Latest / College Baseball Now / 2026 College World Series Preview | Ep. 043

Transcript

2026 College World Series Preview | Ep. 043 · College Baseball Now

0:01
Speaker 1: The Greaty Show on Turf is back in town with
0:03
all eyes finally on Omaha. The College Baseball Now guys
0:06
are ready to break down the field of eight teams
0:09
and discuss who comes out of the two pools to
0:11
qualify for the championship final. Plus, as you know, now,
0:15
three of your best baseball pals boy bringing you looks
0:18
live from the first eight games of the tournament, and
0:20
tonight we're covering the biggest two weeks of the amateur
0:24
baseball season in this episode of College Baseball Now.
0:34
Speaker 2: Yeah, there ain't no problems, no problems, don't want.
0:40
Speaker 3: Yeah, let me.
0:43
Speaker 2: Time chat send what was going for a minute?
0:45
Speaker 1: Hit the bet bet, grab a couple of wins.
0:47
Speaker 3: With a d. They's even known the kid.
0:48
Speaker 2: I had to do a b I.
0:49
Speaker 1: Gis we can never beat average and they're.
0:51
Speaker 3: Going to prom with the boy.
0:52
Speaker 1: They don't want no status. I don't need so coach
0:54
son run a week God want to test that title
0:56
with standing to troll run the game, even shinning dots
1:01
counting them my wins.
1:02
Speaker 4: Yeah, I love them.
1:03
Speaker 1: When they count me, y out counting.
1:05
Speaker 4: I'm the least shame. Why ben ab believe.
1:09
Speaker 1: I run the game?
1:10
Speaker 4: You know.
1:13
Speaker 1: That magic to believe.
1:15
Speaker 2: Stand this la magic Believe.
1:18
Speaker 1: That's Danny Scin.
1:20
Speaker 3: It's that magic Believe. I won't that's Dandy you knock about.
1:25
Speaker 1: They really don't want to stand it. We're here. It's
1:40
finally time, and we are breaking down the twenty twenty
1:43
six College World Series with College Baseball Now. Starting with
1:48
your hosting team and is me your friend? Your host?
1:50
You're a boy, Drew Whaler, director of Amateur Scouting Prospects Live.
1:54
Glad to be here with you, Glad to be here
1:56
with three of my friends Andrews. Starting with the gentleman
1:59
to my right in the top right corner. It is
2:01
mister Josh Catlet. Josh, it's been a busy month for you.
2:05
The month is not gonna get any less busy. Tell me, sir,
2:09
how excited are you for your very early morning flight.
2:12
Speaker 2: I'm not excited for that at all. I think this
2:14
is the earliest week podcasted besides like the whatever it
2:19
was called, the Selection Show live thing. I'm going to
2:22
bed immediately after this ends, and I have a bright
2:25
three am wake up call in the morning, so it's
2:29
it's fine because I'm going to a fun place. But no,
2:33
not excited to get four hours of sleep again, like
2:36
I did a couple of nights in a row and Charlotte.
2:38
But it's fun regardless.
2:39
Speaker 1: So you need me to call you at three am,
2:41
is what I'm hearing.
2:44
Speaker 2: Not the worst idea. I would hope you're not awake
2:46
at three am, but just the double check to make
2:49
sure I don't sleep through my alarm can't be a
2:51
bad idea.
2:52
Speaker 1: You can never tell may or may not have worked
2:54
until three point thirty last night, my friend.
2:56
Speaker 2: Oh, the world may never know.
2:58
Speaker 1: The world may never know. In the bottom right corner,
3:00
it is mister j B. Sebastiano JB. A very appropriate
3:04
hat for you, sir. Are you looking forward to a
3:06
busy day of travel and planning scoping out everything in
3:11
a while?
3:13
Speaker 4: Yeah?
3:13
Speaker 3: No, I'm very very excited to be there. Me and
3:15
Josh actually you know, will be taking the exact same flight,
3:18
so you know, that'll be a fun experience. Hopefully Josh
3:21
doesn't want to kill me by the end of it,
3:23
you know how we get on this podcast. But yeah,
3:26
it should be a good time. Me and him will
3:27
be there and then you know, Jake will come in
3:29
shortly after us and finish it up. So yeah, I
3:33
don't know about.
3:33
Speaker 2: Shortly, but.
3:36
Speaker 1: Pray, tell which one of you got the windows seat.
3:41
Speaker 3: Josh, you know, he didn't complain and say he loves
3:43
the window seat. He needs it, so I'd let him
3:45
have the window.
3:46
Speaker 2: I don't know complain is the word, but JB said
3:48
I don't care, and I said, okay, I'm booking them.
3:50
I'm going to take the window seat. And that's how
3:52
the conversation went.
3:53
Speaker 1: All right, all right, JB. I'm gonna set the bar
3:58
at three and a half Jake and JB over under
4:03
scenic Moody snapchats or photos sent by Josh out their
4:07
plane window. The bar is at three and a half.
4:10
Speaker 3: I'm gonna take the over and I can't wait to
4:13
be the one to document it while I'm on the plane.
4:15
Speaker 1: So that's the key, Jake, or we're gonna take the
4:17
over or under on that.
4:18
Speaker 4: I feel like the over that's gonna be right up
4:20
Josh's alley.
4:21
Speaker 2: There is crazy. I fly so much that I think
4:25
the line should be point five and I'm taking the
4:27
under personally. Or I might just take one just so
4:31
you can document this whole conversation. And yeah, for the
4:34
sake of the people, listening for the sake.
4:36
Speaker 1: Of the people listening. I know, if you're gonna send
4:38
any moody snaps or photos, one of them has to
4:42
be to me, and you could at least get to
4:44
three to one of one of each of us. That way,
4:46
you're under the bar right at three.
4:49
Speaker 2: I shouldn't be texting JB when he's right next to me.
4:51
I think, I think he'll be fine, He'll get the view.
4:53
Speaker 3: Crazy he's going to send it to his pops instead.
4:55
Speaker 1: Of me, Drew, be sure that actually accurate? Uh? And
5:00
then in the bottom left corner it is mister Jake Barjorie.
5:02
Speaker 4: Jake.
5:03
Speaker 1: You don't have quite as early of a of a
5:06
travel day as these two gentlemen do, but you're actually
5:09
doing something pretty fun if I'm not mistaken, If I
5:11
remember correctly, tomorrow.
5:12
Speaker 4: Right, I am so yeah.
5:15
Speaker 5: My parents were gracious enough to get me Cardinals and
5:19
Mets tickets in New York well in advance of me
5:23
knowing that we were gonna be in Omaha this year,
5:24
so I definitely am not complaining about that.
5:27
Speaker 4: But as a result, that means I won't be laying
5:29
in Omaha until about midnight.
5:32
Speaker 5: So they the other those two guys are probably gonna be,
5:35
you know, either in bed or getting ready for it
5:37
by the time my plane touches down. But no, I'm
5:40
I'm super excited. I'm not excited about the two hour
5:44
layover in between. But when I get there, I know
5:46
I'm gonna be I know I'm gonna be pumped.
5:49
Speaker 1: I know you will be. I don't put it past
5:51
these guys. Now. I think that I wouldn't expect like
5:53
confetti and banners, But they may be awake and waiting
5:56
on you to get Jay.
5:57
Speaker 3: Don't worry, I'll be awake waiting for you. Grandpa's gonna
6:00
be fast asleep in bed.
6:02
Speaker 2: I was about to say, I really can't guarantee that
6:04
I will be awake. I'm a sleeper. Also, considering at
6:07
that point I will have been awake for like twenty
6:09
one straight hours, I don't think it's that crazy.
6:12
Speaker 1: Well, I'll tell you, guys, you're gonna have a lot
6:14
of fun. But we've got a lot of fun to
6:16
get to on. This episode of the show. May not
6:19
be a particularly lengthy episode of the show, just because
6:21
we've got we've got some picking to make, we've got
6:23
some teams to discuss. Obviously, this is the first week
6:27
of Omaha. We're not getting towards the championship until next week.
6:30
We're gonna be live with the people on social between
6:33
now and our next episode, of course, but let's talk
6:36
some teams. Let's get some thoughts out there. I know
6:38
that you guys have been preparing raucously, preparing an incredible
6:42
piece of content that you're calling wild, good and spoil.
6:45
You're calling it the Omaha Sheet Sheet. It's gonna be
6:47
coming out at Prospects Live dot com very soon. So
6:50
you guys have got plenty of information on these eight
6:52
teams and I can't wait to talk about them and
6:54
chop it up before we get to predictions later in
6:56
the show. Let's get it out of the way, early boy,
7:00
Alabama is going to be in Omaha. Booh hits.
7:03
Speaker 4: I know, I know.
7:04
Speaker 1: But the good thing we can say is is that
7:07
Alabama has earned their way there. We talked about it
7:10
in the last episode, Fellas. The pitching has been deceptively
7:13
strong and the offense that we've said all here has
7:15
been ruddered by Justin Lebron may have added a couple
7:18
of turbines that we weren't aware of, superpowered turbines in
7:22
the transfer portal. Either way, guys, it is going to
7:25
be an interesting team to watch. Josh, being as you
7:28
are from Alabama, will start with you on the Crimson tide.
7:32
As you've said all year long, Man, a team from
7:35
Alabama made it to Omaha.
7:38
Speaker 2: Two of them actually facts, excuse me, that's true. Yeah,
7:43
what a rubed in early on, We're really getting on
7:44
to a hot start.
7:47
Speaker 1: That was a little blom Sorry, Yeah.
7:50
Speaker 2: It's okay, we deserve it. Did you see this back here? Yeah,
7:53
when that's over your shoulder all the time, you're starting
7:55
to do some self reflection and realize you should have
7:57
just stayed at Clemson instead of transferring. But you know,
8:00
not that they're much better. But that's besides the Yeah,
8:07
this is not an Auburn podcast, well not this episode
8:09
at least, it's a it's a it's been an interesting
8:14
route for Bama. I mean, like i've I really was
8:17
not expecting them to get to this point, even with
8:19
their draw being relatively easy. That said, I wasn't expecting
8:22
it to be as easy as it is. Although I
8:24
don't really well, I would love to discredit Bama, but
8:28
I'm not going to try to discredit them. That said,
8:30
there are a lot of metrics out there and a
8:33
lot of even just the eye test will tell you
8:34
that Bama had the easiest path by a landslide. That said,
8:37
they still handle business. They haven't lost yet, so they've
8:40
taken care of business, only really with the one game
8:43
to Oklahoma State that was even a little bit worrisome
8:47
late in the game. A lot of this is probably
8:50
because of their pitching and the guy like Justin Lebron's
8:52
picked it up the past month of the season a ton,
8:55
But guys like Bryce Valor and like John Limb have
8:58
really been up late in the season and like they've
9:01
really been holding down the top of that lineup. And
9:04
Brady Neil's been awesome too. Tyler Faanzay and Adams are
9:07
about him to get up a one to two punch,
9:08
as you know, at least from a sheer production standpoint,
9:11
this late in the season. That's about as goods it's
9:13
gonna get. That said, the other really good ones also
9:17
in Omaha. The bullpen, they only have about like three
9:20
four guys. They use a lot, but I expect I
9:23
shouldn't have to get deep considering some of the offenses
9:26
they're facing Oklahoma, Georgia and Texas that that's rough. I mean, like,
9:31
if anyone can get to Tyler, fan Zay and Adams
9:33
at this point, it's gonna be those offenses. So it
9:34
should be interesting to see absolutely on.
9:37
Speaker 1: The flip side, Jake, Alabama's offense, as Josh kind of
9:40
alluded to just then, there are no pushovers either. I've
9:44
been really critical and that's that's not fair to just
9:46
save me, although it certainly applies. We've all been critical
9:49
of Justin Lebron. He has tendencies to roll over. He
9:52
has tendencies to suddenly vanish when it comes to SEC play.
9:56
Conveniently enough, Jake the first pool he's playing, and yet
10:02
the offense has been solid and has picked him up
10:04
when he's faltered. So I'm asking you, Jake, what are
10:07
the players that you're looking at as maybe carrying the
10:10
load for Alabama?
10:11
Speaker 5: And yeah, I mean, like like you, I mean, like
10:15
you said it, like they've gotten support in this lineup
10:18
that they haven't really gotten, like.
10:20
Speaker 4: In a consistent basis throughout the year.
10:22
Speaker 5: I mean, they've gotten red hot down the stretch and
10:24
that's probably the thing that stands out the most for them.
10:27
I mean, all year it's been you know, all has
10:29
have been on Justin Lebron, whether he's performed in the
10:31
SEC or not. But he's I mean, he's like we've
10:35
said it from the beginning of the year, we still
10:37
say I think it still applies. He's the driving force
10:39
of this lineup. He's the guy that you know, everybody
10:41
looks to. He's still hitting in the top you know,
10:43
top three that lineup. He's got that they're gonna have
10:45
to have uh perform when they get there, whether he's
10:48
pacing SEC pitching or you know, if they get to
10:50
a to a final and they move all from SEC pitching,
10:53
whatever it might be.
10:54
Speaker 4: No matter who he's going against, he's gonna have to go.
10:58
Speaker 5: But I mean, it's been him, Brady, Neil Brien fel
11:00
Or pretty much the majority of the year. And then
11:03
like you know, who else is it is gonna be
11:05
the one that step up like Eric Cones and Justin
11:07
Torrez or Jason Torres, sorry, has been the guys that's
11:11
uh stepped up in the in the in the you know,
11:13
regional super regional. Those two guys have really done a
11:16
great job at lengthening the lineup, and you know, that's
11:19
been huge for this Alabama team that hasn't had a
11:22
ton of that reliability for for most of the year.
11:26
Speaker 4: And if those guys get going, if.
11:27
Speaker 5: The if the bottom half of the lineup gets going
11:29
Josh mentioned Limb, and if guys like you know, Holt
11:32
and Vaughn and and and Steele and some of the
11:35
other guys down down the list and can stream together
11:37
some some good games. I mean, this team has proven
11:40
here in the postseason that you know, whether they've had
11:42
an easy stretch in terms of competition or not, that
11:45
that you know they they they can score runs with
11:47
the best of them, that they.
11:49
Speaker 1: Can, that they can and JB obviously pitching, we had
11:53
Josh really paint the picture very well for Alabama. Let's
11:56
look kind of deeper dive into this pitching staff for Alabama,
11:59
a little bit taller. Faye got a whole lot of
12:01
attention early on, and yet now I think there's some
12:04
argument to be made that even he may be matched
12:07
or met at that talent level by some other guys
12:10
in their rotation. That's not even scratching the bullpen.
12:13
Speaker 3: Yeah, no, for sure, this Alabama pitching staff was fifteenth
12:16
in year ray this year they kind of came into
12:19
the year with a lot of questions and now they've
12:21
kind of proven all of us very wrong with a
12:22
very strong rotation led by Tyler Faye, like you mentioned,
12:25
Zane Adams right behind him, and then we didn't even
12:27
get to see Miles Upchurch in the last game of
12:30
the Super Regional. Up Church obviously you got invited to
12:33
carry to be a part of the CNT team. So
12:34
that's a fun little wild card arm that they'll have
12:37
to throw out there. Funny enough, the bullpen is kind
12:40
of the opposite of the main rotation. The rotation's got
12:43
some strikeout stuff in there for sure, with over a
12:45
strikeout for nine, but most of the bullpen, pretty much
12:48
all their main guys are well under so that's something
12:51
that's very interesting to note going into this. There are
12:53
a lot of pitch to contact guys out of the pen.
12:55
For them, it's mainly led by Matthew Hayberger and Ashton Crowther.
13:00
Those two have been their main two relief arms, both
13:02
going thirty five innings a piece ish and then you know,
13:07
both of those guys have really done a great job.
13:09
But with a two eighty five and a three pine
13:10
two year array on the year. It's kind of a
13:12
bi coommittee bullpen too as well. A lot of guys there.
13:16
Some don't have the best earrays they're around five, but
13:18
they've pitched fifteen plus innings on the season, so a
13:21
lot of guys have had their turns that you know,
13:23
if something goes wrong in Omaha, these guys will probably
13:25
get into the game. So Alabama, it's a very well
13:28
tested pitching staff. I'd say this year very deep. Two
13:31
different philosophies though, which I think will be something to
13:34
see in Omaha. How it plays out with the staff
13:36
that's very strikeout heavy upfront in the rotation and then
13:39
the bullpen is very reliant on weak contact.
13:42
Speaker 1: It's gonna be interesting. Like you said, two kind of
13:44
different in those but maybe that could work for them,
13:47
you know, mixing it up, changing changing the expectation, so
13:51
to say, for Alabama. All right, boys, let's move on
13:54
to the University of Georgia, Jake. Georgia has had an
13:58
interesting season in that they have hit a metric ton
14:02
of home runs. They've had some questions on the pitching staff,
14:05
and yet they managed to dispatch several impressive teams in
14:10
both Athens regional and Super Regional.
14:14
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean Georgia, I would say, coming into it,
14:17
you know they we probably have the the the at
14:20
least the betting favorites.
14:22
Speaker 4: If I had to guess when they when those things.
14:24
I mean, I haven't looked at it.
14:24
Speaker 5: I'm sure they're obviously out, but I would assume George
14:27
is probably the favorite going into this, and a lot
14:29
has to do with that, with that relentless offense. I mean,
14:32
the numbers are insane. I don't have to say the
14:34
numbers held loud, but like the Stars have been performing
14:36
like stars. Daniel Jackson Golden Spikes Final unless probably has
14:40
the best odds to win it. I mean, like Roland,
14:43
lou ho Brand and Hudson have also been red hot
14:45
this postseason. That this team, like we've talked about it
14:48
all year. They hit homers better than anybody else in
14:50
the country, and like you mentioned, the pitching has been
14:53
a little inconsistent at times to say the best at
14:56
some points, but they've.
14:57
Speaker 4: Been able to make up for it they score.
15:00
Speaker 5: They scored the fourth most runs per game and the
15:02
most runs per game out of anybody in Omaha this year.
15:07
I mean, and for the pitching, like Vulchko has been hot,
15:09
k Naoki has been really reliable. Uh, but a guy
15:13
that you know they're they're gonna need if if Dylan
15:15
Vicky gets caught on to start at some point here,
15:19
they're gonna need him to be better than he has been.
15:21
Like his his start against his start against Liberty, Uh,
15:25
didn't go very well. One and a third, he just
15:28
didn't last very long.
15:28
Speaker 4: I had three walks.
15:29
Speaker 5: They got him out of there pretty quick when he
15:31
started losing command. He got another shot against Mississippi State,
15:35
and I know those games were were high flying and
15:38
and you know nobody was able to really pitch in it.
15:40
But you know, he went two innings, three runs, four hits,
15:43
Like he just wasn't able to get anything going there either.
15:47
I think if the starting pitching holds up, I think
15:49
we can bet on Volchko and Aoki as well as
15:52
they've pitched. But I think all ays are gonna kind
15:54
of be on Dylan Vigu And if it's not him,
15:57
who they kind of go to is that third starter?
16:00
Speaker 1: Right? Jake? I know you are or were a wrestling
16:03
guy like myself at one point in your life. I'm
16:06
curious just because you brought it up that series, the
16:10
Super Regional with Georgia and Mississippi State. What kind of
16:13
match was that most like, I'm thinking it's got to
16:15
be either hell in a cell, the Royal Rumble or
16:18
a tables, ladders and chairs match. What do you think
16:20
that it most was.
16:21
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean my first my first thought was was
16:23
Royal Rumble. I mean like the and in just the
16:26
sense that the pictures were running in and just getting
16:29
thrown out. Pictures were running in and getting tossed out,
16:32
just the all the power.
16:35
Speaker 4: So the Royal Rumble.
16:36
Speaker 1: I guess you said, absolutely great stuff. Jb uh Jake
16:43
is correct. This offense has been high flying. They they
16:46
do not wear masks, but the scores fly off the
16:48
top rope nearly every game with this crew, Trey Phelps
16:51
has been one of the country's best igniters at the
16:54
top of the lineup. He is electric. Dan Jackson, as
16:57
we said, the Rhino has been a clear old Spike's favorite.
17:00
So it's about midway through the season. Friend of the podcast,
17:03
Roled Lujo has stepped up in amazing ways. I thinking
17:05
to guys that have been just hot lately. O'Shaughnessy and
17:07
Hudson even to the bench JV guys like Arkhamon and
17:10
orioch these guys can mash.
17:13
Speaker 3: Yeah, these dudes definitely do mash. They have seven guys
17:16
in the double digit home run totals. They also lead
17:19
the NCAA and homers with one hundred and seventy four
17:21
on the year, which is ridiculous.
17:23
Speaker 4: I think the.
17:24
Speaker 3: Biggest thing going into the tournament, now, that's the question
17:27
is when you go to Omaha, the ball doesn't fly
17:29
the same way that it's going to a Georgia or
17:31
almost anywhere in the SEC. Omaha is an absolute graveyard,
17:35
and especially with the weather that we're expected to have there,
17:37
very murky, a lot of humidity there, it's kind of
17:41
how will the ball fly? So I think for Georgia,
17:43
the biggest test is going to be what does his
17:45
offense do if they can't hit homers? And that's going
17:48
to be the thing that we'll really have to look
17:50
out for. But like you talked about, Daniel Jackson, I mean,
17:53
an incredible season, Golden Spike's favorite. Behind him, he's been
17:57
followed up by Brendan Hudson, who also had twenty one oers.
18:00
Michael O'Shaughnessy who had twenty himself, Phelps and Branch at nineteen,
18:04
Lujo and Allen had thirteen a piece, and then behind
18:07
them I talked about seven in double digits. They had
18:09
two guys with nine as well. So this order is
18:13
just incredible top to bottom. You really can't be in
18:17
order like this, and there's nobody in the tournament that
18:19
can really match it pound for pound. But the one
18:23
thing that any team that plays them will have going
18:25
is that they're so home run reliant, and that's gonna
18:27
be the thing in Omaha that I think can kill
18:28
some teams. So it'll be interesting to see them, but
18:31
I definitely think they are probably the heavyweight titled favorite
18:35
for this tournament.
18:36
Speaker 1: To keep the wrestling theme going, I love it exactly.
18:40
Josh jb Reference submitted to go the heavy hot murky weather.
18:46
You and I living in the American South, we are
18:48
used to that kind of weather, buddy, But I'm curious
18:50
if the offense for Georgia may not like that. Humid
18:54
heavy air pitchers, however, may do them some favors.
18:58
Speaker 2: I'd imagine, so so off the top, I will say
19:02
for since we've mentioned it twice by now it's pretty
19:05
much Georgia Texas, and you didn't see in like a
19:07
three way tie for the favorite to win this whole thing.
19:10
So just putting that out there since we've like hinted
19:12
at it a couple times. Yeah, I think Georgie's pitching
19:16
could be benefited by that, although guys like I mean
19:20
Vigg use a ground ball pitcher anyway, so if he's
19:22
focusing on getting ground balls most of the season, it's
19:25
gonna translate anyway. They have a lot. They have a
19:27
couple of low slot guys out of the bullpen that
19:29
I've done the same thing, So that's kind of been
19:31
their mo in different places regardless. But I believe in
19:35
the pitching staff. The issue is I don't think there's
19:38
been like the three starters and then four real guys
19:42
out of the bullpen. They use a lot in their alrighties,
19:44
which has been like not really much of an issue
19:46
at this point, but it could possibly be down the
19:48
stretch when you're playing all these elite offenses, and I mean,
19:52
obviously Missisipi State's an elite offense too, but hey, that said,
19:55
Missippi State, even though they won, Misssippi State was still
19:58
raking so could come back on them at one point
20:00
if the Georgia Bats are being affected by the lack
20:03
of home runs like this, but they're gonna try out
20:05
a rotation probably of Joey Boltchkow, Dylan vig U and
20:09
Kay Naoki, although they use Viguo out of the bullpen
20:13
Againssissippi State, I think that I don't think that'll be
20:15
a thing they do, at least in the first round
20:18
of bracket play instead of the finals. I don't think
20:21
that'd be a thing they do, since it would be
20:22
more like a regional format. They mostly just use Justin Bird,
20:27
Matt Scott, Paul Farley, Zach Brown out of the bullpen,
20:30
which have been pretty good for them for a while.
20:33
A couple of them have been touched up a little bit.
20:36
Speaker 4: I think it was.
20:37
Speaker 2: I think it was Paul Farley was the one that
20:39
got the three home runs let off him Againstsissippi State
20:41
might have been Zach Brown. But regardless, like they are vulnerable. Sure,
20:45
but even if they do let up, that offense has
20:48
been so good that it really might not matter.
20:51
Speaker 1: Sure, may not. I think you're right, man, it might
20:53
not matter depending on the offense. And much like George's
20:56
bullpen as you second a second ago. If the offense
20:58
is far and it might be all righty's no matter
21:00
what for the Bulldogs. So either way, good stuff, good stuff, JB.
21:06
Let's move on and talk about North Carolina. Conveniently enough.
21:11
You know a good bit about that school, you know
21:13
a good bit about this baseball team, and so who
21:15
better to lead us off with the discussion of unc
21:18
They had an interesting path to Omaha from Chapel Hill's Regional,
21:25
which North Carolina had a little bit of pushing, and
21:27
then again the Super Regional, which we said Game three
21:30
an instant classic, an ESPN insta Classic with a score
21:32
of nine hundred and some odd points. I don't know
21:34
if y'all get that reference, but either way, I'm man
21:39
my man. Anyway, JB. North Carolina had an interesting path
21:43
to the show, and yet I'm curious what you make
21:46
of them and their chances in Omahaa general sense.
21:49
Speaker 3: Yeah, for sure, I mean, it was definitely an interesting path.
21:52
We talked a lot about it in the last episode,
21:54
so I guess if you want to hear more about
21:55
it and go back and listen to it, shameless plug
21:58
right there. But you know, for this tarhell offense. I
22:01
think the one thing that really is going to do
22:03
them well this year to start off with, is that
22:05
this team is not as home run reliant as they
22:08
were in twenty twenty four. It was you know, Vance
22:10
Huntcutt the superstar having to carry the team the big
22:13
home runs. This time around, it's a lot less of that.
22:15
It's a lot more put the ball in play, produce
22:18
runs manufactured, that type of deal. Jake Schaffner at the
22:21
top of the order has been incredible this year. Owen
22:23
Hole has caught absolute fire recently, and that's somebody they're
22:26
really going to need to keep going. The guy they're
22:29
really going to want to show up a little more
22:30
is Gavin Gallaher. He's the guy that's you know, mister postseason.
22:34
He's been a big part of this program, especially on
22:36
the biggest stage.
22:37
Speaker 4: This time.
22:37
Speaker 3: He's the guy they're going to need to step up here.
22:39
So I think he's definitely a big piece of this.
22:42
On the opposite side, with the pitching, I'm assuming we'll
22:45
probably see a similar rotation to what we've seen recently,
22:48
with Lynch going the first game to carry go in
22:51
the second game, and either Folger Boaz or maybe we
22:55
see Jackson Rose in that third game. I don't know
22:58
what they decide to do there. Rose been coming out
23:00
of the bullpen, but he's been a hot hand recently,
23:02
so I don't know how they decide to use these guys.
23:05
But of course you're also going to see the freshman
23:07
of the year Kadan Globber. He's a guy that has
23:09
been absolutely dominant all year. Got the last start in
23:12
the Super Regional, but I think for regional play they're
23:14
gonna want to use it more than once, so I
23:16
think you'll probably come out of the pen once again
23:18
along with Walker McDuffie, our favorite mister Specs. So yeah,
23:23
I think this team is they're definitely built to be
23:26
a favorite. Like we've talked about, I think they definitely
23:29
have an easier path than the opposite side for sure,
23:32
But Game one is really the game that they really
23:34
need to win. I think right away ole Miss is
23:35
one of probably the bigger tests, and then from there
23:38
it kind of will play itself out interesting.
23:41
Speaker 1: I think that that's certainly it's difficult to criticize that approach,
23:45
like you said, because ole Miss is going to be critical.
23:47
I think that you can certainly match North Carolina well
23:51
against both Troy and West Virginia. So and then yes,
23:55
obviously of course the SEC teams on the other pool
23:58
just going to bludgeon one another and then hopefully you
24:00
get a bloody heap of a team to play in
24:03
the final.
24:03
Speaker 2: JB.
24:04
Speaker 1: Interesting stuff for sure, Josh North Carolina's offense. This has
24:09
been one that we've talked about obviously quite a bit
24:12
this year. North colin has been incredibly talented. A lot
24:14
of transfer talent on this team has floated the tar Heels.
24:18
A lot of draft talent has flowed the tar Heels
24:20
as well.
24:21
Speaker 2: Yeah, a lot of guys I've gotten. A couple of
24:23
guys have gotten a lot of draft helium lately. Jake
24:26
schaff Nurse cement to himself as a surefire Day one
24:29
guy at this point. Gavin Gallaher and Owen Hull have
24:33
a chance to at this point too. A couple other guys,
24:37
Eric Paulson, I'm making Winslow had a little more traction
24:40
on that front earlier in the year than they do now.
24:42
Making Winslow has been admittedly looking kind of rough recently.
24:45
He got a big hit late in Game three of
24:48
the USC super regional. But besides that, in the regionals
24:52
he looked really really bad. They're gonna need him to
24:55
be a you know for him batting usually fourth that lineup.
24:58
We'll see if he sticks in that role. They're gonna
25:02
need him to really step up compared and go back
25:05
to where he was earlier in the year. If he's
25:07
gonna be right in the middle of you know, guys
25:09
like Owen Hull and Eric Paulson who have been pretty
25:11
good for them for a while. You can't have guys
25:14
just hold double like bringing down the team like that.
25:16
Tyler Howe hasn't been phenomenal either, But you know, guys
25:20
like Ron Kellis, for example, he's been red hot ever
25:22
since Charlotte. Owen Hull four doubles in the elimination game
25:27
last week and the second elimination game, I should say
25:29
he went nine to thirteen on the whole week. He's
25:32
been awesome. Jake Schaffer has been awesome. I trust this
25:34
offense along at alongside almost any other offense in this thing.
25:41
They aren't super reliant on the home run ball, which
25:44
could be a really really big thing for them. They're
25:46
a disciplined team. They take a lot of Walks. I
25:48
expect them to be a well polished offense like they
25:51
have been for really the whole year, but especially in
25:53
the past couple weeks in big situations, I think.
25:56
Speaker 1: So it's gonna be interesting to see what they do
25:59
in this situation. Obviously, you and JB both hit on it.
26:01
That first game is going to be really critical to
26:03
see if some of this momentum I think is maybe
26:06
one of the keys for the North Carolina offense. Josh,
26:09
as you alluded to, Jake, let's flip the script talk
26:11
a little bit about the UNC pitchers. We have followed
26:15
several of these guys exclusively extensively this season. They've been exciting.
26:21
I wonder if they can capitalize and Jake, maybe more importantly,
26:25
can some of these North Carolina pitchers maybe put a
26:27
little bit of a flourish at the end of their
26:29
collegiate careers and maybe bump up their draft stock as well?
26:34
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean I don't. I mean I don't see
26:36
why they can. I mean JB talked about them, but
26:38
like they you know, they only use like seven guys
26:41
and like they obviously went to Globber instead of bo
26:45
has to start against USC, And he was clearly up
26:48
for the task in that one, and that was following
26:50
the gym that Jason de Caarro through the day before.
26:53
Like their top ten I mean their top ten eer
26:56
team and a top ten fielding team, and you know,
26:58
when you combine that with the way they're able to
27:01
put up runs, it just makes this whole team really dangerous.
27:06
They have run into you know, I guess to be
27:08
nitpicky about them if there's something like they've run into
27:11
some walks at times. They rank kind of towards the
27:13
middle of the of the field, I'm pretty sure in
27:16
terms of like walks per nine or whatever. But like,
27:18
I don't see that being a major concern based on
27:21
how we've seen them pitch here recently.
27:23
Speaker 4: Bullpen's been great all year.
27:25
Speaker 5: You know, they've reaped the benefits of being able to
27:27
use their their bullpen guys like multiple times in a weekend.
27:32
And you know, we're obviously gonna be seeing a lot
27:34
of them once again. This is it's just a it's
27:37
just a team that does the easy things well. They
27:39
they pitch, they pitch well, they field the ball well,
27:42
and control the things that they can control.
27:45
Speaker 4: And you know that's what that's what you have to
27:46
do when you're playing elite talent.
27:47
Speaker 5: But they're gonna be playing in Omaha, and I think
27:50
they have as good a chance of any to uh
27:52
to perform really well here.
27:54
Speaker 1: Thanks so too. It's gonna be interesting to see what
27:56
UNC does, obviously, h Jake, it's interesting to be because
28:00
we've kind of alluded to that first matchup against Ole
28:02
Miss quite a bit. But Ole this is not a
28:05
team that I would particularly say is adept at maybe
28:08
taking as many free passes as they can. They have
28:10
some guys that swing pretty freely from time to time,
28:13
and so it's gonna be interesting to see if that
28:14
matters at all. Now teams waiting in the winners game
28:19
in that pool, and that may be a different story,
28:21
but we'll get to that later on. Let's talk about Oklahoma.
28:25
Josh tell us about the Sooners, because this is a
28:27
team who interesting paths. This is one of them. Oklahoma
28:32
has not only dispatched Georgia Tech, but now Kansas.
28:37
Speaker 2: Yeah, they're the embodiment of what we talk about all
28:40
year with the hot cold hot theory. They have fully
28:43
shown that this year and I think they're the best
28:46
example of that in the field that I can think of.
28:49
I talked about this in the article writing up a
28:51
little bit, but they were in our Prospects Live rankings
28:55
the entire year until May. They peaked at number eleven.
28:59
They were really hot for a and then they lost
29:01
four straight regular season series to end the year and
29:04
they dropped out, and there were talks of people being
29:06
saying they should be a three seed regardless of the resume,
29:08
like they look really bad. And then all of a sudden,
29:12
they out hit Georgia Tech in Atlanta, and then they
29:16
out hit Kansas and Lawrence by a wide margin. So
29:20
I mean they're averaging ten runs a game in the postseason.
29:22
Those bats have completely caught fire. The arms have looked
29:24
better than they have for a while. On the bats
29:27
or for the bats, It's been a few guys that
29:30
have emerged as stars in this team have really been
29:33
big played big roles for this team, and it's been
29:35
in different spots dispersed throughout the lineup. Two which you
29:38
like to see like dating the chance, Brendan Brock and
29:41
Dayton Talky are the three names that really come to mind.
29:43
Trey Gamble too, I guess, and those guys typically come
29:46
in the three, five, six, and eight holes in the lineup,
29:49
so it's pretty dispersed throughout. You really don't have any
29:51
kind of guys you can pitch around, any kind of
29:54
down spots. I mean, there's some guys like Kyle Branch
29:57
at the bottom of it hasn't been great all year.
30:00
Jason Walks had his moments, but as a whole, I mean,
30:03
when you're averaging ten runs the game against teams like
30:05
Georgia Tech and Kansas, I mean, who can't you do
30:08
it against that? I mean, Georgia and Georgia, Obama and
30:12
North Carolina are all pretty good pitching staffs, that will say,
30:15
but I still believe they can probably keep it up offensively.
30:20
They do struggle with control, they do have a lot
30:22
of walk issues, but they also punch out a good
30:24
amount of guys. The one big issue I'd have with
30:28
them is we talked about this earlier. Most of these
30:31
teams at this point in the year have about three
30:34
to five bullpen guys they feel really comfortable going with,
30:37
and you'll see them put in consistently. Oklahoma has like nine,
30:41
and you can't really feel good about that when, like
30:44
as Jake said earlier, it's kind of just who feels
30:46
the hottest at that time. That's what they put in.
30:49
And to be honest, like it's they hate to say it,
30:52
but like none of them have really been that hot
30:53
this year. It's just kind of like who's the least cold,
30:56
although some of them have really performed, like in Kansas,
30:59
Nate Smithsburg came out of nowhere, had three and two
31:02
thirds I think shut out and he's against Kansas might
31:04
have allowed one run. Guys like that coming out of nowhere.
31:08
Speaker 4: L J.
31:08
Speaker 2: Mccurrius has moved to the bullpen, which has been big
31:11
for them. Nick Weslowski has been solid. Cad and Leon
31:15
I guess, a lot of varieties, only a couple of lefties.
31:19
They can they can't mix the match really well. But
31:20
it will be interesting to see how they use that bullpen,
31:23
which guys that give the most run to whether it's
31:26
guys like you know, Jackson Cleveland or Jason Bowden who
31:28
have gotten the most run all year, or if it's
31:31
guys like you know, Gavin Jones Nate Smithburg who were
31:33
kind of emerging later.
31:35
Speaker 1: It's very interesting. It is gonna be curious to see
31:38
what they do with that. But Jake, I want to
31:40
go to you to talk about this offense again really quickly,
31:43
Like Josh said, you have to you have to have
31:47
an offense that can compete if you're gonna knock off
31:51
George tacking Kansas both of those upsets. Let me just
31:54
remind everybody at home, came at the came on the road.
31:58
So you're winning it a you're winning in Lawrence, Jake,
32:01
So this offense can do some damage. Who do you
32:04
look at as being maybe the de facto leaders with
32:07
the stick for Oklahoma?
32:10
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, I mean Josh said it.
32:12
Speaker 5: I mean, this is a team that's just absolutely caught
32:14
fire at the right time, and they probably you know,
32:17
they probably had the toughest path to Omaha out of
32:20
anybody else. I mean, going up against like you said,
32:22
Georgia Tech, Kansas, even Citadel's a solid team, Like this
32:25
isn't honestly, this isn't really a team that, you know,
32:28
looking at the way the bracketing or the way the
32:31
the everything shook out on selection day, this wasn't a
32:33
team that we necessarily predicted to make it this far.
32:36
Speaker 4: But I mean they've got hot at the right time.
32:40
Speaker 5: I mean, this lineup's just been so good like all around,
32:43
like Josh mentioned the guys at the top are hitting well.
32:45
The guys at the bottom Dayton Hockey, Trey Gamble, Dayton
32:48
the chance have been have been red hot, Like they
32:51
got twelve homers between the three of them in regional
32:55
super regional rounds. Brendan Brock Jason walk have also been great.
32:59
And when you have that many guys that are that
33:01
are clicking at the right time, I mean, this is
33:04
where it gets you. Like, if there's one guy, I guess,
33:06
like I could, I can be picky and say I'd
33:09
like to see a little bit more out of Camden Johnson.
33:11
I mean, he's a guy that they've kind of they've
33:13
kind of called on obviously all year. He's he's been
33:15
a starter for him all year. He's hitting over three hundred,
33:18
one of their more reliable hitters during the season, and
33:20
he kind of hasn't.
33:22
Speaker 4: Done just a ton for him.
33:23
Speaker 5: He's had He's had a couple of decent games at
33:25
the plate, But like, that's a guy if he's gonna
33:27
be in there every day, I mean, you want him
33:29
to produce. But if the rest of the lineups hitting
33:30
the way that they are, I'm just being picky at
33:33
that point.
33:33
Speaker 4: But uh, he's a leader on the team. Like to
33:35
see him do better.
33:35
Speaker 5: But uh, this this Oklahoma team, the're hitting the ball
33:38
better than just about anybody you can look at heading
33:40
into this and uh, I mean they're they're they're just
33:44
they're really.
33:44
Speaker 4: Deep in the lineup. And I like the I like
33:46
the way they've been swinging the bats.
33:48
Speaker 1: I like that you're being picky and calling out Camden Johnson.
33:50
That's what I'm asking you to call him out, Jake,
33:52
Be picky. That's what I want from you, buddy. Uh, JB,
33:56
let's talk Oklahoma's pitching. Josh, masterful job breaking down the staff.
34:00
He said it well, and Jake, you know, I'll credit
34:03
him quoting Jake earlier today. Jake said, it's whoever's feeling
34:06
hot at the time. That's really interesting, JB, because this
34:09
is the deepest bullpen, at least in terms of noteworthy
34:12
names that you guys have presented here.
34:15
Speaker 3: Yeah, no, for sure, that's definitely the case. And you know,
34:18
I think the Lawrence Regional, I think is where we
34:20
really saw what they really made of Cord Ranger. You know,
34:24
probably his best start of the year, honestly, could be
34:26
up for that six innings, no runs allowed, only one hit,
34:30
six strikeouts, and then, like we talked about earlier, l J.
34:33
Mccurius and his brother Xander mccurius kind of switch roles
34:37
when going to the pen being the main relief arm
34:40
now and LJ. Caman relief in that game through three
34:42
innings only gave one run. Masterful job from him. His
34:46
brother Xander went the next day four innings, one run aloud,
34:49
and then behind him, like Josh mentioned, Nate Smithberg three
34:53
and two thirds, one hit, one run, another great outing
34:56
from him, and Jackson Cleveland also came in to throw
34:59
a scoreless stitting of that game. This pitching staff, you know,
35:03
one thing to note I guess will be how long
35:05
is the lease on Cameron leash on Cameron Johnson if
35:09
we see him. You know, Johnson was a guy that
35:11
got a really hot start to the year. We saw
35:13
that incredible outing he had at the start and then
35:15
he kind of just has tailed off, and we've seen
35:17
a couple of the regional games he had a really
35:19
short leash, So it will kind of be interesting to
35:22
see how they handle him. This staff had a five
35:25
to one to five E array which was seventy eighth
35:28
in the country. So it's not like an elite pitching staff.
35:32
But these guys are definitely a group that have kind
35:36
of made it work late in the year, and I
35:38
think they've found success late in the year here, especially
35:41
in Kansas where they kind of dominated. So if they
35:44
can continue that in Omahan, especially a pitcher friendly environment,
35:47
I think that's going to help them. But it's definitely
35:49
not a staff that I think anybody's going to be
35:51
very afraid of, I guess going into any of these games.
35:55
It's something that you can game plan for and be
35:56
prepared for. It's definitely not like you know, Georgia UNC
36:00
some of these other stuff that got way bigger stuff.
36:02
So I don't know, it would be interesting to see JB.
36:05
Speaker 1: Can I ask you another question kind of just really
36:07
quickly here. Another interesting aspect about this pitching staff that
36:10
I want to call out is that, to my knowledge,
36:12
the pitcher, the starting pitcher at least, who I would
36:14
be most I guess most hesitant to face, would be
36:18
Cored Rager, and the difference between him and any of
36:21
the other number one number ones for these other schools.
36:24
Rager is a freshman being thrown into the environment at Omaha.
36:28
He is pitching at the mecca of college baseball. JB.
36:31
I think that that's just a really interesting thing to conceptualize,
36:34
that you've got guys with experience, maybe not in Omaha,
36:37
but in big situations. Rager's biggest game to date is
36:41
the one you referenced a moment ago in Lawrence. No
36:43
disrespect to Lawrence, but Omaha, it is not.
36:46
Speaker 2: If I can add on to that, I will say
36:48
that I think even though he is a freshman and
36:51
like the environment could get to him, one thing that
36:53
he has probably over so the rest of these aces. Besides,
36:56
I guess the caro if you consider I'm gonna as
37:00
Hunter Elliot might fall into this category. He doesn't rely
37:02
as much on big stuff as he does just throwing strikes.
37:05
He's a strike thrower, and he commands and like, it's
37:07
not like if he can just find command of the
37:10
strike zone instead of trying to use like you know,
37:13
or trying to get all these big bats around him
37:14
to get a ton of swing a mess, if you
37:15
can just locate where he typically does, he'll be fine.
37:18
But then again, I guess that does play under the
37:19
fact that you know, if you're a freshman getting rattled
37:21
by the environment.
37:22
Speaker 3: That doesn't make it difficult not to play into it too.
37:25
But like in twenty four, we had to care go
37:27
for that first game, and you could tell he was
37:29
really amped up. He kind of struggled with command early.
37:31
And he's a guy that's been known for, you know,
37:33
throwing strikes and that type of stuff, pounding the zone,
37:35
and he was a guy you know, the nerves definitely
37:37
gets you when you walk up there on the mountain
37:39
for that first game as a freshman. So I definitely
37:42
think you're right. I don't know if it's I don't
37:44
know if it has to be from a crowd environment thing.
37:46
I think it's more. But just like you know, you're
37:48
in the College World Series and it's like at least
37:50
in the first in and you'll definitely see some nerves.
37:52
And I think he's not gonna be on his sharpest game,
37:54
probably necessarily, but I'm sure he'll settle in. That's not
37:57
to say anything bad, it's just I agree your point.
38:00
I think it's something that I'm to look at for.
38:02
Speaker 1: And I think in conversion there I like yours and
38:05
Josh's points in regards to mine. I think Josh is
38:08
correct that Ragers specifically may be kind of he may
38:11
have some of the aspects to almost be the antidote
38:15
to that poison. But then JB, you're also correct that
38:18
maybe if that's the case, the internal nerves, maybe the
38:21
external may not matter as much, but the internal may
38:24
flare up for the young man who's been this is
38:26
no knock on him outstanding thus far, I may truly outstanding,
38:30
especially for a freshman in the SEC, where it just
38:34
means more. Anyway, speaking of the SEC, where it just
38:37
means more, Jake, ole Miss the Rebels. They have made
38:42
it to Omaha as well, and they are looking at
38:46
a pool that does not feature three of their contemporaries
38:49
from the SEC. Instead, they are facing down maybe one
38:52
of the biggest buzz saws in the tournament in Game
38:54
one with North Carolina. But Jake, give us the forty
38:57
thousand foot overview on ole Miss, how they got here,
39:00
and maybe what your thoughts are on them heading into
39:03
the opening weekend.
39:05
Speaker 5: Yeah, omost necessarily hasn't had like the smoothest of seasons
39:10
necessarily in the SEC. I think they started out a
39:12
little a little cold, got hot there towards the middle,
39:15
and they obviously hear here they are. They're playing well
39:18
at the right time, a lot like some of these
39:19
other teams that we've already talked about.
39:22
Speaker 4: On offense, you know that they they have a neck
39:24
for hitting homers.
39:26
Speaker 5: The consistency, uh necessarily in the bats overall hasn't been
39:30
there too much until the postseason. But they found a
39:33
lineup that they feel really good about running out. They've
39:36
used a different combination of guys, and then you know
39:38
in that in that uh, in that super towards the
39:40
end of the regional around you know, they started finding
39:43
a finding a finding a group that they felt great about.
39:47
Speaker 4: The top of that order has been really hitting the ball.
39:49
Speaker 5: Dom Decker, Judd, you Demart Uh, Will Furnis, Tristan Bassett
39:53
are our leaders and and they've been playing like it.
39:56
Bassetta has found his found his homer swing again. I
39:59
think he's got three since since the postseason started, he remarks,
40:02
got a couple of them, and like at the top,
40:05
you know, they've they've done it. They've done a pretty
40:07
good job at setting the table uh for the homer
40:09
guys to leave the yard at least as of late.
40:12
And then obviously on the mound, I mean, all eyes
40:14
are gonna be on that starting rotation. I mean, especially
40:16
it's I would assume they're just gonna run Hunter Eliot
40:19
out to start this one.
40:20
Speaker 4: He's been there, guy, he's got the experience.
40:22
Speaker 5: I think they're gonna want that in a game one,
40:25
but him, Taylor Rade, Cape town Kate Townsend. That that's
40:28
as good of a rotation as you're gonna find. And
40:31
they've been pitching really, really well this postseason.
40:34
Speaker 4: The bullpen.
40:35
Speaker 5: You know, they got their guys in the bullpen, Hooks, Robertson, Calhoun, Libert,
40:40
like those are the four guys that they've been using
40:42
the most. And they've combined for a for a, sub
40:44
for e r A on the season and and you know,
40:47
if it comes down to good pitching and who can
40:49
leave the yard at a time. I get Omaha's not
40:52
the most the most homer friendly ballpark that you're gonna find,
40:56
but if they can run into a couple and and
40:57
they're and their guys are going on the mound, they're
41:00
set up to perform really well.
41:03
Speaker 1: Well said well said JB. Thinking about this offense, Jake
41:08
did a great job of explaining that the top of
41:10
the order, I don't even extend that to Hayden Fanerico.
41:14
They've done a great job of being on base, scoring
41:17
runs and then producing runs. My first question to you,
41:20
JB is how good do you think that five is
41:22
at least it's stacking up against the other offenses in
41:25
the field, and what are we going to have to
41:26
see out of the bottom of that lineup in order
41:29
to push them over the top.
41:31
Speaker 3: Yeah. I think that five has done really well, and
41:33
I think they compare to a lot of the other schools.
41:36
Aren't the offensive powerhouses very well. I feel like, you know,
41:40
Texas and Georgia probably move ahead of them, but a
41:43
lot of the other schools, I think that those five
41:45
probably stack up as good as anybody, you know. Moving
41:48
on from that a little bit to the second part
41:51
where you're talking about the bottom half of the order.
41:53
Owen Painos had a few big hits, I know in
41:55
Nebraska especially. You know, he had a big hit in
41:57
the Nebraska Regional to put them ahead in that game
42:00
against Nebraska. He's the guy definitely a watch out for.
42:04
Outside of that, this offense is kind of really struggled
42:08
to get production from a lot of those other guys.
42:09
They're definitely gonna need it. They got four guys with
42:12
double digit homers on the season. They also rank fourteenth
42:15
in homers in the entire country with one hundred and seven.
42:19
But also, as we know, they strike out a lot,
42:22
so this team is something going to be a lot
42:27
cutting down on the k's and kind of just playing
42:29
a game where they put pressure on the other team.
42:31
I think it's definitely a big thing, especially against Carolina. Carolina,
42:35
it's not a lot of strikeout stuff from the guys
42:37
that we got in the Mountain. They really struggle to
42:39
get strikeouts besides the guys in the pen so early
42:42
on in the game for them, the key is going
42:44
to be limiting how many strikeouts Carolina can get and
42:46
really trying to do damage on mistakes that they get
42:48
from these guys out of the rotation they'll probably get lynched.
42:51
So you know, it's an arm that is fairly similar
42:54
to a lot of stuff you've see in the SEC,
42:55
you know, mid upper nineties fastball and a slider. So
42:59
I think it's definitely a matchup that plays into their
43:02
favorite But it'll be very interesting to see how they
43:06
handle it because I could also see going the wrong
43:08
way for them and really going south. If they start
43:10
letting lynch skin in the groove and strike a lot
43:12
of guys out, that is going.
43:14
Speaker 1: To be an incredibly compelling baseball game. I can't wait.
43:19
I can't wait. Josh, we've talked about the offense. Let's
43:22
think about this pitching staff, because, Buddy, when we're talking
43:25
about Old Miss, we're thinking about six pitchers who could
43:29
theoretically be in the conversation for day one. I think
43:32
six dudes that are gonna get picked at least and
43:35
you're talking three lefties, three rightys out of this Old
43:38
Miss pitching staff. It's probably, for my money, one of
43:42
the finer pitching collectives in Omaha season. Yeah.
43:45
Speaker 2: Unfortunately, I had an up closed look at this pitching
43:49
staff last weekend, and you learn how good they are
43:52
pretty quickly. I'm interested by how many different looks they
43:55
can give you with this pitching staff because it's different
43:56
types of arms overall. I mean, they're really good at
44:00
punching out batters. They're one of the best in the
44:03
entire country. But also they have some control artists on
44:05
this team, like Hunter Elliott, for example, just an experienced guy.
44:09
He's he's literally pitching Omaha before even though it was
44:11
forty years ago. He doesn't have the biggest stuff, but
44:14
he's a good control artist At times, he can control
44:16
a game. Taylor Rabe k Townsend very well could go
44:20
both go in the first round of the draft. At
44:21
this point, it's not crazy to say they've been really
44:25
Taylor Rape has a better starter down the line, down
44:28
the road here for Ole Miss than Kay Townsend. But
44:30
Kate Townsend still has such big stuff. You know what
44:32
he can do. You mentioned draft. It's kind of funny.
44:34
I've been actually doing some of my draft devols on
44:37
the Ole Miss bullpen guys over the past couple of
44:39
days conveniently, and it's very fascinating how many, like I said,
44:44
different looks they can give you. There's five guys that
44:46
really I think they like the trot out there more
44:50
than I mean, really four. Honestly, there's four guys they
44:52
really really like to trot out there. Two lefties and
44:55
Walker Hooks and Will Libert, and then two ridings in
44:57
Hudson Calhoun and JP Robertson. It's there's a lot of
45:02
put out stuff here with like, say, for example, Hudson Calhoun,
45:06
it's like a mid nineties fastball he gets strikes out
45:09
thirty three percent of batters, big with rates, good carrying
45:12
around the fastball, but like he can't really throw strikes
45:15
as well. Charles to locate the fastball. He's all over
45:18
the place, but he gets swing and miss. And there's
45:19
a guy like Will Libert who also has like a
45:22
mid nineties fastball with you know, not as big of stuff,
45:26
but he gets at least like forty percent with on
45:29
all the secondaries. But he can locate. And that's what matters,
45:31
because when you have deception like that going up against
45:35
you know whoever. They've been playing recently, Nebraska, Arizona State
45:38
better than most of these other teams, and Auburn again
45:41
better than most of the other teams that the other
45:43
Omaha teams have played down the stretch. And if you're
45:45
still getting swing and miss and strikeouts like that, I
45:48
would imagine it translates to Omaha. North Carolina, Troy, and
45:54
West Virginia are all still really good offenses. They're not
45:59
as as great at like how do I put this,
46:04
they strike out a little bit more than some of
46:05
the other offenses here, although the other side of the
46:09
bracket probably does have the stronger or the more strike
46:13
out heavy lineupside that I think about it with Oklahoma
46:16
and Bama and Texas and whatnot. But if they can
46:18
exploit these are I mean, they can exploit these bats
46:21
kind of like they have been with Auburn and Arizona
46:23
State and whatnot, they could very well make their run
46:26
to the championship like they did a couple of years
46:27
ago or four years ago when they were here last.
46:29
Speaker 1: Absolutely, the path is incredibly similar, Josh. We'll see what
46:35
happens with ole Miss as they look to make another
46:38
one in five years, another championship in five year stretch.
46:41
Excuse me, let's talk Texas, JB. How good does a
46:46
team have to be? How impressive does a path to
46:49
Omaha have to be to make me say I'm thinking
46:53
about picking this team that is noteworthily coached by my
46:56
least favorite coach in the entire country. How good is
46:59
this text?
47:01
Speaker 3: This Texas team is incredible. I mean, you know, they've
47:04
came out and they just dominated everybody they had to play.
47:06
They came out, they want a perfect five and zero,
47:08
and now they're here in Omaha and it's time for
47:10
them to get tested by some of the big dogs.
47:12
And you know Oregon was a good first test to
47:14
warm them up to this, but now it's time to
47:16
get to the real part of the game.
47:18
Speaker 5: Here.
47:19
Speaker 3: The starters for them, I mean, it's been absolutely incredible
47:22
this year. Your guy Dylan Balantis, he's led the charge
47:25
and he has been incredible the whole year. Two of
47:28
three year array, then fifteen starts, eighty eight and two
47:32
thirsdys pitched. He's been great. Luke Harrison has picked up
47:35
fifteen starts and been great as well. Rugari Ojas has
47:38
started sixteen games. He's been great for them. They have
47:41
the co Freshman of the Year Sam Cozart to Cat
47:44
and Glabery we talked about earlier. He has been amazing
47:46
out of the pen for them. These guys just continue
47:49
rolling out arms and that's gonna be something that you're
47:51
gonna have to face all day long, and a lot
47:54
of guys that have some pretty pretty heavy fastballs. That's
47:58
going to be really tough to deal with. Offense, Anthony
48:01
Pack Junior, the freshman, has really led the way. He
48:03
has been a big force in this offense. To add
48:06
on to the two guys we thought we're gonna be
48:07
the main guys there Robbins and Tinney. You add onto
48:10
that transfer Timo Bessarah funning his way down the stretch
48:14
along with a Rod kind of getting it together. Now,
48:16
I mean, this offense is just formidable as well. They
48:18
put up four hundred and eighty one runs this year
48:21
with over one hundred homers. It's really a well rounded team,
48:24
one of the more well rounded teams in this tournament.
48:26
And it's definitely probably it's probably a Vegas favorite. I
48:31
don't know the exact line. I wouldn't doubt that they
48:33
are the Vegas favorite here, but I mean it's a
48:36
team that is very well coached despite our dislikes, which loss,
48:40
but they are very.
48:41
Speaker 1: Good, Josh, even beyond what JB just said, I mean,
48:46
you go further down this line of Ethan Mendoza, Ashton Larson,
48:50
Casey Borber, like, these are not dudes you want to
48:52
face when he gets like the seventh and eighth with
48:54
men on this team just keeps going. It's one of
48:57
the best offenses in Josh. You've talked about them all year.
48:59
If I'm not mistaken, this was your preseason choice to
49:02
win it all.
49:03
Speaker 2: It is and I mean you mentioned it part of
49:06
the reason for that was because, like you mentioned, at
49:09
the very bottom of this lineup, it's still not guys,
49:11
you can really pitch too, because I mean, like, look,
49:14
I'll keep it short and sweet with this. At the
49:16
very top of this lineup, good luck. The one, two, three,
49:20
and five in this lineup has been ridiculous in this postseason,
49:23
really the whole year, but especially in this postseason. Aiden Robbins, Carson, Tiny,
49:28
Anthony Pack the freshman, and a Rod Adrian Rodriguez has
49:31
finally picked things back up. He might be their best
49:34
performer in the postseason so far. I don't think that's ridiculous. Besides,
49:38
Teddy's been really good too, but still, you get the
49:40
point Pack at the top of this lineup. It is ridiculous.
49:43
And I think the top four or five in this
49:45
lineup have been the best of any of the eight
49:47
remaining teams. I don't really even think it's close. Ole
49:50
miss I guess maybe has an argument for that, or
49:52
Georgia because Georgia's offense is just Jordia's offense. But I
49:56
do worry a little bit about Texas's reliance on the
49:59
home run. They can slug regardless, Like I really don't
50:03
worry about that terribly, and you know them being gap
50:07
to gap pitters hitting doubles in the gap. They still
50:10
they swipe bag to at a pretty good rate compared
50:12
to a lot of the teams in the postseason. Still
50:16
they do punch out a little bit, which kind of
50:19
concerns me against guys like Joey Boltchko on day one,
50:22
and you know they're going up against Zane Adams, who's
50:24
you know, done that at a pretty solid rate the
50:26
rest of the year. But if you're scoring eleven and
50:29
six runs, I think it was against Oregon's pitching stuff,
50:31
I feel pretty confident about what you can do against
50:34
these others.
50:35
Speaker 1: Right. I'm with you there. That top three, Robin's Tenny
50:39
Pack all have ops's over sanity levels of offense for
50:46
this Texas team. And Jake that of course is not
50:49
even really talking about one of my favorite players on
50:52
this team, Dylan Valantis. As JB said, he's my boy.
50:55
I've been preaching this man's I've been propping him up
50:57
all year long, and now he's done it. But the
51:00
rest of this staff is incredible. You got three solid
51:02
starters and again a freshman who has been essentially the
51:06
exact same buzz saw that Valantis was last year in
51:09
Sam Cozart, what do you do against this pitching staff?
51:13
Speaker 4: Yeah, I don't know. I mean we've like we've talked
51:15
about him a ton this year, but this this rotation
51:18
is nasty.
51:19
Speaker 5: The bullpen's nasty. Like they're they're good. They're so good
51:21
at striking guys out and just keeping runs off the board.
51:24
I mean, that's the name of the game.
51:25
Speaker 4: When you're when you're when you're when you're pitching, like if.
51:27
Speaker 5: I mean, if they run out like Valantis, Harrison Riojas,
51:31
if you have you would assume those guys can get
51:33
you to like the sixth inning and if you get
51:35
to the sixth inning with a lead, like they have
51:38
to feel great about them being able to pull out
51:40
a win with the with the guys they have out
51:42
in the bullpen, like Sam Cozart, like you talked about
51:45
he's he's he's one of one in that closer role.
51:50
But I mean Thomas Burns, Ethan Walker, Brody Walls has
51:53
been great, Brett Crossland's a really good arm.
51:56
Speaker 4: Like that.
51:56
Speaker 5: You have those guys waiting to come in after those
51:59
starters like they're there's no breaks for for for an offense,
52:04
like I said, I mean, they just keep they keep
52:06
constant pressure with with a ton of stuff.
52:08
Speaker 4: They pound the zone they got.
52:10
Speaker 5: They have over six hundred and fifty strikeouts as a
52:13
staff this year, and they have under two hundred walks.
52:15
Like they throw strikes. They have big time stuff. It's
52:19
just good arm after good arm.
52:20
Speaker 4: And I don't know how.
52:21
Speaker 5: I don't know how you're able to game plan against them,
52:23
to be honest, like and looking at some of the
52:25
teams like that they're gonna be going up against.
52:27
Speaker 4: Obviously it's SEC teams.
52:28
Speaker 5: But like they played Oklahoma during the season, only allowed
52:32
seven runs in those three games. They played Alabama during
52:35
the season, only allowed five runs in those three games.
52:37
Like they didn't they didn't play Georgia. But if there's
52:40
a staff that can match up against that that Georgia offense,
52:43
it feels like it's gonna be this one.
52:45
Speaker 1: It's a it's a loaded squad top to bottom, buddy,
52:48
Just like you guys have said, Texas is gonna be
52:50
really tricky to contend with. All right, Josh, you said
52:54
it earlier. I was incorrect. There are two Alabama teams
52:58
in this mix. From the bustling Metropolis of Troy, Alabama.
53:02
Come the Trojans. They are the last one standing, wrapped
53:06
up the other Trojans, and now they're getting ready to
53:08
stick it to the teams in Omaha. Josh, I'm curious,
53:12
walk us through this Troy team from the forty thousand
53:15
foot view. What are we looking at with them? What's
53:16
the big story with Troy.
53:19
Speaker 2: The story is they finally made it. They've never been
53:21
here before, and they felt like they were snubbed out
53:24
of the past couple of postseasons. They snuck into this
53:26
one as the last four team in and they made
53:28
it all the way here. Maybe not the most difficult
53:31
path through the Super Regional, but you can't downplay Florida
53:34
and Miami as a pretty difficult regional to have to
53:36
go on the road. And when they started the year
53:39
eleven and sixteen and people were writing them off, you know, rightfully,
53:42
so it seemed like, but they ripped off an eighteen
53:45
and eleven record to end the regular season after that,
53:48
and they've been red red hot in the postseason, maybe
53:52
the hottest offense in the postseason, averaging eleven and a
53:54
half runs per game, led mostly by oddly enough, Jay
53:58
Boroff at the bottom of the lineup. He has drew
54:01
one of Drew's favorite nicknames, Jay Bruth good stuff. He
54:05
has I want to say, four home runs this postseason.
54:08
It might be five, but regardless, he's been slugging at
54:11
a ridiculous level. This whole lineup slugs at a ridiculous level.
54:14
Aaron Pyaseki, Jimmy Janicky Houston, Markham at the bottom of
54:18
the lineup even I mean, they really they can hit
54:21
the long ball, but also, like I said earlier about Texas,
54:25
they can be gap to gap pitters.
54:26
Speaker 4: Two.
54:27
Speaker 2: They're not gonna swipe bag to the super high rate,
54:29
but they're gonna hit the ball far and they've got
54:32
a lot of juice in that lineup. I believe in them.
54:34
They can probably keep that up. The pitching staff hasn't
54:37
been great all year, and that has kind of been
54:38
the achilles heel of this team for a little bit,
54:40
especially the bullpen. But they've been fine recently. I mean
54:44
they've kind of found like Zach Krotchfeldt's been their guy
54:48
out of the pen, and he's been super, super consistent
54:51
in the postseason. Dylan Alonso know a thick pin not
54:54
too bad either, but guys like even Ben Stubbs and
54:57
Tommy Egan have been a pretty good one too. Through
55:00
the Super Regionals and Regionals, even I mean in the
55:03
sun Belt Tournament, although they were super depleted with pitching
55:05
in that whole tournament, They've been super reliable down the road.
55:10
I wouldn't count this team out, even though like they
55:12
are getting they have the worst odds and the lowest
55:15
seed and the small school and all that stuff. But
55:17
when your bats are as high as their bats have been,
55:19
I truly would not count this team out. I'm looking
55:21
very for Virginia Troy game on that first day of
55:26
the tournament because it's two very ruckus fan bases in
55:30
different ways. We'll see how well they both travel.
55:32
Speaker 1: We will see It's gonna be interesting to see. Uh,
55:35
Like you said, how they travel. Jake Troy's offense, they
55:39
are deceptively talented, several dudes who, as Josh alluded to,
55:43
can really slug with anybody in this tournament.
55:47
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean this this Troy team, in particular, the
55:50
Troy lineup has been so much fun to watch this postseason.
55:53
You know, they went through a little bit of a
55:55
rough patch during the season, but you know, once we
55:57
hit regional play, they have just turned on the gas.
56:00
Speaker 4: Especially on the offensive side.
56:03
Speaker 5: If you if you look at like season statistics, you
56:06
know they're they're mostly probably middle of the pack compared
56:08
to the field here. But like just about everybody in
56:12
this lineup, uh has contributed in one way or another
56:15
in this postseason. Jay Bruth, like you talked about, he's
56:18
been he's been insane. Eight extra base as he does
56:21
have five home runs if I counted correctly. Earlier in
56:24
this postseason, Aaron Paiseki Jimmy Janecky continued to produce. Those
56:28
are two studs in this lineup, and they've lived up
56:31
to the hype that they had in the postseason.
56:34
Speaker 4: Josh Pyne's been hitting homers. Blake Cavell, Houston, Mark them
56:37
have been on a tear.
56:38
Speaker 5: This is just this is just a really deep lineup,
56:40
and it feels it's been it's felt like a relentless
56:43
lineup since we got into regional play and all that
56:46
kind of stuff. And then they're this is one that's
56:48
capable of scoring a lot and and putting up runs
56:50
quickly regardless of what kind of pitching they're getting.
56:55
Speaker 1: Yeah, JB, what a wonderful transition, that is from Jake
56:58
because the pitching, as Joshler, has been an achilles heel
57:01
for these Trojans, which is a very interesting thing to
57:04
say it and it's own achilles heel for a Trojan.
57:07
Love that. But JB, we saw guys like Tommy Egan
57:11
really step up in Super Regional play. I'm curious, can
57:15
you talk about who we need to continue stepping up
57:18
or who you're looking at to be the all right guys,
57:21
if I've got to carry this on my back, I'm
57:23
gonna do it. Who are those guys with this Troy
57:25
pitching staff.
57:26
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, when we said this pitching staff has had
57:28
struggles this year, they rank one hundred and eighteenth in
57:31
e RAY with a five to five to nine e
57:33
RAY on the season, by far the worst in this tournament.
57:35
So that's the first thing that I think has to
57:37
be mentioned here. Beyond that point, I think Ben Stubbs
57:42
is definitely a guy they're gonna need to keep going.
57:43
He had a great start in the Super last time.
57:45
He threw twice in the Regional before that. Egan, obviously,
57:49
who you mentioned, is a big one. Crotchfellow is a
57:51
guy that They're really gonna need to step up here,
57:53
especially out of the pen. If he's gonna be the
57:55
main guy coming out, they're gonna need him along with
57:57
Noah thick Pen. Those two are really gonna have to
57:59
say up in penrolls. But for Troy, it's all about trying, honestly,
58:03
just to limit the damage. You know, with a staff
58:05
like that, they really just need to limit the damage
58:08
as best as they can to keep this offense in
58:10
the game.
58:10
Speaker 1: It's gonna be interesting to see whether they can or not.
58:13
Like you said, they may be the statistical worst dog
58:17
at the Bowl here, but sometimes that hungry dog who's
58:21
not getting any food somewhere, he'll bite somebody get them
58:23
out of the way. Maybe we'll see that from Troy,
58:25
And like we said, it's gonna be raucous for that
58:27
fan base. Josh, you said it a minute ago about
58:29
a team who needed to make their way here for
58:33
the first time. And speaking of Jake, the country roads
58:37
are leading from West Virginia to Omaha. For West Virginia
58:41
and their Mountaineers, this team is one I've followed pretty
58:45
extensively this season. It tickles me to death to see
58:48
the Mountaineers in Omaha. Jake, what's the outlook for West Virginia?
58:52
Who is this team? If somebody hasn't had the opportunity
58:55
to watch them me at this year, what do you
58:56
think they're gonna look like?
58:59
Speaker 5: Yeah, this is this is obviously this is their their
59:02
first College World Series appearance ever. After making it really
59:06
close the last couple of years, they're finally here and
59:09
also the lone member of Drew's Big twelve that'll be
59:13
there in Omaha. But you know, for their offense, it
59:17
hasn't been like the most I guess explosive throughout like
59:21
the season, but it's been absolutely on fire this postseason.
59:25
They've made their way into top fifty in runs prunts
59:28
per game. They've hit a power surge in the regional
59:31
and super regional Like Gavin Kelly's been hitting the crap
59:34
out of the ball Armani Guzman. I mentioned him last episode.
59:37
He's been one of my favorite players to watch this postseason.
59:40
Ben Lumsden, Matthew Graflin could could have a good time
59:43
in this big ballpark as there.
59:44
Speaker 4: They're big doubles guys on the year and on the mound.
59:48
Speaker 5: They've also been really really impressive like Chance and Cole
59:51
Maxiell have been pitching out of their minds here here.
59:54
Speaker 4: Recently. They didn't even have to use Dawson Montesa in
59:57
the Super so I mean he should. He should be
59:59
good and rested up and ready to go.
1:00:03
Speaker 5: You know that they have the lowest They have the
1:00:06
lowest team or a out of the out of the
1:00:07
eight teams here with a three eight two.
1:00:09
Speaker 4: And that's not just from the starting pitching.
1:00:11
Speaker 5: The bullpen's been lights out with with David Hagen, Ian Korn, McDougal, Reese,
1:00:17
passenger of those guys.
1:00:18
Speaker 4: Leaning the way out in the bullpen.
1:00:21
Speaker 5: I mentioned, I mentioned, you know, falling in love with
1:00:23
this team last episode. I've been covering them for like
1:00:26
the with the Daily Sheet and all that kind of stuff.
1:00:28
I've been getting to watch them up close, and I
1:00:30
really like the way that they're playing on both sides
1:00:33
of the ball. I wouldn't I wouldn't be particularly shocked
1:00:36
if they were able to go on like a deeper
1:00:38
run maybe than expected.
1:00:40
Speaker 4: Uh in Omaha.
1:00:41
Speaker 1: I think that that is something that several people are
1:00:44
looking for as a very real possibility as well.
1:00:49
Speaker 4: Jake.
1:00:49
Speaker 1: I want to say JB that this offense is something
1:00:54
like we said, I've known that they could can mash,
1:00:57
but really their version of mashing JB is a little
1:01:00
bit of death by a thousand cuts rather than let's
1:01:03
set off a nuclear bomb to the outfield. It's an
1:01:06
interesting offense. I'm curious what do you see as being
1:01:09
the stars of this offense and the mo they need
1:01:11
to take as they take it to Omah.
1:01:14
Speaker 3: Yeah, well for them, for sure, I think it's an
1:01:16
offense that really plays well in Omaha, especially with the
1:01:18
style of play that they're going to need in Omaha,
1:01:21
you know, the ball not flying as well. Small wall
1:01:24
really has shown to play well in the past sometimes
1:01:27
you know, with the occasional big time homer, and that's
1:01:28
what the s West Virginia team has done really well
1:01:31
this postseason. Gavin Kelly, obviously, he's the superstar that leads
1:01:35
the way with this offense. He's the only guy in
1:01:37
double digit homer's for him, him three eighty four at
1:01:39
twelve hundred ohps. He's an absolute stud. Paul Schenfield and
1:01:43
Sean Smith will come in right behind him as two
1:01:46
guys that they're really going to need to continue doing
1:01:48
what they're doing and stepping up. Armani Guzman is the
1:01:50
guy that's kind of gained some notoriety here at the end,
1:01:53
especially with the walkoff hit against Kentucky that got them
1:01:56
onto the Supers to absolutely obliterate cal Poly with an
1:02:00
credible performance there. So I think this West Virginia offense
1:02:03
is coming in red hot, and I think it's something
1:02:05
that Troy is definitely not looking forward to, especially with
1:02:08
the pitching staff that's struggled so much recently. So this
1:02:11
Troy team is definitely gonna need to be on top
1:02:14
game to shut down this West Virginia offense, I.
1:02:16
Speaker 1: Think so, Josh. On the flip side of that, West
1:02:20
Virginia's had some pitching too.
1:02:21
Speaker 5: Man.
1:02:22
Speaker 1: We start in the rotation and now, granted I can't
1:02:25
sit here and lie and say that I think that
1:02:27
this rotation is as good as Ole Miss, North Carolina,
1:02:31
maybe even Texas. But this is a solid group of
1:02:34
three that starts at the top with Chance and Cole.
1:02:37
You wrap it up with Dawson Montesa and then an
1:02:39
all time Drew guy for this season, Max Shale, who
1:02:42
I've just I've loved watching this guy pitch. Can't wait
1:02:45
to see what he does as a professional. Josh, the
1:02:48
big twelve's last bastion. How does their pitching stack up
1:02:51
against the field?
1:02:53
Speaker 2: Way better than I think most people realize. I mean,
1:02:56
I think we talked for a while about how Oregon
1:02:59
had the most underrated, the most under talked about pitching
1:03:02
staff in the country. I think that's now become West Virginia.
1:03:05
Although Chanceen cole is getting some helium and you know,
1:03:09
just college baseball circles on like the Grand Scheme of
1:03:12
social media, people have been talking about who's this chance
1:03:14
in cole cap because he's had two phenomenal starts in
1:03:18
the postseason and he just sits mid to high age
1:03:21
of his fastball. But it's because he works everything at
1:03:23
the bottom of the zone, locates super well. It's good
1:03:26
deceptive stuff, and you know, everything plays off each other
1:03:29
really well. He's got great pitch ability, mixes everything up
1:03:32
really well, and it's just been really fun to watch
1:03:34
because it's very different than just these high v low
1:03:36
high stuff guys. Max Yale, we've talked about him a
1:03:40
lot this year on the pod, Like you said, one
1:03:42
of your favorite guys low nineties fastball with from a lefty.
1:03:46
You know, he's got like plus field for spend a
1:03:48
little older guy, but really solid and really reliable. Experience
1:03:52
vet that you tried out there. The bullpen I think
1:03:56
is just as notable. They have four to five guys
1:03:59
they like to try it there a lot, all with
1:04:02
sub before eras believe it or not, of at least
1:04:05
those relevant guys Ian korn Reese, Passenger, Carson Estridge, who's
1:04:11
the fourth guy, David Hagen.
1:04:13
Speaker 4: That's it.
1:04:13
Speaker 2: They like to run those guys out there more than
1:04:16
anybody else in the bullpen. They don't really trust a
1:04:19
ton of other people, it seems like. But regardless, those
1:04:22
guys have been punching out bats in the Big twelve
1:04:24
all year. I think they'd led the Big twelve and
1:04:27
e er I'm pretty sure. And I mean, cal pot
1:04:30
Kentucky's not the best offense in the world. Wake Forest
1:04:33
is good. Obviously, their pitching is the best part of
1:04:35
that team. But it's good. I mean, they've handled business
1:04:38
really really well in the postseason, so I would assume
1:04:40
they could do so against you know, an Ole miss
1:04:42
lineup that strikes out a lot, a Carolina lineup that
1:04:45
doesn't have a ton of pop, to be honest, compared
1:04:47
to these other teams and Troy I mean I hyped
1:04:50
up their offense, but you know, nonetheless, they are still
1:04:52
a mid major offense, so you'd ever know when the
1:04:54
moment could get too big for them. I think the
1:04:56
West Virginia offense, I mean pitching staff could very well
1:04:58
take advantage of everyone else in the field definitely got.
1:05:03
Speaker 1: A shout out my Big twelve homies and uh and Josh.
1:05:06
I think I might have just made a connection. Hearing
1:05:08
you talk about Max Shale, it makes sense that I
1:05:10
would like him. He's a little older, he's experienced, kind
1:05:14
of weird. It just all.
1:05:17
Speaker 2: I never said weird. I never said weird.
1:05:19
Speaker 1: That's just you said you said. I forget what your
1:05:21
exact words were, a different approach, but I would.
1:05:24
Speaker 2: He's got like some different stuff. It's an almost side
1:05:26
on approach. Lefty, you know, like that you think you're weird.
1:05:30
We can have that conversation later.
1:05:32
Speaker 1: I don't know who would. I don't know who would
1:05:34
disagree with that statement. Neither here nor there and there.
1:05:37
We're not getting into that right now. Let's do some picks. Guys.
1:05:41
We were an hour into the show. I think it's
1:05:43
hot time we talked pics. We really broke down those eighteens.
1:05:46
If you were unfamiliar, now you're not. You've got all
1:05:48
kinds of great content. And guys, the Omaha sheet sheet
1:05:52
coming from these three gentlemen on the site very very soon,
1:05:56
so be sure to check that out. Pool one, gentleman,
1:05:59
what we're gonna be in here? Excuse me? We're gonna
1:06:02
be taking a winner and we're taking a runner up.
1:06:05
Josh Pool on West Virginia, Troy, North Carolina and Ole Miss.
1:06:09
What do you think?
1:06:12
Speaker 2: I haven't thought about this. I need to play this
1:06:13
out in my head in real time. I'll take I'll
1:06:17
take West Virginia to beat Troy. Then I'll take take
1:06:21
Carolina to be Old Miss almost Troy. Listen to terror.
1:06:31
I'll take Carolina there it's like to beat West Virginia.
1:06:36
Then I'll take Carolina to beat almost one of once
1:06:39
or twice or once? What am I trying to say?
1:06:41
One of the two games they would need. So I'll
1:06:44
take North Carolina as the winner of that pool and
1:06:47
Ole Miss as the runner up.
1:06:49
Speaker 1: Okay, very good.
1:06:51
Speaker 2: That was a lot of talking out loud. That was
1:06:53
that was really confusing.
1:06:54
Speaker 1: I'm that's okay.
1:06:56
Speaker 2: Short short analysis. Short analysis would be Carolina's bats have
1:07:01
been so red hot, and I believe and even though
1:07:05
it's not a deep pitching staff, they've shown that it
1:07:07
might not even matter an Ole Miss. Even though the
1:07:12
line doesn't have a lot of depth and they do
1:07:14
have a lot of punch out issues. Still I'm concerned
1:07:16
about how much they were lying on the long ball.
1:07:18
But still they've made an impact in this postseason for sure,
1:07:21
and that bullpen is maybe the best in the whole
1:07:25
field besides like Texas or the top of Texas bullpen.
1:07:29
It might be the best. That's my point. But I'll
1:07:31
take Carolina to come out regardless because you know, go
1:07:33
heels and whatnot, Go heels and whatnot.
1:07:36
Speaker 1: JB, speaking of go heels and whatnot, curious what you
1:07:40
are thinking out of Pool one? Who's your winner, who's
1:07:42
your runner up? And feel free to give analysis, says
1:07:44
Josh Yid if you'd like to.
1:07:46
Speaker 3: Yeah, I gotta rock with the Heels as well. You know,
1:07:49
I can't steer away from my squad. I gotta be
1:07:51
rooting for him the whole time, So we're taking the
1:07:53
Heels as the winner. I might differ from Josh though,
1:07:56
and as much as I like Ole Miss and I
1:07:58
think that they may get there. I want to be different.
1:08:00
Take West Virginia. I want to see the storybook, you know,
1:08:03
with them get into an exciting final game at least.
1:08:05
So it would be very cool to see that rematch
1:08:08
of the twenty four Super as well.
1:08:10
Speaker 1: That's true, very good point, Jake, round us up. What
1:08:14
are you thinking here?
1:08:15
Speaker 5: Man?
1:08:15
Speaker 1: We've got two for u n C. The runners up
1:08:17
getting a little tricky. What are you thinking out of
1:08:19
Pool one?
1:08:21
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean I've I've picked against North Carolina this postseason.
1:08:26
I think every every chance I've I've gotten to in
1:08:29
their regional I picked. I picked Tennessee to come out
1:08:31
of their regional. Didn't happen. Obviously, I picked USC to
1:08:35
win that Super and that didn't happen. I'm gonna pick
1:08:39
West Virginia. I'm gonna pick West Virginia to come out
1:08:41
of it. I'm gonna go get again.
1:08:43
Speaker 3: You had five minutes I hope in the Super just
1:08:45
went away.
1:08:47
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, you're right. But I think, you know, we
1:08:50
talked about both of these offenses. I think both offenses
1:08:53
the way that they played, they waited to play the game.
1:08:55
You know, it plays well in this ballpark. We went
1:08:58
in depth and on that way. Virginia pitching staff, I
1:09:01
think they can compete with the Carolina when not saying
1:09:04
that they're better, but I mean they're a really good
1:09:06
pitching staff. I think they can certainly compete with those
1:09:09
guys that they're gonna run out And you know, I'll
1:09:11
take Country Roads to win it in North Carolina to
1:09:15
be the runner up.
1:09:19
Speaker 1: Yeah, I've got the same two in mind as both
1:09:22
JB and Jake. I'm not sure where I'm gonna have
1:09:25
them go yet. I believe guys, y'all have taken all
1:09:27
the good talking points at this point. So I'm trying
1:09:29
to decide if I go with my head and the
1:09:31
tar heels or if I go with my heart. And
1:09:36
since we're not playing for anything here, let's go with
1:09:38
the heart. I'm taking West Virginia. You're gonna stick with
1:09:40
my big twelve boys and they'll they will take you
1:09:44
and see it'll go to seven. Though I do mean
1:09:46
that because if they're gonna beat them, they'll have to
1:09:48
do it twice. All right, Pool number two boys, we
1:09:51
are talking to the SEC Murder Festival Alabama, Oklahoma, Georgia,
1:09:56
and Texas. Let's switch it up. Jake, We're gonna go
1:09:59
to you first. Uh, the bloodbath is gonna be tenfold.
1:10:05
I'm curious, who do you think is gonna come out
1:10:07
of this bracket? Who's the runner?
1:10:11
Speaker 5: I mean, this is this is just gonna be a
1:10:13
slugfest constantly. I think every game out of this pool
1:10:16
is just gonna be a must watch game. Obviously. I
1:10:21
think I'm gonna pick Texas. I'm gonna pick Texas to
1:10:23
come out of it. I think they you know, when
1:10:26
we broke down the team, this feels like the most
1:10:28
well rounded team in the country, not just not just
1:10:32
in this Omaha field. I think the way that they
1:10:34
pitch the ball, like I said earlier, you know, if
1:10:37
they get to that sixth inning, they have to feel
1:10:39
great about their chances of coming out with a win.
1:10:41
And then you know, our guys, our guys at the
1:10:43
top Eighten Robbins, Anthony, Pat Carson, Tini, those those guys
1:10:47
are just now you're just you just can't get them out.
1:10:49
I don't know what what pitcher on this side is
1:10:52
gonna be able to get them out. I'll go with
1:10:55
Texas and then I'll take Georgia as the runner up.
1:10:58
I think that's the natural second best team here. The
1:11:02
way they hit, I mean, they're they're gonna, they're gonna,
1:11:04
they're gonna. They're not gonna finish outside the top two
1:11:06
in this.
1:11:06
Speaker 4: So I'll go. I'll go Texas one, Georgia two.
1:11:10
Speaker 1: Interesting, Josh, I feel like you are gonna stick with
1:11:13
your horns that you've been You've been rocking all season long. Uh,
1:11:17
let's see what you're taking for the winner. More curious
1:11:19
I think about your runner up?
1:11:22
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think I will be going with Texas. That
1:11:25
first game between Texas and Georgia gives me very similar
1:11:28
vibes to Arkansas LSU last year, or like Tennessee Florida
1:11:32
State a couple of years ago, where going into it,
1:11:34
people were saying this feels like it could be the
1:11:37
national championship before the National Championship. It gives me those vibes,
1:11:42
especially with Valantas and Boltico facing off. I will take
1:11:46
Texas to go all the way, though I think Oklahoma
1:11:49
would beat Bama in that first game. Uh, even though
1:11:52
I'm concerned about Reger's and experience. For sure, I think
1:11:57
those bats are so hot they could exploit Bama. And
1:12:00
a game between Bama and Georgia I'd be pulling for
1:12:02
the meteor to hit somewhere and Omaha, Nebraska, don't let
1:12:12
me know it's coming.
1:12:14
Speaker 1: That's that's really cool.
1:12:15
Speaker 2: Media. Wow, Yeah, I'll talk to my meteor guy. I
1:12:19
think Georgia will come out less injured by the media
1:12:22
media and they could be Oklahoma. Texas would take one
1:12:27
of the who they need from Georgia, and Georgia would
1:12:30
be my runner up. Those all, I mean, those bats
1:12:32
are just so good, just so good that it's kind
1:12:35
of hard to believe they would lose in an environment.
1:12:37
Speaker 1: Like this at all.
1:12:38
Speaker 2: But like we've talked about a couple of times on
1:12:40
here already, they are really reliant on the long ball
1:12:43
and Charles Schwabfield is not the place you want that
1:12:45
to be the case. So I'll take Texas and their
1:12:48
elite top of the pitching staff and hot hot bats.
1:12:53
Speaker 1: They've certainly got that for sure.
1:12:54
Speaker 4: JB.
1:12:56
Speaker 1: The sec pool of death filled with napalm and spikes
1:13:01
rather than water and floatings. Curious, who do you take
1:13:04
to come out on top of this one? I guess
1:13:06
come out least injured in this one.
1:13:08
Speaker 3: I'll take Texas as my winner, and to be different,
1:13:11
I'll take Oklahoma as my runner up. So I'm gonna
1:13:14
take Oklahoma as the runner up. I think, you know,
1:13:15
maybe they get a chance where they can strike a
1:13:18
blow on Uga and then knock them out at some
1:13:21
point there. So yeah, I'm gonna rock with it and
1:13:25
we'll go with there.
1:13:26
Speaker 2: All Texas, so far? Are you gonna go so long?
1:13:28
Speaker 1: Drew? Well, no, I've got I think I have to
1:13:32
take Georgia just yeah. First of all, no, I think
1:13:35
I have to take because here's the thing. If they
1:13:37
make it to the final, what a story it would
1:13:39
be to make me choose between my head and heart
1:13:42
there as well. We'll get to that next week. Stay
1:13:45
tuned to College Makes five. Now for that, I'm gonna
1:13:48
take Georgia just because I've gotta be different. I gotta
1:13:51
be different, and I think Georgia has the second best
1:13:53
squad here, maybe the best squad. I mean, we're gonna
1:13:56
find out on Saturday at seven pm Central time. I
1:13:58
think that it's gonna be incredibly telling how the rest
1:14:01
of that bracket will. Excuse me, the rest of that
1:14:03
pool is gonna shake out, uh, that Georgia and Texas game.
1:14:07
And that's not to say that the appetizer game with
1:14:09
Alabama and Oklahoma is gonna be anything to sneeze about,
1:14:12
you could. You dudes are in for a day of
1:14:14
just action when it comes to that in terms of
1:14:18
who all take. I mean smart money is to take
1:14:21
Texas here. So yeah, okay, I I I'm trying to
1:14:26
talk myself into Oklahoma, good Georgia Oklahoma, but I just can't.
1:14:29
I'm gonna go. I'm gonna go Georgia, Texas. Although man, JB,
1:14:33
I'd like, nope, no, I'm no, Yeah, take out of.
1:14:36
Speaker 2: No Alabama loves shocking what out of this podcast, But I.
1:14:43
Speaker 3: Just Lebron's gonna carry him all the way.
1:14:45
Speaker 1: Didn't want to see that last time something.
1:14:48
Speaker 2: Speaking of ill this is like slight fifteen second side note.
1:14:52
I haven't mentioned this to you all yet. Yeah, I've
1:14:53
seen just Lebron getting some first team All American nods
1:14:56
by some of these outlets. I know he had forty
1:14:58
one stolen bags, but like that stat line compared to
1:15:02
some other people at his position this year is just crazy.
1:15:05
But that's beside the point. I don't want to get
1:15:07
sidetracked on that. It just has to be mentioned.
1:15:11
Speaker 3: Really, Yeah, certain guy in the golden spikes.
1:15:16
Speaker 2: You know, maybe that's another thing. I probably have seen
1:15:20
it coming. But like as a college baseball pob, we
1:15:22
should also mention Tag Davis, robbed Rock Davis, Well, Rock Davis. Hello,
1:15:28
Rock Schlowski is giving all.
1:15:31
Speaker 4: Yea, all the hype imagine that player, you know?
1:15:35
Speaker 1: Yeah, Okay, real quick before we wrap up, We've got
1:15:39
just a second, and I'm curious what in the hell
1:15:42
this conversation is going to turn into. Let's assume you
1:15:44
can make a super player using Daniel Jackson, Uh, Tag
1:15:52
Davis and Landon Harrison. You can only use two of them?
1:15:55
What combination makes your dream player? JV. Let's start with you.
1:15:58
Speaker 2: Are we taking the best of these players, like the
1:16:01
best qualities of each You can only come on?
1:16:06
Speaker 1: Yeah, you can only come on. I'll go ahead and
1:16:07
start with mine, just because whynot. I want Daniel Jackson
1:16:11
and Landed Hairston because that's gonna be just hyper powered everything.
1:16:17
He's like a catcher outfield dynamo. He can play everywhere.
1:16:21
He's fast, he's strong. He has a cool nickname like
1:16:24
Harry Rhino or some kind of nonsense.
1:16:27
Speaker 3: I'm I guess since you're saying me, I had this
1:16:33
in my mind, I'll probably go kind of boring. But
1:16:36
the two that we just talked about, Rock and Take,
1:16:38
I mean pretty good. You add On takes power to Rock.
1:16:41
I mean that's just incredible. You know you got to
1:16:43
do that's a plus shortstop and you add that juice
1:16:46
and I mean.
1:16:47
Speaker 1: It's a it's Alex Rodriguez at that point. Yeah, that's good.
1:16:53
We already have one a.
1:16:54
Speaker 2: On in this sport. There's not that's true.
1:16:56
Speaker 3: No more steroids though, no steroids needed.
1:16:59
Speaker 1: What are you talking about, Josh, Who would your freak
1:17:04
player be?
1:17:05
Speaker 2: Look we got we got Barry Bonds and a Rod
1:17:07
steroids talk on the College Baseball podcast.
1:17:09
Speaker 1: Look at us go oh good guys, we're real baseball.
1:17:12
Speaker 4: Now.
1:17:13
Speaker 2: I'm gonna take Landon Harrison's batten add it to Rock's defense. Uh,
1:17:20
Landon Harrison has probably a plus a tool and plus
1:17:23
power or at least like a future value. That's what
1:17:25
it would be. And Rock might have double plus defense
1:17:28
at the most valuable defensive position, along with just insane athleticism.
1:17:33
So I think that's the best comment we can do here.
1:17:36
Speaker 1: Love it, Jake. Your guy is obviously you've been to
1:17:39
take Davis Truther since day's zero, not even damn day one.
1:17:42
You've been to take Davis Truther since the preseason of
1:17:44
this show. Who are you combining? Would take Davis to
1:17:47
make the Jake All star freakman?
1:17:50
Speaker 5: Of course I'm gonna pick take my my Malvern prep guy.
1:17:54
I'm gonna I'm gonna go take Davis and I'm combined
1:17:57
him with what have we not done yet? Let's see,
1:18:01
I'll combine him with with Landon Harriston and just create
1:18:04
just a super hitter, just the best hitter on the planet.
1:18:07
I'll go, I'll go take Davis Landon Harriston's That's what's
1:18:10
gonna make you the most money.
1:18:11
Speaker 4: If you can hit the ball, they'll find you. They'll
1:18:13
find you a spot.
1:18:14
Speaker 2: We have a dang On Jackson anywhere. Oh no, Harry Rhino,
1:18:17
that's right, My bad.
1:18:18
Speaker 1: Yeah I had Harry Rhino. Wow, this got off the
1:18:23
rails at the at the five yard lid. Love it
1:18:26
for us? All right, guys, great pod, great time. Let's
1:18:30
talk about where they can find us, Jake, Where can
1:18:32
they find you? If not Charles schwab Field, but between episodes?
1:18:38
Where can they find you? What are you working?
1:18:41
Speaker 4: Yeah?
1:18:41
Speaker 5: You can follow me on Twitter at Jake Barge, I
1:18:44
mean got a ton of a ton of Omaha content planned.
1:18:47
The three of us obviously all have a ton of
1:18:49
Omaha content planned. What I'm working on right now currently
1:18:53
is that cheat sheet. We've just got it completely wrapped
1:18:56
up and that should be put out for everybody pretty soon.
1:19:00
We're really proud of it. We put a lot of
1:19:02
work into it, and uh, you know, it's just gonna
1:19:05
give you a nice little landscape view of all the teams,
1:19:08
who they use and all that kind of stuff. So
1:19:10
h really excited about that. And then obviously heading to
1:19:13
heading to the to the Charles Schwab Field and getting
1:19:17
all that getting all that content out for you guys too.
1:19:20
Speaker 1: Absolutely absolutely. JB, my brother, Where can they find you
1:19:24
between episodes? What are you working on right now?
1:19:26
Speaker 3: Yeah, so it's at JB Underscore Sabastiano on Twitter. Same deal.
1:19:30
You know, we're gonna have a lot of stuff coming out.
1:19:31
A lot of stuff is gonna be on the main
1:19:33
page as well. Look out for maybe some possible streams
1:19:36
for us we talked about while we're there, so you
1:19:39
can see a couple of live streams. Come in chat
1:19:40
with us, ask your questions what we thought on the day,
1:19:43
and yeah, that's what we got, Josh.
1:19:47
Speaker 1: Dear old Josh, Where can they follow you between our episode, sir?
1:19:51
And what are you working?
1:19:53
Speaker 2: You can find me on Twitter at Josh catlet three.
1:19:55
Same kind of content as the lots of various Amaha stuff.
1:19:59
Hopefully I can find myself in my bed in about
1:20:02
five minutes here. So that's how I can be well
1:20:05
rested for Omaha and get the best content possible for
1:20:08
the people. What a company man, I'm trying to be.
1:20:10
What a company man's salary? Yeah, we'll bit in a
1:20:15
happy three am. That call is gonna come early.
1:20:16
Speaker 1: Josh prospectslive dot com all the best content in baseball
1:20:20
across the interwebs. You want stuff on the MLB Draft,
1:20:23
we got it. You want stuff on college baseball, we
1:20:26
got it. Your card habit, your dynasty team, your pro
1:20:29
team's favorite prospects, We've got it. Tools, tips, tricks, lists,
1:20:32
and more to go along with the award winning daily
1:20:35
sheet at both the MLB and NCUBA levels as low
1:20:40
as seven dollars a month for a membership. Shoots on
1:20:42
me up and if you're interested in following me, I
1:20:45
will be holding down at Homestead. I will not be
1:20:47
in Omaha. These boys are gonna do an amazing job.
1:20:50
But you want to follow me, you can do so
1:20:52
on the Twitter Machine, on Instagram, on Blue Sky at
1:20:54
Drew is Okay. We've got all kinds of great stuff,
1:20:57
including mock Draft four point oh drop this Friday at
1:21:01
Prospects Live. Guys, I'm so excited. Can't wait to talk
1:21:05
to you live from Nebraska the first and maybe second
1:21:09
third time in history those words have been said in
1:21:12
that order. But I'm looking forward to seeing you guys
1:21:14
in Nebraska. We're gonna have a girl. What a great content.
1:21:17
Can't wait to see what we do. Want to encourage
1:21:19
all of you to join us right back here and
1:21:21
join them for live streams. Check it out on their twitters.
1:21:25
We've got this stuff coming. We'll remind you to be
1:21:27
nice to yourself, be nice to each other. For Josh,
1:21:30
for JB, for Jake and Drew. We'll see you next
1:21:32
time on College Baseball Now