Episode Transcript
[00:00:04] Speaker A: Welcome to the abca's podcast. I'm your host, ryan brownlee.
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We're handing hosting duties off to Jim Kerner, Assistant Executive Director for Coaching Development, who is covering the event to capture as many conversations as possible, splitting our coverage into two episodes.
In Part one, we sit down with Nate Muhlberg, Johns Hopkins University, Jarrett Hood, East Texas Baptist University, Brian Haley, Endicott College and Mike Dixon, Rowan College.
These coaches share their thoughts on competing on the biggest stage in Division III baseball. A special congratulations to ABCA member Mike Deegan and Denison University on capturing their first NCAA Division III National Championship. Let's welcome everyone to the podcast.
[00:02:21] Speaker B: All right, I'm with first year head coach Nate Muhlberg from John Hopkins University. Baseball. Congratulations World Series.
Any point this season that you realized you had a team that could make it this far?
[00:02:35] Speaker C: So I would say actually we go back to the fall so you know you're allowed to play one day in Division 3 of an outside competition.
Something that was a really, really good, great experience for our guys. Me coming from the Atlantic 10 in Richmond was we actually played George Mason for our fall contest.
I know Sean Camp, Coach Neal and their staff really well. They're great friends of mine for many years and they were gracious enough to host us and we played really well that day. I'm not even so sure what the score was. It was more so like when we were competing and this was like a week into our fall season. We had just started and I had just gotten to campus.
I was so Impressed with how competitive we were in that game. And at that point, you know, I didn't necessarily say, oh, you know, this is how the season's going to go as it has, but I was like, I think we have a chance to be pretty darn good.
[00:03:21] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:03:22] Speaker B: Every season, there's always, like, a moment of adversity that a team has to overcome in order to take that next step. Did you guys face that this year?
[00:03:29] Speaker C: Without question.
We collectively, as a group, I think, look back to a period during the middle of our conference season where, unfortunately, we had lost two of our top pitchers to injury illness.
We were without them for about four to five weeks. And during the span, we dropped a number of conference games, including a double header to Swarthmore at Swarthmore. And they were a great team. Really, really good team. But the thing for us is the team that we have now, they had never lost two conference games in a row during their careers at Hopkins. Our senior class, so that was, like, a big moment where, you know, guys were worried and upset, understandably. But from that moment, we got back to campus, we regrouped, we reviewed the games, and we talked to our team incessantly about what we need to do better, and we grew and we learned from that moment. So the doubleheader sweep where we lost to Swarthmore, I think a lot of guys would tell you, was really the big turning point of our season, because when we got back to campus, we really just got back to work, figured out what we needed to correct, and I think it's helped catapult us to where we are now for the rest of the season.
[00:04:33] Speaker B: Yeah, that's great.
When we watch your team play this week, what do we expect to see? Is there a style of play that you kind of preach and any philosophy that we'll pick up watching you guys?
[00:04:44] Speaker C: Yeah, for sure. So I think something we take a lot of pride in is our grit and resilience. If you go back through our season, there's been a lot of moments in different games where we've either been down early, been down by a lot, and somehow, some way, we've been able to claw back. It kind of comes from the mentality that, you know, we've kind of push forward as a coaching staff with our guys, but also speaks to the level of toughness that our entire team has. But also, starting from the top with our seniors, our senior class is the winningest program, or winningest class, I should say, in program history.
This is their third World Series in four years.
The only year they did not make the World Series. We had a great year. That was 20, 24. But in the last four years, they've been to three World Series. They won three super regionals, four conference championships. This senior class really accomplished. And it's a testament to those guys for leading our team. And I think grittiness, toughness, resilience is something that, you know, they preach. We preach as a program. We run out every play. We play hard. We're going to make the other team earn it. And I think that's something that you'll hopefully see, you know, a lot during the games we play here in the World Series.
[00:05:45] Speaker B: Any specific players you want to highlight?
[00:05:47] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, we have a lot that have had a really great season.
You know, I think, you know, Will John is at the top of our offensive stat sheet.
He was a transfer from Cornell. He's had a great season, so really proud of him. You know, our seniors who have been here for all the time during the span I talked about offensively. Alex Shane, Lucas Geer, Jacob Harris, three mainstays in our lineup, really from last year's team. The only really two regular starters we returned were Alex, Shane, Jacob Harris. They both had great years. Lucas Gere has had a historic season.
79 RBIs this year. Set the school record for most RBIs in a season. He's been a great player for us during his whole career, but like this has been on another level. So really proud of Lucas for the year he's had. Alex Shane, one of the greatest players ever put the Hopkins uniform on. He's continued his incredible career. Jacob's been great. Damian Brown, Damian is our shortstop. He's had a phenomenal year. He's never really been the starting shortstop on a regular basis. This was his first year as a senior doing it and he's just been phenomenal. But yeah, there's been so many guys. Clay Harchie was just named an All American. He's been an incredible catcher for us.
Really proud of him. Named second team all American by D3baseball.com today. Hamilton Adams, first year as our third baseman. He kind of started the year not playing a whole lot. Halfway through the year, he becomes our third baseman. He ran away with it. He's been phenomenal on the pitching side. We've had a number of guys step up. Karen Collins has been one of our great, great guys for many years. And then Michael Youssef, he was a sophomore. He's been terrific for us last year. Didn't pitch a lot as a First year. But I would say if you kind of want to pick out one guy in the pitching staff that has really stepped up from previous years, Michael Youssef is definitely one as a starter for us. And then of course, Dylan Zucker, who's been our closer, he's been phenomenal this whole year. He's got, I think, eight saves and, you know, he was a transfer from Wake Forest. He's done a really great job for us this year at the back end, somebody that we trust a lot. He's got 21 appearances and he's received a lot of all region recognition. He's definitely somebody to keep an eye out for.
[00:07:45] Speaker B: Coach, talk about your journey, specifically coming from Division 1 at Richmond, out of John Hopkins. You know, what are the differences? You know, can you, can you talk to that a little bit? You know how that transition has been for you?
[00:07:57] Speaker C: Yeah. So the transition has been, I would say, as smooth as it could possibly be. Everything that I experienced at Richland was first class, and everything I've experienced at Johns Hopkins has been first class. That's both from the experience being provided to the scholar athletes. That's speaking to the administrators that help us do the things we do on a day to day basis. I've been so impressed and amazed with our administrators and the athletic department at Hopkins. Jen Baker, our athletic director, our associate athletic directors, Grant Kelly and Alison Fondale, who I work with directly, have been incredible. The list goes on and on. You know, I think part of it that probably helps is that we do have Division I lacrosse, men's and women's.
So we are kind of this like pseudo D1, D3 athletic department, where the other sports besides lacrosse are Division three, but we still have this Division one lens. You know, for me, I've never felt like anything has not been anything but the absolute utmost professionalism. And because of that, it's definitely made this transition a little bit easier because I still feel like I'm coaching at Division 1, even though technically I'm at a Division 3 level.
[00:08:58] Speaker B: That's great. That's really good to hear. One last question for you. What's it going to take for you to win this tournament in the National Championship?
[00:09:04] Speaker C: Yeah, it's a great question. So after that Swarthmore series where we got swept at such a pivotal point in our season, we kind of got back to the basics and really focusing on every pitch at a very micro level. Looking at the game from a micro level, not get caught up in the big picture. Let's look at what our process is and try to win every pitch from there. We're going to try to win every inning. You win every inning. You stack enough of those together, you're going to hopefully win every game. You know, each at bat, each batter as a pitcher, they all matter. But we're just trying to really focus on all this at a very micro focused level. I think for us, we talk a lot about executing each pitch, having a short memory, if we're able to do that, and execute at the highest level on each pitch. I feel really good about our chances to compete at a high level.
When we play clean baseball, you know, I think we've been a really, really tough team to beat. And I feel confident that if we do that, you know, it's going to be hopefully a fun week. But obviously, seven other incredible teams here, and I don't know, I think, you know, when you get to a level like this, it's probably somewhat of a flip of a coin. It's like any team could win because everybody is so talented and gifted.
[00:10:04] Speaker B: No doubt about it. Coach, I wish you luck this week and hopefully you guys get it done.
[00:10:08] Speaker C: Yep. Thank you, Jim. Appreciate.
[00:10:13] Speaker B: All right, I'm with Jared Hood, head baseball coach at East Texas Baptist. You're here for the second time in the College World Series. Coach, can you talk about the journey? You know, at what moment this year did you realize, hey, you had a team to make it this far?
[00:10:27] Speaker D: Well, I think through the course of any season, you know, you have your ups and downs, and we have certainly had our fair share of those.
You know, when we got into conference play and especially in the conference tournament, you know, we were definitely playing our best baseball there at the end of May. And, you know, and I think as a coach, right, you never want to jump the gun too soon, but knew we were playing well, just a matter if the ball was going to bounce our way or not. And it has so far.
[00:10:57] Speaker B: Yeah, that's great. When we watch you play, is there a style of baseball that you guys like? You guys run, you know, you try to hit for more power. Is there any specific way you guys try to play the game?
[00:11:06] Speaker D: Just gritty, you know, we've got to be a gritty team.
You know, earlier in the year, we're trying to, you know, match velocities, trying to, you know, you know, really show the power numbers and, and that's just, you know, anytime that you put yourself into a corner like that, you know, you live and die on that. So we, we really tried to expand, you know, really our Offensive approach, what we tried to do, and most of it's get on base and cause chaos, whether that's with bunts, whether that's hitting and running or running the bags, you know, or hitting for power. We mix that in every now and then. It's just. It's just a whole slew of opportunities to score runs.
[00:11:40] Speaker B: Yeah, that's great. Talk about your team a little bit. Any players that we can highlight or expect to see something from and give you a chance to take a look.
Anybody specific?
[00:11:53] Speaker D: Yeah, you know, Carson Livesay leads it off for our team and he's really the engine that gets this thing going.
You know, just a really good leadoff hitter. Connor Massimini in the two hole has been a really good dude for us.
You know, put up some power numbers and RBIs. And then here of late, Justin Flannery has really come onto the scene. Swinging a hot bag, especially in the post season, has come up in some, you know, big time clutch moments for us and, you know, has kept this thing going.
[00:12:24] Speaker B: You guys were in the World Series a few years ago, 20, 23. Is there anything, you know, you personally learn from that experience that's going to help you this week?
[00:12:34] Speaker D: Yeah, you know, the first, first World Series experience. Right. You know, you've got all these things going on, you know, distractions that are going on. You know, you're on time crunches and things like that. And. And it can speed up, you know, for. It did for me as a coach. And I feel like that I miss the experience myself.
[00:12:52] Speaker E: Right.
[00:12:53] Speaker D: And so with. With this one and having the opportunity to be back here, you know, you know, just for me personally, you know, it's to enjoy the kids and enjoy the experience of being here. The journey that it took to get here, you know, to make lifelong memories with these guys.
[00:13:08] Speaker B: Yeah. One last question. Is that the same message you tell your players leading up to this, or is it something different, how you get them mentally ready to perform on this stage?
[00:13:18] Speaker D: Yeah, well, if you're not mentally ready to perform on this stage by now, I mean, it's just. It's not going to happen. Right. And so, you know, through the regional, super regionals and all that run, right, like the, you know, the message has been consistent from us. It's guys, enjoy this moment, enjoy the opportunity, enjoy the atmosphere, enjoy each other.
You know, because the things, not necessarily on the field, but the things that, you know, happen within the journey and the way here, those are the things that you're going to talk about in 20 years together and, you know, so just stay grounded, stay in the moment, and enjoy the heck out of it.
[00:13:51] Speaker B: That's great, Coach. I wish you luck this week.
[00:13:53] Speaker D: I appreciate it. Thank you very much.
[00:13:58] Speaker B: All right, I'm with Brian Haley, head baseball coach at Endicott College. Coach, congratulations on being here. This is your fourth straight college World Series appearance.
Talk about the journey this year and maybe how your previous experience helped you guys, you know, win that championship.
[00:14:14] Speaker E: Yeah. First off. Thank you.
So it's a little bit of a younger group. We lost 18 players from last year, so I think starting the season, we were one and four and didn't really know exactly how good we were going to be or not.
But the guys kind of the leadership held it together and the younger guys kind of came into form and we got rolling a little bit and pitched it well and scored enough runs and, you know, found a way to work our way through a lot of elimination games to get here. And it's a gritty group and a tough group, and we're excited to see what we can do.
[00:14:42] Speaker B: Yeah, that's. That's great. Now, looking at your numbers here and stats, you know, a couple things stand out to me just going through this.
A lot of stolen bases, a lot of hit by pitches. Guys hit some doubles, too. Talk about from an offensive perspective, you know, how you, you know, build this out and your kind of philosophy behind it.
[00:15:01] Speaker E: Yeah, just trying to get on base any way we can. Not giving an inch in the batter's box. Obviously, I think we lead the country to and hit by pitches. Something we're really proud of. We've made it a point of emphasis, really, since Misericordia beat us a few times, you know, being all over the plate and not giving an inch. So I think it's something we took from them and ran with it. And then ultimately, you get guys on base, you need some guys to drive them in. So we do have some slug.
So I just think, you know, we're trying to score as many runs as we can, and it's a great way to get on base so that the walk any way we can.
[00:15:32] Speaker B: How about from a pitching standpoint? You know, teams are only hitting.213 against you guys this year. Obviously, that's very impressive.
You know, talk about your staff. What kind of pitching staff do you have? Is it velocity, pitchability, combination?
[00:15:44] Speaker E: It's a good group of guys.
We're up front. We have Brady Stewart, who I think just got national pitcher of the year in D3 baseball. So obviously really proud of that Matt Pappalardo is also an All American. Evan Scully last year was an All American. So you're talking about two seniors and a junior, all been All Americans at some point up front that out of the Penn were a little bit younger there, some younger guys, but they do throw hard, they have off speed.
Some command it better than others, but they've all been filling it up and during this playoff run and working really hard. Jake Harmony, who pitched out here last year and really saved us in a couple games against Kane, was awesome. And like I said, a few young guys stepping up and doing their thing. So it's been pretty cool.
[00:16:26] Speaker B: Now, fourth straight year here, so if this is gonna. If this is gonna turn out the way you obviously want it to turn out, what have you learned from the previous three years? How do you apply to this and kind of your message to the team?
[00:16:37] Speaker E: Yeah, I think the message is the same. It's just like, be who we are, play baseball, have fun, support each other. And, you know, obviously you're around baseball a lot, I'm around baseball a lot. And it's like you just try to play as hard as you can and stay as focused as you can and hope the breaks go your way and you get the big hit or make the big, big pitch. And that's how they all work. So we know only one team is going to be left standing. Obviously, we want to be that team, and we'll do everything we can to try to make that happen, but we'll obviously have to see how it goes over the next week.
[00:17:04] Speaker B: Yeah, that's great, Coach, appreciate your time. Best of luck this week.
[00:17:07] Speaker E: Thanks, man.
[00:17:07] Speaker B: Yep. Thank you. Thank you.
I'm with Mike Dixon, head baseball coach at Rowan University in New Jersey. Coach, talk about the journey this year. You guys are 35 and 7 or 37 and 5. Excuse me.
Tell me, you know, what point in the season did you realize you guys had a chance to, you know, be this good?
[00:17:29] Speaker F: Well, obviously, we only returned three of nine starters. We lost six starters, two All Americans, pitcher of the year.
So going into the year, you know, we didn't necessarily know where we were going to be.
We won some tight games early in the year, played some good teams down in Florida, came out on top most of those games, and it really started building of how good we could be because we just didn't know. Right. We have two everyday freshmen in our lineup.
You know, we ended up having to move our third baseman to shortstop because of an injury who was another freshman at shortstop, so didn't really know how it was going to go. Team really gelled, right? Really bought into what we talked about, and here we are today.
[00:18:18] Speaker B: What's the message been? You have a lot of turnover. You're playing some freshmen, which is unusual when you're this talented. What's the message? How did you bring these guys together?
[00:18:27] Speaker F: I think what happens year in and year out is this our ninth straight appearance in the NCAA tournament.
Second straight College World Series appearance, maybe fourth college or third College World Series appearance in the last couple years.
No one wants to be the senior class who doesn't go to an NCAA Tournament or go to a College World Series. So it's about each senior class teaching the guys younger than them about what it takes. And once you understand what it takes now, you're not just talking about it, you've lived it. So as a coaching staff, you get better. The players who return get better. They understand how hard it is to get there.
So it's really passed on from, you know, senior group to senior group.
[00:19:12] Speaker B: What do you guys learn from last year's experience? Anything you can take from that that's going to help, you know, potentially make you guys more successful this time around.
[00:19:20] Speaker F: Obviously, you have to play your best. You're playing the best teams in the country.
The best team in Eastlake is going to win it. And, you know, Wisconsin, Whitewater was dominant the whole series. They were. They were clearly the best team here.
So I think, you know, coming into it this year is understanding when we get here, we're good to get here.
[00:19:42] Speaker E: Now.
[00:19:42] Speaker F: You got to be the best team out here. The best team out here is generally going to win.
[00:19:44] Speaker B: What are we going to see when we watch you guys play? Is there a style of play? Is there something that you guys try to emphasize more than other things?
[00:19:51] Speaker F: I mean, for us, it's about, you know, balls in play. If you look at our numbers, probably the biggest numbers that we'll look at is walks and hit by pitches. Compared to strikeouts.
A good year, you're plus, you know, 15 to 25. I think we're plus 100 and something this year.
So you're talking about, of Those extra free,125 on base. How many more runs are you scoring in a game? How many more runs are you scoring over the course of the season? So we, we constantly talk about balls in play, constantly talk about consistent ABs and getting our pitch that we're looking for.
[00:20:33] Speaker B: Looking at your roster, it looks like you have. You've used a lot of pitchers, you got a lot of pitching Depth, Anything about the pitching staff that stands out, Things that, you know, any players specifically that you want to highlight?
[00:20:44] Speaker F: Yeah, I mean, I think, I think, you know, our bullpen has been one of the strongest parts of our team other than AKA Austin, Creighton, Hagen. Our starters generally don't go deep into games, but we have a lot of different looks out of the bullpen that we can get a lot of different guys.
[00:21:02] Speaker B: How about positionally?
Obviously you have Davis here. 18 doubles, 15 home runs. You got some power, you got some guys that can run a little bit too. What's the philosophy?
[00:21:13] Speaker F: I think in my time as a head coach, it's just about being balanced.
If you only hit home runs well, you can only beat a team by hitting home runs. If you only steal bases, you're only, you know, if you get leadoffs out or you're down, it's tough to really steal bases. So it's about being consistent. And you know, throughout our lineup is being able to have maybe some, some guys who are maybe not as much or as more less disciplined guys. You always want to surround them with disciplined guys. So there's never an easy out in that lineup. And you know, you look behind Davis, you then you have a really low strikeout guy and then you have a lot of bat to ball contact guys that can hit doubles or hit some home runs for you.
So that lineup runs deeper.
[00:22:03] Speaker B: And one last question, kind of tying this all together. If you guys are to win this national championship, what did you do well this week, how did all this come together for you guys?
[00:22:13] Speaker F: I kept my guys loose and having fun. I think when you get out here, all these teams are good.
You can't let the nerves take over.
You know, you got to understand that you got to stay disciplined, you got to stay focused and ultimately got to bring the kid to the ballpark.
That team that's out here having fun and I would say, you know, bring that 10 year old kid out to the ballpark. Enjoy your time out here.
That team that's loose, focused and executes is going to win.
[00:22:40] Speaker B: All right, that's great, coach, I appreciate it and best of luck.
[00:22:42] Speaker D: Awesome.
[00:22:42] Speaker F: Thanks a lot.
[00:22:44] Speaker A: Special thanks to Jim Kerner for doing interviews while he was on the road and for all the coaches taking time out to spend. Sit down for the ABCA Podcast Part two will air next week.
Thanks again to John Litchfield, Zach Hale, Matt west in the ABCA office for all the help on the podcast. Feel free to reach out to me via email. Rbrownleabca.org, twitter, Instagram and TikTok. Coach Bravca or direct message me via the MyBC app. This is Ryan Brownlee signing off for the American Baseball Coaches Association. Thanks and leave it Better for those.
