Dave Marshall's coaching philosophy; Baustin Bowers heads to Wesleyan

On today's show:

• Chris George, Bridgeport play-by-play (2:04)
• Dave Marshall, Bridgeport boy's basketball coach (20:51)
• Bill Nestor, on Baustin Bowers signing with Wesleyan (41:52)
• Chris Johnson, Connect-Bridgeport, wraps the show (1:03:02)

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Sports fans, it's time for the Friday Free for All.
Over the next two hours, we'll bring you all the
latest from across the region in high school and college sports.
Now Here are your hosts, Chris Johnson and Alex Wheeederspield.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
Good morning everybody, and welcome in. This is the Friday
Free for All, brought to you by our friends at
dan Cavsiota b A GMC. Thanks for being here part
of our show this morning, got a good one for you.
Still lots going on in the baseball world, but we
are actually a little bit basketball heavy today. We're going
to talk a little bit about that coming up here
in just a moment, talk about some inconsistencies with Bridgeport

(00:44):
baseball as well, and you know, Chris Johnson and I
are going to talk a little bit of and Or
coming up as well. So coming up on the show today,
we're gonna hear from Chris Johnson. Towards the bottom of
the eight o'clock hour, we are going to hear from
Bill Nestor. I'm going to chat a little bit about
a little bit about Boston Bowers, the Liberty High School

(01:05):
product who is signing over at West Virginia Wesley and Bill,
of course, the West Virginia Wesleyan play by play man.
So we'll hear from Bill what the signing means, what
it could look like, and you know what it means
as well to have another star young local player staying
at home. We'll also here today from Dave Marshall, head

(01:25):
coach of Bridgeport boys basketball. Looking forward to that conversation,
and of course we're going to start things off with
Chris George immediately on the other side of this break.
Got a totally packed show today, so we're gonna go
ahead and hit our first break immediately right here on
the Friday Free for All. Don't forget that you can
always hear the show in podcast form. If you ever

(01:45):
missed the show on the radio, just go check out
the speaker app or your preferred podcasting platform. You can
also find everything you need for the Friday Free for
All in digital or podcast form at wkmznews dot com. Again,
that's WKMZ news dot com. We're back after this with
Chris George to kick off the show.

Speaker 1 (02:05):
Time for more high school sports talk on the Dan
cavatoyot WAGMC Friday Free for All.

Speaker 2 (02:12):
Friday Free for All rolling on and we begin our
show today as we do all spring, with Chris George,
who is sort of our in addition to being the
Bridgeport play by play dude on the radio right here
on WKMZ, is also our unofficial official regional reporter for
all things high school baseball in the state of West Virginia. Chris,

(02:35):
what's up man?

Speaker 3 (02:36):
Oh?

Speaker 4 (02:37):
Just getting through another week of baseball and winding things down.
We only have one more week of the regular season left,
that's next week, and then it all begins party time
in the postseason.

Speaker 2 (02:48):
Yeah, kind of wild. Now, Admittedly, weather didn't really cooperate
at the back half of this week, and I don't
know how much it's going to cooperate next week. There
is a lot of potential for so we'll see how
much baseball gets in. Of course, very similar to that
big stretch without games in the early portion of the season.
Bridgeport kind of an up and down week. Lost to

(03:12):
Philip Barber. Obviously, we talked a fair bit about that
game previewing that game when we last talked last Friday,
but they had a really nice response. Also after falling
behind Fairmont Senior in the Metro News Power rankings from
two to three. They came out and kind of beat
up on Fairmont Senior right after that, and then would

(03:32):
lose to Morgantown the very next night. So definitely a
little mercurial right now. These Bridgeport Indians up and down
for a team that I think it's fair to say
at this point there's a thought that they could beat
anybody or lose to anybody.

Speaker 4 (03:46):
It's a very good point and that's kind of how
it's been. You know, you look at their record and
it's still good record, you know, sixteen and seven now,
but after the loss to Morgantown there and I but
Robert Shields. We had him on our podcast this week
on Bridgeport Indians dot Com and he was very critical

(04:07):
of how things are right now, and I think he
was honest. I know he was honest, and he was
also concerned and he was also happy with some things.
But it's not where his team needs to be in
his eyes right now. With a week to go. It
all starts offensively and it finishes with the defense, and
we'll talk about that. Offensively, this is the first time

(04:28):
that he can remember that he doesn't have a guy
batting four hundred or over in many years. In fact,
He's currently only has two guys over three sixty. Right now,
they only have four home runs as a team, so
the power isn't there hasn't shown up as of yet. However,
there's been games this year where they face quality pitching
and they've done well. This Bridgeport team seems to do

(04:51):
seem to do a pretty good job against guys that
throw with harder velocity, but guys that are control pitchers
that throw, you know, average velosity with good breaking balls,
or just guys that mix it up and throw strikes.
We tend to struggle with. You know, players are out
in front, they don't they don't trust their hands as much,
they don't let things travel, and they struggle offense. And

(05:14):
we saw that in the Morgantown game. Maddix Bogs, who's
been good all year. Here's a kid that does nothing
but hit spots with his breaking ball and his fastball.
He's probably mid the upper seventies velosity, and saw with
nickn Zalez of Philip Barber back on Friday, probably a
little bit less velocity, but he hit spots and Bridgeport

(05:34):
struggled both games. In fact, if you put the Philip
Barber together game together for seven ing's where Bridgeport was
shut out for the first time and I can't remember when,
especially in a conference game, and then held to one
run against Morgantown back on Wednesday. You know, it just
shows you that, you know, there's still a lot of
work to do for this Bridgepoort team, but they found

(05:56):
themselves a little hot streak there last week into the
week prior, and I think they can get that back
where they can manufacture runs, use their speed, play some
small ball. They got multiple players that are good bunners,
guys that can run the bases, but they're gonna have
to get more consistent. And you know, let's look at

(06:18):
the defense. Going into the Morgantown game on Wednesday, Bridgeport
had fifty two errors as a team, way too many,
very Unindian like, so to speak, and that's got to
get better. And here in the last week they've done
a pretty decent job. I know, they had one air
against Faramont. I think they only had one against Morgantown,

(06:39):
So they're making some progress. Some of that is guys
playing a little out of position at times because a
couple of players had some sore arms.

Speaker 3 (06:47):
But now you're.

Speaker 4 (06:48):
Getting twenty plus games into you you expect to have
defense to come around, and some of it's mental, some
of it's focus related, and some of it just errors happen.
It's base. You're gonna have airs, but fifty two for
a Bridge four team that he mentioned on his podcast
is way too many, so they've got to clean that up.
The pitching has been decent, it's been good. Jacob Stervacus

(07:12):
has done a great job on the Mouths number one pitcher,
outstanding game against Faremont Senior back on Tuesday, and he
finished the Robert C. Bird game in relief back Thursday
of last week. He couldn't ask for much better pitching
what Jake's done for them. But then they're trying to
find that consistent number two, number three, number four, and
it's been a mixed bag right now. Guya Bulio against

(07:33):
University last week looked good. I'm not seeing him since
we'll see him. Maybe took Friday, which is today, we'll
see Case and Bond inconsistent with the command. He's looked
good at Spurts, but then there's been times he's walked
too many. Carson Curry has not found the pitching he
had last year. A little bit of it is not

(07:56):
his fault.

Speaker 3 (07:57):
He missed two.

Speaker 4 (07:57):
Weeks due to an upper body injury, so he's it's
now working back. He looked better against Morgantown than what
he did against Philip Barber back on Friday, but he's
not anywhere near where he was at last year.

Speaker 3 (08:08):
With the pitching.

Speaker 4 (08:09):
Offensively, he's improved. That's helped, but they any more. Pitchers
have stepped up, more consistency there, more consistency on defense
and the offense. It's got to find a way to
step it up just a little bit. This team's not
going to hit four hundred. It's not going to happen.
But I think they're capable of doing better than what
they've shown so far. But let's face it, Alex, this

(08:29):
is it huge game tonight at Frankfort. We won't have
that game due to lack of sell data in Frankfort.
It's kind of kind of hard to broadcast down there
in the hole they have there, but we won't be there.
But unfortunately, hopefully we can get there in the postseason
work out some things with some Wi Fi. That's an
our story from their day. But that's a huge game tonight,

(08:50):
the huge game. We beat him here, we beat their
best picture, and that's what I'm saying. Or Dorf their
best picture. Lance Orndorf. Here's a kid throws eighty five
to eighty eight Bridgeport, it's off him.

Speaker 3 (09:00):
Great.

Speaker 4 (09:02):
We'll see a different picture tonight. So we'll see you
don't have anybody with the bloss Sea Eastcott's the bridge
Sports no day off today or day off yesterday because
of the rain out at Winning Park. They did practice,
which is good, so they get some prepared. This is
a big game because bridge Sport's still fighting for that
number one seed in the region. If with end today
they probably get it. But it's going to be closed
because Frankfurt Robert C. Burder will have something to say

(09:24):
about that. So that's why this game to Knights bink.

Speaker 2 (09:29):
You've seen a fair bit of the Big ten this season.
I think at this point you've seen have you seen
the whole conference? Now at this point live in person.

Speaker 4 (09:36):
I get to see North Mary in person Monday.

Speaker 2 (09:38):
Okay, uh, most big, most impressive outside of what you've
seen from Bridgeport, who are you most impressed by?

Speaker 4 (09:45):
Philip Barbar By far, Philip Barber has been the story
of the year in my mind, followed by Fairmounts Senior,
because I think we knew fairmout Senior was coming was
going to be good this year if the senior class
that they have, and they've got a couple of good pictures,
you know. And and they can Field and Braden Gorby,

(10:07):
Logan Camfield, the lefties who we saw back on Tuesday,
and then Gorby the right hander, has really improved this year.
He just comes into a ton of conference and hit
spots and just works fast, changes his feeds a little
bit and just those strikes. A kid doesn't throw hard,
but man, he's a competitor. He pitches with conference and
he's had such a great year on the mound for them.

(10:28):
In fact, that loss for Fairmont Senior to Bridgeport on
Tuesday was their first conference loss of the year, and
Philip barbera only won conference loss. They lost eight five
to the Puller Bears a couple of weeks ago in Philippin.
So right now you got a three way tie for
the top of the Big ten between those three schools,
and and we'll see how But Philip Barber's impressed me.
They hit one through nine, they all put the ball

(10:50):
in play. They got a freshman Robbie Jones, who is
a heck of an athlete that can come in and
pitch as well. He made a catch and left field
against Bridgeport that was just outstanding, banging up against the
wall in motion and still made the catch, made a shoe,
made a catch diving forward right at the edge of
the grass. And then Slayton Harris, or nine hitter, had

(11:12):
a double and two RBIs and two hits against Bridgeport
back on Friday, Landing Carpenter is hitting well over three
seventy five. It's just a very and of course Tyler
sists and the catcher, he's an All Conference catcher. And
you know, here's a kid going to Concord no one
knows about and he leads him in home runs and
his kid's a stunt. So you know, I think John Carpenter,

(11:34):
like Robert, he's looking for that number two, number three,
number four. Cal Wolf has been an outstanding number one
for them this year at a lefty land and Carpenter's
probably been a solid number two. And Grant Harrison has
done okay. But I still think coach Carpenter with big
wins this week over Braxton County, huge win, and they
got the big win over God reached the day before.
Right now, Philip Barber is going to be the number

(11:55):
one seat in that region if it ends today, and
then probably South Harrison, who to be earlier this year
that was also a big win. South Harrison is probably
gonna get to two seed in Petersburg to three if
it ends today. But it doesn't, there's still a little
bit of time left. But the Philip Barbara colets what
a job they've done in Fairmont Senior. Can't discount what
they've done. Outstanding job there. They battle back and be

(12:15):
a good North Marion team. Who there's another team that's
been a mile surprised this year under head coach Fixed Sakiro.

Speaker 2 (12:22):
On that note, South Harrison, you just mentioned them. They've
been playing better of late now. They've been hovering around
that eighth spot in the power rankings. There were six
games above five hundred coming into the week. South Harrison.
Think they're pretty dangerous if they do wind up in
that two spot. That's a pretty dangerous two seed.

Speaker 4 (12:41):
Yeah they are. And they impressed me last Saturday, going
on the road to Petersburg and winning a doubleheader at Petersburg,
and that's not easy to do. Petersburg not quite the
offensive team they've been in the past, but they have
outstanding pitching. In fact, freshman Peyton Feni threw a gym
seven and two thirds innings against South Harrison. I ran
up against the pitch Coosh shruck out fifteen. South Harrison

(13:02):
scores ten runs in the top of the tenth against Petersburg,
end up winning that game going away, and they won
game two of the doubleheader as well. Two huge wins
for Frank Tainton his South Harrison Hawk team on the
road at Petersburg. And what a year they've had, you know,
And I go back to Legion Baseball. I know I
talk about a lot since I'm the state chairman, but

(13:22):
Legion Baseball has done a world of good for some
of the players in the South Harrison team who's played
for Clarksburg. Maybe not as much last year, but the
year before at a young age, getting to see that
older competition. Now the kids now as seniors there aren't
faced by anything. You know, they're throwing strikes, they're playing,
they're putting the ball in play. They too, like Philip Barber,

(13:43):
can get pretty solid through that lineup. So that's one
of the reasons why they've had a great year.

Speaker 2 (13:50):
I'm excited. I don't think correct if I'm wrong. Will
it be next Friday will have regional seedings or will
it be the following Friday?

Speaker 4 (14:00):
A good question. I just know it'll be some I've
been told sometime next week.

Speaker 2 (14:05):
Okay, all right, so we might be able to talk
about them next Friday.

Speaker 3 (14:09):
I hope.

Speaker 4 (14:10):
I think that will be possible. I'm hoping, all.

Speaker 2 (14:13):
Right, all right, So that's what I'm hoping, because that
will definitely dive into that a little bit, a little
bit deeper before we switch gears to anything else. Can
you give out give out the rest of your Bridgeport
schedule for next week for broadcast?

Speaker 4 (14:27):
Now, we got rained out last night at Wheeling. In fact,
I made the trip, but I had to leave early
at some other stuff I needed to do. But Frankfort
today we will have the Frankfurt game tonight, so wish
Bridgeport the best of luck. But then we're back with
the Indians all next week on Monday at home against
North mary And at five pm Tuesday. They will remain

(14:48):
home to play Robert C. Bird, a big contest at
five o'clock Wednesday on the road at Morgantown, another A
team that trying to avenge the loss they had this
past week, and then it'll be away game at the
miller FIELDT Milond Park Wednesday. Then Thursday they wrap up
the regular season home with University, a team they played
two weeks ago. So it's a tough schedule next week.
A lot of good games and allowed to play thirty

(15:12):
two games in high school. We're not going to quite
get that many if lost the couple due to rain
and cancelations. But you know, if there's a chance Robert
Chios can get some games in in the postseason in
between some of the regional games, they can, as long
as they're playing teams that haven't exceeded that thirty two
game or thirty one game I should say, sorry, thirty
one game limit. They'll do that. But hopefully next week

(15:35):
we'll have the seeds. We'll find out who's what.

Speaker 2 (15:38):
Okay, very good. Let's wrap with some WVU baseball. They're
getting set to start up a great potential series with
Texas Tech. I feel like in the past Texas Tech's
a little down this season, but in the past they've
given WU some trouble if I remember correctly. But what's
curious here is you know, the Mountaineers are fast approaching

(16:00):
this one big threshold just for the sake of context,
you know, I think it's really important. But they have
a chance to surpass the forty win mark before the
regular season is over. They could tie it this weekend,
which is really impressive for a number of reasons. The
big one being that the forty wins that they have
as their career or I'm sorry, as their program record

(16:22):
was done over the course of a full regular season
and postseason. They could beat that record just in the
regular season alone. That's pretty impressive to start. Second, of course,
is the possibility of hosting a regional which they are
still very much fighting for. So these games have a
lot of meaning because they're right on the edge. Dwon
Baseball dot Com. At last I looked, and actually they

(16:42):
may have dropped a new one since then, But at
last I looked.

Speaker 1 (16:46):
They had.

Speaker 2 (16:48):
They had the let's see, they had WU at the
number fourteen spot. Let me see if they've come out
with a new one yet. Actually I think they I
think they did. Yeah, So they had hosting is the fourteen,
and this week they actually have WVU up at the twelve.
So the Mountaineers moving in the right direction. Of course,

(17:11):
got that big sweep over UCF, which was a weird
series because the Mountaineers kind of escaped GUD and they've
been both good and lucky this year, and of course
you kind of have to be at this point. But
what's your take on this team coming in against Texas
Tech as we look ahead towards whether or not postseason
baseball could be coming to Morgantown.

Speaker 4 (17:32):
Yeah, a lot of pressure right now on the on
the Mountaineers, and I want to see how they handle
that pressure here down the stretch. Did not handle it
well Wadnesday down Charleston. It was bad loss, an anyway,
you can spin it any way you want to, bad loss,
But it's baseball. Losses are going to happen over a
fifty six game schedule. People don't understand the game of baseball.

Speaker 3 (17:53):
You're going to lose.

Speaker 4 (17:53):
Teams that you're going like, how do they lose them?
It's baseball, man, You're going to if you play fifty
six games, you're gonna lose two or three. You probably
shouldn't have any business losing. It happens, But it's a
lot of pressure on this West Virginia team and They've
handled a pressure well er, but nothing like they're going
to handle now. Because they know that they see that

(18:13):
forecast of what could be a possible host, they want
to do what they did in twenty nineteen. Texas Tech's
not going to be easy. They're yes, Texas Tech's having
a down year with the record, but they still have
a ton of talent and any given day Texas Tech
can beat you. So West Virginia's got to clean it
up defensively, that's number one. They've been very average at

(18:33):
best this year to SIN, so they got to clean
it up there. Their pitching's got to continue to do
what they do on Fridays and Sundays. Gavin Van Kippen's
going to step up on Saturday. He threw a bullpen
like game as a one inning start against Marshall Back
on Wednesday, after a poor performance a week ago in
two thirds of an inning as a starter against UCF
Back last Saturday. But they got to continue to get

(18:55):
good pitching on Fridays and Sundays and find ways to
get things done on Saturday. Virginia, and I said this
to you last week, has to win at least two
out of three games against Texas Tech at least two
out of three against Kansas State and at least two
out of three against Kansas And if they can do
all that and win the regular season, they should host
as one of the sixteenth ranked teams. But they also

(19:16):
have to take care of pitt next week. They've now
lost back to back midweek games against teams with RPIs
and aren't great. They're not bad losses. Penn State was
a decent team and decent RPI. Marshall not like they
have been in the past. They're better. But West Virginia
did drop a couple spots in the RPI losing to

(19:36):
the Herd Thursday or back on Wednesday. But if they
lose the Pit, they may drop even more. They may
drop through or four spots in the RPI, and their
strength to schedules in the mid two hundreds. That's not
good for the non conference side of the strength of schedule.
So this is why West Virginia has to win the
regular season I title outright. They got to win at
least two out of three the next three weeks in

(19:56):
all those series and they could achieve their gold. But man,
there's a lot of pre I'll meet guys, now, and
I hope they can handle it and go out there
and keep doing what they're doing. One thing I do
like about this team is they play with a cocky
swagger and people may not like it. I know some
other team's been rubbed the wrong way with it. But
when you had that cocky, arrogant swagger in confidence about you,

(20:18):
that stuff right there can carry you a long way,
no matter how good you are not talent wise.

Speaker 2 (20:24):
First pitch tonight, by the way, folks, set for six
thirty Chris, much appreciated man. We'll talk with you next week.
Hopefully we are breaking down some regional brackets, which I
suspect we probably will be.

Speaker 4 (20:35):
Let's so it be fun to talk about it. We'll
be interested.

Speaker 2 (20:37):
Yeah, this is the Friday Free for All, brought to
you by Dan cavatiot to you a GMC. We are
talking with Bridgeport basketball coach. We've got a very basketball
heavy show for you, By the way, folks, Bridgeport basketball
coach Dave Marshall coming up on the other side of
this break back after this.

Speaker 1 (20:52):
Time for more high school sports talk on the Dan
cavatoyot w a GMC Friday Free for All, and.

Speaker 2 (21:00):
We are back on the Friday Free for All brought
to you by Dan Cavato to buick GMC and great
today to be joined by a recent state champion, and
you've likely very likely heard him on these airwaves being
interviewed by Chris George or Travis Jones. This is Dave Marshall,
head coach of Bridgeport boys basketball. Dave, thanks for being

(21:22):
on the show.

Speaker 5 (21:23):
Oh thanks for having me, Alex. It's a pleasure.

Speaker 2 (21:26):
I'm really excited to talk with you for a couple
of reasons, and we're gonna definitely get into some Bridgeport
stuff and some coach philosophy stuff, because I'm always fascinated
talking with with coaches, especially folks who have made it
sort of a not just a career, but you know,
kind of part of their part of their very fabric,
which I imagine a lot of coaches who stay in

(21:46):
it and do it do but I am, I am
pretty curious. So I know you're you're gonna be coaching
the North team for the North South coming up, and
there's got to be a little bit of a difference
in coaching an All Star game, I imagine versus coaching
You know, your your kids at Bridgeport and I'm kind
of curious, like, you know, is this something you've done before?

Speaker 6 (22:06):
Uh?

Speaker 2 (22:06):
And and you know, are you how much are you
looking forward to kind of the some of the differences
in doing something like this.

Speaker 7 (22:12):
Uh, there's Alex, There's a lot of differences in my
especially the way I approach coaching. I have to be
a little bit more. Uh, I have to be a
lot different than maybe what I would be and in
my program. Actually, I just did coach the uh the
torn of the Cistic five Rover Cistic five Bruces tournament
up in Parkersburg, and three of my guys got to

(22:32):
play on that and that that was back in uh,
back in early April, and that was pretty cool. But
at the same time, all I see myself there is
kind of a fan that's got a good seat and
a facilitator making sure everybody gets to play. As far
as the ex and o's and preparing teams. It has
nothing to do with what we do. It's more like

(22:54):
a glorified gym teacher.

Speaker 6 (22:55):
I think.

Speaker 2 (22:57):
Okay, fair enough, I was. I was definitely curious, do
you guys have a big hand, because I know Zach
Bart is joining you as well, do you guys have
a big hand in selecting the roster or is that
done differently.

Speaker 7 (23:07):
No, the guys that's handling it the coaches, and Jared
Patten's one of them, and this is terrible. I don't
have the other name on the top of my head,
but they're the ones that are took care of all that,
which I kind of like, other than I would have taken.

Speaker 5 (23:22):
A couple more of my players selfishly. But no, I
didn't have any hand on that. I don't think Zach
did either.

Speaker 2 (23:28):
Okay, so well, So the good news is, though, you
are going to have the best seat in the house
for this All Star Game for.

Speaker 7 (23:34):
Sure, and I plan to take advantage of that and
just try to stay out of the way. And like
I say, you approach this more like a hockey coach.
I think you're making line changes, And like, I'll tell
the guys the same thing I told them up in Parkersburg,
is you know, for the first three quarters, everybody probably
first three and a half quarters, everybody plays probably the
equal amount of minutes. But if we're in crunch time

(23:54):
and have a chance to win, let's play to win
this thing and go with the guys that's got the
hot hands.

Speaker 2 (24:00):
So let's talk a little bit about Bridgeport now. And
you know, we started doing we expanded the current show
that we're on here. I was telling you a little
bit before we got on the air. We expanded it
to include high school basketball two years ago. So I
guess technically this was our third season covering high school
basketball in totality, and now we've also added high school

(24:23):
baseball and some other stuff to really round out the
whole year worth of show and focusing on high school
athletics both at Bridgeport and around the region. And you know,
I remember it was interesting watching the development of you
guys from AFAR, not just in terms of what you
were doing, but then also when you made the move
from Class Triple A when there were only three classifications

(24:48):
down to Class Triple A under the current format, which
is obviously very very different from what it was just
a couple of seasons ago, and I definitely want to
get into how the competition changed. But I am curious
as well. When you're coaching, and obviously you were just
a couple of years ago, you're coaching against some of
the biggest schools in the state. Bridgeport was one of
the smallest Class Triple a schools How do you go

(25:11):
about handling that as a coach, because I know that
has to seep into the locker room for players where
they know that, hey, we're one of the smallest in
the classification. Does that add any additional work for you?
Or does that wind up resulting in guys know they
got to play with a chip on their shoulders. How
does that dynamic play out?

Speaker 7 (25:29):
I think, Alex, that's a great question, great observation. I
as a coach, I am approaching everything that we do
the exact same way, no matter what you know, what
coup we're playing, what classification we're playing, whether it's a
scrimmage game or the state championship game, our approach is
pretty much identical. But when you work with anybody, especially

(25:52):
young people, they tend to get things in their minds.

Speaker 5 (25:56):
They got other things in their heads.

Speaker 7 (25:57):
So we work real hard to try to keep them
focused in the in the moment they're in and no
matter who they're playing, we want to play the same way.

Speaker 5 (26:05):
Now, I will say this that I think that playing
up like that.

Speaker 7 (26:12):
Tends to make you a better team. Especially we're blessed
here at Bridgeport that these these young men and all
of our student athletes daily they have to walk through
our cafeteria, which is where our trophy case is. And
it's pretty impressive that not you know, not just basketball,
but but everything here. It's kind of expected that that
you be the very best that you can be. And
it's nice to be able to try to push that

(26:33):
across as a coach. But there's nothing that speaks as
loud as that trophy case and and in the in
the tradition that's here in this community. So they realize
that just because we're playing Quada, which we were the
last several years, it doesn't really make any difference.

Speaker 5 (26:47):
We got to compete now. It sure helps that they
were playing schools our side.

Speaker 7 (26:53):
But I will I will double down on that by saying,
when you still have the likes of fair Maud Senior, and.

Speaker 5 (27:00):
Nitro and Robert c.

Speaker 7 (27:02):
Byrd and Chapmanville and go right on down the list,
there's a lot of really really good basketball and trip away.
We just happened to have a really really group, good
group of guys. But you give me those guys and
I'll take my chances. Most days was the schools that
we were playing and happened to compete with in sectionals

(27:22):
and regionals.

Speaker 5 (27:22):
That's you know, two times bigger than we are.

Speaker 7 (27:25):
So we used that to try to use that our
advantage and didn't really talk about it much. It's just
naturally you get better in the process, and I think
that's what happened to this group of guys.

Speaker 2 (27:34):
You know, it makes total sense. The other thing though,
on the court that I heard, and this was this
was something that I had been hearing now for multiple seasons,
the way that you guys defended Everybody told me that
this was going to be if they were going to
eventually kind of turn the corner, because I think the
first season that that we expanded to basketball, you guys

(27:56):
were maybe a game over five hundred, and the thing
I kept was the shooting's not there yet, But the
way that they play defense, the team defense, the depth
that they're building, that's what's probably going to ultimately be
the thing they hang their hat on. And it feels
like a lot of that wound up coming to Fruition
this past season.

Speaker 5 (28:16):
Yeah, I mean, I think so it's something that any
program that I have been involved in building.

Speaker 7 (28:23):
We're just going to start from that ground that you're
going to guard people and we're going to get better
at guarding people. And it's different coaches have different philosophies.
I'm not going to say one is better than the other.
I know what my philosophy is.

Speaker 5 (28:35):
We're not going to play a bunch of different defenses.

Speaker 7 (28:37):
I feel like that can confuse our young men, and
I don't want them thinking I want them playing hard.
I want them I want them to react to what's
going on around them in as much as possible, play
as hard as possible, and hopefully I'll play harder than
their opponents.

Speaker 5 (28:52):
So yeah, we've.

Speaker 7 (28:53):
Always built everything that we do on our defense. And
that's not just you know, when the game starts. I
mean the way we condition in the off season, the
way we evaluate players, to who's playing X a number
of minutes. It's all going to come down to that. Now,
the fun thing that we have to look forward to,
we've lost six seniors off of this group this year,

(29:14):
is how well these younger guys figure this out. It's
I think it's we've we've made a statement. Are our seniors,
that's graduates made a statement that this is how we're
going to do things here, this is what this program's
going to stand on. So now are we going to
pick it up and we're going to put in the
work necessary. I'm hopeful that they will. We shall see.

Speaker 2 (29:32):
I love that you referred to it as fun, because
in my mind, I actually I agree that if there was,
And certainly I understand at the at the college level
and at the pro level, you know, when when jobs
are on the line every single season, that I understand
that it might not be fun for a coach to
to maybe feel this way or a general manager to
feel this way. But I feel like at the high

(29:53):
school level, there's got to be some element of fun
that you're finding in all right, I've got you know,
we just come pleaded the last puzzle. Now we've got
to start on a new one, and we've got to
figure out one what the puzzle looks like and to
where the piece is fit. And I would imagine, if
you know, after a high school coach, that does have
to be a little bit fun.

Speaker 7 (30:11):
Yeah, that's another great observation, Challeity. You obviously know the game,
but that's I think that's one of the fun things
about coaching at this level is you know, you don't
you don't gonna have the same guys it's going to
be a turnover, and if you're kind of trying to
put those pieces back together every year and and try
to find a new piece, and sometimes that's the greatest thing.
I could mention some names off of this past year's

(30:32):
team that a year ago nobody knew who they were
outside of our locker room, and those are the guys
that really they're really really fun to coach because they
step up and they find new rules and you get
to watch them grow up. So yeah, that's that's part
of the tankering. A matter of fact, I'm sitting in
my office right now looking at the coach as Mark
or board, and you know, it's time for me to
start putting up you know, different uh schemes and things

(30:54):
that we might do and probably not a bunch of defensively,
but some of the other things we'll try to work
towards the players we think.

Speaker 6 (30:59):
We're going to back.

Speaker 2 (31:00):
Yeah, that's actually the next question I was going to
exactly ask you is what your what your time frame
is like? Because I had actually mentioned this too. I
want to say it was either Travis or Chris I
had mentioned. I was like, you know, what when do
you think Dave Marshall starts prepping for for for next season,
and they're like, Uh, it's not gonna be very long.
He's not gonna he's not gonna rest all that much.
He might enjoy this championship for for a little bit

(31:21):
and then uh, and it'll be back to work really
really quickly. So I am curious, I mean, championship or
no championship. What does a typical off season look like
for you as far as the work you're putting in
prepping for the next season as a coach.

Speaker 7 (31:34):
Well, in my mind, on the drive back from Charleston,
which is just a great drive when you just want
it all, I'm already grinding through some certain things. But
but that off season stuff starts, like you said, almost immediately.
It's there's really no off season. I know that's cliche
to say, but that's the reality of it. There's no
off season. I just got my the schedule fixed finished

(31:57):
just the other day. That's been a stressor for me,
but things like making next year's schedule.

Speaker 5 (32:04):
At the end of the year.

Speaker 7 (32:05):
Within a week, we had had a get together with
our seniors, and immediately following that, I am doing exit
interviews with the guys that will return next year, telling,
you know, going over things that we feel like they
need to improve on, things they need to work on.
This is what I want to see you doing between
now and the time that we start gathering back together
in late May and officially practicing together things like that.

(32:27):
I'm as far as the exit. I'm staring at my
computer right now, and I spend a lot of time. Boy,
the world we live in now is such a blessing
in this direction, spending a lot of time looking for
some variations to drills, or maybe how we do things offensively,
or even occasionally how we do things defensively.

Speaker 5 (32:45):
I am a student of the game. I love to
learn about the game.

Speaker 7 (32:49):
I love to listen to these coaches, and I don't
always take everything they do. I'm also pretty set in
my ways because I don't want to. I don't want
to give the wishy washiness. We don't believe in what
we're doing. But I believe you could always learn more
and get better. So that really never stopped. If I
weren't talking to you right now, I would be on
this computer and we would be we would be looking

(33:10):
at some things, and they would go up on this
board that I'm looking at to my right, and I
actually I've got some bunch of note cards stuck up
there from last year that I need to take down.
But word answer your question is it doesn't end, and
we're we're already in that process for next.

Speaker 2 (33:23):
Year, right, so we know exactly what you're going to
be doing when you when you jump off this call here.
So I am I am kind of curious. Another element
of the off season that that kind of fascinates me
is you know whether or not and obviously this is
again different at the high school level than it might
be at other levels, but determining you know, my bringing
back my full staff of assistance, Am I making any

(33:44):
changes there? And I'm not privy to I don't know
if that's something that you're you know, doing or not
bringing back your your full group of assistants or not.
But the thing I am always curious about is how
do you delegate work and without getting you know, into
any details that you may not want to divulge, because
obviously I know coaches like to keep certain things tucked
behind the vest, But how do you go about delegating

(34:08):
I guess sort of assignments to your assistance in terms
of making sure they know what they need to do
and going into a new season where folks are going
to be able to like kind of put their focus
on going forward.

Speaker 5 (34:21):
That's another good question. I think better than I used
to when I was a young coach.

Speaker 7 (34:27):
I think just because of my personality, I was always
trying to control everything.

Speaker 5 (34:31):
And now that I'm getting a little bit older and
not only.

Speaker 7 (34:33):
Hope, I think I might be getting a little wiser,
but I'm definitely, you know, getting a little bit more tired,
a little quicker.

Speaker 5 (34:39):
And I was very, very.

Speaker 7 (34:41):
Blessed when I came through the door to make two
really good hires for assistant coaches, Grant Burton and Bo Kessler.
And these guys both played college ball. I hired them separately,
did not realize until after the fact that they had
actually played college ball together at West Virginia Wesley. And
these two guys both coach Bo or coach Kess. He

(35:03):
handles my guards and Coach Burton handles my bigs, and
I'm so comfortable with them. They Coach Burton, I've kind
of to named him the de facto offensive coordinator. That's
my football days coming out in me. But he does
a lot of those things. He'll come up with a
lot of sets, and I come up with a lot
if we want to run some with a particular group,
and then we kind of go over that together. Coach

(35:25):
Burton also coaches track and he helps with our volleyball
team here, so he's a pretty busy guy. And they
both work outside the school system, so they have a
lot of other things on their plate. But those two
guys will be instrumental to our off season workouts, our
camp that we are I'm actually in the process of
planning that, and our youth camp, I mean, uh, and

(35:45):
they'll be a big involved in that. So and they're
they're also younger and they are a little bit closer
to the age of our players, so they they keep
their ear to the to the grindstone, so to speak,
of what might be going on around us, and kind
helps me out there. But I delegate more to them,
thankfully that I ever have as a coach.

Speaker 2 (36:05):
So I only have one or two more questions for you.
But I wanted to stay on this line of questioning
with assistants because I do think it's really interesting when
I was, you know, when I was younger, and obviously,
I mean, you can probably tell I'm a huge sports fan,
and I did play. I played anything I could when
I could, But I definitely wouldn't refer to myself as
a gifted athlete, always more of a fan, more as

(36:25):
an observer than anything else. But one of the things
that was interesting was I don't think I really appreciated
the depths of importance of the assistant coach and what
they can mean both to the players and to the
head coach until a few years ago. And it's funny
you referenced, you know, your role as sort of the
all star coach is going to be more similar to
to kind of a hockey coach in terms of kind

(36:47):
of just making sure the right deployments as far as
you know, playing time, everybody gets kind of an equal amount.
And one of the big examples that usually comes up,
and I think for folks in this area who might
be Penguins fans will know about this, is that Rick Tockett,
the former assistant coach under the recently departed Mike Sullivan
who left the Penguins organization. He was sort of described

(37:09):
as the Phil Kessel Whisperer, and folks who know the
Penguins know that Phil Kessel helped the Penguins get over
the top to win to Stanley Cups. And it's it's
super interesting to me how much influenced an assistant coach
in that scenario had on pushing that team over the top.
And that kind of made Tockett's career because he becomes,
you know, a head coach multiple times over as a

(37:30):
as a result of that. And I think if you,
if you could just speak to that element of it
a little bit in terms of the overall importance that
assistant coaches play, that fans and and parents maybe don't
even realize that they actually bring to the table.

Speaker 7 (37:46):
Yes, a good good assistant coach is probably better than
three or four really good players and that and like
you said, most people don't don't recognize that they They
can have a different conversation a lot of times, can
have a different relationship with the players and the and
the seat that I set in. I have to no
matter how I say it or do it, sometimes the

(38:08):
decisions I have to make you have to go down sideways.
Whereas assistant coach uh that he can, like you said,
form that relationship. He can get to know that guy
and approach it a different way and the and the
player oftentimes doesn't feel maybe is threatened.

Speaker 5 (38:23):
Is oh man, the boss so to speak, is uh,
he's gonna get me.

Speaker 7 (38:28):
I don't want him to feel that way. I try
hard not to make that, but you can. You can
only do so much with that because of position.

Speaker 4 (38:35):
So yeah, I think that's it.

Speaker 7 (38:36):
And I think the buffer that they can be between
myself and our our players, I think that is just
tremendously essential. And honestly, when I close this office door,
there's times where I need therapy. I need to say
some things that I don't want to be set outside
this door is just a matter of therapy. And sometimes
I want to hear how stupid it sounds, and sometimes

(38:57):
I want to hear how good it sounds.

Speaker 5 (38:59):
And have them there and understands who I am and
how I do things. That's important. But here's the other
end of it.

Speaker 7 (39:07):
With these two guys especially, I also have so much
trust and confidence when we shut that door. I really
listen to what they say, probably more so than I
have in my career, and I've had some other good
assistant coach, and I think that just comes back to
my own maturity and hopefully becoming a little bit more mature.

Speaker 5 (39:23):
So yeah, they do so much for us.

Speaker 2 (39:25):
So all right, last question now, and I usually ask
a variation of this question to everybody. But you know,
whether during the season or the offseason, either one is
fine for how you answer this. But what's the one
thing when it comes to being a coach that whether
it's whether it's the halftime adjustments or halftime speech, whether
it's talking to the guys who are working with them
during practice or during preseason, whatever it may be. But

(39:48):
what's the one thing that when you wake up first
thing in the morning, absolutely just launches you out of
bed and goes all right. As a coach, I'm super
ready to take on this day.

Speaker 5 (39:58):
Practice. I love practice. I'm a teacher. I'm a teacher
at heart.

Speaker 7 (40:02):
I teach math as a profession, but I teach basketball
and that is my classroom, I honestly, and I know
again may say cliche, seeing cliche.

Speaker 5 (40:11):
The people that don't understand may not get this. I
could do without the games, but the practices that's what
keeps me going.

Speaker 7 (40:19):
When the day comes we're hopefully a long time from now,
many many years from now, that I am not doing
this anymore, I will miss the practices because I just
enjoy the interaction. I enjoy watching these guys get better
every day, and you just have so much more control
and practice than what you do in a game.

Speaker 5 (40:37):
So yeah, hands down the practices.

Speaker 2 (40:40):
I love it all right, Coach, much appreciated. We'll definitely
have you back on again soon, and maybe at some
point we'll be able to do it where I'm back
back in a regular session. This time of year, we
kind of split things up, but we got to get
Chris Johnson in on one of these calls as well,
my typical co host for most of my shows. Hopefully

(41:00):
we'll be able to do that soon.

Speaker 7 (41:02):
I love it and I really really like this, and
I appreciate you having me on Alex and it's a
blessing to me in our program. Like I said earlier
off the off the air, what you guys and sports
writers and the media like you guys do for our
young people needs to be celebrated also because it is a.

Speaker 5 (41:22):
Big deal, even in the world of social media.

Speaker 7 (41:24):
That the true people that understand the game are uplifting
our guys.

Speaker 5 (41:29):
That's a big deal to me.

Speaker 2 (41:30):
I appreciate it. Mutual admiration society today, Coach and I
very much appreciate everything that you're doing and coming on
our show today. And in the meantime, folks, we're going
to go ahead and get to our break again. That
was coach Dave Marshall. You guys have heard him before,
head coach of Bridgeport boys basketball. We're back after this
on the Friday Free for All brought to you by
Dan caveto to Buick gmc.

Speaker 1 (41:53):
Now back to the Dan Cavatoyota Wick GMC Friday Free
for All on one O three three w KMZ.

Speaker 2 (42:00):
Friday Free for All, rolling on here and now joining
me on the show. It's been it's been a minute
since we've heard from this gentleman, Bill Nester, who is
typically the voice of RCB and West Virginia Wesleyan. And
it's for a combination in a way, a combination of
those of those facets why we call him in today. Bill,
Good morning, How are you doing great?

Speaker 6 (42:22):
How about yourself?

Speaker 2 (42:23):
I'm good man. I didn't realize we'd be talking so soon,
but we got an interesting piece of news and I
know we'll get to it eventually. But how you been doing?

Speaker 6 (42:32):
Fantastic? Missing seeing you and talking to you. You know,
it's been some time, and so this is a great
opportunity to catch up a little bit as we hit
the summer months here, moving forward and having a little
bit of a break, to take one of those type
of things, Alex, where you get a chance to step away.
We had so much fun here, especially towards the end

(42:53):
of basketball season, getting a chance to work together and
doing some things. So stepping aside. I've had a little
bit of a withdrawal from you. It's been kind of sad.
So this is a welcome to opportunity today.

Speaker 2 (43:03):
Well, you know, before we before we get into anything,
you know, it's something I hadn't even realized to kind
of What do you think about Zach Bart heading to
South Harrison.

Speaker 6 (43:12):
Oh, really excited.

Speaker 3 (43:13):
You know.

Speaker 6 (43:13):
I had a chance to see Zach you know, in
an action the last few years, but never really talk
to him, and having the opportunity as as you did
to interview him and then actually call a couple of
games of his. I was really impressed with him and
the way he hands himself and the way he hands
his programs. So really excited for him to get that

(43:35):
gig in Hawkland, and I think everybody in Hawk Nation
excited about that opportunity, and rightfully so what a great
job he does, and they're going to be going to
be stepping forward with a great coach and a great opportunity.

Speaker 2 (43:49):
I know it's hard to we gotta wait, we gotta
wait a while before we get to see kind of
any proof of concept or see it in action. But obviously,
folks saw what he did with those Liberty squads and
and how they improved year over year, and we got
a chance to see them, and you know, that'll that'll
bring us into the into the next topic in just
a moment. We got a chance to see them though,

(44:10):
and you know, obviously we're really impressed with what they
did this year under pretty difficult circumstances. So no, I'm
I'm really excited for for next season already. But you know,
so before we get into the Boston Bauers signing, and
that is Zach Bart's protege, if you will, one of
his last players ever who signed with West Virginia Wesley.

(44:32):
And you know, it's funny, I didn't realize that you
were doing some Salem baseball this year, and so I
actually I did a game recently. I did my first
ever Salem baseball game. I did four games, a four
game series against Fairmont State, which was rather fitting since
I do all of other Fairmont States athletics, you know,

(44:52):
their Olympic sports and the like. But it was very
fitting because so someone popped into the booth and they said,
I just want you to know you do a great job.
And I go, here's what I said. I said, well, first,
let me say thanks, but I'm not the guy you're
thinking of. This is my first game. And it was
one of the one of the parents of one of
the players, and I said, I do really appreciate that,
but I actually think you ever think of somebody else.

(45:13):
This is my first sale in baseball game. And he goes, oh, hmmm,
who's the other guy? And I was like, well, let
me let me let me ask around. Oh look, and
I started looking down the roster and I go, you
know who it is. It's Bill nestor Bill nestor. I
got to imagine it's Bill nest like three or four
guys who do it. And I think you've done the
most games of anybody this year. So you've got a

(45:33):
fan out there, you.

Speaker 6 (45:34):
Know, there are so many And that's a great part
about saying that They've got a stable of great people
that do games there, and of course that just goes
with the administration there. They load up a lot of talent.
Of course, with guys like you there, they can't go wrong.
And it's a tribute to the administration. They're getting guys
in there that want to be a part of a

(45:55):
great tradition and they you know, of course, you look
back to the old days and you know TJ. Travis
Jones was there doing games, when Mike Carey was there,
all the way back to those days, and so yeah,
it's it's an honor. I did a couple of basketball
games there as well, and yeah, anytime you can get
to Salem and do something, that's an honor. So yeah,

(46:15):
definitely a great place to be, no doubt about it.
And you know, I even had a chance just the
other day, as a matter of fact, to get over
and catch a basketball practice at west Land. You know,
Coach Sloan had me over there. Coach Hoffman, you've got
a chance to see some of the recruits. I didn't
get to see Boston Bowers in action, but I got
to see a lot of the guys that they brought in.

(46:36):
And you know, you know, it's just really it's special
what a lot of these these colleges and universities are
doing in the area. You can't say enough about the leadership,
you know, the coaching, the administration, you take for granted,
the hard work that people put in. Alex and I
just want to give a shout out to these institutions

(46:58):
and what they're doing and the hard work that goes
in behind the scenes to get the job done. And
I really think that it's very special and all that
hard work that goes in it's unnoticed, underappreciated, but I
think it's important to give that shout out and that
recognition of those people that make a difference, those difference makers,

(47:19):
they get the job done.

Speaker 2 (47:21):
Yeah, and it was fun too because that Salem Fairmont series,
by the way, it was like it was like a
who's who of baseball players from the region, which and
it was an interesting dynamic. Is the Fairmont state side.
You know, you had players from from Bridgeport, you had
Fairmont schools in there. I mean a lot of Bridgeport players.
You had Brian Biby's son is on the team and

(47:43):
actually got in at bat in pinch hitting in one
of those games, and he played of course at Philip Barber.
But one of the things that that and for the
folks who are not aware Brian byby regular contributor to
the program talking about Philip Barber football during that time
of year. But one thing of note here is that
so there was an interesting dynamic where you have, like
with Fairmont State, a lot of a lot of contributing

(48:04):
players right now. And for for Salem, who by the way,
having a wonderful season uh in baseball and a pretty
solid season in softball as well. I'm really doing well
in both. But what was interesting for Salem is that, uh,
they had a lot of younger guys who had just
joined the rosters, so they weren't really ready to contribute yet.

(48:25):
But you see kids from Doddridge County, and you see
kids from Liberty who are playing on that team. And
I thought that was pretty interesting because in the next
couple of years, should those kids stick around, you're gonna
see this sort of influx of local baseball talent into
those into those rosters. Anyway, I didn't want to get
us too far down the subject, but I did want
to say I I someone had had had referenced you,

(48:45):
and and I wanted to make sure you knew you
had a fan out there. I forget the parent of
the player someone, if someone, if I had a roster
in front of me, I could point it out. But regardless,
let's let's talk a little bit about about you know,
on this very subject. Boston Bawers, Liberty product and one
of the last great players at that school and one

(49:08):
of the last great players for coach Zach Bart, signed
his letter of intent this week. He's gonna go play
basketball for West Virginia Wesleyan. Who was I would describe
the the the the men's team this year is kind
of feisty. They had their moments where they would be
a challenge, but overall not the best season. This is

(49:28):
a really good get for them, though, and a nice
ad for the Bobcats. I guess I'm curious what you
think they're getting in Boston Bawers, who I know you've
got a chance to see when we did the Liberty
South Harrison game, and then what you think that the
you know, the Bobcats, what their future kind of looks
like moving forward as a whole.

Speaker 6 (49:50):
Well, you know, I think when you look at Boston Bowers,
you're talking about a guard that can score the basketball
in a multitude of way. He gets to the basket
very well. He's a very strong dribbler of the basketball,
and he's also physically able to get into the paint,

(50:12):
sustain the contact, the physicality and not be bumped off course.
And I think that's important, especially when you make that
move to the next level. You've got to be able
to get there and not get bumped off course. And
he's got that ability. He's already a stronger player. I
think that's going to help him as he moves forward

(50:33):
to the next level. I think that's crucial for him.
He's also a good finisher at the rim. He's also
got good vision and he's a good decision maker. He's
able to know when to shoot it, when to dish
it off to a teammate inside, also when to kick
it out to the three pointer. He's also a really
good perimeter shooter who's got the total package offensively, really

(50:57):
good defensive player, which is going to be important. Coach Sloan,
Coach Offfen, Coach Green, all those three coaches at Wesleyan
really want their guards to play defense. That's pivotal in
the conference. You've got to be able to play on
both sides of the floor, and Bowers definitely is a
strong defensive player as well, so he's got all the tools.

(51:20):
Now the question mark is is he going to be
able to play at the pace of play the speed
of play in the conference, And that's going to be
something that he's going to have to adapt to and
adjust to. And I think as he gets used to playing,
practicing and then playing at that speed of player, I
think he will definitely get quicker and get better and

(51:44):
I think he can adjust and contribute to that level.
I think that's going to be the determining factor is
can he get his level of play up to that
speed Alex And if he can, and the sooners he can,
then I think he'll be on the floor at that time.
So I think that's going to be the question mark
and the important thing for him to do and adjust

(52:06):
And the number one thing that sticks out to me
and I coached his dad at South Harrison years ago,
and JT was a fierce competitor and that's what I
see in Boston. He just really he loves the game
and wants to play and wants to be there. And
I think that's that's the thing that surrounds this young man.

(52:27):
He just loves the game. And because he does, that's
going to help him because Alex, every every player, when
you talk to him, they'll tell you they want to
play on the next level, But do they really have
that love for the game because it's a job. It's
not just something that you do in the pastime. And
it's not like high school where you put a couple

(52:49):
of hours in a day. It is a job. You
go to school, you go study hall, you go to
film session, you look weights. It becomes a job. And
Boston will love the game so much, but I think
he's going to put the time in willingly to do
whatever it takes to get better and and try to

(53:10):
suit his game for the college level. And so I
think that's why he's going to succeed and be successful
because of that love for the game.

Speaker 2 (53:16):
I you know, it's such a it's such an interesting
concept though when you're talking about when you're talking about
that at that speed adjustment, it is usually in my mind,
between that and the work ethic you're talking about, these
are like the single biggest adjustments when you get from
from high school to college. And the speed in particular
is so fascinating to me because it's it's a whole

(53:38):
different level and it's and we always talk about this
when guys go from like the college level to the
pro level, right, we always talk about how it's like, well,
so now you're you're playing a level up. Everybody was
good at the level below, right, And that's essentially the difference.
And what you're looking for here is how do you

(53:59):
adapted to that game speed? It's it's so hard. I
wonder of the guys you've seen be successful, what is
like the biggest factor that contributes to matching that increase
in speed from one level to the next.

Speaker 6 (54:15):
The biggest thing, Alex is not trying to do too much,
not trying to do the same things that they did
on the high school level. For example, being able to
take a basketball coast to coast and scoring it on
the high school level, it doesn't really translate into doing
the same thing on the college level. You're going to
have to if you get a loose ball or a rebound,

(54:38):
you're gonna have to give it up and find the
open area and then be able to receive it, get
it back and maybe take the shot or maybe when
you get it get rid of it quickly. You don't
hold the ball in your hands quite as long. You
don't you don't have the opportunity to make the play
as often as you did in high school because the
game moves so much quicker, and because because everybody's involved

(55:02):
in high school, you know, you might be the center
of attention, and on the college level, you might have
the ball in your hands, you know, maybe for two
or three minutes in a game, as opposed to having
in your hands the majority of the time in the
high school game. So you've got to adjust to not
be in that focal point and take advantage of the
time that you do have it, or the time that

(55:24):
you're on the floor. That's the other thing, not having
the playing time that you did have in high school.
So that is very difficult mentally for a lot of
players to adjust to because being the big fish in
the pond in high school it really feeds players' egos
and it's hard on players to adjust and to not

(55:47):
being the big man on campus when you get to college.
So it's it's a mental adjustment as well as a
physical adjustment, and the players that are successful are the
ones that can can accept that role. At a lesser
rate and work hard to make that role increase as

(56:08):
time goes on. The players who can't accept that role
Alex are the ones that go to the wayside and
they they don't make on the next level. But that's
what I think is so special about Boston is he
just loves the game so much. He'll do whatever it
takes and however much time it takes to get to
that level. And so if not about it ego with him,

(56:30):
it's about the love of the game. He's one of
those rare players that his his jersey spent more time
on the floor than the mobs of the gymnasium. And
I think that's what attracted coach Hoffin and coach Sloan
to Boston because of that work ethic and that dedication.
So that that's kind of the way you look at

(56:51):
players that sit in your program, that sit in with
the attitude, the right the right thought process, and that's
what he had and that's what made you know, those
coaches say, Hey, this is our kind of guy. He
fits the uh, the right mindset, and that that's what
made it a match, a perfect match for the Bobcats
and for Boston love it.

Speaker 2 (57:12):
Hey what uh as as we now reach this this
time of year where you know, for guys like you
and me, we don't have any games, and uh, it's
it's such a strange thing.

Speaker 3 (57:23):
You know.

Speaker 2 (57:24):
I feel like I squandered it the last few years.
I'm going to really try to enjoy it this year.
Any big plans for four ish months without any sporting
events to attend.

Speaker 6 (57:35):
You know, Alex, I'm going to do a lot of
projects around my house. I picked up another part time
job just to keep busy. I'm going to do a
little bit of travel and uh, and then I'm going
to try to refocus a little bit and rededicate h
what I'm doing broadcast wise, you know, I uh And
I'll be honest with you. I had so much fun

(57:56):
with you doing coller on on some South Arison broad cast.
It was a shot in the arm. Not only because
of the friendship, and I want to say that on
the air, how much I enjoyed spending time with you,
the camaraderie that we had just going to games and
pregame and postgame stuff, but just just that time we

(58:17):
spent together and the chance to accept that role because
you know, play by play as opposed to caller two
different animals, and so to be able to do that
caller and spend that extra time with you, it really
rejuvenated me. So I'm excited about getting back into the laboratory,
if you will, and refocusing and rededicating. So I'm going

(58:40):
to start my pre season preparation probably about two and
a half three weeks earlier this year than what I
normally do. So that's that's kind of what I'm looking
at this summer as we as we move forward, I'm
gonna I'm gonna recharge the batteries and get some stuff
done around the house, maybe make the wife a little
bit happier, if you will, and then uh then kind

(59:01):
of hop back into my preseason prep maybe a little
bit earlier this year than than normal.

Speaker 2 (59:07):
Here's what I'm what I'm hearing is that Bill, you're
gonna you got the honeydew list, You're gonna take care
of that, and then I'm imagining you like going down
into the basement in like a mad scientist robe or
or or a lab coat, a mad scientist lab coat,
and and just go into work, just going to work,
getting it, as you said, getting into the lab and

(59:27):
go into work and pouring over stats and film. That's
what I'm imagining in my head is that is that
is that accurate?

Speaker 6 (59:33):
You are one hundred percent right? Like So I'm gonna
I'm gonna get in there. I'm gonna look over some stats.
I wanna I want to get some pronunciations, get all
this stuff together, and I'm gonna work on some vocabulary.
I'm gonna try to uh increase some things and and
maybe bring some new terminology out this year and and
dust off some old stuff I used to use. I
used to use a lot of nicknames and a lot

(59:55):
of different stuff like that. I might might get back
to some of that stuff this year, and uh and
try to try to, you know, get back to some
of the stuff that And you know, it's funny because
and you know as well as I do, you get
fans and people that that you talk to when you
see people out and say hey, I really like this
or I like that. And and I'm gonna listen to
the fans a little bit more this year and see

(01:00:17):
what they what they liked, and what they want to
hear and maybe give them give the fans a little
bit more of.

Speaker 2 (01:00:22):
What they what they want how are you feeling about
I mean, it's still really early. We haven't even gotten
obviously the like flex stuff yet, but hey, feeling about
RCB football.

Speaker 6 (01:00:31):
I'm excited about it, I really am, you know. You know,
I think after making the playoffs, I think coach Scott's
got some excitement around the program. You know, the staff
has some players coming back and some new guys coming in.
So I think there's there's a lot of positive feedback.
And I think the guys are working really hard right

(01:00:52):
now in the weight room because they feel like, you know, hey,
you got a chance to get that opportunity to see
this second season, and let's see if you can't build
upon that, not only get back to the second season,
but maybe maybe make some noise and move forward in
the second season this year. So yeah, a lot of
optimism around it. Everybody's excited about that.

Speaker 2 (01:01:14):
Yeah, heck of a year. I feel like that that
just kind of spurred a heck of a year athletically
for for our CB. Obviously we saw what they did
in boys basketball as well, made made the postseason tournament
in that one or more accurately, because the whole thing
is a postseason tournament. Now they made the they made
the eight team field in Charleston, which is I mean,

(01:01:34):
that is an incredible accomplishment in and of itself. And
then now you look at what the baseball team is doing,
and they're they're going to be pushing hard for some
postseason play. Potentially they should be right there at the
end of the season. Great year for our CB. It's
an exciting time there. I'm definitely excited to see what
they do on the football field next year because, I mean,

(01:01:55):
you said it, that was a good bounce back for
them to get that opportunity, and they're stuff to build
off there. Bill, much appreciated.

Speaker 6 (01:02:02):
Man.

Speaker 2 (01:02:03):
Just make sure you fit some fit some R and
R in there as well. In your downtime outside of
the honeydew List and the and the Mad Scientist Lab.

Speaker 6 (01:02:13):
I'm going to give it a shot, likes. Maybe we
can get together a little bit and catch up in
the meantime, and looking forward to talking with you as always,
Thank you so much for having me on. You've made
my day and as always, have a great rest of
the show, a great weekend, a great summer as well.

Speaker 2 (01:02:28):
I appreciate that. I don't know if I'm supposed to
say this on the air, but I'm a big outdoor
beer guy. Do love a good like nothing more during
the spring and summer than than sitting outside and having
an outdoor beer. So I'm very much game for that.
That's that's like a happy place thing for me. Bill Nester,
play by play voice for RCB and West Virginia Wesleyan.

(01:02:49):
We will talk with you here. It won't be that long.
It will be sometime in June when we start talking
about flex days. But high school football still a little
ways away. Got to get through the baseball season. We're
bad after this on the Friday Free for.

Speaker 1 (01:03:01):
All Back to the w KMC locker room for more
high school sports on the Dan Cavatoyo w at GMC
Friday Free.

Speaker 2 (01:03:09):
For All Friday, Free for All rolling on here. This
is the spring edition of the show. So if you're
familiar with this because you listen to us during high
school football or basketball season. A little different this time
of year because we kind of spread out. We have
longer segments with fewer guests. But my co host also
sometimes pops in and out of the studio. Sometimes he's

(01:03:30):
with us on zoom, sometimes he's with us on the phone. Today,
he's with us on Zoom. Chris Johnson of connect Bridgeport
and the co host of the Friday Free for All Chris.

Speaker 3 (01:03:40):
What's up man, Hey man, how are you today?

Speaker 2 (01:03:44):
I'm good, doing really good. H love me, Love me
a Friday. I'm pretty over the rain. That's the one
thing I will say. I'm listen. I love a good
spring thunderstorm. But I'm really I wanted. I wanted to
take this spring and get back into running. And there's
no there's no, there's no chance to do that. The
only the only two nice days this week. I had

(01:04:06):
to work all day on both those days. Yeah, you're
killing me here with the with the with the rain.

Speaker 8 (01:04:12):
Now, like right now with me, it's just you're trying
to find the time to get caught up with the
yard work because I have a lot of weed eating,
you know that I have to do. You know, you're
kind of plaited around you in the thunderstorms, and you know,
you know last night was was a wash. You know,

(01:04:32):
uh no pun intended or pun intended, I guess, but yeah,
I mean it's just, you know, you just get to
that point where it's like, oh, if it could just.

Speaker 3 (01:04:42):
Cooperate and let me get caught up and then we
can move forward with it.

Speaker 2 (01:04:45):
Yeah, so I will say that's the thing, the the
the nicest we got unexpectedly nice weather. I don't remember
which day it was this week where we got it.
Might have been Wednesday, where it was supposed to be
rainier but we got more sun than expected. I was
maybe it was Tuesday. Actually it might have been before
the storm's hit. But I was able to get my
entire backyard mode and that was pretty nice because it

(01:05:07):
was the best that it had looked in months. So
that was pretty nice. I did appreciate that. I love
a good I love a good mode yard that is
actually at the correct length. That that made me feel good.
I know this makes me feel old and kind of
kind of dad like at this point, and I am
I'm not, but it makes me feel that way.

Speaker 3 (01:05:26):
I feel.

Speaker 2 (01:05:27):
I feel good about it. I'm not gonna lie.

Speaker 3 (01:05:29):
Yeah.

Speaker 8 (01:05:29):
Well, let me ask you this real quick before we
move on to some more you know, sports discussions. Have
you reached a point in your life where as much
of a new sance as can be if you don't
have anything else going on? One, do you enjoy being
out there and doing yard work because I do. Yes,

(01:05:50):
you know, you can kind of unplug from everything and
just and then it's such a a fleeting, gratifying job.
As you get done, you're like, man, this looks really good.
I feel really good about my yard. And then you're like, oh,
gotta turn around and think about start cutting the next week,
you know. But No, I enjoyed just kind of un

(01:06:10):
blogging from everything, kind of being outside you looked, lawn mower,
the weed, eat or you know, you know whatever.

Speaker 2 (01:06:16):
So yeah, sometimes sometimes I go I go fully unplugged,
and sometimes I go with a podcast. But either way,
I'm typically pretty removed from No, it's it's it's great,
very therapeutic. I Uh, Brittany and I were actually arguing,
uh so with the way we split it up was
I did the backyard, she did the front yard. She
really wanted to mow. I think I think secretly she

(01:06:36):
likes the therapy of mowing as well, because there is
something very satisfying about Again, this we've just gone completely
into into like dad dad talk here, but uh, there's
something very satisfying and and very uh cathartic about mowing
the lawn because it's instantaneous, right, it's an instantaneous gratification.
So I I, yes, I I definitely I I feel

(01:06:57):
that way as well. It's it's good. So yeah, let's
do a little sports talk. And obviously the one thing
I really wanted to make sure I talked with you about.
So we had Dave Marshall on the show today for
the first time ever, and funny enough, we didn't actually
talk that much about the banquet. He's being honored this
coming week. You know, we spent a lot of time
talking about the North South game. We spent a lot

(01:07:17):
of time talking about his coaching philosophy. I was really
really because I, you know, guy just want a championship,
and I was like, I really got to pick I
really want to pick his brain. And so, of course,
by the time we got to the end of the interview,
I had already forgotten about the banquet and probably should
have written down Alex right about the banquet or or
or ask about the banquet. But so he's being honored
and obviously very very well deserved, and after talking to him,

(01:07:40):
I totally get why because he has a and I
get why this guy's a successful coach. Just in a
conversation with him, you know, he comes across very very humbly,
but he doesn't hide that he's a He's a smart dude.
Uh And and I thought it's a good combination to
have as a head coach. And you've seen it with
the way Bridgeport has advanced over the last couple of years,
the way those guys play defense, the depth that they

(01:08:01):
have built. It's no surprise to me one now having
talked to him and hearing you and Chris George and
Travis Jones the way you guys talk about Dave Marshall,
super praiseworthy of him, and now having talked to him
for myself, totally totally get it. And it makes total
sense that he's up for and has in fact going

(01:08:22):
to be honored for this major award this week.

Speaker 3 (01:08:26):
Yeah.

Speaker 8 (01:08:26):
I you know, I've joked with coach Marshall about this
since it was announced that he won the state high
School Coach of the Year award that the first time
I can remember watching a game he coached, this was
back when he was coaching the Bridgeport girls.

Speaker 3 (01:08:44):
I didn't I mean, I wasn't in this area yet.
Is when I was working in Parkersburg and.

Speaker 8 (01:08:51):
I went to cover one of the Parkersburg's teams playing
in one of the regular season tournaments in Beckley.

Speaker 3 (01:08:57):
It was called I think it was called the Cold Classic.

Speaker 8 (01:08:59):
Man, I think it's undergone some name changes then, and
but Dave's Bridgeport girls team was playing, and you know,
and I was there early, so I just watched, and
I'm just immediately, I'm like, man, this is the way
I like seeing basketball play. His emphasis on defense, I mean,

(01:09:20):
it just appealed to me right away. And I quickly
realized that this is a coach that I truly believe
knows what he's doing. And I'm so humbled by the
relationship I've built with him, you know, since being in
the area.

Speaker 3 (01:09:40):
I consider him a friend and I think he's a
great coach. But again, you know, I told him, you know,
just just a few weeks ago.

Speaker 8 (01:09:49):
It's like, you know, I didn't realize it at the time,
but I had the intro to you know, this award
that he's going to win, you know, written in nineteen
ninety eight, or at least in the back my mind,
because not a whole lot has changed since, you know,
that initial impression. But yeah, Sunday, the seventy eighth annual

(01:10:09):
victory awards dinner will be at the Bridgeport Conference Center.
This is the longest running banquet of its kind in
the country, you know, and this is the first time
it's being in Bridgeport. Dave Marshall will be honored. Miley
Smell from Bridgeport the state volleyball player of the Year.
She will be honored. Wes Brown will be honored from

(01:10:31):
being in the Start of Horror award winner. I'll be
presenting those three with their awards as well as Alexis
Bordis from Wheeling Park, who is our state girls basketball
player of the Year. When we give out a lot
of awards, we want to induct you know guy. You
know most people have probably heard of Nick Saban into
the State Hall of Fame. That should be a great event.

(01:10:54):
Really looking forward to it, and I'm honored to I'm
always honored to present any award winner with their trophy
at this bank. Getting introduced day Marshall is really really
special to me. So I'm really looking forward to that
on Sunday.

Speaker 2 (01:11:15):
What do you think because it is so interesting to me.
Bridgeport has had such a strong run of head coaches
over the years across a lot of different sports. I
might add and it's not just Bridgeport. You see him
kind of littered throughout Harrison County as well, and a
lot of them find themselves at Bridgeport eventually. But I
am curious, you know, when you when you look at

(01:11:35):
it in more ways than just one. Right, like Tom Sears,
great basketball coach, now he's the athletic director at Bridgeport.
But what do you think goes into that that has
led to this region developing such good coaches? And as
you alluded to, it's not just at the high school level.
This region has developed coaches beyond that. When you think
about Nick Saban, when you think about Jimbo Fisher, this

(01:11:59):
has been a great, great area for coaching. I'm curious
what you attribute that to. I mean, it can't just
be random, right, There's a there's got to be something
in the water here.

Speaker 8 (01:12:09):
Yeah, And most of these coaches will tell you, you know,
right up front, that they get great support from their
administration and they get great support from from their parents.

Speaker 3 (01:12:24):
Uh you know, Now, does that mean there's never been
a hiccup along the way.

Speaker 8 (01:12:29):
Absolutely not. You know, Coach Marshall's probably been through it himself.
You know, Tyler Ferris has probably been through it. You know,
any of the coaches you talk to have been through
that from time to time. By large, for whatever reason,
here in north central western Virginia, we get coaches that
earned the respect of the administration and the support and

(01:12:55):
the respect of you the parents of the athletes.

Speaker 3 (01:12:58):
And you know, if there's.

Speaker 8 (01:13:03):
You can't be successful. If there's nothing but turmoil they're
in that relationship. You know, it's just you know, I mean,
you've seen it. We see it every day at different
corners of the state.

Speaker 4 (01:13:14):
You know.

Speaker 8 (01:13:15):
You know, I don't want to throw anyone under the
bus or anything, but there are certain areas of the
state where it seems like they can't keep a coach.
And some of those same areas, you know, the parents
reaction is, you know, well, don't let the door hit
you on the way out. I don't see that, you know, happening,
you know in Harrison, Mary and you know, Barbara County.

Speaker 3 (01:13:36):
You you know all that.

Speaker 8 (01:13:36):
Much like I said, there's probably been you know, a
case here and there. You know that I'm not recalling,
but I think by and large, coaches in this area
have tremendous support from their administration and tremendous respect from
you know, the parents of the athletes.

Speaker 2 (01:13:55):
So yeah, I think that's a that's a fair point,
and it has been. It's been a good ride. It's
been a good run, and there's been quite a bit
of success.

Speaker 5 (01:14:05):
Here.

Speaker 2 (01:14:06):
Let's jump over to a slightly slightly different topic. I
wanted to as we have been each week, I wanted
to jump a little bit into the high school baseball
power rankings. Honesty, were you surprised at all? And of
course Bridgeport immediately responded to this with a big win,
But were you surprised at all by Fairmont Senior jumping
up to number two? I know Bridgeport has had kind

(01:14:29):
of a quantity of losses of late. Fairmont Senior hadn't
played as many games, so as a result, they were
thirteen and two when the week started. Bridgeport was fifteen
and six, and it was real close. It was only
a two point difference in gap. Neither of them received
a first place vote. Ripley got all of those this
go around. But were you surprised at all that Bridgeport
fell behind Fairmont Senior and then immediately responded with a

(01:14:53):
big time win against the Polar Bears.

Speaker 8 (01:14:56):
No, honestly, not, because Fairmont. First of all, Fairmont Senior
jumping in the poll like that, it just goes to
show you that's the school across the board. It really
doesn't matter what sport it is as equity with voters,
you know. So I think there's a lot of people
they they look at teams records and you get to

(01:15:17):
a Fairmont Senior, and this applies to Bridge Sport as well.
You're like, oh my gosh, you're thirteen and two or fourteen,
fourteen and three. They always play a tough schedule. I'm
going to vote them a little bit higher this week,
you know. And I think that you know, that's what
that's what happened. I mean, the roles easily could have
been reversed. You know, Bridge Sport could have jumped Fairmont

(01:15:38):
Senior in the poll. And they and they play and
you know, Fairmont Senior, you're you found a way to win,
and you look, I mean, Bridge Sport's already beaten Morgantown
this year, and they turn around after beating Fairmont Senior
and you know, fall to uh Morgantown at home and
just I uh Maddox Bogs from the Mohegans pitched a

(01:15:59):
complete game three hitter, you know, so uh yeah, there's
certain schools just have that equity when it comes to
statewide votes. And I think what we're starting to see
these polls are great to talk about. There's a lot
of really good baseball teams in the state. And yeah,
can can Bridgeport? You know, I think probably before the

(01:16:21):
season started I picked bridgeporton went the whole thing. Absolutely,
they can still do it. So can Ripley, So can
Fairmont Senior. You know, you look at kwaid A, you know, Jefferson,
could Morgantown, could Wheeling Park, could Capbell Movelin, could George Washington?

Speaker 3 (01:16:35):
Could George Washington?

Speaker 8 (01:16:36):
Just I just saw, you know yesterday they had won
nothing win against Hurricane in the INM SACT Championship game,
and they won the game in like the bottom of
the seventh on a walk off inside the park home run.

Speaker 3 (01:16:52):
I mean, how exciting is that?

Speaker 6 (01:16:54):
You know?

Speaker 8 (01:16:54):
Yeah, you know, and not to mention you, you know
the parody we're seeing in double eight and sing Away
Madonna uh slowly climbed up to take over that top
spot in Class A, you know, so you know they're legit. Also,
think Philip Barber, I mean, Philip Barber just shut out
Sport two weeks.

Speaker 2 (01:17:11):
Yes, that's right, you know, that's that's absolutely right. That
was a great win that. Yeah, didn't they beat Petersburg
in Bridgeport on on in back to back games.

Speaker 1 (01:17:19):
Yeah?

Speaker 8 (01:17:20):
Yeah, I mean so if you can do that, you're
absolutely a state title contender. You know, baseball is one
of those funny sports man where you get a picture.

Speaker 3 (01:17:29):
It's just one, you know. I mean, you can shut
down anybody, you know.

Speaker 8 (01:17:34):
So it's this is gonna be a wild, fun, exciting
baseball postseason.

Speaker 2 (01:17:39):
I think there's a certain level of depth and parody
for sure to be to be really excited about the
sectional schedules, which sectionals are set to open next week
weather weather permitting. Because the weather, I will say early
next week should be fine. That's obviously subject to change,
but uh it is. There's gonna be quite a bit

(01:18:01):
of rain and thunderstorm opportunity over these next few days
to open up the month of May. But you know,
worth noting like Grafton earned a number one seed, congrats
to them as well, I'm doing that Lincoln earned a
number one seed in in their section, So congrats to them.
But yes, I mean, we're we're right there. There's a

(01:18:21):
ton of parody, ton of opportunities to to, you know,
potentially make a deep run this year, and as you
pointed out, the uh that parody only gets exacerbated when
when a pitcher all of a sudden is it's kind
of in a rhythm or in the zone or feeling it.
Did anything in particular stand out to you, by the way,

(01:18:42):
with have you had a chance to look at the
sectional schedule yet?

Speaker 3 (01:18:46):
I thought there was no more sectionals for baseball?

Speaker 2 (01:18:50):
Well it it? I think that starts next year?

Speaker 3 (01:18:52):
Am I?

Speaker 2 (01:18:53):
Am I wrong about this? The the the sectional schedule
that they they're doing a sectional tournament. So this is
this is why we So I Bill Nester, by the way,
gave me a great idea earlier, and we're definitely gonna
do an episode on this. Correctly, we're wrong. I thought
softball is doing sectionals this year and then next year
they're doing away with sectionals? Am I wrong about that?

Speaker 8 (01:19:16):
I could very well be. I was under the impression
that baseball and softball were.

Speaker 2 (01:19:21):
I think baseball is I know, so okay, so this
this is this is now this this So Bill Nester
had this great idea and I'm gonna I'm gonna take
him up on this. You and I are gonna You
and I are gonna, I think once a year, during
the month of May or June, we're gonna bring a
w V S S A C official on and go
over every single rule change, line by line for the
entire UH, for the entire upcoming academic year. Because so

(01:19:44):
Metro posted a sectional schedule UH for softball, and I
think I think that's changing next year for softball, but
I think, for whatever reason, I'm pretty sure softball is
keeping it as is this year, whereas baseball is making
the change this year to the new regional format, but

(01:20:06):
softball is not. But I'm gonna have to double check
that because because I'm I was under the same impression
you were, and then Metro posted the schedule, so I'm
but anyway, regardless, uh, you know, Grafton earned a number
one seed there and kind of curious to see how
that's all going to turn at. University earned a number
one seed as well in their section, so we'll have

(01:20:29):
to keep a closer eye on that as this goes on.
Lincoln's had an interesting season from what I can tell
as well. And then one real quick note on baseball.
Not sure if I mentioned this when we were talking
about the power rankings. Notre Dame actually cracked the top
ten this week in Class single A, So kudos to them.
Good work there.

Speaker 8 (01:20:46):
Yeah, yeah, it's nice to see Notre Dame back making
some noise in baseball.

Speaker 3 (01:20:53):
You know, you today had a nice stretch.

Speaker 8 (01:20:55):
You know, when Patford Morazy was the head coach, they were, uh,
you know, legit title contender, and you know, I forget
what year was now, you know, they start to blend together.
But it's like, I thought that team was going to
win the state title, and you know, they had a

(01:21:15):
chance to take the lead, and they sent a runner
from third on a pass ball and like he took
off when we saw the ball was going to get
past the catcher. That ball somehow ricochete quickly off of
a brick right mediately back to the catcher. And that's

(01:21:35):
how like, you know, the most important out in the
game record. That's one of those plays. I mean, that
situation happens one hundred times ninety nine times. You know
the kid scores, you know, yeah, uh, but you know
that's that will always be one of my last dignificant
moments of the state baseball tournament. But yeah, I'm looking

(01:21:56):
at that that softball. Yeah, it looks like it's definitely sectionals.
I was assuming that it was gonna be the same
uh as baseball and what basketball was in the winter,
But yeah, shows it may. It's getting to the points,
like you know, we're gonna have to start studying you know,

(01:22:19):
the interscholastic when.

Speaker 3 (01:22:20):
It comes out.

Speaker 2 (01:22:21):
Yes, No, it's it's it's really it's there's not as
much uniformity as there as there once was, and the
changes are happening much much faster.

Speaker 8 (01:22:29):
Uh, and we're like real quick, I know coming up
in track, there's a huge change in track and field
that most people aren't aware of.

Speaker 3 (01:22:36):
For the past several years, it's all when it gets
to the regional track meets.

Speaker 8 (01:22:40):
It's always been the top three in every event at
the regional automatically qualified. Then they take like the next
best twelve times from across the state, regardless of the region.
What are changing that to? I was just the top
two from each region and then there will be like
four or six seen at large bids, you know.

Speaker 3 (01:23:03):
So, I mean that's a major change, you know in
that sport.

Speaker 8 (01:23:06):
You go from third place being an automatic qualifier to
you maybe not even getting in, depending on how stronger
weaker region is.

Speaker 3 (01:23:15):
So that is a place for this year.

Speaker 2 (01:23:18):
Yeah, so one thing, one last sports related thing, and
then we'll finish on a different note. I am a
little surprised at you that you haven't. I was thinking
we were gonna hear some some crowing about Marshall's walk
off win over WVU when when the segment began. I
know you're you're you don't advertise it all the time,
but you're a Marshall dude.

Speaker 3 (01:23:38):
Yeah, you know what really stood out to me about
that game though.

Speaker 8 (01:23:42):
I mean, I'll be honest, because I saw a couple
of my colleagues down in that area ru at the game.
It's like nine people at that game for a college
baseball game in the middle of the week. I don't
care who's playing. That's absolutely awesome and I'm glad they
got such a good game, no matter who came out
on top.

Speaker 2 (01:24:01):
So yeah, no, that well, listen, and here's the thing.
Like WVU is three wins away from a program record, right,
they will tie their program record, and they've only got
what nine games remaining, So the truth is they don't
have to win very many to tie and they don't
even have to go five hundred to break the program
record for most wins and do it just in the

(01:24:22):
regular season, because you know, program record was done over
the course of the regular season plus postseason, so that's
already incredibly impressive to do. So people, WVU is a
real attraction. But kudos to Marshall. This is the second
time this season they pushed them Mountaineers to the brink,
and this time they actually got the job done.

Speaker 3 (01:24:39):
Yeah.

Speaker 8 (01:24:40):
Why yeah, maybe in a way, it's kind of payback
for your I mean, wasn't it Wilson too long ago
in WVU upset the kind of an upset in men's soccer. Yeah,
I mean that was what like one was like number
one in the nation. One was number three in the
nation or something crazy like that.

Speaker 2 (01:24:57):
Yes, no, you are you are you're you're yeah. Yeah, yeah,
there were a couple of a big, big time Mountaineer
up and again upset relatively speaking, but yes, upsets in
men's soccer. So no, that's a great that's a great
win for for Marshall baseball. But you know who's been
you know who's by the way.

Speaker 8 (01:25:16):
It almost makes you think, like the two schools places
to play in every sport like.

Speaker 2 (01:25:20):
Maybe, and I used to be totally against it, but
I'm I'm kind of especially with how how much regional
regional games have been destroyed by conference realignment, I'm now
more in favor than ever of a WVU Marshall game
to open the season. I think that would be fan
and you know what I mean. If you don't want

(01:25:41):
to put a you know, if you want to do
a neutral site, do a neutral site. But I don't
see any issue with going back and forth from from
Morgantown to Huntington every year. I don't have an issue
with that. One one quick note before we we dive
into one. One other thing, I did want to put
point out that there were a couple of standout UH
high school like West Virginia prep football players who obviously

(01:26:03):
had gone on and done other things who signed UH
in the NFL as undrafted free agents. Now, obviously, the
big one who got drafted was Wyatt Milam, move of course,
was a standout offensive lineman in the state of West
Virginia before going to WVU. Cable Midland sent JJ Roberts
to Wake Forest, who eventually transferred back to Marshall Roberts

(01:26:26):
signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Well, he will be
joining He will be joining Garrett Green, who obviously just
graduated at WVU. So nice little West Virginia influx back
into the NFL after this week's draft.

Speaker 8 (01:26:41):
Yeah, you know, especially with Wyatt and JJ. You know,
that's two kids I cover. You know, you know when
they played high school you know football, you know, so man,
it's you know, if if they if both of them,
you make it. I mean it's just fantastic here for
the state. Uh, recent track records been pretty good. I

(01:27:02):
mean Zach Fraser did okay. Uh yeah, yeah, you know
at that next level. So uh yeah, the more the
more state kids we can get, you know, playing at
the professional level, just that's just gonna create more exposure.

Speaker 5 (01:27:17):
M h.

Speaker 2 (01:27:19):
Who is the Martinsburg Who is the Martinsburg quarterback who
played for the Bears. That's right, yes, Tyson Baijing. Yeah,
hey that that was great for them. He started games.
That was great.

Speaker 6 (01:27:31):
Uh.

Speaker 3 (01:27:31):
I mean there's football cards for that kid, now.

Speaker 2 (01:27:34):
Yeah, that's fantastic. Uh. One other, one other quick note,
I don't know if you saw, I know I keep
saying one other quick note. I'm I'm procrastinating.

Speaker 3 (01:27:42):
We got this morning.

Speaker 2 (01:27:44):
Well, I don't know if you saw the uh, the
the social media reaction. Jaguar fans were loving the Wyatt
Milem pick because they love the attitude of him him
blocking that guy through the whistle and then leading to
a fight, and he then won the fighting against the
defensive lineman he was going up against. I think that
was at the Senior Bowl, one of the Senior Bowl

(01:28:05):
practices where that occurred, and Jaggs fans were all over
social media. I mean, they loved it. It was great.
So it's a really good exposure for Milam for starters,
but great response. You'll love to see that from Jaguar
fans that they're already taken to this guy.

Speaker 3 (01:28:22):
Yeah, absolutely, absolutely.

Speaker 2 (01:28:25):
All Right, So now I know I promised last week
that I would have watched the first three episodes of
and Or, and I'm gonna we're still gonna talk about it,
but we're gonna do spoiler free because I have not
watched yet. Because as I went to try and convince
my significant other that we should watch this, she goes, well,

(01:28:45):
but what if we watched the first season first? And
I was like, I was like, all right, fine, you're
not gonna twist my arm. Why don't you. I don't
have to be. I don't have to be. Uh, I
don't have to be talked into rewatching season one. But
so as a result, we are halfway through season one.
We'll have it finished, probably before probably today. Actually I

(01:29:05):
don't have we don't have anything else going on today,
so probably we'll finish season one today start season two
over the weekend. But I am curious. I know you
have started it. I want to get your thoughts, spoiler
free thoughts on where you're at on season two so far,
of and or.

Speaker 3 (01:29:23):
Amazing.

Speaker 8 (01:29:27):
I In some ways I wish I would have done
the season one rewatch because there was a couple of
like plot points.

Speaker 3 (01:29:34):
I'm like, wait a minute, and I'm like, oh, yeah,
that's right. So you know, there was a little bit
of that. But as far as like, I don't think
this is spoiling anything.

Speaker 8 (01:29:44):
But the way I understand it, the way season two
is set up is the first three episodes.

Speaker 3 (01:29:50):
It's one year after.

Speaker 8 (01:29:54):
Season one ended, okay, and there will be there was
three initial episodes they covered like the span of three days, Kayden,
after that three day period or those three episodes. Uh,
because episodes four, five, and six just came out. Well,
those are another year after those initial three, so they're

(01:30:14):
doing like blocks of like three episodes and then moving
on you know, you you moving up a year with
with the next block of three. That's kind of kind
of genius in a way.

Speaker 2 (01:30:27):
Yeah, that's.

Speaker 3 (01:30:30):
Without given without giving anything anyway. There's it's weird.

Speaker 8 (01:30:34):
There's a couple of moments where I'm like, because we
talked about this during season one and like, it's just
such a refreshing Star Wars Universe show because it's unlike
any Star.

Speaker 3 (01:30:48):
Wars Universe and we're both nerves. We're going to defend you.

Speaker 2 (01:30:54):
Know, we'll watch anything.

Speaker 3 (01:30:55):
Yes, yeah, we're gonna.

Speaker 8 (01:30:57):
Yeah, we're going to defend Boba Fett and obi On
and uh brave about your baby Yoda in the main
and Laurian. But in Or, I mean, it's like a
gangster movie. It's like in the War, you know, and
it can get kind of dark. I mean yeah, and
there were some moments where I'm like, good lord, this

(01:31:17):
is dark for something that's under the Disney and Star
Wars umbrella.

Speaker 2 (01:31:22):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:31:23):
Yeah, so that continues in season two for sure.

Speaker 2 (01:31:29):
I well, so we we I unless we I don't
want to throw this into the universe. But short of
losing power this weekend from storms, we will. We will
be on season two by the next time we talk.
We made it through. We made it through the first
half of season one in two sittings. We did three
episodes at a time. Uh, and we're so we'll easily clear.
We're halfway through, will easily clear season one by the

(01:31:52):
start of the weekend, and we should have those the
first half of season two more than likely accomplished by
the the end of the weekend. No, I'm very you know,
with some some breaks I got to take to occasionally
watch some playoff hockey admittedly, but other other than that.
Other than that, I'm excited because I don't have I
have absolutely nothing to do this weekend. One thing, I
guess this will be a good note to end it on,

(01:32:15):
you know, our segment. On last Saturday, I had at
a very busy Saturday. I was at two different events,
one in the morning in Morgantown, the Cupcake and Craft
Beer Festival, which it raises money for the Alzheimer's Association
and the Alzheimer's Walk. More specifically that they do in October.
But then that night I went to Lost Creek and

(01:32:38):
had the pleasure of joining in on an elimination dinner,
first one I had ever been to. And you'll laugh,
by the end of the night because I had never
been to one before, I was like, I was like
analyzing the strategy of what folks were doing, because I
at first I was like, this feels kind of random.
And by the end of the night, I was like, oh,
there's actually some strategy here that people are people are
engaging in to try and get to the end of

(01:32:59):
this thing. But South Harrison raised a good deal of
money going towards new uniforms that they I got a
chance to see, and the new uniforms for the football
team look fantastic.

Speaker 8 (01:33:09):
Yeah, I've seen the uniforms. Someone posted them on Facebook.
I'm like, yeah, those are pretty sharp.

Speaker 2 (01:33:16):
It's kind of like almost like a hybrid of like
the Browns and the Bengals in a way how I
would how I would describe them. They're a really good,
really sharp look. I think they're gonna look great on
the field come come late August. And there was a
lot of a lot of Bridgeport folks who were down
there as well supporting the Hawks football cause. So I

(01:33:38):
just wanted to say that was a blast, that was
really really good to see all the support there. And
I thought that'd be a good, good one to end
it on, because before you know it, Chris, we're gonna
be talking football in just a couple of weeks here.

Speaker 3 (01:33:50):
Yeah, it's it'll be here before we know it.

Speaker 8 (01:33:53):
Hey, if we got if we got just a second,
I want to get a shameless plug, go for it.
If anyone out there listening is looking for something to do.
Tonight at Bridgeport High School in the theater, there is
going to be a one time only performance of a
play called The Old Town Torpedoes. Now, this play was

(01:34:15):
written by a current BHS student and she just won
a Playwright of the Year at the high school level
at the State Thesbian Festival for this play.

Speaker 3 (01:34:31):
And I'll be thinking about we're talking about the war
type stuff.

Speaker 8 (01:34:35):
It's like a twenties style the war comedy about some gangsters,
you know, playing poker and just the mischief that they
get into. And like I and uh, this young lady,
her name is Kate Blackwood. You know she she's the playwright.
She's also directing it. And I told I talked to
her last night and she she sounds like she's very

(01:34:58):
very talented. This is something she would like to pursue
as a career. You're doing this performance to help raise
money for the high school's Thesbian Troop to go through
the International Tesbian Troop Festival a year later this summer.
So to me, it's it sounds like a very very
interesting play and I'm gonna try to make it out
myself to go see it.

Speaker 2 (01:35:18):
So very good. That's a perfect way to end the
segment on. So with that said, we'll get out of
here and take a break. This is the Friday Free
for All brought to you by Dan Caviteo to buick GMC.

Speaker 1 (01:35:29):
Time for more high school sports talk on the Dan
cavatoyot W a GMC Friday Free for All.

Speaker 2 (01:35:37):
We are back, everybody, Friday Free for All here rolling
on and rolling to a swift conclusion. Thanks again to
all of our guests today on the show. They were great,
from Chris George to Dave Marshall, Bill Nester and of
course Chris Johnson. Much appreciated as well. Folks will be
back of course next week. As always as a baseball

(01:35:59):
c and starts to wind down towards postseason play softball
as well. We'll get into as much of that as
we possibly can on next week's show. With sectionals out
for softball, regional tournament will be out for baseball, at
least we believe it will be out for baseball next week,
and we'll dive into all of that. Gotta go, folks,

(01:36:21):
have a fantastic weekend. I don't think the weather's going
to cooperate if you're trying to do anything outside, but
even still relax, enjoy and we'll talk with you next
Friday on the Friday Free for All brought to you
by our friends at Dan Cavityota Buick GMC. I'm Alex
sweeterspil We'll talk for you next time.

Speaker 1 (01:36:44):
You've been listening to the Dan Cavatoyota of Uick GMC
Friday Free for All, be sure to tune in every
Friday as we review and preview local high school sports.
This has been a special presentation of WVRC Media and
one O three three WKMZ