Latest / From the Coach's Mouth / Episode 54: Kelley Montalvo

Transcript

Episode 54: Kelley Montalvo · From the Coach's Mouth

• 0:00
  This is a quote that you can hold me to and I hope you keep
• 0:02
  this one because I really, really believe in this and this
• 0:05
  is part of my coaching things when it comes to female
• 0:08
  teammates and female sports. I tell my kids, I tell my girls
• 0:12
  and my athletes, You guys are Queens.
• 0:14
  You were crowns. You are supposed to adjust each
• 0:17
  other's crowns, not knock them down.
• 0:20
  We have enough of that already in our crazy world.
• 0:23
  Whether you live northeast, West, or South, the best fast
• 0:26
  pitch info comes from the Coach's Mouth.
• 0:44
  Welcome to the From the Coach's Mouth podcast with your host Jay
• 0:49
  Bolden and Ken Kraus. Greetings, Starfighters, little
• 1:09
  reference for you 80s kids. Welcome to the From the Coach's
• 1:12
  Mouth podcast. Ken and Jay, we are here again
• 1:15
  getting ready to talk to a very great guest.
• 1:18
  Jay, how are we doing this morning?
• 1:20
  I'm doing pretty good, Ken, Not too bad.
• 1:22
  It's weather still been a little crazy, but the teams were
• 1:25
  currently in conference play. So things are going well.
• 1:28
  We're we're doing well in conference, Excited to get
• 1:31
  rolling, get these conference games in, hopefully get to our
• 1:34
  conference tournament. Lessons are going good.
• 1:36
  It's a little bit lighter now because most of my kids are
• 1:39
  either, you know, they're in college or high school and so
• 1:41
  I'm just working with some of the younger ones.
• 1:43
  But even those are going pretty good.
• 1:45
  How about you Ken? How the lessons going for you?
• 1:46
  Yeah, it's been a slow week for me too, between high school and
• 1:49
  spring break. Almost like a vacation
• 1:52
  sometimes. It's funny because the
• 1:53
  facilities I work in, they'll say, you sure you want to come
• 1:55
  in for one or two kids? They'll say, hey, those kids are
• 1:57
  dedicated. I'm coming in.
• 1:59
  So I have no problem with that. Well, by the way, I wanted to
• 2:02
  ask you, last week they had the the crazy socks day.
• 2:06
  How was that? It actually went over really
• 2:08
  well. The Crazy Socks Socks Day is for
• 2:12
  to bring awareness for people with Down syndrome.
• 2:15
  My oldest daughter has Down syndrome.
• 2:16
  So on March 21st, which is 321, that is always World Down
• 2:21
  syndrome Day. And it's just a great 'cause
• 2:23
  it's a great way to bring awareness for people who have
• 2:27
  Down syndrome. And 321 represents basically 3
• 2:30
  copies of the 21st chromosome, which is what you know,
• 2:33
  basically gives someone Down syndrome.
• 2:35
  So it's a great community. There was a lot of softball
• 2:38
  teams and softball people that did it, which is really good.
• 2:41
  I like, I say all the time that the softball community is such a
• 2:43
  great community. They're they're willing to
• 2:45
  support people. So it was really great.
• 2:47
  I got to a lot of people sent us pics or tagged us in it and
• 2:50
  stuff like that. So we celebrate it every year.
• 2:53
  You know, it's just, it's, it's a great way.
• 2:54
  And I always show my daughter and, and she's always like
• 2:57
  they're wearing their crazy socks for me.
• 2:59
  So it's a really cool thing for her and just for us and for
• 3:02
  everybody, all of those individuals with that have Down
• 3:05
  syndrome. So next year 321, everybody wear
• 3:08
  your crazy socks, help celebrate and support World Down syndrome
• 3:11
  Day. Awesome.
• 3:12
  Yeah, it's funny because I I used to have some good crazy
• 3:16
  socks, but I kind of wore through them all, so I didn't
• 3:19
  really have anything to wear that day.
• 3:20
  Plus I forgot about it, you know, in the beginning.
• 3:23
  But I will make sure I get some for next year so I'm all set.
• 3:27
  Sounds good, Ken. We appreciate it too.
• 3:29
  It can be crazy socks or you can mix match the socks too.
• 3:32
  Either one works. Whatever you want to do to show
• 3:34
  your support, we appreciate it. My daughter appreciates it and
• 3:37
  like I said, everybody that has Down syndrome really just looks
• 3:40
  forward to that day. Oh well if you're just mismatch
• 3:43
  matching socks. I mean every day is 321 to me
• 3:46
  then. There you go.
• 3:47
  See, you can do it every time. All right, well, enough of us.
• 3:50
  How about we get to our guests? What do you say, Jay?
• 3:53
  Great idea, let's do it. We are super excited to be
• 3:56
  speaking with today's guest because she's built an amazing
• 3:58
  softball resume, first as a player and now as a collegiate
• 4:01
  coach. As a player she was a four year
• 4:04
  starter at third base for Patrick Murphy at the University
• 4:07
  of Alabama where she was a two time NFCA Louisville Slugger and
• 4:11
  Easton All American, as well as being AUSA Softball Player of
• 4:15
  the Year candidate her senior year while also earning a spot
• 4:19
  on the Women's College World Series All Tournament team.
• 4:22
  She also earned NFCA Regional and SEC Conference recognition
• 4:27
  and finished her college career with 204 hits, 174 runs scored,
• 4:32
  51 double S5 triples, 30 home runs, 154 RB IS and 57 stolen
• 4:38
  bases. A true 5 tool player, once she
• 4:42
  finished her collegiate playing career, she spent eight years
• 4:45
  with the Akron Racers in the National Pro Fast Pitch League
• 4:48
  where she was an All NPF selection in 20/14/2015 and 2016
• 4:54
  and was named NPF Defensive Player of the Year in 2012.
• 4:59
  She was also featured in the documentary Burn the Ships about
• 5:02
  the teams and the athletes efforts to keep the dream of
• 5:05
  playing professional softball alive in the face of
• 5:08
  overwhelming challenges. During her years with the
• 5:10
  Racers, she also launched her coaching career becoming varsity
• 5:14
  head coach at her alma mater, Monsignor Edward Pace High
• 5:16
  School in Miami Gardens, Florida.
• 5:19
  She then moved on to her first collegiate coaching position as
• 5:22
  an assistant coach at Barry University in Miami for a year,
• 5:25
  followed by stops at Middle Tennessee State in Murfreesboro,
• 5:28
  TN and Bethune Cookman University in Daytona Beach, FL.
• 5:33
  In 2023, she secured her first head coaching position when she
• 5:37
  was selected to lead the South Mountain Community College
• 5:40
  Cougars and NJCCA Division Two program.
• 5:44
  With the current winning percentage of seven O 6 overall
• 5:46
  and conference percentage of 760, it looks like the team is
• 5:50
  in very good hands. Ladies and gentlemen, please
• 5:53
  welcome the incredible Kelly Montalvo to the From the Coach's
• 5:56
  Mouth podcast. Welcome.
• 6:00
  Coach. Hello.
• 6:01
  Hi. Kelly, how are you?
• 6:03
  Hi, I'm doing well guys. Thank you so much for having me.
• 6:05
  This is awesome. Well, we're really excited to
• 6:08
  have you here for sure. Yeah, absolutely.
• 6:11
  Thanks for thanks for taking some time today.
• 6:13
  Yeah, I mean, it just starts my day, you know, I still have a
• 6:15
  whole whole practice lined up and whole recruiting.
• 6:19
  Everything's all lined up. But I was like, I got to get
• 6:21
  this first. It starts the day.
• 6:23
  All right. Well, hopefully we start you off
• 6:25
  in a good area for it, get you all psyched up and ready to get
• 6:29
  out on the field. All right, so we're going to get
• 6:32
  started. The first question obviously is
• 6:34
  how'd you get started in fast pitch softball?
• 6:36
  What? What got you going there?
• 6:37
  I would say it's definitely my dad probably when I was like 5,
• 6:41
  he I remember vividly, even till this day at 5, he was like
• 6:45
  throwing a ball at me and it was like a show and tell like
• 6:48
  character to his friends. And he's just like, hey guys,
• 6:51
  guys come watch this and just threw a tennis ball.
• 6:54
  And there was just some coordination at just, it would
• 6:57
  be a catch, it'd be a catch. And he's like, watch, watch.
• 7:00
  She's going to back up now. And I was like, OK, this is
• 7:03
  like, like a, like a like a pet. And it was kind of weird.
• 7:07
  It was the, the coordination was weird.
• 7:09
  And he just was like, I swear, I was so crazy.
• 7:12
  I and I didn't think about it till then because I thought I
• 7:14
  was just, I was just playing catch.
• 7:16
  And that's how little, it's like it started at that age and, and
• 7:19
  it's, and all sports like I jumped from as soon as I
• 7:22
  started, it wasn't even T-ball. It would just be like the, you
• 7:25
  know, little, little girls softball and that's it.
• 7:28
  He's like, OK, let's just keep doing it.
• 7:30
  And if I liked it, you know, so I just enjoyed it since then.
• 7:33
  Did you play any other sports when you were growing up?
• 7:36
  Yep, I played volleyball. Typical liberal, everyone.
• 7:40
  Well, liberal didn't exist back then.
• 7:42
  I wish it did. I was like, man, where was that
• 7:44
  position? Because I would have loved that
• 7:46
  guy. You know, I had to be taken out
• 7:48
  every time I got to the front. So I've played volleyball,
• 7:51
  soccer and basketball. And for those who don't know,
• 7:53
  the reason she got taken out when she got to the front is you
• 7:56
  are what, 5 feet tall, right? I'm four 11411.
• 8:00
  Oh yeah, I stand corrected on that one.
• 8:04
  So the racers were, they were trying to push you a little bit,
• 8:06
  you know, say you were a little taller than you were.
• 8:09
  Oh yeah, funny, funny story on that.
• 8:10
  My, my Alabama pushed it too. Because, you know, we got 6
• 8:14
  feet, 6 feet, 511. And on that roster, I call my
• 8:17
  dad that damn, never forget we took head shots and he'll go
• 8:20
  check it out. Dad, I think they put something
• 8:21
  on there. It says 53.
• 8:23
  And he go, he was just, he's a Miami police officer retired.
• 8:27
  Like he was just, you know, and he goes and looks and he's like,
• 8:31
  why does it say 5-3? And I was like, I don't know.
• 8:33
  I thought that was pretty cool. They just rounded it up a little
• 8:36
  bit and he's like, you better tell him to change that right
• 8:38
  now that you're 411 and you're going to tell the world you're
• 8:41
  411. And I was like, imagine me
• 8:44
  telling media media at Alabama, you got to change your website.
• 8:48
  Yeah, crazy. So Kelly, anybody who's met you
• 8:52
  or actually even seen you play knows you're a pretty energetic
• 8:56
  person in general. Were you always like that?
• 8:58
  And do you have any funny stories about how maybe that
• 9:01
  energy didn't play so well when you were a little younger?
• 9:04
  Oh yeah, I mean the energy didn't play even.
• 9:07
  And it's funny because I see these girls get so hyped now
• 9:10
  and, you know, it wasn't a thing back then.
• 9:13
  It was just, hey, hey, even, you know, and you know, Speaking of
• 9:17
  Murph, in college, he loved that, but I couldn't control it.
• 9:19
  It's just who I was. It was, it was one of those the
• 9:21
  kid that's always laughing at practice, but it's still paying
• 9:24
  attention. But that's just their their
• 9:26
  game, you know, and I get in trouble all the time in school,
• 9:30
  you know, moving seats. I was always standing up and,
• 9:32
  you know, the typical. And when it came to sports, it
• 9:35
  was just, it was just passion, but I didn't know the
• 9:37
  difference. Everyone thought it was you're
• 9:39
  fooling around. Hey, quit messing around.
• 9:42
  You're not paying attention. You're not focused.
• 9:44
  And, and, and, and a big story was just the, the one that got
• 9:47
  it was in college, Murphy kicked me out of practice because I was
• 9:51
  just messing or like giggling or doing something.
• 9:53
  And it looked like a focus, not paying attention to the drill.
• 9:56
  And he's just like, get out. And I'm like, where am I going
• 9:59
  to go? Like and, you know, went back to
• 10:03
  the locker and it was so cool because that's another we'll get
• 10:06
  to him. But he was just look, after
• 10:08
  practice. I was like, coach, if if you
• 10:10
  don't let me be me, you're not going to get the best version of
• 10:13
  me. And this is me.
• 10:14
  I go, I knew exactly what we were doing in that play.
• 10:17
  I knew 1st and 3rd and and he's like, OK, let's do this, but
• 10:21
  calm it down with the laughing, you know, like and we just it
• 10:24
  was cool. It was a cool moment.
• 10:27
  Yeah. Well, and I think, you know, you
• 10:29
  bring up a good point there too, because a lot of times, you
• 10:31
  know, you get coaches and especially those who are always
• 10:34
  real serious players, they don't understand that not everybody's
• 10:38
  going to be like that. And that, you know, kids have
• 10:40
  different personalities. They have different approaches.
• 10:43
  Some of it's just genetic. You know, it's in their DNA to
• 10:45
  be a certain way. And if you don't conform to what
• 10:50
  they think you should be, they have a problem with you and they
• 10:53
  won't play you or they, you know, kind of look down on you
• 10:56
  and stuff. So, you know, I think it's
• 10:58
  probably great for your players. Anybody who's got that, you
• 11:01
  know, kind of that more upbeat personality, it's like, wow, I
• 11:04
  found a home where somebody gets me.
• 11:06
  Oh, my God. They use it against me, the kids
• 11:08
  like they're like, coach, hey, you were like this.
• 11:10
  You, you. And I'm like, yeah, but I, you
• 11:14
  don't even know the drill. Like, OK, you're not
• 11:16
  understanding the focus, but yeah.
• 11:19
  Yeah, there's a little little bit of a difference between
• 11:21
  being up, you know, upbeat or energetic and just having a
• 11:24
  little, you know, spontaneous birthday party.
• 11:27
  Big, right? Right.
• 11:28
  You know, we talked about you being 411.
• 11:31
  Did that ever work against you in sports?
• 11:33
  I, I would imagine again, there's probably a bias, you
• 11:36
  know, toward bigger, stronger, Well, I shouldn't say stronger,
• 11:39
  but bigger, taller kids. And, you know, was that ever a
• 11:44
  problem for you? Did people underestimate you and
• 11:47
  did it hurt you in your recruiting journey?
• 11:49
  Oh, all the time. It was every day.
• 11:52
  The only sport it didn't really affect it was soccer.
• 11:54
  And that was the other sport that I probably could have
• 11:56
  played collegiately because I was fast and it was just
• 11:59
  different. But in that recruiting process,
• 12:01
  I didn't pass the eye test. And you know that eye test, you
• 12:03
  know, you got boom as soon as you see that kid, oh, who's
• 12:06
  that? And you don't even see your play
• 12:08
  and you just see the height, the body.
• 12:10
  I do that in recruiting and I'm like, gosh, I got to stick to my
• 12:13
  mic, what I believe in and I'm doing it.
• 12:16
  And it's it was, it was tough. But the best thing was, and I
• 12:21
  credit to my dad who didn't know anything that wasn't a baseball
• 12:23
  guy, wasn't just like I said, he was a cop with discipline from
• 12:27
  Miami. And what, what he made sure of
• 12:32
  what that I didn't know about the height thing.
• 12:35
  Does that make sense? Like he, he never made it a
• 12:38
  factor like, Hey, you're not going to recruited because of
• 12:40
  this. And it was you just got to work
• 12:42
  a little harder. Hey, you know how that girl just
• 12:44
  hit that ball and probably just got jammed on it or something.
• 12:48
  You're, you're going to have to be on point because when you get
• 12:51
  jammed, it's not the same. So you just got to work a little
• 12:54
  harder. And it was really cool because
• 12:56
  I'm like, I can do that. I can do, you know, like it was
• 12:59
  a want, you know, and it did it. I mean, I, I was talking, I
• 13:02
  mean, I love the University of Florida.
• 13:03
  I'm from Florida and it was the time that Tim Walton was getting
• 13:07
  hired. It was during the transition of
• 13:08
  coaching and I'm just like, look at me over here, you know, and
• 13:12
  it was just, it was a weird period and and, and, and Murph's
• 13:16
  like you wanted to go to Florida.
• 13:17
  No, it's not about that. It's just you're from the state,
• 13:19
  you know, and, and it was hard. It was hard little, little, you
• 13:22
  know, mid major schools too, that they were just Nah.
• 13:25
  And I'm like, he didn't even see her just and and and and I'm not
• 13:29
  lying. Like it was like it there was a
• 13:32
  there was a chip when I got older, it was one of those, OK,
• 13:35
  you don't want me to be on your on your side, I'm going to beat
• 13:39
  you on another side. And it's OK.
• 13:41
  It's nothing personal. So I just got a little more loud
• 13:45
  on the field. So you, I preach this in my
• 13:48
  coaching and I preach this in life too.
• 13:50
  When they came to see my team play when I was playing, they're
• 13:54
  going to look and be like, damn, that little one.
• 13:56
  She must be 4 for four because she's having the time of her
• 13:59
  life, you know what I mean? So that was a big thing.
• 14:02
  I really had to show out and be and be loud.
• 14:04
  Tell us, how did you come to play for for Patrick Murphy at
• 14:08
  Alabama? How did that all come about
• 14:09
  because you said, you know, Florida was there.
• 14:11
  How did it work out for you going to Alabama?
• 14:13
  I hate saying because he was, he was late, like they were late
• 14:17
  in, in, in my journey, you know, and I had already back in the
• 14:21
  day, we had to have 5 visits lined up and we had to schedule
• 14:25
  them. And I had visits lined up and by
• 14:27
  God, I had Auburn, I had Virginia Tech, I had a lot of
• 14:31
  East Coast schools, North Carolina.
• 14:32
  There were certain schools lined up and they were just late.
• 14:35
  They came to one never going to forget this.
• 14:38
  The assistant coach at the time, Van Studerman, who's now in
• 14:40
  Texas, she's she was a pitching coach and she just came by and
• 14:46
  she just saw I guess a game and it was alley habits to the
• 14:50
  assistant who's now at Lafayette crazy.
• 14:54
  But she's head coach and it's she just man, I'm never forget
• 14:57
  this game, guys. This is how it was.
• 15:00
  Remember, no video, no nothing. This was live.
• 15:03
  And I remember all these coaches just passing, passing, passing.
• 15:06
  And I'm like, and my team is winning 13 zero, about to be a
• 15:10
  run rule and man, I'm playing short and that ball goes hit
• 15:13
  foul and it's Florida, so where it's muddy and rainy and all
• 15:16
  that. And I just go and I layout,
• 15:18
  we're winning 13 zero. Do you think I have to?
• 15:22
  And I just Superman layout for that foul ball And boom, I came
• 15:28
  off my team fired up and all of a sudden these coaches just stop
• 15:32
  and I go, there you go. It was cool.
• 15:35
  And then I was after the tournament, they came up and he
• 15:38
  she's like, hey, and mind you, they're really good because they
• 15:41
  do their research. It was my birthday, July 24th,
• 15:44
  and she goes happy birthday and I'm like, Hey, you guys are
• 15:48
  good. And he's you know, they called
• 15:52
  Murphy and this is what they told him on the phone.
• 15:53
  Listen, we got a kid, but we know you're going to love her.
• 15:57
  Maybe not her height just like that.
• 16:00
  And I was like, but you just I think we think you're going to
• 16:03
  love her. And he just he, he didn't, he
• 16:05
  didn't meet me till my recruiting visit.
• 16:08
  So and he probably looked at me from the airport when I came
• 16:10
  with my dad. My dad's just, you know, big
• 16:12
  jacked, like, you know, muscle. And all of a sudden he sees this
• 16:16
  little person next to him. He's like, what is that?
• 16:19
  What? What did you bring me?
• 16:20
  Straight up, I swear. Yeah, well, you know, and that's
• 16:24
  unusual, too. I mean, just think about, you
• 16:26
  know, the prototype of a shortstop, tall, lanky, you
• 16:30
  know, long arm, long legs. But you know, But there you were
• 16:33
  411 and all 411 have you laying out for a ball.
• 16:36
  Right. And mine's just like I get it.
• 16:38
  Because as soon as I got to Alabama, he's like, we're going
• 16:41
  to try you at 2nd and 3rd. And I go, I get it.
• 16:43
  I get it. Little range difference.
• 16:46
  After college you ended up in the NPF.
• 16:49
  You know, that was pretty amazing.
• 16:50
  You had a nice run there, an 8 year career.
• 16:52
  What was that like? It was hard.
• 16:54
  It was hard only from the point of we had to have real jobs and
• 17:00
  that wasn't, it was like a summer job and that's we joked
• 17:04
  about it, but it was like guys, at some point this is crazy that
• 17:08
  we have to and there was no pre season, there was no spring
• 17:10
  training. I was working in season in a
• 17:14
  spring season, coaching girls, trying to take ground balls with
• 17:18
  them to try to train for May. And then now we're going to face
• 17:22
  all these what you want us to face Kat Osterman Now, I haven't
• 17:26
  even trained for this. And and it was hard, but it was
• 17:30
  the best times of our life because it was just about the
• 17:33
  game and we got to play and wasn't about the money because
• 17:37
  there was none. And it was just, you know, you
• 17:39
  get $5000 as a rookie for three months and you're just like,
• 17:43
  this is mine. Thanks, you know, and I get to
• 17:46
  play. It was such a such a grateful
• 17:47
  piece. And and but it was hard and then
• 17:49
  some. Sometimes, you know, there's
• 17:51
  some bosses that if you're not the boss, they don't they're
• 17:54
  probably probably not OK with you leaving during the summer.
• 17:56
  You know, we had a lot of friends that are firefighters
• 18:00
  that couldn't get off the shift. And.
• 18:03
  Yeah. Well, yeah.
• 18:04
  And I've heard, too, that, you know, that was the reason.
• 18:06
  You know, sometimes, you know, some of the more marquee
• 18:08
  players, they'd get hired by Louisville Slugger or Easton or
• 18:12
  somebody like that, basically is an ambassador, so they'd be able
• 18:15
  to go out and play. But if you weren't lucky enough
• 18:18
  to get one of those gigs, yeah, it had to be hard.
• 18:20
  Oh yeah, with I had a friend on the Racers that she was an
• 18:23
  accountant. She had to do her things and and
• 18:26
  come all I mean, I've never forget before the game, she's
• 18:29
  just papers and doing so many things.
• 18:30
  But the ones that like you had to be a teacher so you can maybe
• 18:34
  get summers off or coach college softball.
• 18:37
  But hey, that's recruiting. So now you're in a big D1, you
• 18:41
  better you got to go recruit. So it it was tough if you didn't
• 18:46
  have that. So we you know, we made it work.
• 18:48
  Luckily, some of us. Yeah.
• 18:50
  Well. And I know, too, that, you know,
• 18:51
  one of the other things we've heard people talk about is, you
• 18:54
  know, after being in, you're at Alabama and you've got this
• 18:57
  beautiful facility with this lovely locker room and all this
• 19:00
  other stuff. Now you're playing professional
• 19:03
  ball and air quotes and you're showing up to the field in your
• 19:06
  uniform or you're changing in the bathroom while, you know, a
• 19:09
  couple of kids are in there, you know, just trying to wash their
• 19:12
  hands after they ate cotton candy or something.
• 19:15
  Yep. And it was honestly like our
• 19:17
  manager and it burned the ships. She comes on in a lot in the
• 19:21
  documentary, Our manager, Joey Man, that was like a mother, a
• 19:25
  manager, an agent, everything, all the above.
• 19:28
  She tried to make us feel like professionals, like, man, if she
• 19:33
  didn't have it and we had a batting glove that was halfway
• 19:35
  ripped, she's like, I'm going to get, I think I have, I'm going
• 19:38
  to get you some. And I'm like, no, we're good.
• 19:40
  I just rolled this thing back up, you know?
• 19:43
  And she just, she made it. She made us try to like feel
• 19:46
  that way, you know, And it's a big, big credit to her with
• 19:49
  that. So during your.
• 19:51
  Time in the in the MPF. Do you have any particular
• 19:54
  memories from that time that kind of stand out for you that
• 19:56
  you could share with us? Oh yeah.
• 19:58
  A lot, good and bad and all. There's so many, gosh, because
• 20:03
  you're still, I call it, I was still young when I got there.
• 20:07
  So I was a rookie and I'm here with seeing Crystal Bustos, one
• 20:11
  of the best hitters in our game, and I'm like, wait, you want me
• 20:15
  to play third? Like she's hitting now.
• 20:18
  I'm like, I'm not going to play third.
• 20:20
  I'm going to play on the lid. Like, and she was my teammate
• 20:24
  and getting advice from her. I was, you know, but there was
• 20:29
  cool moments of like, man, you get there and everybody's good.
• 20:32
  And it was just like it, it was just seeing like even like the
• 20:36
  defensive award that I won, Jenny Finch presented that or
• 20:40
  Jenny Finch award, which which I received one year.
• 20:43
  That was pretty much just like the all around like like good
• 20:47
  girl were, you know, like just like the good guy, like teammate
• 20:51
  person, you know, and when she presented to me, you should have
• 20:53
  seen that interaction. I was like, thank you up here.
• 20:57
  How are we hugging? Come up to her belly.
• 21:02
  Button. Oh for sure.
• 21:03
  I was like. You just toss it down, girl.
• 21:04
  I got you. And it it was, it was cool
• 21:07
  because these greats of our game, like they're just paving
• 21:10
  the way. And that's what, at the end of
• 21:11
  the day, we knew it wasn't about the money.
• 21:13
  We just wanted to do that for what's happening now, you know?
• 21:17
  Yeah. You know, and Speaking of the
• 21:18
  greats of the game, Yeah, I remember you telling a story
• 21:21
  about facing Monica Abbott and the one thing you had on her.
• 21:25
  Can you can you share that one? You know which one I'm talking
• 21:28
  about. Probably I think so.
• 21:31
  What one thing I had on her, well, you could correct me if
• 21:35
  I'm wrong, but I always knew and she contested to this day we're
• 21:38
  friends and she'll say it. She she always said I didn't
• 21:41
  have a strike zone. That's one.
• 21:44
  And it's tough when you're 63 trying to, you know, like so her
• 21:49
  rise ball, I just saw it really high and man, no matter what, it
• 21:56
  was hard for her to break it at my level to make it the pitch
• 22:00
  that is her pitch. But that that one was a big one
• 22:04
  because she always get frustrated and I'm just like,
• 22:05
  either I walked or I'd wait for that her to bring it just a
• 22:09
  little lower. But the best story is with her,
• 22:11
  man. It's a it's a Tennessee story
• 22:13
  actually with college and I got this is such a terrible
• 22:17
  teammate, like terrible teammate at the time, but I know people
• 22:20
  feel this during this time, man, we're at Rocky Top in Tennessee
• 22:24
  and everything's Rocky Top. That song, Jeez.
• 22:27
  It's like shut it off. But Monica was on the mound and
• 22:32
  sheesh, I swear it's like replaying every inning and
• 22:36
  Monica's on the mound. And I remember I was, I was in
• 22:39
  the five hole and my friend was in the four hole.
• 22:42
  Charlotte Morgan, who's the head coach at Fresno State right now,
• 22:45
  she just got the position and she's in the four hole.
• 22:48
  She's up to bat. And man, Monica is about 1
• 22:52
  strikeout away from hitting the 1000 strikeout.
• 22:56
  And Charlotte goes up to bat and I'm on deck and I literally, I
• 22:59
  literally in my head, I go, God, you know, I'm a real good
• 23:01
  teammate. But right now, please don't let
• 23:04
  that be me, please. And man, I swear, until this
• 23:09
  day, she's like, really? And I go, come on.
• 23:12
  And boom, 1000 happened. The lights started flickering in
• 23:16
  the stadium. I'm here clapping on deck like
• 23:19
  this is, you know, and, and then I'm like, I'm not, I'm not 1000,
• 23:23
  you know, But hey, I'm not going to lie.
• 23:25
  I was 1001. I was 1001, but I was in 1000.
• 23:30
  So I didn't care. I I shook out right after her.
• 23:33
  But I was like, hey, man, it's OK.
• 23:35
  I wasn't 1000. But it was such a moment, you
• 23:38
  know. But there was also.
• 23:39
  A time when you got the best of Monica Abbott.
• 23:41
  I remember you saying you hit a home run off of her.
• 23:44
  Yes, and. That was the, it's crazy, but
• 23:47
  that was my, I guess that you would say, you know, how we
• 23:49
  struggle with our confidence as females always.
• 23:51
  But that was my highlight reel for life, which is what I teach
• 23:55
  young girls now. And no matter what, everyone has
• 23:59
  a highlight reel at some point in their life at 14, whatever
• 24:03
  age they felt the most confident they've ever felt.
• 24:07
  And when we get into a dark space, which is that I can't get
• 24:10
  out of this, it's called a slump.
• 24:11
  I don't believe in that word. But we have to learn how to get
• 24:15
  out of. And and it's hard.
• 24:17
  It's a mental game, right? But that moment, from that
• 24:21
  moment on, I was like, that's my highlight reel.
• 24:24
  If I can hit off of this girl over the fence at my stature,
• 24:28
  granted, does she supply the power?
• 24:29
  Of course, she's throwing 72 miles an hour.
• 24:31
  I just got to stick the bat out there.
• 24:33
  But I will forever have that and nobody can take that away.
• 24:38
  And I will take that with me whenever in my non confident
• 24:41
  days, I will go back to that moment.
• 24:43
  Yeah, it's such a great. Lesson right there.
• 24:45
  I hope people are listening, you know, especially if you're
• 24:47
  talking about your kids. There's going to be bad days,
• 24:49
  you know, go back to that, that time where you were confident
• 24:53
  and live off of that. I want to switch gears with you
• 24:55
  just a little bit too, Kelly. I want to talk a little bit
• 24:57
  about that documentary, Burn the Ships, and that's about the
• 25:00
  efforts to keep the Akron racers in the league alive.
• 25:03
  You were featured, you know, prominently in that.
• 25:05
  How difficult was that experience?
• 25:07
  Because you're playing, you got your job now, you got cameras in
• 25:10
  your face. What was that like going through
• 25:12
  that? Oh, it was.
• 25:13
  Extremely hard, extremely hard because again, young minded me.
• 25:18
  When I say young minded 24 or whatever age, I didn't see the
• 25:22
  big picture. I didn't see the project, I
• 25:25
  didn't see the vision that they saw.
• 25:27
  All I saw was golly can I just use the restroom?
• 25:32
  Can I just have us right? Like they need you know, they
• 25:34
  need footage they're going to see a day in the life and they
• 25:37
  needed and I didn't see it. I was never like I said I was
• 25:41
  always present and gave it 100 but it was every day to capture
• 25:45
  moments and real good, hard bad everything personal ones that
• 25:49
  I'm just like are they supposed to be?
• 25:50
  Is it should I sign? I don't know, I was young, you
• 25:53
  know, and I didn't see the vision and I remember not giving
• 25:56
  them a hard time. But there was 1 moment that I
• 25:58
  was like, I don't feel like speaking today.
• 26:01
  Maybe maybe I had a bad game. And that's some really good film
• 26:04
  right there. See how you respond.
• 26:06
  And I just, I don't. And OK, they respected it, but
• 26:10
  when it clicked, I was like, man, this isn't about you, Kel.
• 26:15
  This is. Bigger than you get on camera,
• 26:19
  tell people what the world needs to know and boom, I was calling
• 26:24
  them. I'm like, hey, you guys coming
• 26:25
  out and it's like a three man crew like they were just a small
• 26:28
  little group in Ohio and and they're like, yeah, Are you sure
• 26:32
  we don't want to. I go let's do this.
• 26:34
  They flew out to Tennessee, came to my job and and it was it was
• 26:38
  good. I really dove in at that point
• 26:40
  to say it's bigger than me and it's going to get this message
• 26:43
  out. Yeah.
• 26:44
  And anybody? Who hasn't seen it yet really
• 26:46
  needs to watch that documentary. It's it's an amazing thing.
• 26:49
  It's a really good behind the scenes look.
• 26:52
  And I think, you know, that struggle continues today.
• 26:55
  The AUSL is now trying to establish that, but it's
• 26:58
  difficult for any professional league.
• 27:00
  You know, you think about what you went through and the fact
• 27:03
  you had to have a job and all that.
• 27:04
  And it wasn't that long ago that professional baseball, Major
• 27:08
  League Baseball players had to do that.
• 27:10
  Football players had to do it. Not sure about basketball, but
• 27:13
  probably that just the money wasn't there.
• 27:16
  And so those players, you know, they needed a job in the
• 27:18
  offseason and they weren't going to survive.
• 27:20
  So I think that, you know, seeing that documentary and how
• 27:23
  you guys were so dedicated and the things you had to do and the
• 27:27
  things you sacrificed in order to try to get this going and be
• 27:31
  those pioneers is really amazing.
• 27:33
  Yeah. Thank you.
• 27:34
  And. Like I said, we don't have the
• 27:35
  social medias either. How we did, how we do now, you
• 27:37
  know, I can't imagine if we had the TikTok man, I I'd be on that
• 27:41
  filming from the I'd be like, let's go, let's donate.
• 27:46
  Click the link below. I don't know.
• 27:47
  I'll be saying some stuff, yeah. Yeah, you the you're the person
• 27:52
  Tic Tac was made for. Oh yeah.
• 27:55
  I know now I hate it. My kids.
• 27:56
  Oh my God, I hate it. I'm like, where was this when I
• 27:58
  was your age, you know? Lou, time out.
• 28:05
  Hey Jay, on a scale of 1 to 10, how important do you think brush
• 28:08
  contact is for pictures? It's.
• 28:11
  Pretty high up there, Ken, probably a 10 since it's hard to
• 28:14
  get maximum speed and or accuracy without it.
• 28:17
  Yeah, I agree. But have you ever had a student
• 28:19
  who struggled to get good light brush contact?
• 28:22
  Sure. All the time, in fact,
• 28:25
  especially when they've been taught hello elbow and are
• 28:28
  trying to throw around their hips or they're sliding their
• 28:30
  hips out of the way doing that crazy ninja move.
• 28:33
  So what do you? Do when you run into this
• 28:35
  situation, keep railing on them until they get it right?
• 28:39
  I used to do. That a lot.
• 28:40
  But then I learned about a product called Pitch Squeak,
• 28:43
  Ken. Pitch Squeak What's?
• 28:45
  That it's a cool. Little armband with a squeaker
• 28:48
  inside of it like a dog toy? Yeah, kinda.
• 28:52
  So how does it work? Well, you.
• 28:54
  Slip the armband onto the pitcher's forearm and you set it
• 28:58
  so the squeaker is where the brush contacts should happen.
• 29:01
  Then when the pitcher goes into release, she tries to get it to
• 29:04
  squeak like this. If she makes it happen, she got
• 29:09
  brush. If there's no sound, she knows
• 29:11
  immediately and can make a correction.
• 29:13
  Wow. Cool, so she gets immediate
• 29:16
  audible as well as tactile feedback.
• 29:19
  Oh, there. You go again, showing off with
• 29:21
  those big and technical words again.
• 29:24
  But yeah, she can feel it and hear it.
• 29:26
  Doesn't really. Work.
• 29:27
  You bet it. Does I use it with my students
• 29:30
  all the time and it helps them learn how to get brush contacts
• 29:34
  pretty quickly if they practice with it.
• 29:36
  Sounds neat. Where can I get one?
• 29:39
  It's easy, Ken. Just e-mail
• 29:41
  support@pitchsqueak.com and Jason, the inventor of it and a
• 29:47
  Poly Girl certified pitching coach himself, will ask you how
• 29:50
  many you want and send them right out.
• 29:52
  I'll do that today. Thanks, Jay.
• 29:55
  What's that address again? You bet.
• 29:57
  Kenitssupport@pitchsqueak.com One more time for those of you
• 30:03
  who are listening, support@pitchsqueak.com And
• 30:07
  don't forget to mention in the e-mail that you heard about it
• 30:10
  right here on From the Coach's Mouth podcast and you'll receive
• 30:14
  10% off. Play ball.
• 30:20
  When you were playing professionally, you also got
• 30:22
  into coaching. How did that get started?
• 30:23
  I knew I wanted to. Keep playing.
• 30:25
  I knew I wanted to keep playing. My major was not even close to
• 30:28
  anything like I I wanted to do broadcasting.
• 30:31
  I wanted to do look, look how it's going to age me, but I, I
• 30:34
  wanted to be a radio DJ man so bad.
• 30:37
  Like I'm talking like from the radio station when they tell you
• 30:40
  the top hits and you got to wait for that song because it's only
• 30:43
  coming. Like that's, that was it.
• 30:46
  And I, I love the studios and I love and that's what I studied
• 30:49
  at Alabama. I really enjoyed all that.
• 30:51
  Not so much like news stuff, but you know this stuff, right?
• 30:55
  But again, it was really hard because internships and you
• 30:58
  played college softball so very difficult.
• 31:00
  But I said, you know, I can do, I can coach.
• 31:04
  And I would tell you that was the biggest struggle because not
• 31:07
  everybody who plays well can coach well, I will live by this.
• 31:11
  I will live by that. And it is.
• 31:14
  And it's like, yeah. And I've seen it.
• 31:17
  I've lived it because when I I got this, it's high school.
• 31:20
  What is it? Oh, no, no, you got to teach
• 31:22
  now, not just say do what I do, teach it.
• 31:26
  And and I just wanted that opportunity to keep playing.
• 31:30
  So I was like, I'll do this high school coaching thing.
• 31:32
  It'll keep me playing. Not a lot of money.
• 31:34
  I still was in Miami. Family was there.
• 31:36
  They helped a lot. But that's how it all started,
• 31:39
  because I wanted to keep playing well, you know, and the.
• 31:42
  Thing you say too, about coaching when you've been a high
• 31:45
  level player, I'm sure that a lot of things, you know, I mean,
• 31:48
  you obviously put in the work, but a lot of it came naturally
• 31:50
  to you. Like you said, five years old,
• 31:52
  you could throw and catch and you know, you were a little, you
• 31:54
  know, show pony for your dad. Now you're working with kids.
• 31:58
  A lot of them can't do that. Something you've been able to do
• 32:02
  just by walking on and doing it is difficult for these people.
• 32:06
  Now you have to figure out how to get them to do what you need
• 32:09
  to do. And, you know, there's sometimes
• 32:12
  a disconnect, Definitely. And that is coaching one O 1.
• 32:16
  It's you can't just say do what I do because I can still show a
• 32:20
  backhand just like the rest of them.
• 32:22
  I could still hit just, you know, thank God, I'm still a
• 32:26
  little in shape to to do that, you know, and but there's more
• 32:30
  to it. There's kids that learn
• 32:32
  different. They're not just visual.
• 32:33
  Some some kids need the 90° angle of when the glove turns
• 32:37
  and how to what you know, like you need all that, like the
• 32:41
  angle. So you got to that's another to
• 32:43
  your point, you got to learn how to coach different kids in
• 32:45
  different ways. So that was really hard.
• 32:49
  But I I've studied even as much as I know this game and I know
• 32:54
  this sport. I studied, I studied from the
• 32:56
  best. I went to conventions, I listen
• 32:59
  to podcasts and I made ideas from different because coaches
• 33:03
  steal from each other. You wouldn't be good if you're
• 33:05
  not stealing and you just take little bits, right?
• 33:08
  Like I do believe in that. And you take a little bit and
• 33:11
  make it your own. And now my kids think I'm
• 33:13
  freaking. They call them Kelly Isms
• 33:15
  because I'm making up little like rhymes.
• 33:18
  And I'm like, OK, because that's how my kids learn.
• 33:22
  If they, they need to hear the rhythm of something to make them
• 33:26
  understand if I rhyme a word, how to cover a bunt, man,
• 33:30
  they'll get it every time. And I'm like, seriously, I said
• 33:32
  that. But as soon as I put that rhyme
• 33:35
  in there, we get it now. So it's crazy.
• 33:39
  But it's it was a passion. It became like, I wanted to
• 33:43
  learn more, like I wanted to, you know, it's so crazy.
• 33:47
  And I think we'll segue into that, but I think that's how
• 33:49
  junior college became for me. Like, Oh yeah, before we get to
• 33:54
  the. Junior college, I want to, I
• 33:56
  want you to talk about the Berry University.
• 33:58
  Like when you took that job, did you take that cuz you want to
• 34:00
  stay close to home or you just kind of fall into that job?
• 34:03
  What was that like? I mean, you know, because you
• 34:05
  went back, you were coaching at your high school alma mater.
• 34:08
  Now you're going to a division two school at Berry University.
• 34:11
  How did that come about? Yeah, that came.
• 34:13
  About just exactly how you said it, it was local.
• 34:16
  I can stay at home. It was right up the street from
• 34:19
  where my mom lives, you know, and division two, it's more,
• 34:23
  it's serious softball. But you know, there's an
• 34:26
  academic piece that has to be balanced.
• 34:28
  There's hours that have to be followed, you know.
• 34:30
  So I was like, OK, I won't get burnt out.
• 34:32
  You know, I can just learn and learn.
• 34:34
  And had a great mentor as a head coach that he's still there now.
• 34:38
  I'm good friends, but I learned. So I learned almost everything
• 34:43
  that I teach now from him. And it's like when you, it's so
• 34:47
  weird because he came from Northeast and he's a defensive
• 34:51
  coach and man, I love some defense.
• 34:53
  So I said, by God, I'm going to be wherever I go, a defensive
• 34:57
  guru because people love the home runs, but, you know, and
• 35:01
  they love the spectacular plays, but I'm more fixated on the
• 35:04
  routine, you know, like, oof, that was clean, you know, and
• 35:09
  he, I learned from him and I learned how to how to coach.
• 35:13
  I did, I was like, yeah, but how do you get her to do the
• 35:15
  backhand if it's not right, left.
• 35:17
  And and he goes and he just broke it down.
• 35:20
  And it was so cool. It was so cool.
• 35:22
  And I just made it my own, you know, And that was a big, big
• 35:25
  point that I didn't think, no, it wasn't a lot of money, but I
• 35:27
  was still at home with the family.
• 35:29
  But that was a huge like, OK, I think I can do this.
• 35:33
  Was there? Some culture shock going from
• 35:34
  Alabama, the SEC to a division two school, Definitely.
• 35:39
  Because I was always, I grew up having nothing.
• 35:43
  Just being from Miami, my parents are very hard working.
• 35:45
  So we were just you know how these nowadays everybody has
• 35:48
  like 4 bats and I'm like, you know, those are $500 each.
• 35:52
  But I'm like, I didn't have much.
• 35:55
  So when I got to Alabama, of course it was like, wait, this
• 35:58
  is mine. Like I can have it, I'll return
• 36:01
  it to you after. Yeah.
• 36:03
  And it's like like a sports bra. And they're like, no, you can
• 36:05
  keep it. I go, I can totally return it.
• 36:07
  So he's like, no, but when I got, you know, to bury as the
• 36:12
  coaching side, they don't get that many things.
• 36:14
  They only got maybe one sports bra and not 2, but it was just a
• 36:20
  this is a grateful piece, right? And sometimes that's what it is.
• 36:23
  We're at this level and we're blessed to have a field and fans
• 36:27
  and this and I took more of like, man, but look how cool
• 36:30
  this is that we don't have to do the field.
• 36:32
  Somebody does it for. Us, you know, like I saw the
• 36:34
  great stuff in a lot of things. And then what about where?
• 36:38
  You are now, so now it's a Community College.
• 36:41
  So even a little bit different there, they I'm sure there
• 36:44
  aren't too many companies falling all over themselves to
• 36:47
  give you guys bats and gloves and uniforms and all of that.
• 36:50
  And then plus the fact that this Florida girl is now in Arizona.
• 36:54
  Crazy I know. Is it is it a dry heat?
• 36:58
  It is. Insanely dry, like, and but it's
• 37:03
  so weird, but I love it. I love it.
• 37:04
  And my mom laughs all the time. She goes but wait, you don't
• 37:07
  sweat. I go, mom.
• 37:08
  Like, imagine going outside in Florida and you know, you're
• 37:11
  like drenched. She goes yeah, we just always
• 37:14
  humidity. I go it's not that here, like
• 37:17
  we're not dealing with that. It's hot, yes, and the ground
• 37:20
  feels like it's cooking you, but I've always been the heat.
• 37:23
  I can't do cold. This is like warm blooded
• 37:25
  inside. But that transition, it's so
• 37:27
  weird. I told my family they're all in
• 37:30
  Miami, me and my sister, the gypsies, she's in North Carolina
• 37:33
  and I was like, hey guys, I think I'm going to go to the
• 37:35
  West Coast and they're like, why?
• 37:37
  I don't know. I'll figure it out though.
• 37:40
  I go there's probably softball there, but that was a time that
• 37:43
  I was pretty burnt out with coaching and I went over there
• 37:46
  and I go I'm just going to do a nine to five man.
• 37:48
  You'll see me at Wells Fargo Bank and I would just be, you
• 37:52
  know, behind the desk. I just wanted softball to be
• 37:55
  done, you know, and I don't know, I just was tired.
• 37:58
  And then, man, I don't know how it happened.
• 38:01
  Not even two months into living here and I'm telling you, I am
• 38:04
  not above this. I was Ubereats, I did Instacart,
• 38:09
  I did Ubering, Lyft because I had to survive and I was going
• 38:13
  to figure it out. And I'm here driving up, not
• 38:16
  knowing anything, and boom, somebody hits, gives me a text,
• 38:19
  hey, would you want to coach junior college?
• 38:22
  And I was like, as what? An assistant.
• 38:24
  And they're like, no, the head position.
• 38:26
  And that's when here comes the imposter syndrome.
• 38:29
  Do you guys know? Yeah.
• 38:31
  It's a thing. It is and my family laughs at me
• 38:35
  till the death. They're like, you know, you got
• 38:37
  that and accept it. And I go and and I haven't and I
• 38:41
  still don't, but it's like no way, man.
• 38:43
  Head job. I I will never be able to get
• 38:45
  that. They're like what?
• 38:46
  Look what, what? And it and I wouldn't apply.
• 38:50
  And I was scared, you know, it was crazy.
• 38:52
  And I was like, Nah, Nah, I'm good because I was afraid of the
• 38:55
  rejection because they're never going to get me.
• 38:57
  I have no head coaching experience.
• 39:00
  I went on the interview, got the call.
• 39:02
  Let's yeah, we want you. And I go, holy crap, this is
• 39:05
  happening. And I said yeah, I'll do it.
• 39:09
  And I took it. And that's when I was just
• 39:12
  panicked, you know, like a week of anxiety attacks was
• 39:15
  definitely a thing because I was like, what do I do now?
• 39:19
  Yeah, well. I'm glad you talked about that,
• 39:20
  too, because I think a lot of coaches face that imposter
• 39:23
  syndrome. I know I do.
• 39:25
  You know, I won't speak for Jay, but he probably does as well.
• 39:28
  Or you just, you know, yeah, you have those days where you just
• 39:33
  don't know. And especially like for us
• 39:34
  giving lessons, bad day lessons, you know, the kids just don't
• 39:37
  seem to be getting it. And you're like, oh God, I'm
• 39:39
  terrible. I should probably just get out
• 39:41
  of this and let somebody that knows what they're doing do it.
• 39:44
  So to hear someone as accomplished as you are to say
• 39:47
  the same thing, I think that's a good thing for a lot of coaches
• 39:49
  to hear. How do you how do you deal with
• 39:52
  that? My family.
• 39:55
  Gives me back a little bit because I talk to them a lot,
• 39:58
  cousins and all that. Of course, cousin's a
• 40:00
  psychologist. So I'm like, I'm not calling
• 40:02
  her. She gives me too, too much of
• 40:04
  the hard truth. I'm like, she's like, call me
• 40:07
  and I go, you know, you know, I call her and I'm like, hey, and
• 40:11
  she was, I'm going to tell you one thing and I go, are you my
• 40:14
  cousin now? Or is this like my like, how are
• 40:16
  we doing this? But it's true.
• 40:18
  It's like she goes. You got to stop and and and this
• 40:21
  is where this is where it hit me.
• 40:23
  She goes, you got to stop diminishing yourself because
• 40:27
  some other girls out there are missing out on something awesome
• 40:32
  that you have. And now she made it about
• 40:35
  something other than myself. So I'm like, here we go.
• 40:40
  I go, great. So you're going to tell me to be
• 40:41
  selfless? Like, am I being selfish by
• 40:44
  doing this? And she goes, I'm not saying
• 40:45
  that she was, but you, you have something inside that people
• 40:49
  need and girls are are asking for and you're holding on to it.
• 40:54
  And that's it. I was like, OK, I'm ready to
• 40:57
  share it. So kind of brings me back a
• 41:00
  little. Even after we get our butts
• 41:01
  whooped in games, That's the part that I want to talk to you
• 41:05
  about that this now you're in. The big chair, right?
• 41:07
  You take the job, you're in the big chair.
• 41:09
  Was that an easy transition or did you struggle, You know, some
• 41:12
  learning to be the person in charge?
• 41:14
  Oh yeah, I definitely. Struggled.
• 41:17
  Because I wasn't good at delegating, I.
• 41:21
  Was I got it, I got. It, I got it because I was an
• 41:24
  assistant for so long. I was an associate head even at
• 41:28
  Bethune Cookman. I got it.
• 41:29
  I'll take care of the flights. I'll take care of this.
• 41:31
  And now you have couple staff, volunteers.
• 41:34
  I can't say junior college has crazy staff.
• 41:36
  I have, you know, 1 stipend and I'm like, oh wait, can you do
• 41:39
  that for me? She was yeah.
• 41:42
  Let me help you. And when I released that, it
• 41:46
  felt that much better. I can do other things or focus
• 41:49
  on other things, but the the big chair is still kind of I tell
• 41:52
  the kids, you get the wins, I get the losses and I will
• 41:56
  forever hold that. And it's it's it's tough because
• 42:00
  no matter what, after a loss, after a win, I'm like, did I say
• 42:05
  that right to her? Did she receive my message?
• 42:07
  You think? And a man, some, some of my
• 42:08
  friends are like, Kelly, I can't talk to you right now.
• 42:11
  Like it's, you know, just it's always just I go, I need the
• 42:14
  3030 minute after the game dump. You know what I'm talking about.
• 42:17
  Like, we got to talk about it. Yeah.
• 42:21
  And, you know, my mom, bless her heart, she was just a
• 42:23
  cheerleader for me. Till this day, 25 years later,
• 42:26
  I'm like, Mom, you know what a Reiswal is, right?
• 42:28
  She was. That's the high one, the high
• 42:30
  pitch. Yeah, and also.
• 42:35
  It's like she just hears the venting, but I just need the,
• 42:37
  you know, assurance of like, did I say everything right?
• 42:40
  You know so So what would you say is?
• 42:43
  Your overall coaching philosophy?
• 42:45
  Thought about that one hard because.
• 42:47
  As far as in the coaching world, there are so many non
• 42:49
  negotiables for me with my kids know and mind you, I'm only on
• 42:53
  year 3 here and I have to say we just hit number 14th in the
• 42:57
  country for junior college Division 2.
• 42:59
  So I was kind of cool with that. Congratulations.
• 43:01
  Thank you. I was like.
• 43:02
  It just. Happened thank you.
• 43:05
  And I'm it's all them and I told them I was like, look what you
• 43:07
  did. And mind you, the turn around's
• 43:09
  quick. But the coaching philosophy for
• 43:11
  me is always just that. It's that I hate saying
• 43:15
  grateful, but we those those kids that I have are very you
• 43:20
  got to love softball to do this. And that's how I recruit.
• 43:24
  And as soon as I get a kid on campus, somebody could tell me
• 43:26
  coach, she's awesome. She's going to be great for you.
• 43:29
  But I'm like, OK, you don't know what's great for me, but thank
• 43:31
  you. I'll take her.
• 43:32
  So I brought her on campus. The girl's awesome.
• 43:35
  She's this. And I asked the question, do you
• 43:36
  love this game? Do you love softball?
• 43:39
  Well, yeah, I like it. And it's nothing personal.
• 43:42
  It's just you got to love it, man, and it's a different type
• 43:46
  of love. It is.
• 43:48
  I'm not saying you're consumed of it, but that's my first one.
• 43:52
  But then I'm on the other side. This is the other coaching
• 43:54
  philosophy I tell my girls to release and give yourself some
• 43:57
  grace that you are 18 year old girls.
• 44:00
  Go be that. Have fun.
• 44:03
  Go to go to wherever you go. Don't tell me about them.
• 44:06
  And don't you know everything in moderation?
• 44:08
  But don't get caught, yes? Honestly, be better than sneaky.
• 44:12
  And I just, you know, when they tell me they're like, oh, yeah,
• 44:15
  Coach I, I just, I hit extra and I go, I gave you the day off and
• 44:19
  that was a smack in the face for me.
• 44:20
  You cannot hit extra when I give you the day off.
• 44:22
  Yeah, but I want to do better. You take advantage of the days
• 44:26
  off because there's a purpose. And, and I love that about them,
• 44:29
  but they're just learning how to go be, go be 18, man, you know?
• 44:33
  Yeah. So I'm, I'm big on those two
• 44:35
  dividing, love the game, but you got to love life.
• 44:37
  And I'm going to teach you some cool stuff about life.
• 44:39
  And, and I really preach that. Wow, that's that's really
• 44:43
  amazing. Thanks, very refreshing.
• 44:46
  Too. Is it difficult to recruit good
• 44:48
  players? To a Community College in that
• 44:50
  area. Given the opportunities for
• 44:52
  Arizona players around the country, how do you approach
• 44:55
  recruiting and getting kids to come to your junior college?
• 44:58
  Oh, I'm always about the big fish.
• 44:59
  If I go to a game and I see Arizona coaches standing next to
• 45:03
  me and, you know, friends of mine played with them and I'm
• 45:05
  like, who are you going after? And I'm just like, she's like,
• 45:08
  yeah, we've been watching the shortstop.
• 45:09
  I was like, me too, because it doesn't matter.
• 45:12
  I don't care because there's a level for everybody.
• 45:16
  There's NAIA, Junior College, D3D2, everyone has a home and
• 45:22
  there is a home for everybody. And maybe that shortstop that
• 45:25
  you're looking at, she probably doesn't want to go D1, maybe she
• 45:29
  wants to stay closer to home. So with that hunting piece,
• 45:32
  everyone. And again, I, I kind of had to
• 45:35
  really stick my chest out. And one of those like, we're
• 45:37
  good, you know, like I don't because there is a home for
• 45:40
  everybody and I will go after the big fish and until they tell
• 45:43
  me otherwise. So as far as that stereotype and
• 45:47
  that norm of, well, you know, some kids don't have good
• 45:49
  grades. So junior college might be the
• 45:51
  best route sometimes. But I, I look at kids with A-35
• 45:55
  because they get tuition for free at my junior college and
• 46:00
  there's kids that are not ready to leave home.
• 46:02
  I had a kid ready to go to a school in California and she
• 46:05
  just, she needed two years of growing up and training and oh,
• 46:10
  but we'll take her now. And she was just going to sit
• 46:12
  the bench for two years. And, but now, man, that
• 46:17
  training, I call it a training camp, but we win and we're going
• 46:20
  to win championships. But we are two year training
• 46:22
  camp and I will get them ready for that four year if they want
• 46:26
  to go because I have girls that tell me I'm good after two.
• 46:30
  I'm just going to go nursing school and I am like good for
• 46:33
  you. That is awesome.
• 46:34
  You know your route. I will never force it.
• 46:37
  But yeah, you know, and I was recruiting a kid the other day
• 46:39
  and I'm just looking at her big lefty and I'm like there's no
• 46:42
  way that kids available. You know what I mean?
• 46:44
  Just swinging hope and I go I don't really.
• 46:48
  I go up and I go what's going on with that one?
• 46:50
  She was ASU commit and I go, OK, thanks for your time.
• 46:56
  I was like, straight up was like.
• 46:58
  And I just got a little. Recognition like well.
• 47:00
  I knew she was good going to ASU good for you.
• 47:03
  But you know, we also get a lot of bounce backs, Division One
• 47:07
  players that maybe get red shirted and it man, that's
• 47:11
  what's taken us a little bit this year.
• 47:13
  We got a Grand Canyon red shirt two years ago and she was not
• 47:18
  playing and she was a pitcher and she reached out and I go,
• 47:21
  I'll take you right now. And it was lights out.
• 47:25
  She's a a really big leader on our team.
• 47:27
  And where she wasn't ready then for GCU, by God, going into her
• 47:32
  junior year now at any school, my phone's blowing up.
• 47:36
  And I was like, you didn't. See her, then she.
• 47:38
  Was pretty good and but she needed more time.
• 47:40
  I think it's important because some.
• 47:42
  Kids don't realize that when you get to that upper level of the
• 47:45
  Division One, you're probably going to have to sit and wait,
• 47:48
  right? You're going to have to wait
• 47:50
  your turn right some. And again, everybody has a role
• 47:54
  on that team. But if you're one of those
• 47:55
  people that needs to be on the field and playing, then you
• 47:59
  know, you're better off going to a junior college for two years
• 48:01
  and playing instead of just sitting there for two years at a
• 48:05
  Division One level, barely getting any any of the, you
• 48:08
  know, on field experiences. Yep, and and that's why I said
• 48:11
  about the whole. Junior college route where
• 48:13
  people think it's for, you know, like I said, grades that are
• 48:17
  just maybe not the best to get into the four year.
• 48:19
  It could be, but we have the same classes that U of A has for
• 48:23
  their first two years. You got to take your main core
• 48:25
  classes, the BIOS, the English. But again, these kids just need
• 48:29
  a little more time or they got missed with this transfer
• 48:32
  portal. And you know, it's, it's tough
• 48:35
  to see a high school kid trying to get recruited.
• 48:37
  But then I got a girl from UCLA in the transfer portal.
• 48:42
  I'm going to see what's that about versus, you know, and so
• 48:46
  it's just tough. I, I, I'm telling you, I feel I
• 48:47
  couldn't do it this day and age. It's really hard recruiting for
• 48:50
  these kids. Yeah.
• 48:51
  Well, and I think too that. You know, when you look at it,
• 48:54
  how difficult it is sometimes for these kids, and they are
• 48:58
  kids, you know, they're 18 years old.
• 49:00
  Some mature faster and are ready to be out on their own.
• 49:03
  Others maybe aren't, you know, and, and you give them an
• 49:06
  opportunity to find out who they are while they're playing
• 49:10
  softball. And obviously you're doing well.
• 49:13
  So that helps them with their eventual plan, but it gives them
• 49:17
  that opportunity to kind of catch up or maybe they're just
• 49:19
  not physically prepared to play at the D1 level.
• 49:23
  They were good travel while players, but you know, they're
• 49:26
  going up against 22 year olds now.
• 49:28
  They're maybe 23 with the portal and some, you know, the COVID
• 49:31
  year and all that and they weren't quite ready to do that
• 49:35
  kind of thing. But, you know, they grow a
• 49:36
  little bit more, they mature a little bit more, they get some
• 49:39
  more guidance, find out who they are as players, and then they
• 49:42
  can just explode out of there. Yeah.
• 49:45
  And that I think that's been the hardest.
• 49:46
  Part for me, the transition in coaching is I have to recruit in
• 49:51
  and I have to recruit out because man, my sophomores, I
• 49:54
  have 10 of them and they are good and I know they can play
• 49:58
  mid major D1D2 and I know they can play if they want, like
• 50:02
  wherever they choose. But I'm exhausted with, oh,
• 50:07
  shoot, I have to recruit 10 in. So now I'm looking at the
• 50:11
  youngers, but I have to get these guys and talking to
• 50:14
  coaches. So you know, it's it's tough,
• 50:17
  but I do that in the fall from from the beginning of this is
• 50:20
  what it's going to take. If you want to go to these
• 50:23
  schools. And I am real.
• 50:24
  I go ASUU of a because everybody, these Arizona kids, I
• 50:28
  crack them up. I call them my West Coast kids,
• 50:30
  man. I can take them anywhere in
• 50:32
  Florida right now. I can put them on the beach.
• 50:34
  I can put them in AI can give them free passes to Disney World
• 50:38
  and they won't leave outside of Texas.
• 50:42
  They want to stay on this side. And that's OK because that's our
• 50:45
  first thing location. And once we go location, now we
• 50:49
  go real. Our U of A Let's let's be
• 50:52
  completely real. Go watch one game and tell me
• 50:55
  who you can beat right now. And we and we do I'm I'm honest.
• 51:00
  And then they're like, yeah, but it's a dream.
• 51:02
  I understand. But let's go into reality right
• 51:05
  now. I know and, and, and they're
• 51:07
  real because they say they're like, yeah, I guess they're
• 51:09
  pretty. And I go and they're not
• 51:10
  recruiting you guys, you know what I'm saying?
• 51:12
  Like it's, but other, other, I, I talk to a lot of schools that
• 51:16
  are junior college friendly is what I talk.
• 51:18
  I say there's a lot of D1 coaches that play junior college
• 51:22
  themselves and they're like, I know what that's like.
• 51:25
  I know those hungry kids because the kids are hungry and, and
• 51:30
  it's it's cool. So you just have to build the
• 51:32
  connections, you know, and then Kelly from your program.
• 51:35
  Standpoint, you know, how do you build a culture when kids are
• 51:38
  cycling out one or two, you know, after one or two years.
• 51:42
  It was tough my first year because.
• 51:43
  There were kids already there. I got there in October.
• 51:46
  And when the kids got there, I was like, OK, we're doing this.
• 51:50
  And in my mind, they're like, oh, we've been here.
• 51:52
  You just got here. And I'm like, oh, so this is
• 51:55
  kind of like I got. To ride the wave A.
• 51:56
  Little bit, but as it's hard because this is the sophomore
• 52:02
  classic these two years right now, I told them I go listen,
• 52:05
  guys, we have to win. I have no excuse because you
• 52:07
  guys are my recruits. You hear me like like I am on
• 52:11
  the pressure line right now because there's no excuse.
• 52:15
  These are my kids and they're just bought in and I have to get
• 52:19
  them to buy in quicker. Buy in.
• 52:22
  Quicker I got you, I can. Get you there, Buy in.
• 52:25
  So once you get the buy in Kelly too.
• 52:27
  Then, you know, there's always those crazy challenges of
• 52:30
  coaching where like, you know, managing the team and the
• 52:32
  personalities on that team. Like how do you handle the
• 52:35
  inevitable conflicts that come up between, you know, players
• 52:39
  or, or sometimes, you know, even parents.
• 52:40
  How do you, how do you handle that?
• 52:42
  Yeah, my parents are good. My first two years they were
• 52:45
  diving in, but this year that's a that's a non thing.
• 52:49
  These are adults you want to raise and you want to raise when
• 52:53
  you're older, you better talk to the boss.
• 52:54
  You're not talking to mom. So and and I do they want
• 52:58
  playing time. I we have a thing called plead
• 53:01
  your case and they sit down and say, what's your case?
• 53:04
  Not because I work hard. That's an expectation.
• 53:06
  Oh, I show up to practice on time.
• 53:08
  That's an expectation. So we have, you know, certain
• 53:10
  things, but it's it's tough because I have I I have real
• 53:14
  representation, you know, and and these kids represent bigger
• 53:17
  than themselves. So when they have in that
• 53:20
  trouble, girls are going to fight.
• 53:21
  Gosh, sometimes I'm like, can you guys just like fight it out
• 53:24
  in the locker and and be good like how boys do it?
• 53:27
  Like I feel like boys are just, you know, yeah, they'll just
• 53:30
  beat each other. Yeah, yeah.
• 53:31
  Just be like. We're good, man.
• 53:33
  Totally. Girls are going to linger and
• 53:36
  and as soon as we get to a point, because I have to teach
• 53:38
  leadership too, I got to a point that I go when you realize it's
• 53:41
  not personal when someone tells you, hey, man, you need to get
• 53:45
  your butt down, get that ball. It's not personable.
• 53:48
  It's not personable. It's just for the betterment of
• 53:50
  the team. But then you better back it up.
• 53:53
  If that person saying get your butt down, you better be the
• 53:55
  first one to get your butt down. So it's an accountability piece.
• 53:59
  But man, when they have those conflicts, talk it out.
• 54:02
  Let's go. We have a come to go ahead,
• 54:04
  figure it out and it should be cleared by tomorrow.
• 54:06
  We got it and I have no, I gosh, I don't even want to jinx it
• 54:10
  right now with the drama, but we've been good this year.
• 54:13
  Yeah, I I just remember seeing. On ATV show, I can't remember
• 54:16
  which one it was, but they were talking about boys and
• 54:18
  difference between boys and girls fighting, you know, and
• 54:20
  the boys will punch it out and says, you know, girls, they
• 54:23
  don't confront each other, they just tease each other until
• 54:25
  somebody develops an eating disorder for sure.
• 54:28
  And you're just like, wait. A minute and this is a quote
• 54:31
  that you can hold me to and I hope you keep this one because I
• 54:33
  really, really believe in this and this is part of my coaching
• 54:36
  things when it comes to female teammates and female sports.
• 54:40
  I tell my kids, I tell my girls and my athletes, you guys are
• 54:44
  Queens. You wear crowns.
• 54:46
  You are supposed to adjust each other's crowns, not knock them
• 54:49
  down. We have enough of that already
• 54:52
  in our crazy world. We have to adjust our crowns and
• 54:56
  that's what we do. So anytime there's any kind of
• 54:59
  she's playing over me, we don't have that because I stole that
• 55:02
  from Murphy. We have a very mudita, selfless
• 55:05
  attitude, like she's playing over me because she's the best
• 55:08
  one for the job and I'm so happy for her.
• 55:10
  But we just each other's crowns. We don't knock them down.
• 55:14
  Kelly, when you have something that.
• 55:16
  Goes on, you know, maybe player breaks team rules or, you know,
• 55:19
  you're having the conflicts and all of that.
• 55:21
  You know, they have to be disciplined.
• 55:23
  You know, maybe there's some serious things, I guess.
• 55:25
  Are you a believer in second chances?
• 55:28
  Or, you know, do they, you know, do they burn the ships with you?
• 55:32
  Yeah, I know, right? That was classic.
• 55:34
  I like that one. I worked hard on that one.
• 55:38
  I know I was like, gosh. He's he's witty.
• 55:42
  Yeah, I, I. I do I.
• 55:43
  Do believe in second chances Because it's not like I said,
• 55:47
  they're they're kids and I don't think it was malicious.
• 55:51
  Like meaning we have a thing in our team, we don't say sorry or
• 55:54
  my bad, so an error happens, boom, overthrow, my bad.
• 55:59
  We don't say that because as soon as that comes out, I go,
• 56:03
  did you mean to do it? And then no, I didn't do it on
• 56:06
  purpose. Then it's it's OK Say hey, I got
• 56:09
  you next time. There's no my bads.
• 56:11
  You don't have to be apologetic for that.
• 56:13
  And with these kids, like, I don't think it's just guidance
• 56:16
  and I take accountability. Like, man, maybe I didn't tell
• 56:19
  her that that wasn't a team rule.
• 56:21
  Or maybe she, you know, they come from different homes.
• 56:23
  Maybe there's no family support. You got to dig deeper and, and
• 56:27
  in walking in someone's shoes, that's what I tell the kids too.
• 56:30
  You walk in their shoes before you even throw that rock at the
• 56:34
  glass house that you live in. You can't do it, man.
• 56:37
  You know, So they're pretty good with it, though.
• 56:40
  They know the the standards, but there's been some tough
• 56:42
  conversations, but it's all worked out.
• 56:45
  That's good. And I, I love hearing you say.
• 56:47
  That too because any kid that that I coach now just doing
• 56:51
  lessons, but if they're in the lesson, if they throw a bad
• 56:53
  pitch and they say sorry, they owe me 5 push ups right there on
• 56:57
  the spot and you know it. Yeah, you know, I mean they
• 57:00
  smile, they get it, you know, they self police.
• 57:02
  Sometimes I don't even hear it, but they go sorry and then then
• 57:07
  they get down, start doing the push ups.
• 57:08
  Because I tell them I want you to be accountable.
• 57:11
  I don't want you to make excuses.
• 57:12
  I don't want you to say, oh, you know, well, did you do it on
• 57:15
  purpose? Like, like you just said, no.
• 57:18
  Well then why are you apologizing?
• 57:19
  If you're trying to do your best, there's nothing to
• 57:21
  apologize for. Yep, Yep.
• 57:23
  And our pitcher. She's a sophomore now, about to
• 57:26
  go to a big school in California.
• 57:27
  She's she just learned that. Imagine like she wasn't ready
• 57:31
  then she just learned that body language on the mound.
• 57:34
  She just threw a change up. I'm not lying to you.
• 57:36
  It bounced 7 times, probably zigzagged, came around the
• 57:39
  corner and then came into the catcher's Mitt like it was God
• 57:43
  awful. But man, when she showed it on
• 57:46
  her face, I go, why are you letting people know that that
• 57:50
  wasn't part of your plan? I go, you better look and be
• 57:53
  like that was that was a pitch on purpose and oh, OK, I got it.
• 57:58
  So it. Yeah, nobody needs to know, you
• 58:02
  know, right. Yeah, you got to be like a cat,
• 58:04
  right? Cats.
• 58:04
  Walking along the ledge and it falls off the ledge, you know,
• 58:07
  it lands on its feet. It looks around.
• 58:09
  Yeah. I meant to do that.
• 58:10
  I did it, Yeah. Yes, I love that.
• 58:13
  But that comes confidence. Yeah, that comes confidence
• 58:16
  though, right? Yep.
• 58:18
  Yes, so as. A former player, professional
• 58:21
  softball player, were you, are you rooting for the ASLAUSL to
• 58:25
  make it? And do you have any advice or
• 58:27
  suggestions to help them avoid kind of the same fate that the
• 58:31
  NPF kind of went through? Yeah, always rooting because.
• 58:35
  That's like I said, that's our that's our now.
• 58:37
  And I'm always rooting for that. And you know, it's it's awesome
• 58:40
  to see these players, but they've been playing so long
• 58:42
  that something's got to change something more and now getting
• 58:45
  televised. But that's what it is, man.
• 58:47
  The marketing again, I swear, and I only give me as an example
• 58:51
  because what I would do if I was in that scenario right now,
• 58:54
  forget it. TikTok would have to ban me X
• 58:58
  Twitter, whatever you want to call it Instagram.
• 59:01
  I cause 'cause it is some some of these players that it
• 59:04
  probably are not even the most talented, but they're getting
• 59:07
  some social media time. Oh, she seems fun and it's an
• 59:11
  investment. An investment means money and
• 59:14
  what am I paying to watch? And to be honest with you, it's
• 59:16
  so crazy and you're probably like, Oh my gosh, I don't want
• 59:19
  these listeners to see this, but I'd probably start some stuff.
• 59:22
  I'm not going to lie to you. If I was in a game, I'd probably
• 59:24
  try to pick like, you know, somebody.
• 59:26
  I get hit by a pitch, throw my bat down, give a little point.
• 59:29
  She's probably my friend. But I'm like, because that's
• 59:32
  what people want to watch. They want that oh spice.
• 59:37
  They don't. Everyone's nice kumbaya.
• 59:40
  Everyone gets along. Heck no, right.
• 59:42
  Like I'm telling you, I would do it all over again.
• 59:44
  I'm like, well, I'd either end up somewhere I'm not supposed to
• 59:47
  be, but I would do it like that. Like I'm going to make people
• 59:50
  come back and watch that little crazy third baseman.
• 59:53
  Yeah, yeah. You know it's.
• 59:55
  Funny too, because that that's been a strategy that, you know,
• 59:58
  a lot of people used to success. I'm a nerd, so I know this back.
• 1:00:03
  You know, in the round the turn of the century, 9, you know,
• 1:00:06
  1900s, you know, you've of course heard of Houdini.
• 1:00:09
  There was another magician called Hardeen and they had this
• 1:00:13
  huge rivalry going on. Everybody thought it was so
• 1:00:16
  nasty. What they didn't know is they
• 1:00:18
  were actually brothers and they'd set the whole thing up so
• 1:00:20
  that they could both get publicity.
• 1:00:23
  Yep, and my brother was the one that told.
• 1:00:25
  Me that how weird you said that because he goes Kel, when you go
• 1:00:27
  back, this was an Akron when we didn't have the social media was
• 1:00:30
  when you go back to Akron, he goes start some start some stuff
• 1:00:33
  up and I go what do you mean and he goes just just look at the
• 1:00:37
  umpire. I know.
• 1:00:38
  And he's just trying to use marketing just like, and I was
• 1:00:41
  like, what do you mean? He goes just look at the umpire
• 1:00:43
  and I go, but I don't believe in that man.
• 1:00:44
  I don't want to be nasty. And he goes, it's all fake, man.
• 1:00:47
  It's all fake. They're going to come back.
• 1:00:49
  But you know, it was one of those hard when you have an
• 1:00:52
  image like that, like, you know, Tavo just plays dirty, you know,
• 1:00:56
  or something, you know? Yeah.
• 1:00:57
  Or just she's fiery. Fiery, right?
• 1:01:00
  That sounds like man. I go back.
• 1:01:01
  Now I wouldn't even. I'd just be, yeah.
• 1:01:04
  So do you have? Any advice for youth?
• 1:01:05
  Coaches, especially those like, you know, kind of getting
• 1:01:08
  started down their coaching journey or even coaching their
• 1:01:10
  own daughter, The daughter 1, is tough.
• 1:01:13
  Because I see. A lot at like 15 by freshman
• 1:01:16
  year in high school, dad has to probably release a little bit,
• 1:01:20
  even if he's assistant, that's OK.
• 1:01:23
  But I see a lot of that and that's one thing I'm very
• 1:01:24
  grateful for. My dad was never my coach behind
• 1:01:27
  closed doors. Oh my gosh, every 5 seconds was
• 1:01:30
  like, don't listen to that guy, do what I tell you.
• 1:01:32
  And I'm like, what you know, like he's my coach, but never on
• 1:01:36
  the field, you know, but with these youth coaches, I, I just
• 1:01:40
  mentored one the other day and I say youth like he's just
• 1:01:44
  starting out and he's an older gentleman.
• 1:01:46
  But I go the way you're talking to me right now is not
• 1:01:50
  confident. And girls will eat that up if
• 1:01:55
  you are not convicted in what you say and what you believe.
• 1:01:59
  And they're like, oh, but you have the resume to back it up.
• 1:02:02
  I get that, but you don't know the research you have done and
• 1:02:05
  you don't know that you are at conventions and I go, so you
• 1:02:08
  can't be soft when you really know the truth about how to
• 1:02:11
  field this ground ball or how to hit this ball.
• 1:02:14
  Girls can see that weakness and you have to stand strong with
• 1:02:17
  your belief in it. And I I'm telling you, I have
• 1:02:20
  the friends that don't have that resume and, you know, they
• 1:02:24
  struggle with it because the girls are like, well, what do
• 1:02:26
  you know? That's hard.
• 1:02:30
  Yeah, I, you know, I've heard this thing before.
• 1:02:31
  They say there's like 3 people in the world that really know
• 1:02:34
  what they're doing. Everybody else is just faking
• 1:02:36
  it. Yeah.
• 1:02:37
  Yeah, seriously. And honestly, I'm probably in
• 1:02:39
  that crowd, like just riding by, you know, but I also have
• 1:02:43
  backups, meaning like I, I will never tell my kids when they say
• 1:02:47
  coach, but why do you want us to do it that way?
• 1:02:49
  Oh, because I say so that shows fear.
• 1:02:53
  That shows, Oh, you're not confident to show me or you're
• 1:02:56
  not confident to. But instantly I get my phone, I
• 1:02:59
  go, This is why you see this Oklahoma hitter.
• 1:03:01
  Look, look, look, we we need to get and I reference a great and
• 1:03:05
  I don't get this stuff from anybody.
• 1:03:06
  Patty Gasso saying it. So it's one of those like, oh,
• 1:03:10
  OK, she's got some ammo. I get it.
• 1:03:13
  Yeah. I think I think that's
• 1:03:14
  important. You know, to be able to point to
• 1:03:16
  different successful players who have done these things and also
• 1:03:20
  to be able to explain why you want somebody to do something.
• 1:03:23
  I remember working with a hitter and, you know, her coaches
• 1:03:27
  didn't want her hitting the way I was, you know, telling her
• 1:03:29
  and, you know, and trying, you know, they didn't want any
• 1:03:32
  rotation out of her body and all the stuff and said, just tell
• 1:03:34
  them that right now you're trying to get a stretch across
• 1:03:37
  your obliques, trying to use your transverse muscles in order
• 1:03:41
  to activate them. Those are the biggest muscles in
• 1:03:43
  your body. They said it's given that
• 1:03:45
  explanation, they're going to have no idea what you're talking
• 1:03:47
  about. That's going to sound so
• 1:03:48
  official that they'll leave you alone.
• 1:03:51
  That's so great. And that's that's.
• 1:03:53
  What I've been trying to do with these umpires, I start using
• 1:03:55
  these hard words. I'm like please over, you know,
• 1:03:57
  because they're like, that's so great.
• 1:04:00
  And you want to know, I commend those lessons that you give too,
• 1:04:03
  because even as a coach, I give lessons still because, you know,
• 1:04:06
  just some extra for the high school kids.
• 1:04:08
  And no matter what, I go back and I go, what did your high
• 1:04:10
  school coach say? Coach?
• 1:04:11
  He wants me to do this. And I go, OK, OK, we're not
• 1:04:13
  disrespectful. We can still learn.
• 1:04:15
  There's different ways, you know what I mean?
• 1:04:17
  Because there's a balance, right?
• 1:04:18
  Unless it's like, unless it's something that's like unorthodox
• 1:04:22
  and he's like, well, he wants me to put my glove over my head, I
• 1:04:26
  will shut it down, you know? But yeah, just being able to go
• 1:04:30
  back and say this. Isn't really the way high level
• 1:04:32
  players do it. There's a lot of misconceptions,
• 1:04:35
  especially around pitching. Jay and I talk about that a lot
• 1:04:37
  and, you know, you just want to get that, you know, out of the
• 1:04:41
  way. So that say, let's take a look
• 1:04:43
  at what people are really doing. And sometimes it'll even be I'll
• 1:04:47
  say, OK, you know, somebody's got a pitching coach that's
• 1:04:49
  telling him to do all this crazy stuff.
• 1:04:51
  And they say here I found a video of your pitching coach, of
• 1:04:53
  your old pitching coach doing or how she pitched.
• 1:04:57
  She's not doing anything she's telling you to do.
• 1:05:00
  She just doesn't understand what she did.
• 1:05:02
  She's repeating what she had learned at some point or
• 1:05:05
  another, but it's not really what she did.
• 1:05:07
  So let's do what she did, not what she says, right?
• 1:05:10
  And not, not too long. Ago say like about a month ago,
• 1:05:13
  I had Sarah Polley, one of my good friends and I love me some
• 1:05:17
  Rick Pauly. I can hear him talk all day.
• 1:05:19
  That is somebody that I'm like hold on a SEC.
• 1:05:21
  Let me get go ahead right and just to in all divisions.
• 1:05:25
  And then Sarah and I have been best friends since you know,
• 1:05:27
  Akron and I go all I said this is when you know the loyalty I
• 1:05:31
  go Sarah, it's just me and like I said, an assistant that's her
• 1:05:35
  her strength is not pitching and I go Sarah, my pitchers need
• 1:05:38
  help. I go, is there a way you can
• 1:05:40
  come? And she's when you need me and I
• 1:05:42
  go, I go, look, bud, I can't pay you.
• 1:05:46
  So if you can just do this on your own dime.
• 1:05:49
  She was. I got flight.
• 1:05:50
  I got flight points. It'll be a chance to hang out
• 1:05:52
  with you. Yeah, just.
• 1:05:53
  I'll be there. Done.
• 1:05:55
  She was the man. The coolest thing.
• 1:05:57
  She was there next week. My pictures were like, it was
• 1:06:00
  that easy. And I go, just one little thing
• 1:06:02
  that I can't see. You know what I mean?
• 1:06:04
  I'm not a pitcher. I can't see that posture.
• 1:06:07
  And Sarah comes in and shows the posture.
• 1:06:10
  Oh, it's because you're bent on. Oh, really?
• 1:06:12
  This whole time. OK, and.
• 1:06:16
  And. It's a good chance to hang out
• 1:06:17
  with my friend too. So I was like, man, you know, it
• 1:06:19
  was awesome. So I'm very grateful for her.
• 1:06:22
  Yeah. I say friends like that.
• 1:06:23
  Yeah, right. And who could still throw?
• 1:06:25
  It at her age too. I'm like, girl, that's awesome,
• 1:06:29
  so mad. So we we.
• 1:06:31
  Told you to be about an hour and and we're a little bit over
• 1:06:33
  there right now, but we do have to ask you one more question and
• 1:06:36
  I think I think you're about the right age.
• 1:06:38
  Who's your favorite Spice Girl and why?
• 1:06:41
  Surprisingly enough. It's actually scary spice
• 1:06:45
  Melanie, who's the because I know we're doing it because it
• 1:06:49
  listen, listen, there's a point that she had curly hair and I
• 1:06:53
  was Spanish girl from curly hair and she always had in those
• 1:06:56
  times, you know, we were always straightening our hair with some
• 1:06:58
  hot iron and all that. And at that time, she had that
• 1:07:01
  curly hair. And I was like, Dang, that's
• 1:07:03
  some cool curly hair. Like I want to rock that curly
• 1:07:06
  hair. And I swear since then I was
• 1:07:08
  like. And the fact that like now she
• 1:07:10
  does like America's Got Talent. And so.
• 1:07:12
  But yeah, you got the age, right?
• 1:07:13
  Those are my people, all right? Well, Kelly, thank you so much
• 1:07:20
  for being with us and giving us your insights.
• 1:07:22
  I really enjoyed it. Thank you guys.
• 1:07:24
  I really appreciate it. This is.
• 1:07:25
  Fun. I could talk this all day
• 1:07:27
  appreciate it and I appreciate what you're doing just getting
• 1:07:30
  on and talking ball like this is awesome, you know, and I'd I'd
• 1:07:34
  love to join in and hear good conversations again.
• 1:07:38
  Yeah, we, we just, we're. Really, really thankful for the
• 1:07:40
  time you spent with us today. Talking to us again.
• 1:07:43
  Want to talk a little bit about our promo we have going on too,
• 1:07:45
  if you don't mind. Real quick, Kelly, if we have
• 1:07:48
  some T-shirts that we made, so if you can go to Spotify or
• 1:07:52
  Apple podcast and give us a follow and then also share an
• 1:07:56
  episode, if you can show us that you did that, we will send you
• 1:08:00
  out a free T-shirt. You can just message Ken or I
• 1:08:02
  through either the the podcast on, on Facebook or just in, you
• 1:08:06
  know, personally on, on Facebook or any of the social medias.
• 1:08:10
  We'd be happy to send you a T-shirt out.
• 1:08:12
  We do have limited supply. So if you can give us a like on
• 1:08:16
  Spotify, a like on Apple podcast and also share out an episode,
• 1:08:21
  we will send you guys a free T-shirt.
• 1:08:23
  All right. Thanks, Jay.
• 1:08:25
  OK, that's it for us this week. Thanks to all of you for
• 1:08:28
  listening and the kind words you've been sharing with us.
• 1:08:31
  If you like what you're hearing, Please remember to give us a
• 1:08:33
  like, leave a comment and share this podcast on your social
• 1:08:37
  media channels. And like Jay said, you can get a
• 1:08:39
  T-shirt for it. Make sure you never miss an
• 1:08:41
  episode by following us on your favorite podcast platform.
• 1:08:45
  If you're so inclined, you can also leave us a great review on
• 1:08:47
  Apple Podcasts to help more people find us.
• 1:08:51
  On behalf of the From the Coaches Mouth podcast, have a
• 1:08:53
  great rest of your week and weekend.