[00:00:15] Speaker A: Hello. Welcome to the Roundhouse podcast with Paul Solentrop of Wichita State University strategic communications. Thanks for your time. We appreciate you listening. Today's guest is Caleb Anderson. Caleb is a junior pitcher. He is from Spring Springdale, Arkansas. He transferred to Wichita State from Johnson County Community College for the 2024 season. He made 28 appearances last spring, two of them starts for the Shockers, and Caleb earned a spot on the American Athletic Conference's all academic team. Shockers are busy this week, so if you're interested in Wichita State baseball, this is a good week to get out to X Stadium. Check out their progress. The fall series begins Wednesday. It runs daily through Sunday. All the games are five innings. The weekday games begin at 03:00 p.m. saturday and Sunday games are at 11:00 a.m.
caleb, tell us about the fall series. What's the importance? How do you approach that, and what do you hope to get out of it?
[00:01:07] Speaker B: Yeah, you know, it's more than anything, it's fun. It's kind of capping off the end of the fall, obviously, at DBU last week and then a few weeks prior to Cali and the whole fall we've been competing against each other. And so I'd say the kind of black and yellow World Series, it's fun because you have players drafting players. The coaches are kind of hands out of it, and so a lot of it's just competing for a last time in the fall. Before, you know, it gets cold, you go inside. But I'd say for shocker fans that want to learn more about the team and see kind of more personality come out, it's probably a good time to show that because there's not as much pressure of game like situations. It's more just split it up and scrimmage and get really competitive for five days.
[00:01:45] Speaker A: And we are recording this on Tuesday as the draft.
[00:01:49] Speaker B: The draft is in a few hours.
[00:01:50] Speaker A: A few hours, 230. So. Okay, we'll see.
And then are there stakes? Usually there is a. Some sort of bet. Winners get something. Losers have to do something.
[00:02:01] Speaker B: What are the stakes for? I think this year it's similar to what we did last year. I think we're going to Emerson Biggins Sunday night, I believe, or Monday, and the winners will get whatever they want. And I think the losers, I was on the losing team last year, unfortunately. We got burgers. No, no ketchup, no nothing. Just burgers and water. One burger, actually. So really hoping to not repeat that because that was kind of rough. It still tasted good, but there were some big ones. You kind of want to be able to get what you can get, not just a burger.
[00:02:29] Speaker A: Definitely. You mentioned earlier scrimmages. Scrimmage at Cali college, a really, really strong junior college program here in the state. You scrimmage Dallas Baptist on Saturday. What did you learn about the shockers from those two outings?
[00:02:42] Speaker B: Yeah, you know, something I think that, that I saw was kind of the competitiveness. It seems like it's a takeout from last year. I know that was kind of a trademark for our team last year, was being able to compete and fight. But I really liked what I saw from Cali and DBU. It seemed like there's a, there's an edge of competitive competitiveness, but it's also in some ways a little bit more professional. So it's not as much rah rah energy, super energetic roller coaster. It's a little more. We're playing nine innings or playing 16 innings. We're going to, you know, do our job for 16 innings, which is something that I focused on personally for myself, trying to be a little more professional on how I handle everything and not just necessarily ride the highs and lows. And I think the team's done a good job with that this fall.
[00:03:26] Speaker A: So this is the second season for Brian Green and his coaching staff. You were here last fall for their first go round. How's it changed? What's different as they get back to work this season?
[00:03:37] Speaker B: I think the attention to details is bigger this year. Last year, obviously first year, you're trying to set the standard for what the program is going to be about. You're going to find your identity and all that. But it seems like this year, taking it a step forward, it's not necessarily more energy, but it's more, let's focus on the details, let's be great each inning and find out how we can be better each day so that you look up in a month or two's progress and you're a lot better than you were when you started.
[00:04:03] Speaker A: So if a fan is coming out this week to watch the scrimmages, give us a few names. Who has impressed you so far? Who's made a good impression? Who should they be paying attention to?
[00:04:16] Speaker B: I think obviously first, Mauricio Mian, you know, the captain, our team captain. He has obviously done a great job for the last three or four years he's been here, but backing him up, Cole Dillon, who came in from Arizona, I believe he, he's, he's done a great job with the pitching staff, offensively he's a really tough at bat. I don't think he struck out much this fall, so he's going to put the ball in play, he's going to fight, but he's, he's really just kind of a gamer and he handles the staff really, really well. So I think for offensively, I think he's, he's done a great job, obviously. Jordan Black as well, third baseman from Johns county that I played with two years ago. He's, he's going to make some really, really good plays at third and the arm strength is going to show off there. So two hitting guys, I'd say them and then pitching.
Adler, Grant Adler. Shocker. Fans know him. He's the same guy he was when he was here a few years ago. He's gonna slice and dice ya.
You know, Brady's taking a step up this year and even Jeremiah Arnett and Colton Virko. Virko is probably a guy that fans aren't super familiar with. He's been here for two or three years, but he's gonna come in and fill it up. And so I'd say kind of all those guys have taken a step up from last year that is really encouraging.
[00:05:26] Speaker A: Let me run back through some of these names so that fans are on the same page. Cole Dillon, a catcher. He is a transfer from Arizona. His dad is assistant hitting coach for the Royals. So that's an interesting tidbit about Cole. And then you mentioned Colton Virkow. He is a red shirt junior right handed pitcher. You mentioned Jordan Black, transfer, playing third base. Grant Adler pitched for the Shockers in 2023, had a really good, really good season. Sunday starter. He was at the University of Kansas last spring and I was back with the shockers. So that gives you some. Oh, Brady Hamilton, he was the other sophomore starter. I've heard really good things about him. He's a guy that I keep hearing he will be in the weekend rotation. Yeah, you mentioned Mauricio Mian and Cole Dillon. Catchers are so important. I love talking to them. They always seem to have a really good grasp of the game and they've got to be, they've got to play their position, they've got to get other people organized. They've got to work with the pitchers. What makes Mauricio so good at handling pitchers and keeping guys focused and calm out on the mound?
[00:06:33] Speaker B: Yeah, I think obviously as a former coachman myself, I think one of the things he does really well is he communicates really well with the pitchers. And even this year he's taking a step up of. He's not just communicating kind of with clags. He's working. It's kind of a three way street. So, you know, pitchers are working with Claggett, but then also Moe's working with him. And it kind of. It's just a three way kind of trust system of whatever clag sees, what I see on the mound from swings, mo, I know Moe's looking at at the same time. So I'd say Moe's. He's definitely taking a step up this year as far as the management side of it. I think at some point when he finishes his career, he'll end up in the dugout managing a baseball team, because he's pretty good at it. But it's things like reading swings, reading foul balls, you know, knowing the hitters, him as a hitter, knowing what guys are going to be looking for against our arsenals, that has really set them apart.
[00:07:21] Speaker A: And you mentioned you played catcher in high school. How has that helped you as a pitcher?
[00:07:26] Speaker B: Yeah, I think it's done more than I know, obviously, only pitching, starting pitching. Halfway through my senior year of high school and kind of focusing on it when I got to college, I'd say it really helped me know kind of more on the mound. So I'm not just a thrower on the mound. I like to really read swings. Kind of like one of my idols, Greg Maddox used to do kind of reading what the hitter wants to do. And I can tell, you know, if a hitter fouls a certain pitch off the way he fouls it off, I know what he's looking for. So if he's kind of lunging over the plate, whatever, I know I can bust in whatever. So I'd say that was the biggest thing is it just takes me, kind of slows me down a little bit on the mound. Cause I'm thinking more of the game than I am just pitching, which keeps me pretty relaxed on the mound.
[00:08:07] Speaker A: Take us through last spring for you. You were a busy guy. One of the most used pitchers that the shockers had. What did you learn about division one baseball? What adjustments are you making?
[00:08:16] Speaker B: Yeah, it's the biggest thing. And it also got exploited this summer up in the cape was, you know, if you miss spots, it's gonna get hit. It's gonna. You're gonna give up some damage. So moving forward to this year, it's more of not just, you know, throwing strikes and avoiding walks, avoiding the beginnings. It's more of I'm gonna throw my best stuff where I need to throw it and execute location, but also being consistent. Obviously, a lot of pitchers, especially ones that get used a lot, it can get tough to repeat your stuff when you throw 28 times. And so something I've tried to do more this year and transform into is being a lot more repeatable on the mound, moving a lot better and obviously getting in better shape. And so all that culminates to, you know, a little bit more velo, a little more movement, a little bit more time in the zone. So I'd say that was probably the biggest thing.
[00:09:02] Speaker A: Pitching in the Cape Cod league is always a good experience. Take us through your summer there.
[00:09:08] Speaker B: It was amazing. It was everything I had dreamed it was going to be since I was a kid.
And you get up there and play with guys that are all Americans, freshmen, all Americans, whatever, and they're just dudes in the locker room wearing the same jerseys as you. So it's kind of, that was kind of the weird thing was getting up there and seeing guys that are going to be signing for multiple million dollars this year and they're just like me, you know, just like everybody else, working out the same and doing all that. I'd say the biggest thing was being able to get up there and work with other pitchers and, you know, talk grips, talk pitches, and just kind of pick everybody's brain up there and also have my brain picked a little bit, helped learn a lot, helped develop a lot more into more of a professional mindset of going to work each day and figuring out ways to be better.
[00:09:51] Speaker A: Who was the toughest hitter you faced in the cape?
[00:09:54] Speaker B: Oh, man.
Toughest hitter.
There's so many. I kind of get messed up. I'd say Nolan Schubert was pretty good from Oklahoma State.
And then honestly, I didn't. I didn't. Thankfully, I didn't have to face him because he was on our team, but Ethan Petrie from South Carolina, he put on absolute shows every time we were in BP, every game. And so he was really good. It was weird because a lot of the guys, you know, you think like Drew Burris are these guys. You hear the names throughout the spring and then you get up there really, you know, it's really not much different. You're pitching and so some of the names even get lost. You kind of just think about executing, you know, number 17 for Wareham or whatever.
So it's kind of hard to remember, but you kind of look back and there's a lot of. A lot of really good players that have played up there. I know, you know, the guy that won the MVP for the NLCs. Tommy Edmond was on the Whitey Red Sox a few summers ago, so kind of seeing the history of that was really cool.
[00:10:55] Speaker A: Yeah. Shockers have obviously sent a lot of people up to the Cape throughout the years, and they generally come back and seems like there's a boost of confidence. They learn a lot and it's usually a really good experience.
What is your intro song and why did you choose that one?
[00:11:10] Speaker B: Okay, so my walk up song this year is the stroke by Billy Squire, and I was kind of between two. I was between that one and too late for love by Def Leppard. And so those were two, I don't want to say bands, but that kind of genre of older rock music that my parents listened to and they're kind of my age.
I don't know. It doesn't hype me up too much, but it keeps me kind of at a mellow tone, but it still fires me up a little bit. And I liked with the stroke, it's something that fans can get into and stand up and clap. I kind of had a similar song last year to it that I want the fans to be able to engage with it a little bit, the dugout, get them going a little bit, rather than something that just fires me up, you know? I want eck to be rocking, too, when I come in, so that was. That was probably the main reason to get it, but, yeah, I just liked the song.
[00:11:55] Speaker A: Okay. Old school, the sport of baseball. When did you fall in love? When did it become your thing?
[00:12:01] Speaker B: I I've been playing it my entire life, as long as I can remember. I want to say I maybe started around three.
Used to, you know, playing all the time with my dad. I know he was always my coach growing up, and so I've loved it for as long as I've been playing it, you know? And there's definitely times last year, I think everybody hit this spot where it does feel like a job a little bit. It gets a little tiring, but I think having people, support staff and people in your corner that can really remind you that it's just a game that you're getting to play. You know, I'm 20 years old, turned 21. I'm still playing the game that I was playing when I was five, you know, like, thinking of it in that way. I'm thinking of, man, if. If five year old Caleb was looking up right now and seeing where we were at, he would be. Hed be so happy to see we're playing college baseball kind of reminding yourself that keeps it fresh, keeps you young.
[00:12:49] Speaker A: Yeah. When you need that boost, when you need that reminder, who do you turn to? Is there a teammate? Is it your parents who can get you going back in the right direction?
[00:12:57] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, I'd say a lot of it's my family. I have a younger brother. He's a senior. Will who. I mean, anything, anytime I have tough times, I'll call them. I have good roommates here, Colton and Colton Virkow and Jeremiah Arnetta, that. It's like every time you go home, it's kind of the understanding of. You may talk about baseball, but it's something that once I take off the jersey and leave it in the dirty laundry bin, you know, at the field, then it's done for the day. And I'm not. I'm not defined by baseball. Just a guy that plays baseball. It's just something I do.
[00:13:28] Speaker A: Yeah. And I run across that a lot. People will come to a college, come to Wichita State, and they will have to come to that realization that I'm not defined by my sport. Take us through your path. How did you get to that point where you were able to have that, what seems to be, like, a healthy mindset about your sport?
[00:13:45] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, I'd say a lot of it comes from my relationship with Christ.
I kind of going into a little bit of the backstory in high school, obviously caught and also played football, which I love football equally as much. I'm watching football all the time, but it kind of. It really started to happen and got taken to another level when I didn't get into Vanderbilt for punting and playing football my senior year. And so I think it was March 1, I believe, is when I got that call that that wasn't going to happen. And then all of a sudden, it felt like everything was closing in. And what I had not really realized was that I was kind of defining myself by what I was doing on the field. And although I had a relationship with Christ, it definitely was one that somewhat took a backseat in baseball and other sports. Kind of after that and going through some of the trials and kind of hitting rock bottom, I realized there's a rock at the bottom that I'm standing on, which is Jesus Christ.
I think it makes life that much easier when you know that baseball is just a game. Every day I'm coming out here and doing my best, but at the same time, I'm defined by who Christ says I am, which is a child of God. So that's kind of where I find my foundation.
[00:14:55] Speaker A: So you were an accomplished punter in high school at Shiloh Christian, which is a really strong program in Arkansas. You can find a lot of Caleb Anderson punting highlights on the Internet. You were headed to Vanderbilt at one time. Why switch from football to baseball?
[00:15:11] Speaker B: I honestly kind of got forced into it, which was, I think, God's way of getting me back on track of playing baseball and getting eventually to Wichita State.
I thought I was going to do that. Was a pretty good student in high school, and for some reason the admissions prospects didn't let me get in. You know, the coaching staff was frustrated about it, but my family and I took that as an opportunity, as a closed door that needed to happen and experiencing that and obviously still love the staff and their ranked and all this stuff. So it's super cool to see that. But I think that closing the door opened up a new one for me to obviously start pitching a week later. And then that got me into where we're at today.
[00:15:48] Speaker A: So it's Monday in the locker room and everybody's talking about the Chiefs or the Cowboys football. Do you ever break in and say, boy, did you notice how that punter flipped field position? Or do you guys know how hard it is to put the backspin on the punt so you can down it at the four yard line? Do you ever slip a little punting talk into their conversations?
[00:16:07] Speaker B: It's hard not to. It's hard when that's been your kind of your thing forever.
It's hard not to when it's fourth down, you know, get your phone out and get the hang time with the punts or all that stuff. I try not to seem like a nerd, but I mean, one guy I watch a ton is Pat McAfee on, you know, his show on ESPN, and, you know, punters and that whole group is definitely an interesting bunch, but it's hard to not notice because flipping the field is a big deal. And so, especially with the Chiefs and having Matt Ariza this year, it's. I could definitely get into it and I could talk about punting in special teams. The importance forever. But I mean, you still got Patrick Mahomes, you know, so, like, punters aren't winning games, they can lose them, but it's definitely in a big spot and guys like to get me a lot of crap on it for whenever watching football. Oh, guys, check out this punt. You know, whatever. That's just part of it. I just have to kind of just.
[00:16:54] Speaker A: Don'T appreciate the importance of special teams. How about punting is winning. Do you ever say that?
[00:17:00] Speaker B: No, I don't say punting is funny, though.
[00:17:03] Speaker A: That's another good. Another good punting. Okay, let's do a little baseball scenario. There's two runners in scoring position. There's one out, little tense on the mound. What techniques do you use to maintain composure? Repeat your delivery, trust your defense. All that baseball stuff. What are you thinking?
[00:17:23] Speaker B: Yeah, so Clag's actually coach Claggett. He instills in us pretty early that we need to find a focal point, whether it's at eck or wherever we're playing. Mine, at least at home, it's kind of translated to all the other places we play. Anytime I get feel rushed all in the mount or my breathing starting to, you know, quicken up on me, I just find the american flag and look at it. Obviously at egg. It's huge, which is awesome. I love it. And that kind of reminds me, kind of puts everything back into perspective, of I actually have a friend who I graduated high school with who's a Navy seal right now. And so every time I see the flag, I kind of think of him. And so it kind of relaxes me of like, man, if I think I'm going through it tough right now, like, runners on second and third, man, I need to make a big pitch. It's like, I see the flag. I remember that there's people that are dying overseas for my freedom, and that's something that's really important to me, obviously, being closely tied to that. So I think it sets everything back into perspective. I'm just playing a game. I'm just going to breathe and trust my training and see what God's going to do.
[00:18:17] Speaker A: Okay, different scenario. You're up five nothing. You're in the fifth, you're cruising. Everything's really working.
How do you maintain focus? How do you not slip just a little bit and let things get going in the bad direction?
[00:18:30] Speaker B: Yeah. I'd say for me, it's treating every game like it's zero zero and treating it like it is the World Series. I mean, it may sound a little corny, but I think if you're going out with a big lead, the easiest way to pitch with a lead is pretend you don't have one. You know, you still gotta be. You still gotta be fine tuned your mechanics, you still gotta be attacking. And I'd say when I'm at my best, I'm on the mound thinking I'm the best pitcher in the country, you know, even though I'm not six, 5235 pounds, pure muscle, whatever.
Convincing myself that the hitters have to come up each inning and try to face me and face my best stuff keeps me at a good headspace of I'm just going to attack and make them look dumb.
[00:19:07] Speaker A: Shockers have a lot of uniform combinations. You can go gray, white, pinstripes, all kinds. What's your favorite?
[00:19:14] Speaker B: It's tough. It's tough to go against the traditional whites. Got the last name on the back, so seeing Anderson up there is pretty cool. But I obviously, I feel like I'd be wrong if I didn't say the All Blacks after what we did in them last year, winning twelve of 13 games down the stretch in all Blacks. But it's pretty cool. We got some good stuff. I feel like each kind of trip we take, there's a favorite. So whether it's pens one weekend or. I really like the gray uniforms, whatever. Just kind of being on a mix and match and have a really iconic look is pretty cool.
[00:19:45] Speaker A: Who was your favorite major league baseball team?
[00:19:47] Speaker B: The Atlanta Braves. I was born in Atlanta. My parents team, obviously, they've been pretty good recently, so it's not necessarily a hard fandom, but, yeah, they're my favorite team. Spencer strider. Favorite pitcher, favorite professional athlete. He was hurt this past year. We actually named. We have a golden doodle at my house. We named him Strider. His name was Spencer and we changed it. So that should tell you kind of how big of fans we are to the Braves. But, yeah, it's Atlanta Braves.
[00:20:12] Speaker A: So being a college athlete means a lot of road trips. You're on a bus, you're on a plane. How do you survive those long rides? What's the item you need? A neck pillow, snacks, earbuds. How do you get through?
[00:20:25] Speaker B: Honestly, for me, it's a few. There's a few essentials. One is an Arnold Palmer, you know, tea and lemonade. I gotta have that. And that was a big thing for me last year. Just kind of reminds me of home a little bit. Gotta have my earbuds. Cause I can't listen to Mafia and all the stuff on the. On the bus and all the games guys are playing. It's. Can't do that. Gotta be able to listen to music. And then I. My Bible. It's something that I got from my roommate Jeremiah. Just take in, you get bored and open it up and read and learn something new.
[00:20:51] Speaker A: Okay. Caleb Anderson, junior pitcher for Wichita State. The Shockers have a busy week. Fall series starts Wednesday, runs daily through Sunday with a bunch of five inning games. Weekday games begin at 03:00 p.m. saturday and Sunday they will start at 11:00 a.m. caleb, thank you for your time.
[00:21:08] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:21:24] Speaker A: Hi, this is Rick Niuma, president of Wichita State University. Check out the latest episode of the Forward together podcast. Each episode, I sit down with different guests from Shocker nation to celebrate the vision and mission of Wichita State University. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.
Thank you for listening to the Roundhouse podcast, courtesy of Wichita State University Strategic Communications. We encourage you to rate, review and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. You can find more roundhouse
[email protected] dot it's over.
[00:22:11] Speaker B: It is over, ladies and gentlemen.
[00:22:14] Speaker A: Say it slowly and savor it. Wichita State is going to the final four for the first time in 48 years. Unbelievable. What a scene, folks.
[00:22:26] Speaker B: The Shocker fans are just going crazy in this dance.
[00:22:30] Speaker A: Just maybe the greatest win in the history of Wichita state basketball.
