November 8, 2024 • 27 mins
Darren Headrick and Darren Williams are joined by two infielders on the Kentucky Baseball team.
Kyuss Gargett and Ethan Hindle share how their summers went and discuss upholding the standard set last season.
Presented by American Trust Wealth.
Kyuss Gargett and Ethan Hindle share how their summers went and discuss upholding the standard set last season.
Presented by American Trust Wealth.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Behind Kentucky Baseball is presented by American Trust Wealth.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Welcome into Behind Kentucky Baseball here on the UK Sports Network.
We're coming to you from Kentucky Proud Park. I'm Darren Hedrick,
my co host Darren Williams. We got a couple of
sophomore infielders with us. We've got Kayas Gargett, We've got
Ethan Handle with us. Guys, welcome to the show.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
Yeah, thank you very much, thanks for having us on.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Kind of take me through what it's been like so
far this fall. I mean, there's some opportunities out there.
What's it been like in the friendly competition amongst these guys.
Speaker 4 (00:30):
Yeah, No, it's been amazing. Obviously, we have a bunch
of new people again this year, but everyone's we've all
been able to really welcome each other in. We've been
able to hang out a lot, so everyone's getting along
really well in a pretty rapid pace. And it's been
very competitive so far out there in the fall practices.
But I mean, we all love each other and we're
competing against each other, so it's been good.
Speaker 5 (00:48):
It's great. Yeah.
Speaker 6 (00:48):
And the piggyback off of that is a bunch of
us have different personalities and different goals. So yeah, I
mean it all comes together and one specific goals to
make it do Omahon win the national championships.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
We're all building to do and uh we've.
Speaker 6 (01:02):
Been hanging out, tailgating, hanging out as much as possible
and building the bonding in the fall is huge for us.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
I would say, So, I know you guys last year, obviously,
anybody on a team wants to play, but you had
the opportunity to learn from and be around guys like
Grant Smith, Amelian Peatree who's now both at the next level,
Mitchell Daily who's at the next level. What was that
like in terms of helping your development as players and
understanding what it takes at this level being around.
Speaker 4 (01:29):
Those guys, Yeah, it was unreal. I mean you can
never expect how much that improved my game, especially for me.
I worked behind Mitchell Daily almost every single day, and
then Grant Smith was my battle buddy. So I mean,
besides like being in the hotel room with Grant Smith,
that was awesome.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
Fun fact about him.
Speaker 4 (01:44):
He would actually stay up with me till some nights
till like midnight, watching my videos of me to like
help you out and teach me how to get the feeling. Yeah,
he's a great guy. And then Mitchell, he just taught
me how to be a leader and how to go
about the game and just put your head down and
always keep working. So yeah, those guys made our a
lot better.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (02:01):
I mean you learn something new every day from those guys,
rather it's baseball related or outside of baseball. I mean,
they just can teach you so many things and even
realize you needed to be taught on. I mean, you
think you're a dog coming in here and you're like,
all right, I'm gonna get this. I'm gonna show them
what's up. But then there's so much more to college
baseball and so many more games. SEC play starts and
(02:22):
they start teaching these all these little things you never
really realized. But when the crowd starts coming and starts
getting warmer out and gets a little nerve wracking. So
and then those guys teach you all those little things
in it, it's awesome to learn behind all those guys.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
So we hear all the time to talk about the
culture around this program, and I think part of that
culture and you guys can all speak to this as well.
But I think back to when Petrie first got to campus.
He played behind Ryan Rider and learned from him for
a year, and then we saw what he did the
next year in the year after that. So I can
only imagine that part of the culture here is learning
(02:56):
from the guys that are the older, the veteran guys,
or maybe the one playing in front of you, and
that's where you're it helps your develop Yeah, right, it's
kind of a give back sort of thing.
Speaker 4 (03:05):
Oh yeah, they've left a legacy for for us for sure.
And one thing I remember I told Grant right when
he left, is like, I'm going to continue your legacy
and continue what you have taught me and how to
be like a true man on the field and be
able to continue that.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
So right, yeah, Grants still a golden glover in my heart.
Speaker 7 (03:21):
And I never understand how that man didn't don't get me.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
Yeah, you start unreal.
Speaker 7 (03:28):
I mean you got to talk about coming in as
a freshman, you know, week one, see the ballpark, you
see forty dudes that you don't know, you're a wide
eyed freshmen. Talk about last fall for you guys, those
first practices, you know, those first time seeing a million
peatrick play and you're like, Okay, that's a really good
ball player right there, Mitch Daily Senior, that's a really
(03:51):
good ballplayer right here. You know, what did you all
take away It doesn't have to be the last fall,
but whole year specific things from those guys about how
they went about the process becoming a very high level.
Speaker 6 (04:03):
But you could just tell, like the aura around them,
You really.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
Could, really could, the.
Speaker 6 (04:09):
Way they carry themselves on and off the field, and
the way they walk up to the plate, the way
they take ground balls. Each rep matters, And you start
picking up on those things, like each rep matters.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Everyone's watching you, it's s T play, it's.
Speaker 6 (04:23):
On TV, and all those little things add up to
be able to make it to Omaha.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
And I never really understood what Omaha was.
Speaker 7 (04:32):
I never was like it was just right.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (04:35):
And then once we started consistently going over and over
and over practices and games and stacking them up, I
was like I was starting to see the big picture.
It was all starting to form around the fall, and
it was really fun, great to see when I was
a younger player.
Speaker 4 (04:49):
Yeah, yeah, now, don't go off that like when I
got here. You know, you come with a lot of
confidence you're coming like, Okay, I want to earn the spot.
You get here and look around, it's just like okay,
everyone's as goes each other. And then like you're going
a ballot, we're all doing the same things. We're being
the standard. Some days you're not being the standard. And
then but those guys were always excelling in some way,
like once we got the inner squads, and then as
the year went on. What I learned from that is
(05:11):
they just have that next level of confidence and swagger.
I mean that's just the difference maker and maturity, and
I think that's a difference maker for a guy who's
going to be a first rounder or sure fifth to
tenth rounder.
Speaker 7 (05:21):
So by making a mental note of like the aurora
and the confidence and the swagger, like you've talked about,
you know, both of you all went and played summer
ball after the trip to Omaha. Did you all notice
that from other people? Like quickly did you pick up Okay,
that guy's got it or that guy and were you like,
that's what I want to be to all those guys.
Speaker 4 (05:41):
Yeah, I noticed it right in the locker room the
first day I got there. I got there and there
like Shorichanooks Northwoods League. Okay, so I was like fifteen
minutes from my house, so that was really nice. But
I mean I got in the locker room and they'd
been going for I think two or three weeks. Like
when you walk in, you can tell the guys everyone's
uh go towards or gravit hyge to like the people
who are going about their business, and like Kaya said,
(06:03):
I have the aura. Sure, So I mean then you
can kind of say, all right, that guy's got it
or that guy's he's an older guy and sometimes they
were younger, and then you realize that guy's going to
be a good player. So and then, like you said,
that's something I tried to carry into the summer. Confidence
and playing with a lot of swagger, and I do
think that helped my gam.
Speaker 7 (06:18):
I mean you both had great summers, Yeah, from what
I saw. Yeah, I mean we're always on Matt May
was always sweeting about yeah, that's right, we'll do and
then Griffin Cameron with another stolen base.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
Yeah on my team too.
Speaker 7 (06:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (06:31):
How much motivation did you get from last year?
Speaker 2 (06:34):
The opportunities you did get esp I think especially early
in the season, both of you got plenty of opportunities.
And you know, as the season went three, you still
had big moments even in some SCC games. How much
did that feed going into the offseason those moments you
did have, like hey, okay, this is what it takes,
let's go for me.
Speaker 6 (06:53):
It helped with my confidence and being able to play
with the other guys.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
I was like, all right, I can do this.
Speaker 6 (06:59):
But then once I got in the game and started
dominating that, I was like, all right, I can do this.
Let's go bring it on anyone, you know what I'm saying.
And so once that started happening, and me and Henda
were going back to back versus I think it was
e Ku and we're just grinding in the cold, like
all right, I see you working. You get a ground
ball and you throw them out like fires me up.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
You know everyone working. Yeah, I just love that.
Speaker 7 (07:23):
I mean, you had amazing you know month there at
the beginning of the season, grand Smith goes down. You're
not playing. You have to step into that, right, freshman shortstop?
All right, what's your mindset when they're like, hey, this
is a top team, like we're expecting to go to
regional freshman, you'll play shortstop for that team.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
Well, PD came up to me.
Speaker 6 (07:45):
He's like, hey, you know the ball's coming to you
right away, right, And I was like, yeah, like all right.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
Let's practice it.
Speaker 6 (07:53):
So we were legit practicing rolling the bottom of me
in the dugout right before it came out. It's like,
it's coming to you first play. That's how baseball works.
I was like, all right, bring it and then first
play pop up, got it.
Speaker 7 (08:05):
Calm the nerves down a little bit after that. I
wants to get the first.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
Play out LA right from there. Yeah matter what.
Speaker 7 (08:11):
Yeah, I remember the first home running hit because it
always hit me the backside.
Speaker 4 (08:15):
Yeah yeah, yeah, his first swing almost right off out of.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
The rioting, Yeah.
Speaker 5 (08:24):
Yeah, oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
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Speaker 2 (08:39):
I was just sitting here thinking about your group, and
I include Eli and and Griffin in your in your group.
And Eli had such a big moment at Florida last year,
come off pinch hit off the bench in the double
the score, big runs down in Gainesville helped to win
that series.
Speaker 5 (08:55):
I mean, you guys had your share of moments last year.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
Right, Yeah, it was huge for our class.
Speaker 6 (09:00):
I mean, our class is ready for ready for the
challenge after learning from all the older guys like you
were talking about earlier, and those guys just fed into
us and we understood what our role was and what
we needed to do to make it to Omaha.
Speaker 5 (09:12):
So that help. Yah.
Speaker 7 (09:13):
Kuzzi, I mean Kuzie on her pod and a couple
of weeks ago was very positive about the steps that
you two have taken, griff Eli have taken. I've said
it for a while, one of the biggest jumps is
that freshman is sophomore year. You guys have been through
this before. You know, you know what it takes to
practice well, to play well, to feel prepared to go
to class all week, you know, be out of the
(09:34):
field for five six hours a day. So just go
through what the biggest thing you've learned that you didn't
expect to learn in year one?
Speaker 4 (09:47):
I'd say, at this next level, slowing down the game. Yeah,
you get to this level, everything's happening so fast, and
if you get sped up, you're done. You're gonna make
an area very true something bad's gonna happen. So whether
that at the plate being able you have those twenty
seconds to relax move on to the next pitch, or
just in the field being able to slow down the
five to ten mile per hour balls are coming harder
(10:09):
at you and being able to make everything super casual
and super slow because slow is gonna be quick, goog
will be smooth.
Speaker 7 (10:15):
So right, I love that.
Speaker 5 (10:17):
What has surprised you, guys.
Speaker 6 (10:18):
I'd probably say making the routine plays and understanding the
little things of like the game, the baseball game, you know,
like understanding all the plays on the card, know them
exactly how they run them down because in the game,
like Kendall was saying, you might get sped up a
little bit, but try to slow it down, you're still
you know, you're still gonna get sped up. So making
the routine plays, understanding the card, understanding where the outfielders
(10:40):
are playing, because there's gonna be a lot of different
things teams are gonna throw at you.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
I mean, we have a lot of plays where we're.
Speaker 6 (10:48):
Maybe not I might not discuss, but we have a
lot of different plays we run, so other teams are
gonna pick up on that. Because we like to play
small ball. We're gonna lay it down, We're gonna do
this in that. So you better execute those because that's
how we in ball games.
Speaker 5 (11:00):
Yep.
Speaker 6 (11:01):
And if you can't do those things, were not going
to make it very far.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
I want to talk a little bit about the dugout
energy and how you guys invested. You help this team
even when you weren't on the field or in the lineup,
you help this team keep energy. Tell me a little
bit about the investment that this team took in the
dugout last year.
Speaker 4 (11:21):
Yeah, it just was a reflection I think of how
welcoming the older guys were. I mean, how could you
not want to be able to help them out and
do anything you can for them when they did so
much for us.
Speaker 5 (11:30):
So I remember one.
Speaker 4 (11:32):
Time it was after Kennesas State Series or early series
and just getting honest a little bit because you know,
our doug out energy is really bad, and then coach
fits brings us aside and starts talking to us like
how can we make this better? And then I mean
we just developed into probably the weirdest and best team.
So it was great the freedom he gave us being ciaused.
We're doing the Jedi sort of thing all over with
(11:56):
each other, random stuff.
Speaker 7 (11:57):
But it made a lot fun, sure, and you can
serve this season flipped. Oh yeah, Kennesaw State Georgia in
that week.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
And the other teams hated it.
Speaker 6 (12:09):
And imagine playing us and seeing us Jedi.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
Fighting and the dougout.
Speaker 6 (12:13):
You'd be like, they just score two runs on us,
and they're clowning us. You know, it bothers them, and
they're like, we're on us all the time. We're not
on the other team, and that's where we get all
the energy.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
You were having fun with each other, and that's one
thing Manage always said, you know, our guys are focused
on us.
Speaker 5 (12:29):
We don't focus on the opponent in terms of what
we're doing. It's all about us, right exactly, That's.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
What he preaches.
Speaker 4 (12:35):
It's about our team in the state of Kentucky. So
we're playing for each other and playing for a fan
base around here.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
Were you guys surprised at how organically the pink hat
took off with the fan base at the ballpark.
Speaker 4 (12:47):
I want to know, because I adn't even under like
nowhere it came from myself. It just appeared one day
in the Dog I think Mason was wearing and I
was like.
Speaker 5 (12:56):
All right, whatever, and then ran.
Speaker 7 (13:00):
On of pink cats.
Speaker 4 (13:01):
By the end of the year, everyone's wearing pink hats,
and then we developed a yellow hat and everyone starts
wearing the other some mustache mustache with the crowd.
Speaker 5 (13:10):
I was like, kids, mustache, I love.
Speaker 7 (13:14):
I love the the mustache. Yeah, yeah, that went viral.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
Coach Madison and I are trying to call the game
and we're looking at the dugout as much as we're
looking at the field, because we're wondering what you guys
have planned.
Speaker 5 (13:26):
For the next game, what's new in the dugout.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
The experience of the season, in all the environments, whether
it was the regional, super Regional, and just getting to
see Omaha and experience that environment, what was that like, Kayas,
It was amazing.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
I mean, you're a celebrity. When we went to Omaha,
it was like, it's true.
Speaker 6 (13:44):
Oh, Ethan Hendel, You're like, oh, what's up, little dude.
Speaker 3 (13:47):
You know, it's awesome.
Speaker 6 (13:50):
Yeah, and all the fans had our back to I mean,
props to them for showing out and putting the stand
in left center. I mean that's awesome. We look forward
to that we're coming out here doing beat for practices
and we see that. It just fires us up seeing
everyone bought into the program and it makes us play
better and it helps them too.
Speaker 4 (14:09):
Yeah, you could tell the culture was built here and
it was finalized and everyone was kind of coming around
us and forming it. So we knew, I mean it
was time to play for each other and play for
all these people who are coming out here. Like he said,
we got off the bus and we learned those stands
were back there. Everyone instantly before they even put their
bags down, are looking at it just like, yeah, this
is unbelievable.
Speaker 7 (14:27):
This place about to get routed.
Speaker 5 (14:28):
Oh yeah it did, It really did.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
And we got to home on.
Speaker 4 (14:31):
Like you said, you would never expect the way they
treat us like high your treats.
Speaker 3 (14:36):
It's super grateful, really.
Speaker 5 (14:37):
And and Darren can speak to this being from this state.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
A lot is said about basketball in Kentucky, but this
state is also a baseball state, man, and they come
out and I.
Speaker 7 (14:47):
Mean it's a baseball town. I mean the Lexison youth
baseball is insane. You know, the twelve year olds just
went to the World Series or something. Yeah, Little League again. Yeah,
like the high scho baseball is very well. It's very
good in Lexington, like this place a baseball town.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
And that's going back though to tie it to last
year's team. That was one of my favorite things about
your team was the fans embraced you, and you guys
embraced the fans whether you were on the winning side
of the scoreboard or you came up short. You guys
were down there on the third baseline signing autographs after
every game, and there was a throng of fans there
every night wanting.
Speaker 5 (15:26):
To meet you guys and take pictures or whatever. I mean,
it was really cool.
Speaker 6 (15:30):
Yeah, it was awesome to see and it fires us
up during the games. It's producing more runs. I mean,
people that's coming in don't want to play here because
if we have a pack stands they're like oh, and
they're all routy with the pink hats.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
And even our fans are clowning them. Yeah, that's awesome.
Speaker 7 (15:46):
Whatever it takes, it takes, I want to dive in.
You know, obviously you all have Coach Amo last year,
you have Coach Couzi last year, and now it's coach
Coozi and Coach Sloan. So we haven't got Coach Sloan
on here yet. We both met him, of course. Uh,
but I want you all to dive into his coaching
style and what's what's it like as a hitter, as
(16:08):
a position player, you know, learning from coach Sloan.
Speaker 4 (16:11):
It's awesome when I got here, like you could tell
that he was He kind of has the same like
vibe as coach. I'm a little bit like the younger vibe.
He connects well with us, but also coaches us really well,
and he's very very very good at what he does.
And he is very technical too, Like he has more
stuff with us, like very technical in our swings and
that's been improving a lot of our swings and a
(16:32):
lot of our power, the abilities to make adjustments. And
then on the field, very good in field coach. But
the main thing he's bringing is very very very positive
vibes out there they can get a good culture, and
he reflects the culture that MNJ has brought into.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
So I love him. It's awesome. Yeah, a lot of
drill orient based.
Speaker 7 (16:49):
Sure, guy, you have to have a good routine, right,
of course.
Speaker 6 (16:52):
That's what he says, have a good routine every time
and try to stay consistent every day with it because
that's ends up building up through the fall through the spring.
How you're doing in the fall is going to trickle
into the spring's going to trickle in. You know, it's
a game time, So what you do now is important.
And I really like Sloan. I like what he teaches.
He's a baseball guy. I mean, he knows the game
(17:12):
and he's out there. We got the machine set up
for second base picks from the catcher and he's out
there with no glove.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
Just We're like, oh, tell us to do it, all right,
this is how you do it, whatever it takes. Man.
Speaker 7 (17:30):
What are some individual things that you know? I always
felt for the hitters because they're lifting three four times
a week. They gotta be soreed. They're out there taking
ground balls for a while, doing based running, conditioning things
like that, and they're also one hundred two hundred swings
a day, right, you know, So how do you work
on a specific thing and what specific thing are you
(17:53):
working on this fall in your swings?
Speaker 3 (17:56):
Uh?
Speaker 4 (17:56):
For me, it's just getting a little lower in my swing,
not standing up too tall. So with Coach Long, we're
very quality over quality. Is that right to take a
little bit of time in between reps, especially like some
of those thing days when we get what fifteen minutes
to work with him before unless we do like a
one on one thing. But yeah, I think thing just
getting in my back, like more and writing it and
then int field. He's been really helping me, has he
(18:18):
like to likes to tell me get more Dominican, So
just get smart rhythm and get some more suave and.
Speaker 6 (18:22):
They say get some get that a room man, Come on,
what about you get more balanced in different things, like
in my lefty swing, getting balanced in the same thing
on righting things. Not to change too much in each
thing because if you start changing a lot, it's just
start going to break down. I mean your swings will
start breaking down, your fielding might start breaking down if
you try to do too much. Sometimes it just takes
(18:44):
a little bit of timing adjustment, or maybe work on
your top hand a little bit more, or just all
the little things.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
That's it.
Speaker 7 (18:50):
We had a really good conversation with James McCoy in
the spring about being a switch hitter. Yeah, you know,
do you have to work on your lefty swing more
than you're writing your right swing more than your lefty.
You know, are there days where you're just swinging left
handed or just swinging right handed? Like, how how is
that balance? Because you've got to do double the hitting
that right.
Speaker 5 (19:09):
Yeah, I have to.
Speaker 6 (19:10):
Well, sometimes I have to come in earlier before the
group starts and work on my lefty and then go
righty when the group starts right, so sometimes I might
have to get extra balls before the group time starts.
So that's one of the things that you just have
to do, is a switch hit or but I mean,
who knows, say you're right knees hurting, boom, all right,
(19:30):
I'll switch righty for that day, and no one can
even tell right.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
You know, you can just switch whenever you want.
Speaker 7 (19:35):
Yeah, it's a lost art in baseball.
Speaker 3 (19:39):
Yeah, and you don't.
Speaker 7 (19:39):
You don't see as many people any more switch hitting.
Have you ever thought about giving it up? Or has
it just been like yeah, right for the right hand, left,
Like I'm gonna keep doing it. The way you read
the ball, you can just never go back.
Speaker 6 (19:50):
I've been switching since I've been eleven years old. And
once you see the ball come out of right and
your left and it's just coming right and You're like,
I missed that.
Speaker 7 (19:58):
I need to go back to it.
Speaker 3 (19:59):
You can't, you don't like it.
Speaker 7 (20:01):
Did you have a like favorite hitter or something growing
up though, Switchy, the switch hit or that door Lindor.
So like you said Lindor, it was like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
he's a dog.
Speaker 5 (20:10):
I got to spend a season with him in the
minor leagues.
Speaker 3 (20:14):
Oh that's awesome. That's awesome.
Speaker 5 (20:15):
That's get to watch him every day. That's why I
went to the ballpark.
Speaker 7 (20:19):
Yeah, i'd say, I mean that guy, he was playing
at an MVP level for a little while this, yes,
I mean his mets are.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
Good ball still, yeah, Ethan, do you have a particular
player that you looked up to or that you watched
now that inspires you.
Speaker 4 (20:33):
When I was younger, Carlos Gomez Okay, yeah, big Brewer guy,
So that's why I was younger. My number is always
twenty seven, and now it's always Mike trou and Aaron Judge.
My swing is very I love Aaron Judges swing. And
then my game style. I love Mike Traps because he
always is hustling out and that man is one of
the best to play all time and he still does
he still does the little things right.
Speaker 7 (20:51):
Gomez used to torture my reds.
Speaker 3 (20:58):
Dog.
Speaker 7 (21:00):
Brewers have always tortured us.
Speaker 5 (21:02):
Oh yeah, oh yeah, where it is? Yeah?
Speaker 7 (21:09):
Are you a Mets fan?
Speaker 6 (21:10):
No?
Speaker 3 (21:10):
No, I'm a Dodgers fan.
Speaker 7 (21:12):
Okay, okay, why yeah, why this happened a whole lot?
Speaker 5 (21:19):
Well?
Speaker 6 (21:20):
I was a Cardinals fan growing up, big yeaddy air
Molina guy who was tall, dejeng all those guys. And
then I was like, man, I'm tired of the Cardinals.
Speaker 3 (21:31):
When can I switch teams?
Speaker 6 (21:32):
My mom was like, well, once you're a teenager, you'll
be able to switch teams. But when you're a kid,
you have to like the Cardinals. I was like, all right,
So when I was a teenager, I was like, I'm
picking the Dodgers and I'm riding with them. They're good.
They went a lot, man, and they're good Win a lot.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
I mean, show is just a dog.
Speaker 8 (21:51):
Easy to be a Dodgers fan, yeah, I know, be
a Diamond X fan something random?
Speaker 5 (22:02):
Man, yeah, Mariners come on?
Speaker 1 (22:05):
No?
Speaker 3 (22:06):
Right?
Speaker 5 (22:07):
All right? Well we asked the guys. Uh.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
In last week's episode when we had Jackson and Evan on,
we asked them world series predictions.
Speaker 5 (22:14):
You guys have one. Since we're talking about the big leagues.
Speaker 3 (22:18):
I'll have a major prediction. I just know the Brewers
need to win this year. Yeah, it's gonna be flate.
Speaker 4 (22:23):
It's not the classic Wisconsin sports or we make it
to the playoffs and lose. But I got the Brewers
and maybe the Tigers or Yankees.
Speaker 5 (22:32):
Okay, I like that.
Speaker 3 (22:34):
I think Tigers are hot. They are hot the right.
Speaker 7 (22:38):
It's not about who's the best, that's about who's.
Speaker 4 (22:39):
Hot in a row.
Speaker 3 (22:42):
Crazy comeback.
Speaker 7 (22:43):
They're like eight or something over the last.
Speaker 5 (22:46):
A j Hinch getting it done. They must be banging
trash cans or something. They have to be.
Speaker 6 (22:52):
I'd probably say Houston Phillies.
Speaker 3 (22:56):
Yeah, alright, I think yeah Houston again.
Speaker 2 (22:59):
Man, they were the bottom most of the year and
then all of a sudden, there they are winning a
division and in the playoffs.
Speaker 7 (23:05):
But that's just good culture. I know they're cheated for
a little while, but they do have a culture.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
They have.
Speaker 7 (23:13):
They have the winning culture. And we can speak on
that about Kentucky baseball last two years. You know, the
culture's changed around here, and you know, we went from
fighting for an NCAA tournament birth we're in fighting for Omahall.
We're there and we're fighting for a national championship. How
do you guys, you know, get those transfers, get those
(23:33):
new freshmen to buy into the culture, to adapt the culture,
to go all in on continuing the success that we've
had over the last two seasons.
Speaker 4 (23:42):
Like I said before, carrying on the legacy and the
things the other guys taught me. I mean, they brought
me in and they got me to buy in, So
I'm just trying to do the same things they can.
I Mean, the biggest part is outside of baseball, we're
always hanging out, whether it's getting food together, watching a movie,
we're all doing something together. And they also love everything
that's going on here and every thing we're about.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
So yeah, everyone's buying in.
Speaker 7 (24:02):
This can be a good year.
Speaker 3 (24:03):
Yeah. Men brings a great culture to the program, and
he feeds us.
Speaker 6 (24:06):
Every day, like speak my jargon and stuff, and we
just have fun during the practices and we understand each other,
you know, know each other's boundaries. Know we're here for
one purpose and win a national championship, and that's why
you come here, and that's why people come here now.
Speaker 3 (24:20):
They want to win a national championship, and.
Speaker 6 (24:23):
Then we bring in the bonding before we get into
the competitive stuff. So we can bond first and then
that's what takes off.
Speaker 7 (24:31):
I love it sounds like a recipe for success. Let's
do it again in twenty twenty five, Let's do it on.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
I want to ask about the friendship between you two.
How quickly did this develop?
Speaker 3 (24:42):
I think very core And the doors we lived right
across the hall.
Speaker 4 (24:46):
So it's like a neighbor and then radidly was were
all doors are octoby. We're just seeing each other out
in the tide. And yeah, even over the summer we
were calling a lot.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
Yeah, so I know some guys like to fish, some
guys do video games. What do you guys to do
when you have some downtime? I know it's minimal, but
when you have it, well, we liked the p G
A play Xbox.
Speaker 4 (25:07):
For a lot of PGA, played a lot of Rainbow
six Siege and then just movies.
Speaker 7 (25:12):
I never got that, man. I got some boys that
played PGA all the time, like just go golf.
Speaker 3 (25:19):
Yeah, but if I go golf, agree every time?
Speaker 5 (25:24):
So that costs money?
Speaker 7 (25:26):
Man, Yeah, I don't need to spend no more money
on my golf game.
Speaker 5 (25:29):
I suck.
Speaker 3 (25:31):
I get a good reason, guys, PGA is a great
scale of all time.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
Yeah yeah, I don't know what it is about baseball
players anyway. Like when I was in pro ball, guys
golfed all the time. If they weren't at the ballpark,
they were on the golf course.
Speaker 5 (25:42):
Either one.
Speaker 3 (25:43):
You're hitting balls as far as you can. Yeah, that's
seeing that thing.
Speaker 5 (25:48):
Smoked it.
Speaker 7 (25:49):
I mean that video of your boy Mike Trout, Oh yeah, golf.
Speaker 3 (25:55):
Yeah yeah, I.
Speaker 7 (25:56):
Mean that's that ball was crush. So I can do it.
Speaker 5 (25:59):
Yeah, well, we know how far you're in. Judge can
hit a baseball, so how far can he hit a
golf ball?
Speaker 7 (26:04):
I don't know. Hot take baseball when you might slice
it to the right.
Speaker 5 (26:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:09):
What's it been like this year? We were talking culture.
We'll bring it back to Kentucky with the new guys infield, outfielders.
What's it been like getting this group together? And what
are the personalities like? Who stands out of among the
new faces?
Speaker 3 (26:23):
Cole Age Goldige, go Age Golige. Probably the smartest dude
I've ever met.
Speaker 4 (26:29):
Smartest guy you've ever met, Probably biggest linebacker. I don't know,
I mean he's just a good dude. I love him
another Cole Cole Henschel. Yeah, he's a character and he
brings a lot of energy out, especially off Robert Hogan.
Those two together, it's yeah, I think it's loud.
Speaker 6 (26:46):
So a lot of good team guys. I mean most
teams need that. I mean we had Ryan Haggan now
you know, keeping the hats on. We have a lot
of those guys this year, and that helps the team
a lot. People that buy in the most and are
most vocal and bringing like the freshman and during the
games and getting them vocal and getting the other guys vocal,
and it helps.
Speaker 4 (27:06):
Even the freshman. I mean, those guys are funny. Ryan
Schwartz is funny now as high as Jacksonovy he's close
to him on really funny.
Speaker 5 (27:15):
Get you some names here for future.
Speaker 3 (27:18):
On the team. Yeah, yeah, characters.
Speaker 7 (27:24):
Iowa corn bet Fred I want to say that in English,
corn bed boy.
Speaker 5 (27:30):
So both of us in this episode. All right, all right, well.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
Guys, hey, thanks for coming on with us. We appreciate it.
Good luck in the fall, forward to seeing you guys
out there, and we'll see you in the spring too.
Speaker 4 (27:45):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (27:46):
I appreciate you guys.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
So that's Kay scargat ethan handle for Darren Williams. I'm
Darren Hedrick. Stay tuned. We'll have more behind Kentucky baseball
coming up here on the UK Sports Network.
Behind Kentucky Baseball is presented by American Trust Wealth.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Welcome into Behind Kentucky Baseball here on the UK Sports Network.
We're coming to you from Kentucky Proud Park. I'm Darren Hedrick,
my co host Darren Williams. We got a couple of
sophomore infielders with us. We've got Kayas Gargett, We've got
Ethan Handle with us. Guys, welcome to the show.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
Yeah, thank you very much, thanks for having us on.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Kind of take me through what it's been like so
far this fall. I mean, there's some opportunities out there.
What's it been like in the friendly competition amongst these guys.
Speaker 4 (00:30):
Yeah, No, it's been amazing. Obviously, we have a bunch
of new people again this year, but everyone's we've all
been able to really welcome each other in. We've been
able to hang out a lot, so everyone's getting along
really well in a pretty rapid pace. And it's been
very competitive so far out there in the fall practices.
But I mean, we all love each other and we're
competing against each other, so it's been good.
Speaker 5 (00:48):
It's great. Yeah.
Speaker 6 (00:48):
And the piggyback off of that is a bunch of
us have different personalities and different goals. So yeah, I
mean it all comes together and one specific goals to
make it do Omahon win the national championships.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
We're all building to do and uh we've.
Speaker 6 (01:02):
Been hanging out, tailgating, hanging out as much as possible
and building the bonding in the fall is huge for us.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
I would say, So, I know you guys last year, obviously,
anybody on a team wants to play, but you had
the opportunity to learn from and be around guys like
Grant Smith, Amelian Peatree who's now both at the next level,
Mitchell Daily who's at the next level. What was that
like in terms of helping your development as players and
understanding what it takes at this level being around.
Speaker 4 (01:29):
Those guys, Yeah, it was unreal. I mean you can
never expect how much that improved my game, especially for me.
I worked behind Mitchell Daily almost every single day, and
then Grant Smith was my battle buddy. So I mean,
besides like being in the hotel room with Grant Smith,
that was awesome.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
Fun fact about him.
Speaker 4 (01:44):
He would actually stay up with me till some nights
till like midnight, watching my videos of me to like
help you out and teach me how to get the feeling. Yeah,
he's a great guy. And then Mitchell, he just taught
me how to be a leader and how to go
about the game and just put your head down and
always keep working. So yeah, those guys made our a
lot better.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (02:01):
I mean you learn something new every day from those guys,
rather it's baseball related or outside of baseball. I mean,
they just can teach you so many things and even
realize you needed to be taught on. I mean, you
think you're a dog coming in here and you're like,
all right, I'm gonna get this. I'm gonna show them
what's up. But then there's so much more to college
baseball and so many more games. SEC play starts and
(02:22):
they start teaching these all these little things you never
really realized. But when the crowd starts coming and starts
getting warmer out and gets a little nerve wracking. So
and then those guys teach you all those little things
in it, it's awesome to learn behind all those guys.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
So we hear all the time to talk about the
culture around this program, and I think part of that
culture and you guys can all speak to this as well.
But I think back to when Petrie first got to campus.
He played behind Ryan Rider and learned from him for
a year, and then we saw what he did the
next year in the year after that. So I can
only imagine that part of the culture here is learning
(02:56):
from the guys that are the older, the veteran guys,
or maybe the one playing in front of you, and
that's where you're it helps your develop Yeah, right, it's
kind of a give back sort of thing.
Speaker 4 (03:05):
Oh yeah, they've left a legacy for for us for sure.
And one thing I remember I told Grant right when
he left, is like, I'm going to continue your legacy
and continue what you have taught me and how to
be like a true man on the field and be
able to continue that.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
So right, yeah, Grants still a golden glover in my heart.
Speaker 7 (03:21):
And I never understand how that man didn't don't get me.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
Yeah, you start unreal.
Speaker 7 (03:28):
I mean you got to talk about coming in as
a freshman, you know, week one, see the ballpark, you
see forty dudes that you don't know, you're a wide
eyed freshmen. Talk about last fall for you guys, those
first practices, you know, those first time seeing a million
peatrick play and you're like, Okay, that's a really good
ball player right there, Mitch Daily Senior, that's a really
(03:51):
good ballplayer right here. You know, what did you all
take away It doesn't have to be the last fall,
but whole year specific things from those guys about how
they went about the process becoming a very high level.
Speaker 6 (04:03):
But you could just tell, like the aura around them,
You really.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
Could, really could, the.
Speaker 6 (04:09):
Way they carry themselves on and off the field, and
the way they walk up to the plate, the way
they take ground balls. Each rep matters, And you start
picking up on those things, like each rep matters.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Everyone's watching you, it's s T play, it's.
Speaker 6 (04:23):
On TV, and all those little things add up to
be able to make it to Omaha.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
And I never really understood what Omaha was.
Speaker 7 (04:32):
I never was like it was just right.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (04:35):
And then once we started consistently going over and over
and over practices and games and stacking them up, I
was like I was starting to see the big picture.
It was all starting to form around the fall, and
it was really fun, great to see when I was
a younger player.
Speaker 4 (04:49):
Yeah, yeah, now, don't go off that like when I
got here. You know, you come with a lot of
confidence you're coming like, Okay, I want to earn the spot.
You get here and look around, it's just like okay,
everyone's as goes each other. And then like you're going
a ballot, we're all doing the same things. We're being
the standard. Some days you're not being the standard. And
then but those guys were always excelling in some way,
like once we got the inner squads, and then as
the year went on. What I learned from that is
(05:11):
they just have that next level of confidence and swagger.
I mean that's just the difference maker and maturity, and
I think that's a difference maker for a guy who's
going to be a first rounder or sure fifth to
tenth rounder.
Speaker 7 (05:21):
So by making a mental note of like the aurora
and the confidence and the swagger, like you've talked about,
you know, both of you all went and played summer
ball after the trip to Omaha. Did you all notice
that from other people? Like quickly did you pick up Okay,
that guy's got it or that guy and were you like,
that's what I want to be to all those guys.
Speaker 4 (05:41):
Yeah, I noticed it right in the locker room the
first day I got there. I got there and there
like Shorichanooks Northwoods League. Okay, so I was like fifteen
minutes from my house, so that was really nice. But
I mean I got in the locker room and they'd
been going for I think two or three weeks. Like
when you walk in, you can tell the guys everyone's
uh go towards or gravit hyge to like the people
who are going about their business, and like Kaya said,
(06:03):
I have the aura. Sure, So I mean then you
can kind of say, all right, that guy's got it
or that guy's he's an older guy and sometimes they
were younger, and then you realize that guy's going to
be a good player. So and then, like you said,
that's something I tried to carry into the summer. Confidence
and playing with a lot of swagger, and I do
think that helped my gam.
Speaker 7 (06:18):
I mean you both had great summers, Yeah, from what
I saw. Yeah, I mean we're always on Matt May
was always sweeting about yeah, that's right, we'll do and
then Griffin Cameron with another stolen base.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
Yeah on my team too.
Speaker 7 (06:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (06:31):
How much motivation did you get from last year?
Speaker 2 (06:34):
The opportunities you did get esp I think especially early
in the season, both of you got plenty of opportunities.
And you know, as the season went three, you still
had big moments even in some SCC games. How much
did that feed going into the offseason those moments you
did have, like hey, okay, this is what it takes,
let's go for me.
Speaker 6 (06:53):
It helped with my confidence and being able to play
with the other guys.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
I was like, all right, I can do this.
Speaker 6 (06:59):
But then once I got in the game and started
dominating that, I was like, all right, I can do this.
Let's go bring it on anyone, you know what I'm saying.
And so once that started happening, and me and Henda
were going back to back versus I think it was
e Ku and we're just grinding in the cold, like
all right, I see you working. You get a ground
ball and you throw them out like fires me up.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
You know everyone working. Yeah, I just love that.
Speaker 7 (07:23):
I mean, you had amazing you know month there at
the beginning of the season, grand Smith goes down. You're
not playing. You have to step into that, right, freshman shortstop?
All right, what's your mindset when they're like, hey, this
is a top team, like we're expecting to go to
regional freshman, you'll play shortstop for that team.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
Well, PD came up to me.
Speaker 6 (07:45):
He's like, hey, you know the ball's coming to you
right away, right, And I was like, yeah, like all right.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
Let's practice it.
Speaker 6 (07:53):
So we were legit practicing rolling the bottom of me
in the dugout right before it came out. It's like,
it's coming to you first play. That's how baseball works.
I was like, all right, bring it and then first
play pop up, got it.
Speaker 7 (08:05):
Calm the nerves down a little bit after that. I
wants to get the first.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
Play out LA right from there. Yeah matter what.
Speaker 7 (08:11):
Yeah, I remember the first home running hit because it
always hit me the backside.
Speaker 4 (08:15):
Yeah yeah, yeah, his first swing almost right off out of.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
The rioting, Yeah.
Speaker 5 (08:24):
Yeah, oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
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Find out more at American Trustwealth dot com.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
I was just sitting here thinking about your group, and
I include Eli and and Griffin in your in your group.
And Eli had such a big moment at Florida last year,
come off pinch hit off the bench in the double
the score, big runs down in Gainesville helped to win
that series.
Speaker 5 (08:55):
I mean, you guys had your share of moments last year.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
Right, Yeah, it was huge for our class.
Speaker 6 (09:00):
I mean, our class is ready for ready for the
challenge after learning from all the older guys like you
were talking about earlier, and those guys just fed into
us and we understood what our role was and what
we needed to do to make it to Omaha.
Speaker 5 (09:12):
So that help. Yah.
Speaker 7 (09:13):
Kuzzi, I mean Kuzie on her pod and a couple
of weeks ago was very positive about the steps that
you two have taken, griff Eli have taken. I've said
it for a while, one of the biggest jumps is
that freshman is sophomore year. You guys have been through
this before. You know, you know what it takes to
practice well, to play well, to feel prepared to go
to class all week, you know, be out of the
(09:34):
field for five six hours a day. So just go
through what the biggest thing you've learned that you didn't
expect to learn in year one?
Speaker 4 (09:47):
I'd say, at this next level, slowing down the game. Yeah,
you get to this level, everything's happening so fast, and
if you get sped up, you're done. You're gonna make
an area very true something bad's gonna happen. So whether
that at the plate being able you have those twenty
seconds to relax move on to the next pitch, or
just in the field being able to slow down the
five to ten mile per hour balls are coming harder
(10:09):
at you and being able to make everything super casual
and super slow because slow is gonna be quick, goog
will be smooth.
Speaker 7 (10:15):
So right, I love that.
Speaker 5 (10:17):
What has surprised you, guys.
Speaker 6 (10:18):
I'd probably say making the routine plays and understanding the
little things of like the game, the baseball game, you know,
like understanding all the plays on the card, know them
exactly how they run them down because in the game,
like Kendall was saying, you might get sped up a
little bit, but try to slow it down, you're still
you know, you're still gonna get sped up. So making
the routine plays, understanding the card, understanding where the outfielders
(10:40):
are playing, because there's gonna be a lot of different
things teams are gonna throw at you.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
I mean, we have a lot of plays where we're.
Speaker 6 (10:48):
Maybe not I might not discuss, but we have a
lot of different plays we run, so other teams are
gonna pick up on that. Because we like to play
small ball. We're gonna lay it down, We're gonna do
this in that. So you better execute those because that's
how we in ball games.
Speaker 5 (11:00):
Yep.
Speaker 6 (11:01):
And if you can't do those things, were not going
to make it very far.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
I want to talk a little bit about the dugout
energy and how you guys invested. You help this team
even when you weren't on the field or in the lineup,
you help this team keep energy. Tell me a little
bit about the investment that this team took in the
dugout last year.
Speaker 4 (11:21):
Yeah, it just was a reflection I think of how
welcoming the older guys were. I mean, how could you
not want to be able to help them out and
do anything you can for them when they did so
much for us.
Speaker 5 (11:30):
So I remember one.
Speaker 4 (11:32):
Time it was after Kennesas State Series or early series
and just getting honest a little bit because you know,
our doug out energy is really bad, and then coach
fits brings us aside and starts talking to us like
how can we make this better? And then I mean
we just developed into probably the weirdest and best team.
So it was great the freedom he gave us being ciaused.
We're doing the Jedi sort of thing all over with
(11:56):
each other, random stuff.
Speaker 7 (11:57):
But it made a lot fun, sure, and you can
serve this season flipped. Oh yeah, Kennesaw State Georgia in
that week.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
And the other teams hated it.
Speaker 6 (12:09):
And imagine playing us and seeing us Jedi.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
Fighting and the dougout.
Speaker 6 (12:13):
You'd be like, they just score two runs on us,
and they're clowning us. You know, it bothers them, and
they're like, we're on us all the time. We're not
on the other team, and that's where we get all
the energy.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
You were having fun with each other, and that's one
thing Manage always said, you know, our guys are focused
on us.
Speaker 5 (12:29):
We don't focus on the opponent in terms of what
we're doing. It's all about us, right exactly, That's.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
What he preaches.
Speaker 4 (12:35):
It's about our team in the state of Kentucky. So
we're playing for each other and playing for a fan
base around here.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
Were you guys surprised at how organically the pink hat
took off with the fan base at the ballpark.
Speaker 4 (12:47):
I want to know, because I adn't even under like
nowhere it came from myself. It just appeared one day
in the Dog I think Mason was wearing and I
was like.
Speaker 5 (12:56):
All right, whatever, and then ran.
Speaker 7 (13:00):
On of pink cats.
Speaker 4 (13:01):
By the end of the year, everyone's wearing pink hats,
and then we developed a yellow hat and everyone starts
wearing the other some mustache mustache with the crowd.
Speaker 5 (13:10):
I was like, kids, mustache, I love.
Speaker 7 (13:14):
I love the the mustache. Yeah, yeah, that went viral.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
Coach Madison and I are trying to call the game
and we're looking at the dugout as much as we're
looking at the field, because we're wondering what you guys
have planned.
Speaker 5 (13:26):
For the next game, what's new in the dugout.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
The experience of the season, in all the environments, whether
it was the regional, super Regional, and just getting to
see Omaha and experience that environment, what was that like, Kayas,
It was amazing.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
I mean, you're a celebrity. When we went to Omaha,
it was like, it's true.
Speaker 6 (13:44):
Oh, Ethan Hendel, You're like, oh, what's up, little dude.
Speaker 3 (13:47):
You know, it's awesome.
Speaker 6 (13:50):
Yeah, and all the fans had our back to I mean,
props to them for showing out and putting the stand
in left center. I mean that's awesome. We look forward
to that we're coming out here doing beat for practices
and we see that. It just fires us up seeing
everyone bought into the program and it makes us play
better and it helps them too.
Speaker 4 (14:09):
Yeah, you could tell the culture was built here and
it was finalized and everyone was kind of coming around
us and forming it. So we knew, I mean it
was time to play for each other and play for
all these people who are coming out here. Like he said,
we got off the bus and we learned those stands
were back there. Everyone instantly before they even put their
bags down, are looking at it just like, yeah, this
is unbelievable.
Speaker 7 (14:27):
This place about to get routed.
Speaker 5 (14:28):
Oh yeah it did, It really did.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
And we got to home on.
Speaker 4 (14:31):
Like you said, you would never expect the way they
treat us like high your treats.
Speaker 3 (14:36):
It's super grateful, really.
Speaker 5 (14:37):
And and Darren can speak to this being from this state.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
A lot is said about basketball in Kentucky, but this
state is also a baseball state, man, and they come
out and I.
Speaker 7 (14:47):
Mean it's a baseball town. I mean the Lexison youth
baseball is insane. You know, the twelve year olds just
went to the World Series or something. Yeah, Little League again. Yeah,
like the high scho baseball is very well. It's very
good in Lexington, like this place a baseball town.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
And that's going back though to tie it to last
year's team. That was one of my favorite things about
your team was the fans embraced you, and you guys
embraced the fans whether you were on the winning side
of the scoreboard or you came up short. You guys
were down there on the third baseline signing autographs after
every game, and there was a throng of fans there
every night wanting.
Speaker 5 (15:26):
To meet you guys and take pictures or whatever. I mean,
it was really cool.
Speaker 6 (15:30):
Yeah, it was awesome to see and it fires us
up during the games. It's producing more runs. I mean,
people that's coming in don't want to play here because
if we have a pack stands they're like oh, and
they're all routy with the pink hats.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
And even our fans are clowning them. Yeah, that's awesome.
Speaker 7 (15:46):
Whatever it takes, it takes, I want to dive in.
You know, obviously you all have Coach Amo last year,
you have Coach Couzi last year, and now it's coach
Coozi and Coach Sloan. So we haven't got Coach Sloan
on here yet. We both met him, of course. Uh,
but I want you all to dive into his coaching
style and what's what's it like as a hitter, as
(16:08):
a position player, you know, learning from coach Sloan.
Speaker 4 (16:11):
It's awesome when I got here, like you could tell
that he was He kind of has the same like
vibe as coach. I'm a little bit like the younger vibe.
He connects well with us, but also coaches us really well,
and he's very very very good at what he does.
And he is very technical too, Like he has more
stuff with us, like very technical in our swings and
that's been improving a lot of our swings and a
(16:32):
lot of our power, the abilities to make adjustments. And
then on the field, very good in field coach. But
the main thing he's bringing is very very very positive
vibes out there they can get a good culture, and
he reflects the culture that MNJ has brought into.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
So I love him. It's awesome. Yeah, a lot of
drill orient based.
Speaker 7 (16:49):
Sure, guy, you have to have a good routine, right,
of course.
Speaker 6 (16:52):
That's what he says, have a good routine every time
and try to stay consistent every day with it because
that's ends up building up through the fall through the spring.
How you're doing in the fall is going to trickle
into the spring's going to trickle in. You know, it's
a game time, So what you do now is important.
And I really like Sloan. I like what he teaches.
He's a baseball guy. I mean, he knows the game
(17:12):
and he's out there. We got the machine set up
for second base picks from the catcher and he's out
there with no glove.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
Just We're like, oh, tell us to do it, all right,
this is how you do it, whatever it takes. Man.
Speaker 7 (17:30):
What are some individual things that you know? I always
felt for the hitters because they're lifting three four times
a week. They gotta be soreed. They're out there taking
ground balls for a while, doing based running, conditioning things
like that, and they're also one hundred two hundred swings
a day, right, you know, So how do you work
on a specific thing and what specific thing are you
(17:53):
working on this fall in your swings?
Speaker 3 (17:56):
Uh?
Speaker 4 (17:56):
For me, it's just getting a little lower in my swing,
not standing up too tall. So with Coach Long, we're
very quality over quality. Is that right to take a
little bit of time in between reps, especially like some
of those thing days when we get what fifteen minutes
to work with him before unless we do like a
one on one thing. But yeah, I think thing just
getting in my back, like more and writing it and
then int field. He's been really helping me, has he
(18:18):
like to likes to tell me get more Dominican, So
just get smart rhythm and get some more suave and.
Speaker 6 (18:22):
They say get some get that a room man, Come on,
what about you get more balanced in different things, like
in my lefty swing, getting balanced in the same thing
on righting things. Not to change too much in each
thing because if you start changing a lot, it's just
start going to break down. I mean your swings will
start breaking down, your fielding might start breaking down if
you try to do too much. Sometimes it just takes
(18:44):
a little bit of timing adjustment, or maybe work on
your top hand a little bit more, or just all
the little things.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
That's it.
Speaker 7 (18:50):
We had a really good conversation with James McCoy in
the spring about being a switch hitter. Yeah, you know,
do you have to work on your lefty swing more
than you're writing your right swing more than your lefty.
You know, are there days where you're just swinging left
handed or just swinging right handed? Like, how how is
that balance? Because you've got to do double the hitting
that right.
Speaker 5 (19:09):
Yeah, I have to.
Speaker 6 (19:10):
Well, sometimes I have to come in earlier before the
group starts and work on my lefty and then go
righty when the group starts right, so sometimes I might
have to get extra balls before the group time starts.
So that's one of the things that you just have
to do, is a switch hit or but I mean,
who knows, say you're right knees hurting, boom, all right,
(19:30):
I'll switch righty for that day, and no one can
even tell right.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
You know, you can just switch whenever you want.
Speaker 7 (19:35):
Yeah, it's a lost art in baseball.
Speaker 3 (19:39):
Yeah, and you don't.
Speaker 7 (19:39):
You don't see as many people any more switch hitting.
Have you ever thought about giving it up? Or has
it just been like yeah, right for the right hand, left,
Like I'm gonna keep doing it. The way you read
the ball, you can just never go back.
Speaker 6 (19:50):
I've been switching since I've been eleven years old. And
once you see the ball come out of right and
your left and it's just coming right and You're like,
I missed that.
Speaker 7 (19:58):
I need to go back to it.
Speaker 3 (19:59):
You can't, you don't like it.
Speaker 7 (20:01):
Did you have a like favorite hitter or something growing
up though, Switchy, the switch hit or that door Lindor.
So like you said Lindor, it was like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
he's a dog.
Speaker 5 (20:10):
I got to spend a season with him in the
minor leagues.
Speaker 3 (20:14):
Oh that's awesome. That's awesome.
Speaker 5 (20:15):
That's get to watch him every day. That's why I
went to the ballpark.
Speaker 7 (20:19):
Yeah, i'd say, I mean that guy, he was playing
at an MVP level for a little while this, yes,
I mean his mets are.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
Good ball still, yeah, Ethan, do you have a particular
player that you looked up to or that you watched
now that inspires you.
Speaker 4 (20:33):
When I was younger, Carlos Gomez Okay, yeah, big Brewer guy,
So that's why I was younger. My number is always
twenty seven, and now it's always Mike trou and Aaron Judge.
My swing is very I love Aaron Judges swing. And
then my game style. I love Mike Traps because he
always is hustling out and that man is one of
the best to play all time and he still does
he still does the little things right.
Speaker 7 (20:51):
Gomez used to torture my reds.
Speaker 3 (20:58):
Dog.
Speaker 7 (21:00):
Brewers have always tortured us.
Speaker 5 (21:02):
Oh yeah, oh yeah, where it is? Yeah?
Speaker 7 (21:09):
Are you a Mets fan?
Speaker 6 (21:10):
No?
Speaker 3 (21:10):
No, I'm a Dodgers fan.
Speaker 7 (21:12):
Okay, okay, why yeah, why this happened a whole lot?
Speaker 5 (21:19):
Well?
Speaker 6 (21:20):
I was a Cardinals fan growing up, big yeaddy air
Molina guy who was tall, dejeng all those guys. And
then I was like, man, I'm tired of the Cardinals.
Speaker 3 (21:31):
When can I switch teams?
Speaker 6 (21:32):
My mom was like, well, once you're a teenager, you'll
be able to switch teams. But when you're a kid,
you have to like the Cardinals. I was like, all right,
So when I was a teenager, I was like, I'm
picking the Dodgers and I'm riding with them. They're good.
They went a lot, man, and they're good Win a lot.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
I mean, show is just a dog.
Speaker 8 (21:51):
Easy to be a Dodgers fan, yeah, I know, be
a Diamond X fan something random?
Speaker 5 (22:02):
Man, yeah, Mariners come on?
Speaker 1 (22:05):
No?
Speaker 3 (22:06):
Right?
Speaker 5 (22:07):
All right? Well we asked the guys. Uh.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
In last week's episode when we had Jackson and Evan on,
we asked them world series predictions.
Speaker 5 (22:14):
You guys have one. Since we're talking about the big leagues.
Speaker 3 (22:18):
I'll have a major prediction. I just know the Brewers
need to win this year. Yeah, it's gonna be flate.
Speaker 4 (22:23):
It's not the classic Wisconsin sports or we make it
to the playoffs and lose. But I got the Brewers
and maybe the Tigers or Yankees.
Speaker 5 (22:32):
Okay, I like that.
Speaker 3 (22:34):
I think Tigers are hot. They are hot the right.
Speaker 7 (22:38):
It's not about who's the best, that's about who's.
Speaker 4 (22:39):
Hot in a row.
Speaker 3 (22:42):
Crazy comeback.
Speaker 7 (22:43):
They're like eight or something over the last.
Speaker 5 (22:46):
A j Hinch getting it done. They must be banging
trash cans or something. They have to be.
Speaker 6 (22:52):
I'd probably say Houston Phillies.
Speaker 3 (22:56):
Yeah, alright, I think yeah Houston again.
Speaker 2 (22:59):
Man, they were the bottom most of the year and
then all of a sudden, there they are winning a
division and in the playoffs.
Speaker 7 (23:05):
But that's just good culture. I know they're cheated for
a little while, but they do have a culture.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
They have.
Speaker 7 (23:13):
They have the winning culture. And we can speak on
that about Kentucky baseball last two years. You know, the
culture's changed around here, and you know, we went from
fighting for an NCAA tournament birth we're in fighting for Omahall.
We're there and we're fighting for a national championship. How
do you guys, you know, get those transfers, get those
(23:33):
new freshmen to buy into the culture, to adapt the culture,
to go all in on continuing the success that we've
had over the last two seasons.
Speaker 4 (23:42):
Like I said before, carrying on the legacy and the
things the other guys taught me. I mean, they brought
me in and they got me to buy in, So
I'm just trying to do the same things they can.
I Mean, the biggest part is outside of baseball, we're
always hanging out, whether it's getting food together, watching a movie,
we're all doing something together. And they also love everything
that's going on here and every thing we're about.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
So yeah, everyone's buying in.
Speaker 7 (24:02):
This can be a good year.
Speaker 3 (24:03):
Yeah. Men brings a great culture to the program, and
he feeds us.
Speaker 6 (24:06):
Every day, like speak my jargon and stuff, and we
just have fun during the practices and we understand each other,
you know, know each other's boundaries. Know we're here for
one purpose and win a national championship, and that's why
you come here, and that's why people come here now.
Speaker 3 (24:20):
They want to win a national championship, and.
Speaker 6 (24:23):
Then we bring in the bonding before we get into
the competitive stuff. So we can bond first and then
that's what takes off.
Speaker 7 (24:31):
I love it sounds like a recipe for success. Let's
do it again in twenty twenty five, Let's do it on.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
I want to ask about the friendship between you two.
How quickly did this develop?
Speaker 3 (24:42):
I think very core And the doors we lived right
across the hall.
Speaker 4 (24:46):
So it's like a neighbor and then radidly was were
all doors are octoby. We're just seeing each other out
in the tide. And yeah, even over the summer we
were calling a lot.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
Yeah, so I know some guys like to fish, some
guys do video games. What do you guys to do
when you have some downtime? I know it's minimal, but
when you have it, well, we liked the p G
A play Xbox.
Speaker 4 (25:07):
For a lot of PGA, played a lot of Rainbow
six Siege and then just movies.
Speaker 7 (25:12):
I never got that, man. I got some boys that
played PGA all the time, like just go golf.
Speaker 3 (25:19):
Yeah, but if I go golf, agree every time?
Speaker 5 (25:24):
So that costs money?
Speaker 7 (25:26):
Man, Yeah, I don't need to spend no more money
on my golf game.
Speaker 5 (25:29):
I suck.
Speaker 3 (25:31):
I get a good reason, guys, PGA is a great
scale of all time.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
Yeah yeah, I don't know what it is about baseball
players anyway. Like when I was in pro ball, guys
golfed all the time. If they weren't at the ballpark,
they were on the golf course.
Speaker 5 (25:42):
Either one.
Speaker 3 (25:43):
You're hitting balls as far as you can. Yeah, that's
seeing that thing.
Speaker 5 (25:48):
Smoked it.
Speaker 7 (25:49):
I mean that video of your boy Mike Trout, Oh yeah, golf.
Speaker 3 (25:55):
Yeah yeah, I.
Speaker 7 (25:56):
Mean that's that ball was crush. So I can do it.
Speaker 5 (25:59):
Yeah, well, we know how far you're in. Judge can
hit a baseball, so how far can he hit a
golf ball?
Speaker 7 (26:04):
I don't know. Hot take baseball when you might slice
it to the right.
Speaker 5 (26:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:09):
What's it been like this year? We were talking culture.
We'll bring it back to Kentucky with the new guys infield, outfielders.
What's it been like getting this group together? And what
are the personalities like? Who stands out of among the
new faces?
Speaker 3 (26:23):
Cole Age Goldige, go Age Golige. Probably the smartest dude
I've ever met.
Speaker 4 (26:29):
Smartest guy you've ever met, Probably biggest linebacker. I don't know,
I mean he's just a good dude. I love him
another Cole Cole Henschel. Yeah, he's a character and he
brings a lot of energy out, especially off Robert Hogan.
Those two together, it's yeah, I think it's loud.
Speaker 6 (26:46):
So a lot of good team guys. I mean most
teams need that. I mean we had Ryan Haggan now
you know, keeping the hats on. We have a lot
of those guys this year, and that helps the team
a lot. People that buy in the most and are
most vocal and bringing like the freshman and during the
games and getting them vocal and getting the other guys vocal,
and it helps.
Speaker 4 (27:06):
Even the freshman. I mean, those guys are funny. Ryan
Schwartz is funny now as high as Jacksonovy he's close
to him on really funny.
Speaker 5 (27:15):
Get you some names here for future.
Speaker 3 (27:18):
On the team. Yeah, yeah, characters.
Speaker 7 (27:24):
Iowa corn bet Fred I want to say that in English,
corn bed boy.
Speaker 5 (27:30):
So both of us in this episode. All right, all right, well.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
Guys, hey, thanks for coming on with us. We appreciate it.
Good luck in the fall, forward to seeing you guys
out there, and we'll see you in the spring too.
Speaker 4 (27:45):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (27:46):
I appreciate you guys.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
So that's Kay scargat ethan handle for Darren Williams. I'm
Darren Hedrick. Stay tuned. We'll have more behind Kentucky baseball
coming up here on the UK Sports Network.
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