win the
league or you're in the top two or three with
twenty wins. So that's the way you cut. It's the
same thing in professional baseball in the major leagues. If
you go four and three every week, that doesn't sound great,
but at the end of the year, you've won almost
ninety games and you're probably a division champion and you're
in the playoffs. So baseball is just different that way.
(21:54):
But still, you know this team's going to take the
field wanting to win every game.
Speaker 2 (21:58):
We know that maybe my Cincinnati Retz need to hear
that speech from you four and three every week.
Speaker 3 (22:02):
Come on, boys, we.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
Just go four and three every week. But we know
this team wants to win them all. But if you
know you do.
Speaker 3 (22:09):
And I that's what bothered me so much.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
I was at home watching the SEC tournament last year
and people were like, oh, do you even want to win?
I'm like, man, you are stepping on the field, and
I know that if you lose, like you lose, we
go home and rest for the for the regional. But like,
if you step on the field, it's in my DNA
to go win. And I promise you, if coach sees
me not want to win, I'm getting pulled out right
(22:33):
somebody else and somebody else is coming to play as
hard as they physically can.
Speaker 3 (22:37):
That bothered me.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
One thing I want to talk to you about because
of Texas and Oklahoma joined and we have said this
for a long time. I don't know how long they've
set up, but ever since I've been in the program
from twenty twenty two, we had a conversation. You got
to get to fourteen wins to get into a regional
that's the number circle. It like literally nothing else matters
(22:59):
except you getting to fourteen SEC wins before the end
of the regular season. With the addition to Texas and
Oklahoma in the league now and the league just getting
that much harder, yeah, and these teams getting that much better.
Do you think it goes down to twelve or thirteen?
Speaker 1 (23:13):
I don't know about twelve. I could see thirteen sneaking
in number. I almost feel like last year, did we.
Speaker 3 (23:19):
Not have a couple of teams we did have?
Speaker 1 (23:21):
We I think that had thirteen and snuck in and
it was a little controversial. Yeah, yeah, yeah, and then
look what they did, right And we said all year
that was the one team you did not want to
let into the postseason, and look what happened. Yeah, I
mean no, I think that's a fair question. And then
you also wonder with the PAC twelve no longer a
(23:42):
part of the automatic four or the power for what
does that kind of do to the Big Ten because
they've you know, the Big Ten's been kind of a
one or two bid league, but now you've got really, yeah, Oregon, UISC,
and UCLA's in that conference. So I'll be interested to
see how that kind of lifts up the Big ten
and the grand scheme of things. But I could see
(24:04):
a thirteen win team in the SEC easily make it
in this year depending on their RPI and strength to schedule.
Speaker 2 (24:10):
I mean, eventually it's gonna come up, right, You're gonna
get thirteen wins one of these years do you get in?
Speaker 1 (24:16):
And that's where I think SEC teams have an advantage.
You think about last year's Await Kentucky schedule. Their strength
the schedule was two or three going into SEC play,
and it never dropped because every week the RPIs and
the nets and all that just stayed up because of
who they were playing.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
Yeah, I mean, like I said, every weekend's an absolute
dog fight, Like you're playing first rounders every single weekend.
That's another thing that's been kind of ingrained into the
culture the past few years, even though through the Hot Stars,
I think we started nine to one twenty three, and
then fifteen and one and twenty four. Something very similar
is like, it doesn't matter until you get to fourteen.
(24:51):
So congrats, you did great. You gotta go play Friday
night because if you don't have fourteen wins, you aren't
done yet, like go and then when you get to fourteen,
you don't take your foot off the guest. We got
to host a super regional, Go get to seventh, try
get to nineteen, win the league. So it really never
stops that button. It's always on go.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
The goalpost just keeps moving.
Speaker 2 (25:11):
Yes, it is always on go because that next goal
is very important to cross if you want to get
to Omaha.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
Now.
Speaker 2 (25:18):
I know there's plenty of teams that have gone on
the road to regionals, gone on the road to win
super regionals.
Speaker 3 (25:23):
And gotten to Omaha.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
But it I feel a lot better about our chances
if we're in Old Lexington.
Speaker 3 (25:28):
No no question about it.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
So looking at this year's schedule real quick before we
wrap up this show, they open with Lipscomb on the
road and then the next week they go to Belmont.
I think that's brilliant scheduling by coach Benjion because it's
two quality opponents that you face and you're doing it
on the road, which is only going to help in
the scheme of the RPI than it and the strength
of schedule and all those metrics that they use at
(25:52):
the end of the year.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
Yeah, I mean, it just gives me ten days on Broadway,
So like I say, for ten days, but I love it.
Coach Bench's really changed that right since I was first here,
and it's like we're going on the road early and
because the road winds mathematically count for almost one and
a half or two home wins, So you know, you
(26:13):
need to go play quality mid majors, which both Lipscomb
and Belmont have been historically. You can imagine schools in
Nashville get a ton of solid recruits from the South
and from the Nashville area, so they're gonna have good teams.
And I can tell you from being in Eku's locker
room exactly what Lipscomb and Bellmont are thinking. They got
Kentucky circled. The SEC's coming here like them boys are
(26:36):
going to be ready to play, and they're eighteen to
twenty three year olds. Man, they're ready to play. So
just like we said, it doesn't stop. Every time you
step on the field, you gotta be ready to roll
because that other team, that other team is fighting too.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
Speaking of EKU, Kentucky's got a nice little two game
series home and away with them in the middle of
the week this year you've got Louisville again midweeks home
and away. But that SEC schedule, I thought it was
so critical when they opened last year against Georgia at
home and swept that series. That put Kentucky on the map,
and it was a statement series and from there.
Speaker 3 (27:10):
On Charlie Condon the entire weekend.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
That was impressive and from there they soared. They opened
at Georgia this year. That's gonna be an important series
to get started on the road warm weather.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
I think they're number eight in the country. Ye right,
I mean it's gonna be tough down there. Athens is
a weird ballpark.
Speaker 3 (27:28):
It is.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
It is totally and that's another difference between you know, basketball, football,
and baseball, Like the ballparks are weird, it's different. Georgia
is a launching pad, right Whereas that series in Kentucky
last year, they were hitting balls to the fence, caught yeah,
ball to the fence, caught out defense, which would have
been gone in Athens. So it's interesting. We're gonna have
(27:51):
to bring the bats that weekend, for sure. I know
both of us have already talked about getting down there
for that big series. Hopefully we're rolling going into it
because I know our boys are gonna be ready and
we got some We got some business to take care
from the last time we went down to Athens at
Easter Sunday debacle, the doubleheader. That was a rough day
for us. Lost two twenty three years. That was a
(28:13):
frustrating day at the ballpark.
Speaker 3 (28:14):
For everybody. To put that behind me, thanks for it.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
Yeah, that one's behind us. But yeah, the boys will
be ready to play that weekend.
Speaker 3 (28:21):
They will. So I'm fired up about the season. Man.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
I can't wait to get back to it. Like I said, man,
you're just itching for this. This six week stretch from
the start of the year until opening Day is the
longest six weeks. You're inside, you're cold, cooped up, You're
ready for baseball season to start.
Speaker 1 (28:39):
I was looking at some of the other series they have.
Texas and Oklahoma are both on the schedule, but they
are both at Kentucky Proud Park.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
That helps good.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
Yeah, bring on here, show them what it's all about.
Speaker 1 (28:50):
For sure. Some of the other highlights. You go to
Tennessee this year. Tennessee's going to have a renovated stadium,
and we know how how raucous that series has been.
The last year too, how competitive that series has been.
So there's some fun things coming up on the schedule
this year. But as we've come to expect, it's going
to be a challenge Kentucky.
Speaker 3 (29:09):
You'll be ready for it.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
I mean, they gotta be right, you have to be.
All these guys have committed to Kentucky, whether it's freshman
or the transfer portal, to compete against the best in
the country and not just compete, to win against the
best in the country, and to end up on a
dog pole and end up in Omaha, just like the
boys were last year. And I don't see why we
can't go back there. That's right, we might as well
(29:32):
do it, right.
Speaker 3 (29:33):
That's right. That's going to do it for our show.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
We hope you enjoyed this little sec slash season preview
for Kentucky Baseball. Our next episode will be joined by
Hall of famer in the studio. Keith Madison is going
to join us, the all time winning as coach in
Kentucky baseball history. We hope you'll tune in for that.
But Dub, I'm ready for the season to start. Man,
it's gonna be fun.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
We got a few episodes right here where we're gonna
get some previews out, hopefully, have a good conversation with
coach men hearing a couple weeks, get his thoughts on everything,
and let's get rolling.
Speaker 3 (30:04):
Man, let's back on the saddle. This has been behind
Kentucky baseball. We'll see you down the road.
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