Speaker 1 00:00:12 Hello, this is Paul Saul and drop of Wichita state university strategic communications. Thank you for listening to the roundhouse podcast today, we have Mike Sirianni assistant coach for the Wichita state baseball team. Shockers recently wrapped up fall practices and they will look forward to the, to the spring starting in back in February and January early, February, the shockers 31 and 23 last season, 18 and 13 in the American athletic conference. It was the coaching staffs third fall. So Mike, the first fall, everything was new. Everybody was new to the coaching staff. Last fall was all the intricacies of COVID this fall, little closer to normal. How did things go? How was it different this fall than maybe the previous two?
Speaker 2 00:00:57 It was great. And the fact that we could use our locker room and get our kids in our clubhouse and spend time together. One of the more important things that we've started to do is try to get our kids to have some meals together. And ultimately we ran into a couple of issues with that. And so we kind of limited the meals together and whatnot, but a lot more functional for our kids to be together and spend time together in that clubhouse, uh, throughout this false, that was definitely a bonus for us this year.
Speaker 1 00:01:26 Yeah. One of the odd scenes from last fall would be, you would go to practice and all the gear would be out in the little light, the entryway to the stadium because they weren't in the locker room very much at all. So I'm sure there's a lot, a lot of benefits. Where are you able to move more quickly this year? Get to things quickly, do less kind of introductory stuff because it's your third year.
Speaker 2 00:01:49 Yeah, it was a lot better, you know, and having some guys that have returned a lot of experience and a lot of successful experience, you know, those guys are great allies for us coaches and they help us and the ways to show guys new guys and, and, uh, young kids just kinda how we want things done here, which state, and we've got, you know, some things that we really like to, to work on and preach on and continue to improve. And so having some leaders, uh, that have spent two years with us has been crucial for our coaching staff and you know, those kids, speaking of some of those older kids and veterans, you know, they can, they can do a lot for a young player, um, impacting their lives both on and off.
Speaker 1 00:02:33 Yeah. I was going to mention those, some of those veterans, Garrett cosis Ross, Kadena, Jack Siegrist, you've got some others who now have been through it with you for several years. So you are seeing them do things like pull aside a newcomer and kind of explain how a drill works or what the coaches are looking for in those situations. That kind of thing. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:02:51 Yeah. Those guys, you know, you know, from a position player standpoint, those cosis and Cadena, um, ha have been very impactful for all of our kids. You know, Jack has had a little issue with the shoulder, so he's kind of been a little hit and miss when he's been able to be out there when he's out there. He's great. You know, but when you talk about Ross Kadena and Garrett, cosis, you know, you're talking about pro young men both on and off the field and what they can do for our new players and young players, um, is amazing. It's, it's fun to watch them because, you know, I give those two, a lot of credit because they can do a lot of things for these new players and these young players a lot quicker and more efficiently than I can, you know, because when a player is helping a player that goes a long way and they remember when they were young players and there were kids that were helping them and, you know, just the impact that they can make on these kids' lives and, and helping them get comfortable here in our program and understand how we want to play and how we want to do things is those guys are great guys for, for our clubhouse, both on and off the field too.
Speaker 1 00:03:53 It seems like you're saying what a lot of coaches will say is that sometimes it just helps to hear it from a different voice, just from a different perspective.
Speaker 2 00:04:00 Yeah. When you can have Kadena and cosis, you know, they're around the cage or playing catch or doing defensive work with new kids or young kids, obviously they've had a lot of success. And so seeing them do it and then hearing it from them, how they do it goes a long ways with new players and young kids.
Speaker 1 00:04:19 So the last spring would have been this coaching staffs first trip through the American athletic conference. Uh, what was your impressions of the conference? What kind of baseball is played there? What does it take to succeed in this conference?
Speaker 2 00:04:31 There's good players in the league, you know, there there's really good players and there's good coaches, um, great programs. It's, it's a good league. It's a fun way. There's a lot of travel, obviously, you know, when we were going to Florida numerous times and some of those places, you know, we didn't get to see every field. Um, and there's some fields that some kids have talked about that are pretty fun places to play and atmospheres, but a very good conference. And it's, it's fun to see, you know, different conferences and different teams and different parts of the country, how they kind of play and what, what, where we stack up with them. And, um, it's going to be really interesting to see this year. Now, our second year, we have a little bit better understanding of how teams play and how certain programs go about it and whatnot. And so, you know, it'll be a good challenge for us again, you know, because now people will have a, have an understanding of how we're, we're trying to play too. So it will be a good challenge for us as well as, you know, um, our new kids and our older kids going through it again and, and trying to improve on what we did last year.
Speaker 1 00:05:35 So maybe baseball is a little different from some sports because you got, you have a lot of information coming in over the summer. You know, guys, well, they'll play in the spring for Wichita state. Then many of them will go off in the, in the summer and play and grow and improve and those kinds of things. So then my question is how much of, you know, all the information you gained from last spring? How much does that then play into here's what we're going to do in the fall. Here's what our plan is. We're going to emphasize, you know, whatever it might be, whether it's bunting or whether it's, you know, defense up the middle, how much of a connection is there between this is what we saw in the spring. This is what we're going to hit hard in the
Speaker 2 00:06:14 Fall a lot. You know, a lot of it, we, you know, because wedgies never been through a college season, a full college season in a long time and as a head coach. And so he talked about it, a lot of seeing how people play in our league and where we stack up with them. So obviously a lot of adjustments that we talked about throughout this summer have some things we want to improve on some things we want to spend more time on. And so a lot of that conversation happened this summer between our coaching staff and, you know, throughout this fall, we tried to improve obviously in everything, but there's some things that we spend a little bit more time on, um, as compared to other things. And so it's 100% our, our coaching staff, as well as our players, we're continually trying to learn, you know, we talk to our kids about it all the time. You know, the minute you stop learning the minute your career is over. So us as coaches are trying to learn too. And so, um, we have definitely tried to implement some different things and some different types of things and styles of baseball, because, you know, you never know what type of ball game you're going to get into. And so we've most definitely tried to improve our program to in our third year.
Speaker 1 00:07:20 Yeah. So what was at the top of your mind back on whenever practices start August, end of August, 1st of September, what were two or three things that you really wanted to hit?
Speaker 2 00:07:28 You know, we w we spent a lot of time on base running, you know, that was something that we spent a lot of time on. We spent a lot of time on, you know, hitting in some, some positive counts from a position player standpoint. We also spent, you know, a good amount of time on, you know, whether it be a change up or breaking ball from the pitching side, being able to command that pitch and a hitter's count. You know, when you started talking about being able to combat both sides of the ball, you know, we spent a lot of time on that. Pell spend a lot of time with our pitchers on, you know, throwing it to over. I can ball and things like that, and being able to throw it in for a strike. And then, you know, some of the big things for us, if, you know, obviously being able to command the fast ball, both sides of the plate. And so obviously always trying to improve those things, both offensively and defensively. Um, and then we talked about the pitching side too. So some of those, those are some of the things that we spent some good amounts of time on this year. And obviously the defense is a staple for our program. Um, and so we tried to improve some of those things and continue to work on those things as well.
Speaker 1 00:08:31 Okay. So base funding, that may be something that people, you know, fans or people like myself outside the program, maybe we don't notice it so much until something goes wrong. W how do you go about improving base running? How much of that is an instinct that people have and how much of it can really be taught and drilled?
Speaker 2 00:08:49 That's, that's a great question. We spend a lot of time talking about that as a coaching staff, you know, and, and we've spent, you know, whether it be five or six or seven minutes after being in practice each day, trying to really just communicate on a couple of different things. Um, cause like you said, it is hard to practice base running, you know, and it's, it's hard to talk about, especially when you can't really put them in the situation that you want them in. And so communicating about some of those things, but then playing our scrimmages and playing our modified scrimmages at the end of practice, trying to really hit on the importance of base running and some of the things that we really want to do and, you know, stealing bases and taking extra bases and angles and, and, you know, knowing where outfielders are when you start. And so just a lot of those finer details of like you said, baseball base running that nobody really knows anything or pays attention to, you know, but for us, those small things make big differences.
Speaker 1 00:09:46 I think anybody who's watched shocker baseball, the last couple of seasons has been thrilled with the pace of play and that connects directly to defense. In my mind, you play generally pretty clean baseball defense can, I think everybody loves to hit. Maybe not everybody loves to be out there fielding ground balls. How do you think about it from making it, you know, if not, if not fun, at least, uh, attractive, not a boring grind, what's your approach to, you know, defensive drills. Well, you know,
Speaker 2 00:10:13 Why'd, you talks about all the time, you know, you can hit, um, but you're not going to get a chance to go on and play this game for a long time. If you can't play defense too. You know, he talks about those guys in, you know, in spring training, you know, in early work, in the big leagues, they spend time on their craft and you know, they're obviously very, very good at it. And so, you know, those guys understanding what it takes to be really, really good and be a big leaguer is you've gotta be good on both sides of the ball. And so understanding how we're gonna play, we're gonna win with pitching and defense. And if we, if we give them three outs, we got a chance to win every game. We start giving away four outs, five outs, it makes it really hard to pitch. It makes it really hard to score 10 runs a game. And so understanding what we're about, and obviously the recruiting side of things is we try to be honest with kids, you know, and, and tell them we spend time on defense, you know, because it's a priority for us.
Speaker 1 00:11:08 Is there a percentage of kids who you can kind of tell they check out at that point or do, and I guess you don't want those kids anyway, then you're looking for the kid who, when you say we play, we practice defense, they're nodding their head. Yeah,
Speaker 2 00:11:19 Absolutely. You know, 100%. And we try to get all of our kids to come in on visits and, you know, with COVID last year, we didn't get to do any of that. So it's kinda of odd, but obviously over the phone, um, through, throughout our contacts, we're trying to communicate with these kids and these young men and their parents, you know, we're gonna work hard in practice. We're going to challenge you guys during practice. We're going to try and make practice harder than a game. And a lot of that time will be spent defensively and, you know, the kids that shy away from it, great, you know, we'll wish them the best and they can go to somewhere else, you know, but the kids that like it, those are the kids that usually tend to show up here on our campus. You know, to that point, we had our official visits this past weekend and we tried to give them an honest assessment of where we're at as a program and what they're going to get into. And so that's just kind of how we want to run our program and how, you know, what'd you think it's a very firm fair and consistent message to everybody.
Speaker 1 00:12:11 There's an interesting blend on this coaching staff with Eric wedge and Mike, Pelphrey a big pro background. Obviously you came from college coaching, uh, Lauren Hibbs college background. What have you picked up from the pro guys that maybe seeped into practice plans? And that might be interesting to talk about.
Speaker 2 00:12:29 Well, it's awesome. You know, our, our office is, is so much fun, you know, with some of the personalities and the looseness. And obviously you've been in our office, Paul with the open doors. Um, we, we love to cut it up and we love to laugh and you know what, I'm more one of the quiet guys. And so I get the opportunity to laugh a lot. And what'd, you talked about it to some of our parents I'll mean I'll get started getting church giggles when wedgie and Pelfrey are cutting it up, you know? And so I think that's one of the fun things we start talking about, obviously baseball's baseball, but we talk about, you know, being able to be comfortable in your own skin and, and taking your job seriously, but not taking yourself too seriously. When you started talking about playing in the big leagues and playing the game with three decks, you know, they talk about it a lot in three decks and then playing professional baseball and then college baseball, the time commitment.
Speaker 2 00:13:22 I shouldn't say the time commitment, I would say the length of your season is totally different. And the, and the impact as to how much each day. And you're limited times with time with the NCAA. So some of those avenues are, are very interesting to hear both sides of it. You know, when you get shoot seven, eight months of baseball and professional baseball, and here, you know, we're going for 45 days in the fall and then it's, you know, four months or so in the spring. And so hearing those guys be able to be comfortable, you know, in good days, bad days, whereas, you know, so many college kids, you know, they, they panic a lot when, when you lose a game or you go for five or things like that. Whereas in professional baseball, you just show up the next day and you get after you show up the next day.
Speaker 2 00:14:06 And so that's, you know, some of the cool things that we've been able to go back and forth on with our coaching staff and try to get our kids to understand, you know, that every day is not the end of the world, you know, but it is important each day. And we show up each day and we just try to get better each day. And so it's, it's a very fun atmosphere and our kids, we want our kids to come into our office, you know, yesterday, you know, wedgie was in there holding court with about six or seven guys just telling stories. And I I'll tell you, our guys love to hear him speak our, you know, even as coaches, myself included love to hear him speak, you know, he's got so much knowledge and so much experience in professional baseball, as well as just baseball. And so when he gets the opportunity to talk to our kids, you know, it's unbelievable the, the knowledge that he can drop myself included. And so we feel like it's, it's a very fun atmosphere and it's a very laid back atmosphere, but we want to get after it. But we also want to, you know, continue to learn from each other. And we talk about that a lot as a coaching staff,
Speaker 1 00:15:05 Three decks, I'm not familiar with that baseball phrase. What does that mean?
Speaker 2 00:15:08 You talk about three decks in the stadium. Okay. League stadium. Yeah. Big stadium, the three decks, you know, wedgie and Pelfrey, they're only ones that have been through it, you know, and, and they talk about it a lot. The third deck got them, you know, the guy that goes from AA and he can't make it in the big leagues and things like that. And so those are some of the conversations that Pelphrey and wedge have with our kids like that third decks, real. So you've gotta be able to be comfortable in your own skin and be able to handle the success. And the failure
Speaker 1 00:15:36 Probably be a lot of people hopefully listening to this, that hopefully there are a lot of people listening to this that have not been in the baseball office, explain the sliding doors and how it's set up. That's a little unique.
Speaker 2 00:15:48 It's, it's a, it's a fun setting at the beginning. You know, Pelfrey tells it best. He's like, man, I, I didn't want any part of it, you know, because it's basically one really long office and you've got wedge and then you've got Pelfrey and then you got myself and then you have Easton herring and they Briscoe, and then you've got Lauren Hibbs. And, you know, it's, it's funny because they all have open doors, open pocket doors. So it's one big office, but we all kind of have our own little areas. And so wedge could be in his office talking and he could be talking to scooter in his office and we all hear it. And so it's kind of one big office with our own little areas. And so everybody knows what's going on. So it's fun. And, and it's, you know, it's no holds bar, you know, it's, we have a good time and we're going to cut it up and, you know, we'd like to, but you know, bust each other's chops too. And so it's a really cool setting and, and our kids come in and we w we always try to get our recruits and the current players, we have to be comfortable and understand that we're in this together. And so when they see us having conversations all in one big group, it's a, it's a good setting for our kids to be. And so, you know, it's, it's, let's see 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 it's five offices that all have their own desks, but it's one big office because all the doors are open. If that makes.
Speaker 1 00:17:11 And my understanding is this was something Eric wedge was intentional about. He wanted to get to Jason.
Speaker 2 00:17:16 Yeah. He did it with the blue Jays, um, when he was there, when he started talking about it and he designed it and he said, this is a must, and we will do this. And like we said, we had no clue what to think. Puff, always jokes around and says, you know, he put Pelfrey close to wedge. So that wedge keep a hold on. Pelphrey. And Pelphrey says, I always try to put a bookshelf. And, but in between that door to keep each other apart, so it's, as you can see, it's a good joke, but yeah. W did you definitely wanted it? And at the beginning, we were all skeptical, but it's been great for all of
Speaker 1 00:17:48 Us. I did not to veer into office design and architecture here, but that was something people might enjoy. Okay. If you look at the shocker baseball roster from the fall, there's about 13 shockers from Texas, which has been a, kind of a slow building change over the years, but
Speaker 2 00:18:03 Boy, we're really seeing it. And it kind of reflects what's going on at the university. We're getting a lot of people from, from Texas that are, you know, they're just regular students. Uh, why Texas? What are the factors bringing in so many kids from Texas? Well, we talk about, you know, what we want to do and how we want to play, and you start looking at different areas, you know, but, um, we've spent a lot of time in Oklahoma, a lot of time in Texas. And the reason is, as you look at our scholarship situation in our school situation, and which state university has done a tremendous job of improving the campus, building it and, you know, making it more of a campus feel, and we tell our recruits that, but with that, you know, the shocker city and the shocker select, there's some tuition things that can happen for kids in the state of Texas and Oklahoma and Colorado, and some of these areas and across the country that they can get better prices to come to Wichita state.
Speaker 2 00:19:00 And so you start talking about baseball work, we're an equivalency sport. And so we have 11.7 scholarships for this year 32 in the past, it was 27 next year. We still don't even know if it's going to be 32 or 27. And so, you know, the, the odd thing is, is, you know, I'll be real honest here. It's more affordable for us to, you know, to give a scholarship to a kid from Texas than a kid from Kansas, because the percentage, you know, and so we talk about say, we give a guy books, tuition, and fees. And I do that to a kid in Kansas as compared to a kid in Texas, that percentage, which we start talking about with 11 seven is lower in Texas than it is in Kansas. So it's a weird deal. And when you try to maximize the amount of dollars that we have for baseball program, it makes more sense if that makes sense, you know, and I'm probably confusing to the normal person.
Speaker 2 00:19:57 Um, but when you're talking about 11.7 scholarships divided by between 32 guys, obviously you're going Paul you're on 47%. I'm on 25%. Palfrey's on 72%, you know, wedges on 63%, you've got to start to make, you know, uh, basically a jigsaw puzzle and make it fit to 11 seven. And so when you can get a guy in the state of Texas for a so-called 25% as compared to a kid, and, uh, let's just say Florida, um, that would be like a 75% scholarship. Does that make sense? So obviously that's kind of the thing, and it runs all the way up and down interstate 35 throughout the middle part of the United States. So those guys along interstate 35, they get a better break. And so it makes a better situation for, to
Speaker 1 00:20:47 Sure. There's just so many people in the state of Texas. I think that's what we, that's what we know. And from a university standpoint, that's what they're really interested in that, uh, if you follow shocker baseball on Twitter, you see a lot of, uh, exit velocity, a lot of videos, Wichita state baseball data has its own Twitter account. How does that kind of information help the coaches and then help, uh, help the players?
Speaker 2 00:21:12 Well, I think the kids like it and the players, you know, they obviously enjoyed a lot. I'm awful at Twitter. And so I don't spend a whole lot of time on it, you know, and Nate and Brendan and Eastern, they do a great job with that information. Um, you know, I think it's kind of today's age kid and the fact that they can learn a little bit quicker when you start seeing things visually and, you know, with the way baseball has gone, it's so analytical and you watch a game on TV and they talk about the exit Vilo and then the launch angle. Well, you know, kids aren't stupid. And so they can see, um, if that's what they're doing in the big leagues, well, why can't we do it here? Well, we can't do it here. And so we're giving those guys that information, you know, but I think kind of the object, the percentages say, if you hit the ball hard, you're going to have a better chance to get ahead. And so that's just kind of basic stuff and we're trying to help our kids, you know, and, and give them the opportunity to, to show some success as well. You know, and the falls, the odd time parents don't get to watch a lot. And so anytime we can show successes of our young men, that's a good set situation.
Speaker 1 00:22:20 All right, let's talk a little bit about what went on during the fall. Uh, one of the positions that jumped to my mind first, and I would guess fans will be watching, will be shortstop. You have Andrew Stewart back. He was just an excellent defender, really fun to watch. And then, uh, Brock Rodan, he's a switch hitting transfer. Uh, he played there a lot in the fall period. Like he can really hit the ball. Tell us a little bit about that position and how it shook out during the fall.
Speaker 2 00:22:44 I think, you know, we try to make it very evident to everyone on our team that you earn what you get and you write, you know, you write the lineup, we're going to give everybody the same opportunity, you know, and everybody's going to have the same opportunity as anybody else. And, um, Andrew had his thumb situation going on still returning from a surgery. Um, and so at the beginning, you know, he was kind of limited in what he could do. And, you know, we brought in some kids in the middle of the field that are good players, you know, and, and everybody's competing for a job, you know, there's not hardly any job that's sealed up right now. What'd you told him this the other day at the end of the fall, you know, there's not a lot of jobs that are, that are full right now.
Speaker 2 00:23:27 Um, everything's up for grabs and, and anybody can get it. And ultimately we continue to work and continue to work throughout this fall period and throughout the Christmas period, but shortstop position, Andrew's a great player. Andrew is a great leader. Um, and he's a great person, our ball club, and the fact that he's going to help our ball club in so many different ways with just how he practices, how he plays and he approved, you know, offensively, you know, and so, you know, to tell you, who's going to start at shortstop. I would be crazy or not being telling you the truth. I told you that right now, because we don't know. Um, but Andrew's a great kid. Brock's a great kid, you know, and, and they both worked extremely hard. They both played really good defense. Um, and they both finish off the fall very well, both on both sides of the ball.
Speaker 2 00:24:16 And so it's good to see them both competing and they're both helping each other and they're both making each other better if that makes sense. And so, um, Andrew, you know, like I said, he's a great young man and he has a chance to help us tremendously. Brock Rodan is a new player and he's bought in tremendously. He's a great young man and he's helped our program too. So we just want to continue to move in the right direction and give everybody the same opportunity and that's what we're going to do. And, um, they're both going to impact our program in positive way.
Speaker 1 00:24:48 We mentioned Garrett cosis earlier, uh, he's back at first base, he was all conferenced. Last season led the shockers with 12 home runs, despite some injuries that he limited him to 36 games. And he's had some bad injury luck during his career here, but he had a great year. How does he build on that success? Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:25:08 What a great kid man. And, you know, we talked about Ross and cosis, um, staples of our program and big time leaders of our program. Um, great young man and, and Derek cosis. And we're super glad that he came back. Obviously he had opportunities to go on and play professionally, um, and he wanted to finish his degree and, and take this program to another level. And so I think that's a huge compliment to the kid and to our program, but, uh, you know, he wants to be better and he wants to give himself more opportunities to move up, you know, whether w whether it be at Wichita state, whether it be playing professional baseball. And so, you know, he obviously is a, is a worker and a learner, and he wants to continue to improve himself. And so he had a good fall and, um, he's going to help our program tremendously.
Speaker 2 00:25:57 Hopefully we can just keep him healthy. And I know he wants to stay healthy, you know, because we talked about last year when we lost him for Nate game stretch, it was tricky for us. He made a big impact and obviously kudos to that young man that tells you what type of kid he is. He came back and he wasn't a hundred percent. He was most definitely not a hundred percent, but he wanted to do it for his teammates and, and for the program. And so that's the type of kid you're getting with Garrett cosis, but, uh, you know, hopefully he can stay healthy and we'll have a lot of faith in the fact that, uh, he's gonna stay healthy this year.
Speaker 1 00:26:30 One of the freshmen that jumped out at me, a third base, Xavier Kessler, Rhea, uh, he made a big impression, hit the ball really well. Tell us a little bit about his background and why he came in. So apparently so ready to play.
Speaker 2 00:26:43 Well, Xavier casserole is a great kid, a great family. I'm super glad to have him. He's a Dallas area, good Fort worth kid. And, um, the compliments that the coach has said about him as a young player in high school and in travel ball or the types of things we like to hear, and just, you know, he's a good teammate, he's a good leader and things like that. And so obviously you can see, he can hit, he's got great, hand-eye coordination, very slow with his load and everything. And so he's kind of one of those guys that just hits because he's very stable. He's in the ground. And his head is very stoned. He has good hand-eye coordination. Um, and he showed that he could hit, you know, he had the opportunity to go play professional baseball at a high school as well. I'm super glad that, you know, he's here.
Speaker 2 00:27:29 Um, and she was ready to go, you know, he's been challenged throughout his high school career and, um, played some summer ball with some good teams this past summer and faced some good arms. And then he came here and just continued to do his thing. And he's one of those kids that guys like to be around. He's, he's got a good personality. He's a little bit quiet, but as he's gotten comfortable, um, he's opened up a little bit and the guys have enjoyed having him around and he did a good job this fall, and we're happy about him. And he's going to be a fun guy to watch in the future.
Speaker 1 00:28:06 I think people are beginning to be aware of another freshmen, Peyton. And I'm worried about his last name. Totally, totally. Yep. I had him on the podcast a couple of weeks ago, so I had it right then, but now I lost confidence. Peyton totally played first base played pitcher. Uh, and he looks like a, he's a big kid. Uh, first I'm always interested in the hitting and the pitching together. Cause it seems like there are people who come in here thinking they can do it and then it gets more difficult than maybe they thought so as coaches, how do you help somebody do do both?
Speaker 2 00:28:38 Oh, I tell you that when we, when I saw him play years ago, obviously you could see a size. Um, you could see, I mean, he could hit a ball a long ways and he would swing and miss a lot when I saw him as a young player and saw him on the mound and pretty clean arm and a spun and breaking ball. Okay. And you know, at the time we did it to know what he was going to be, as you're going to be a pitcher, you're going to be a hitter, you know, and we, we still don't know what he's going to be best at, but I can tell you, most kids come in and they try and do it. And physicality wise, it's hard for them to keep up. They start to lose weight, their body breaks down and things like that happen.
Speaker 2 00:29:16 But with that young man, obviously you can see what the size and the strength he can handle a little bit more than the average freshmen. Um, and so he held his own. Um, and I think a big thing for him was he played summer ball with college kids this past summer to give him that preparation, to kind of have an idea of what to expect. Um, but with that being said, you know, we had to limit his throwing a lot. At first base, we had to have days where he couldn't throw, there was days where he didn't always get to hit a lot. There were days, you know, that his bullpens would be shortened, but man, you can't say enough about, about him and being able to handle it. You know, cause most kids can't handle it and he stuck his nose in there and he grinded through it and had a great fall, both sides of the ball.
Speaker 1 00:30:01 I'll give you the floor. Anybody else who jumped out at you during the fall? Maybe somebody who made great progress, maybe somebody who was a little bit of a surprise.
Speaker 2 00:30:08 Well, I think, you know, you talk about, um, Ross Kadena offensively, you had a wonderful fall offensively. Um, and I'd talk about Ross and Kostas just cause they're important guys to our program, as you can probably understand. But you know, I think the biggest thing that our coaching staff wanted to portray as just the fact that, uh, physicality and athleticism and we feel like this is our best team. Um, since we've been here now, how does that translate with wins and losses? Who knows, you know, we still have a lot, a lot of work to do, but you talk about the physicality and the athleticism of our ball club. It's, it's impressive. And uh, you know, the, the arms, we have a lot of different guys that have a real bright future on the mountain. So we talk about the physicality, the athleticism and the orange strength.
Speaker 2 00:30:56 There's a lot of things to work with. And so we have a lot of, a lot of things to improve, obviously from a coaching staff standpoint and a lot of work to do from our coaching staff. But you know, the buy-in with our kids, the comradery with our kids and the leadership we have with some of our returning players with the foster Giffords, the Ryan stump, fig, um, and then obviously you talk about cosis and Cadena good group of guys and good leaders for our ball club. And it's going to be fun year for us to, uh, continue to make improvements. Do
Speaker 1 00:31:28 You have a world series pick? You want to stake your reputation on,
Speaker 2 00:31:30 Oh man, I wish I knew it's, it's two little kiddos at home. I don't get a lot of time to watch it, but uh, hopefully it goes to game seven for both of the championships, um, on the American league and nationally, but it's going to be interesting to see, but I, I liked the Braves. I think that, uh, they got a chance to do it. You know, if they stay hot,
Speaker 1 00:32:03 Thank you for listening to the roundhouse podcast, courtesy of Wichita state university, strategic communications. We appreciate your time. We encourage you to rate review, subscribe, wherever you get your podcasts, such as on iTunes or Google play, you can find more roundhouse
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Speaker 3 00:32:25 And they let him pass it up court and then it gets picked off a long free by PENGOS no good. One second. It's over. It is over. And what your task has beaten. The number one team in the nation to go to the sweet 16, go crazy. What Utah.
