Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
And we're going to Phoenix City tobring in the baseball coach of the Red
Devils who will be playing for hissecond straight state title in seventy the defending
champion in baseball who just swepts MythStation last week. And we'll be headed
to Oxford j Kio in the CentralRed Devils. Good morning coach KYO,
Good morning fellows. How's everybody.We're good, coach, were good.
(00:22):
Sorry I missed you last week,but I know we text and good job.
Yeah, yeah, we'll appreciate it. Thank you very much. Yeah,
we're don't put that broom out EarlyThursday you were done. I mean,
like, let's just play one dayand finish that sucker and be done.
Well, it appeared a little biteasier than it was, you know,
(00:43):
and obviously us miss had a great, a great little club this year.
But yeah, our guys certainly werelocked in man and uh and then
took care of business. I wasproud of them. You know, Middleton
really Darren Area play kind of shovedit against us in pitch really well.
I think our guys were just alot more disciplined and really had great approaches
(01:04):
at the plate and you know,worked out for us. It did.
Coach, here you are right back, right back, playing for another title.
I know that doesn't get old,does it, Coach? No,
it doesn't. Um, it doesn'tat all. And I'll tell you what.
I just really proud of this groupbecause, you know, not a
lot of people gave us a chanceafter losing our starting first basement, our
(01:26):
starting short stuff, our starting thirdbasement, our starting catcher, our starting
right fielder, two out of youknow, two out of three of our
best pictures. But it just reallyshows, um, you know, the
depth of our program. Um,you know, the ability for these guys
that really adjust and continue to workand play hard together. So I'm just
(01:48):
really proud that they have this opportunityin front of them. Yeah, I
know you are coach, certainly earnedlearned. Oh hey, you get this
far, coach, and they ain'tno gimmis. Oh yeah, yeah,
there's no doubt, there's no Yeah. A j KO head coach at Central
High School. He's about to takethe Red Devils back to the finals,
coming off a sweep of Smith Stationa week ago. Last week headed uh
(02:13):
trip, how many? How manytimes have you been to the championship as
a head coach? Oh? Man, I've been I think the first the
first, uh the first five timesI lost. Okay, So from a
baseball standpoint, last year was myfirst baseball state championship out of six,
out of six trips, out ofsix correct, Yeah, out of six,
(02:38):
and Tom coach, we'll go ahead. Yeah I was. I had
that little Buffalo Bills vibe on um, but uh, you know, uh
obviously, but um, I don'tknow, man, it was it was
just this. It's uh, it'sjust you know, the Good Lord has
made it happen where he wanted itto happen. You know what I mean,
(03:00):
I do, I do, Ido well, I didn't I didn't
know it had been six coach,I knew you had been a bunch.
But yeah, you got It's hardto get there a little long winning,
isn't it. Oh Yeah, absolutely, there's no doubt. There's no doubt
about it. Yeah, especially especiallystatewide. Um, you know, regardless
(03:21):
of the classification. You know,seven a six day, you know,
and on down. I mean,it's it's it's a difficult road. And
uh, there is just a tremendousamount of great baseball coaches, great baseball
players in this state. Um,everyone knows you know how competitive it is
and which makes it very fun andexciting. You know. I mean you
gotta be you gotta be preparing andget yourself ready, especially to make a
(03:44):
run in the playoffs. Now,no no doubt about it. A j
Ko with us. He's the headcoach of the Central Red Devils. They're
in the championship in baseball, backto back, getting ready to take on
vest Davy Hill. The Rebels lostthe first one, turn round one,
two straight to tell Over Thompson coacha very good baseball team there. Yeah,
they are, they're loaded. Um. After Thursday, Thursday, when
(04:08):
we finished up, I decided togo Friday to Thompson and really, you
know, we had played Thompson earlierand some information on them, and uh,
you know, so Friday morning Iwas kind of putting some of that
together and but I went out thereand scouted up those both those games.
And the Staby has got sixteen seniors. They've got six Division one players in
(04:30):
the um. They've got a plethoraof left handed pitching. Um, you
know, the right handers are betweenyou know, eight eighty five and ninety
one, and they've got two orthree left handers that are to load in
mid eighties and really do a greatjob mix and so, uh they're a
(04:50):
complete team, a lot of athleticism. Anytime you can have you know,
six Division one players in your lineup, those guys are gonna be athletics.
So you know they take care ofthe baseball. It's gonna be uh,
it's gonna be a challenge, butit's gonna be a lot of fun.
You know. Well, so lookingforward to it. I'm sure it is.
They're sitting here, what thirty oneand nine coaches that right, I
(05:14):
think? Yeah, right, yeah, I don't I don't really know to
be it don't really matter. Coach. You're right that you gotta play and
you gotta win two, right,it don't matter. Yeah, that's it.
Yeah, I just word, justcoming up with a player. Yeah,
all right, so give us,give us, yeah, give us
the a tenant ray for your RedDevil's coach this week. Well, I
(05:35):
think, um, we're gonna goahead and get out of town tomorrow.
Okay, we like doing that.Um, you know, we really push
that envelope a little bit. Notgood leaving early with Enterprise and it was
over a two hour trip. Right, Um, I'm gonna go ahead and
leave these distractions in Phoenix City andI'm gonna get our guys out of town.
On Tuesday, We're gonna roll intoOxford and we'll probably get it just
(06:00):
a quality practice then Tuesday night,um, you know, and then Wednesday
we'll get back up in the morningand we'll have another light practice and BP
session before we play Wednesday night.And um, we've got it worked out
with um with a with a placeto to hit indoors on Thursday. UM,
so you know, we'll just bespending some quality time together as a
(06:21):
team and and uh, and justsee what we can do, you know,
just go over our plans and makesure we'll prepare to execute. There
you go. A j Ko head, coach of the Red Devils going for
their back to back state championship inbaseball, swept Smith Station last week,
uh last Thursday. As another championshipgame series this weekend, vest Abut Hills
(06:45):
up in Oxford. Coach, what'sit light playing up there? You enjoy
that? Obviously you wanted up there? You Yeah, I'm gonna tell you
what. It's a great venue.Um, it's kind of a weird place.
Um, just location wise, Ithink, uh, you know,
it's really hard for our fans toto get there. You know, you
look at it. Wednesday we playat eight o'clock at night. Um.
(07:06):
Thursday our doubleheader starts at five o'clock. Um, it's it's kind of you
know, it's not super close.Um, you know, so it makes
it difficult on our fans. Butvenue wise, UM, it's it's beautiful
obviously. Oxford and Shakolacka does afantastic job with third stadium field and then
(07:27):
Jacksonville State, Um, you knowthe new stadium that um Jim kse Field.
They had bills a couple of yearsago. I mean it's a twenty
million dollars facility. It's gorgeous souhYeah, and it's uh, you know
they attack it in Um, youknow, I think it probably only seeks
you know between you know, probablylike po and thirty five hundred maybe.
So, I mean it's a it'sa full packed out atmosphere, um,
(07:50):
which makes it a lot a lotmore fun too. Yeah, I'm sure
it is. It ought to beinteresting. How far our trip is that
from one place to the other coachfrom Oxford Jacksonville when you drive it,
it is twenty twenty five minutes andthey provide you with a police that escort
the entire way. Right, Sothat's like a trip from here to Opelika,
(08:11):
here to Auburn with coach Okay,yeah, yeah, basically where drive
no I get it. Last yearwas a little bit tough because we played
the late game on Friday night atI don't know, eight o'clock, and
then we had to turn around andplay the double header at like I think
it was ten o'clock. Oh yeah, yeah, you know that's yeah,
(08:37):
that was we were we're on fumes. Yeah, that's not a Yeah,
it's not a it's not perfect,but it's uh you just got to deal
with some of that and some ofthose logistics you know, when you when
you make it this far, it'suh. So you know that's basically what
I'm dealing with, you know,the last couple of days, trying to
you know, get everything lined up. People don't realize coach when you take
(09:00):
a team, I mean, he'son your team. Twenty five. What
do you got, coachy players?Yeah, twenty five? Yeah, we've
got about yeah around we dressed uhright now ing this playoff round, we
got about twenty five. There yougo. So you take thirty staff members
with your staff on the road,thirty five and you got to figure out
eating And I mean it's a lotcoach, it's a lot lot motter than
people. You know, understanding ofcourse you'd been there last year. It
(09:22):
helps, It helps, doesn't it. Oh yeah, there's there's no doubt
about it. Um. You know, anytime you can experience anything, man,
I mean positive or negative, youcan learn from it. So uh
yeah, it definitely helps being there. It helps that we've got we've got
some guys that are returning from lastyear's club. Um. You know that
that have been there, have beenthrough it all. So uh you know
(09:43):
looking forward to man. Good goodas your kids responded, will since last
week coach, since the win,Yeah, yeah, you know they've gotten
We gave them off on Friday,good um, you know we win.
Let them ice down and stretch andjust relax a little bit. Saturday,
we brought him in for about justan hour and for for forty five minutes,
just for some arm care and andsomebody care and some light hitting.
(10:07):
And then yesterday we had a goodlittle practice. Um, we had a
nice little Mother's Day practice yesterday.So you know today will be our long
day and you know, and thenwe'll start tapering back down. But uh
yeah they're locking and excited. Man, good deal, all right, coach.
Everybody healthy, right, yep,everybody's healthy. I'm ready to go,
(10:30):
and uh, this is it.This is it. There it is
man. Well, that's what youplay for here you are ageing, man,
I know it is. It's beenfun, isn't it. I mean
that's why you could do it.You know, absolutely got there and mix
it up. They know the opportunitythey got. Yeah, there's only two
of y'all playing, right, Coach, that's it, that's it, that's
it. Will you bring it backto East Alabama? I appreciate you,
(10:52):
coach, and we pull it hardfor you, all right, Yes,
sir, Hey appreciate y'all. Yes, sir very much. You got a
coach. Take care, safe travels. That's a J. Kio, the
head coach of the Central Red Devils,
And we're going to Phoenix City tobring in the baseball coach of the Red
Devils who will be playing for hissecond straight state title in seventy the defending
champion in baseball who just swepts MythStation last week. And we'll be headed
to Oxford j Kio in the CentralRed Devils. Good morning coach KYO,
Good morning fellows. How's everybody.We're good, coach, were good.
(00:22):
Sorry I missed you last week,but I know we text and good job.
Yeah, yeah, we'll appreciate it. Thank you very much. Yeah,
we're don't put that broom out EarlyThursday you were done. I mean,
like, let's just play one dayand finish that sucker and be done.
Well, it appeared a little biteasier than it was, you know,
(00:43):
and obviously us miss had a great, a great little club this year.
But yeah, our guys certainly werelocked in man and uh and then
took care of business. I wasproud of them. You know, Middleton
really Darren Area play kind of shovedit against us in pitch really well.
I think our guys were just alot more disciplined and really had great approaches
(01:04):
at the plate and you know,worked out for us. It did.
Coach, here you are right back, right back, playing for another title.
I know that doesn't get old,does it, Coach? No,
it doesn't. Um, it doesn'tat all. And I'll tell you what.
I just really proud of this groupbecause, you know, not a
lot of people gave us a chanceafter losing our starting first basement, our
(01:26):
starting short stuff, our starting thirdbasement, our starting catcher, our starting
right fielder, two out of youknow, two out of three of our
best pictures. But it just reallyshows, um, you know, the
depth of our program. Um,you know, the ability for these guys
that really adjust and continue to workand play hard together. So I'm just
(01:48):
really proud that they have this opportunityin front of them. Yeah, I
know you are coach, certainly earnedlearned. Oh hey, you get this
far, coach, and they ain'tno gimmis. Oh yeah, yeah,
there's no doubt, there's no Yeah. A j KO head coach at Central
High School. He's about to takethe Red Devils back to the finals,
coming off a sweep of Smith Stationa week ago. Last week headed uh
(02:13):
trip, how many? How manytimes have you been to the championship as
a head coach? Oh? Man, I've been I think the first the
first, uh the first five timesI lost. Okay, So from a
baseball standpoint, last year was myfirst baseball state championship out of six,
out of six trips, out ofsix correct, Yeah, out of six,
(02:38):
and Tom coach, we'll go ahead. Yeah I was. I had
that little Buffalo Bills vibe on um, but uh, you know, uh
obviously, but um, I don'tknow, man, it was it was
just this. It's uh, it'sjust you know, the Good Lord has
made it happen where he wanted itto happen. You know what I mean,
(03:00):
I do, I do, Ido well, I didn't I didn't
know it had been six coach,I knew you had been a bunch.
But yeah, you got It's hardto get there a little long winning,
isn't it. Oh Yeah, absolutely, there's no doubt. There's no doubt
about it. Yeah, especially especiallystatewide. Um, you know, regardless
(03:21):
of the classification. You know,seven a six day, you know,
and on down. I mean,it's it's it's a difficult road. And
uh, there is just a tremendousamount of great baseball coaches, great baseball
players in this state. Um,everyone knows you know how competitive it is
and which makes it very fun andexciting. You know. I mean you
gotta be you gotta be preparing andget yourself ready, especially to make a
(03:44):
run in the playoffs. Now,no no doubt about it. A j
Ko with us. He's the headcoach of the Central Red Devils. They're
in the championship in baseball, backto back, getting ready to take on
vest Davy Hill. The Rebels lostthe first one, turn round one,
two straight to tell Over Thompson coacha very good baseball team there. Yeah,
they are, they're loaded. Um. After Thursday, Thursday, when
(04:08):
we finished up, I decided togo Friday to Thompson and really, you
know, we had played Thompson earlierand some information on them, and uh,
you know, so Friday morning Iwas kind of putting some of that
together and but I went out thereand scouted up those both those games.
And the Staby has got sixteen seniors. They've got six Division one players in
(04:30):
the um. They've got a plethoraof left handed pitching. Um, you
know, the right handers are betweenyou know, eight eighty five and ninety
one, and they've got two orthree left handers that are to load in
mid eighties and really do a greatjob mix and so, uh they're a
(04:50):
complete team, a lot of athleticism. Anytime you can have you know,
six Division one players in your lineup, those guys are gonna be athletics.
So you know they take care ofthe baseball. It's gonna be uh,
it's gonna be a challenge, butit's gonna be a lot of fun.
You know. Well, so lookingforward to it. I'm sure it is.
They're sitting here, what thirty oneand nine coaches that right, I
(05:14):
think? Yeah, right, yeah, I don't I don't really know to
be it don't really matter. Coach. You're right that you gotta play and
you gotta win two, right,it don't matter. Yeah, that's it.
Yeah, I just word, justcoming up with a player. Yeah,
all right, so give us,give us, yeah, give us
the a tenant ray for your RedDevil's coach this week. Well, I
(05:35):
think, um, we're gonna goahead and get out of town tomorrow.
Okay, we like doing that.Um, you know, we really push
that envelope a little bit. Notgood leaving early with Enterprise and it was
over a two hour trip. Right, Um, I'm gonna go ahead and
leave these distractions in Phoenix City andI'm gonna get our guys out of town.
On Tuesday, We're gonna roll intoOxford and we'll probably get it just
(06:00):
a quality practice then Tuesday night,um, you know, and then Wednesday
we'll get back up in the morningand we'll have another light practice and BP
session before we play Wednesday night.And um, we've got it worked out
with um with a with a placeto to hit indoors on Thursday. UM,
so you know, we'll just bespending some quality time together as a
(06:21):
team and and uh, and justsee what we can do, you know,
just go over our plans and makesure we'll prepare to execute. There
you go. A j Ko head, coach of the Red Devils going for
their back to back state championship inbaseball, swept Smith Station last week,
uh last Thursday. As another championshipgame series this weekend, vest Abut Hills
(06:45):
up in Oxford. Coach, what'sit light playing up there? You enjoy
that? Obviously you wanted up there? You Yeah, I'm gonna tell you
what. It's a great venue.Um, it's kind of a weird place.
Um, just location wise, Ithink, uh, you know,
it's really hard for our fans toto get there. You know, you
look at it. Wednesday we playat eight o'clock at night. Um.
(07:06):
Thursday our doubleheader starts at five o'clock. Um, it's it's kind of you
know, it's not super close.Um, you know, so it makes
it difficult on our fans. Butvenue wise, UM, it's it's beautiful
obviously. Oxford and Shakolacka does afantastic job with third stadium field and then
(07:27):
Jacksonville State, Um, you knowthe new stadium that um Jim kse Field.
They had bills a couple of yearsago. I mean it's a twenty
million dollars facility. It's gorgeous souhYeah, and it's uh, you know
they attack it in Um, youknow, I think it probably only seeks
you know between you know, probablylike po and thirty five hundred maybe.
So, I mean it's a it'sa full packed out atmosphere, um,
(07:50):
which makes it a lot a lotmore fun too. Yeah, I'm sure
it is. It ought to beinteresting. How far our trip is that
from one place to the other coachfrom Oxford Jacksonville when you drive it,
it is twenty twenty five minutes andthey provide you with a police that escort
the entire way. Right, Sothat's like a trip from here to Opelika,
(08:11):
here to Auburn with coach Okay,yeah, yeah, basically where drive
no I get it. Last yearwas a little bit tough because we played
the late game on Friday night atI don't know, eight o'clock, and
then we had to turn around andplay the double header at like I think
it was ten o'clock. Oh yeah, yeah, you know that's yeah,
(08:37):
that was we were we're on fumes. Yeah, that's not a Yeah,
it's not a it's not perfect,but it's uh you just got to deal
with some of that and some ofthose logistics you know, when you when
you make it this far, it'suh. So you know that's basically what
I'm dealing with, you know,the last couple of days, trying to
you know, get everything lined up. People don't realize coach when you take
(09:00):
a team, I mean, he'son your team. Twenty five. What
do you got, coachy players?Yeah, twenty five? Yeah, we've
got about yeah around we dressed uhright now ing this playoff round, we
got about twenty five. There yougo. So you take thirty staff members
with your staff on the road,thirty five and you got to figure out
eating And I mean it's a lotcoach, it's a lot lot motter than
people. You know, understanding ofcourse you'd been there last year. It
(09:22):
helps, It helps, doesn't it. Oh yeah, there's there's no doubt
about it. Um. You know, anytime you can experience anything, man,
I mean positive or negative, youcan learn from it. So uh
yeah, it definitely helps being there. It helps that we've got we've got
some guys that are returning from lastyear's club. Um. You know that
that have been there, have beenthrough it all. So uh you know
(09:43):
looking forward to man. Good goodas your kids responded, will since last
week coach, since the win,Yeah, yeah, you know they've gotten
We gave them off on Friday,good um, you know we win.
Let them ice down and stretch andjust relax a little bit. Saturday,
we brought him in for about justan hour and for for forty five minutes,
just for some arm care and andsomebody care and some light hitting.
(10:07):
And then yesterday we had a goodlittle practice. Um, we had a
nice little Mother's Day practice yesterday.So you know today will be our long
day and you know, and thenwe'll start tapering back down. But uh
yeah they're locking and excited. Man, good deal, all right, coach.
Everybody healthy, right, yep,everybody's healthy. I'm ready to go,
(10:30):
and uh, this is it.This is it. There it is
man. Well, that's what youplay for here you are ageing, man,
I know it is. It's beenfun, isn't it. I mean
that's why you could do it.You know, absolutely got there and mix
it up. They know the opportunitythey got. Yeah, there's only two
of y'all playing, right, Coach, that's it, that's it, that's
it. Will you bring it backto East Alabama? I appreciate you,
(10:52):
coach, and we pull it hardfor you, all right, Yes,
sir, Hey appreciate y'all. Yes, sir very much. You got a
coach. Take care, safe travels. That's a J. Kio, the
head coach of the Central Red Devils,
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