Transcript
WEBVTT
00:00:00.880 --> 00:00:04.719
Hello and happy holidays from baseball coaches unplugged.
00:00:05.360 --> 00:00:11.679
I'm your host, Coach Ken Carpenter, and this episode is going to be going out on Christmas Eve.
00:00:12.160 --> 00:00:29.039
And I wanted to um take this time to go ahead and thank each and every listener that's tuned in to any of the 185 episodes that I've put out over the past four or five years here.
00:00:29.600 --> 00:00:31.679
And I I I can't thank you enough.
00:00:31.839 --> 00:00:38.399
I would never believe that people would want to hear something that I'd have to say.
00:00:38.560 --> 00:00:57.920
And and I couldn't have done it without all of the great guests that have taken the time out of their day, out of their coaching career and time to just go ahead and jump on the podcast here with me and talk about what they do that makes them so successful as a baseball coach.
00:00:58.399 --> 00:01:01.359
I really hope that it's been beneficial to you.
00:01:02.479 --> 00:01:12.000
And I think that uh there are so many great baseball coaches that share such great info.
00:01:12.959 --> 00:01:29.120
I think it's been truly my honor to be able to just sit back and like I've told some guests before, at the end of the podcast, it's almost like at the end of a baseball game, if if you walk away and you're like, who was who are the umpires?
00:01:29.280 --> 00:01:31.840
Say I uh you don't even remember who the umpires were.
00:01:32.159 --> 00:01:42.560
That's how I kind of try to feel like when I'm the host because all I'm trying to do is uh is uh honor the guest and promote the guest.
00:01:43.439 --> 00:01:52.000
And uh these people that have jumped on with me to talk baseball have been just unbelievable.
00:01:52.159 --> 00:01:54.159
I I I can't thank them enough.
00:01:54.400 --> 00:01:56.719
I want to keep uh going forward.
00:01:57.439 --> 00:02:11.599
Uh as many of you know, I've been uh battling a uh uh a disease that's uh been fighting for 15 years now, since 2010.
00:02:11.919 --> 00:02:18.000
And uh just working my way through another surgery, but I'm gonna try to keep going.
00:02:18.479 --> 00:02:27.919
But I wanted to uh also take this time to thank uh a podcast sponsor, and that's uh Will Minor and his team at the Netting Professionals.
00:02:28.479 --> 00:02:36.719
Without them, uh it'd be tough for me to continue to uh put the podcast out there because there are some expenses.
00:02:37.039 --> 00:02:58.560
And you know, Will Minor and his team at the Netting Professionals uh one day do such great stuff for baseball and softball, but uh they've uh reached out and uh sponsored me early on, and it it means so much and it it really helps me to uh keep this uh show going.
00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:19.120
And I thought, you know, I I wanted to put out a show and just uh talk about something and make it a short one, but I really think it would be more beneficial that if I share one of the podcasts from this past season that you may have heard it before.
00:03:20.400 --> 00:03:24.560
But uh maybe for a new listener out there, you may not have.
00:03:24.800 --> 00:03:30.000
And um it was my sit-down with uh Gary Gilmore.
00:03:30.240 --> 00:03:45.199
He was the uh head baseball coach at uh Coastal Carolina when the won the an incredible college world series, something they thought couldn't be done and he pulled it off.
00:03:45.439 --> 00:04:23.600
And it was probably the longest uh podcast episode that I have of the 185 that I've put out there, and it was just one of those where I was just mesmerized with the stories that he's able to share, the behind the scenes uh what goes on at Coastal Carolina and why Coach Snall and everything is still continuing on there at Coastal and what type of great coach that Gary Gilmore is.
00:04:23.839 --> 00:04:34.000
And it's uh amazing to just sit back and listen and pretty much that that's what I did in this episode.
00:04:34.160 --> 00:04:41.279
And I really think there are so many things you can pull from this if you're a coach, if you're a parent, if you're a player.
00:04:41.680 --> 00:04:49.120
This is a special episode from Coach Gary Gilmore at Coastal Carolina University.
00:04:49.519 --> 00:04:58.480
And as always, thanks again, everyone, to all my listeners and to all of the coaches who've taken time to be on the show.
00:04:59.439 --> 00:05:01.360
Happy holidays and merry Christmas.
00:05:01.600 --> 00:05:04.319
Here's Gary Gilmore at Coastal Carolina University.
00:05:08.800 --> 00:05:21.920
Today on Baseball Coaches Unplugged, I examined what it took for Coastal Carolina to win the 2016 College World Series in Omaha with recently retired head coach Gary Gilmore.
00:05:22.560 --> 00:05:33.120
It required fighting athletes that baseball blue buds overlooked, a strategy for developing players, and a culture built on belief and love.
00:05:33.360 --> 00:05:43.199
You'll want to hear the incredible story how Coach Gilmore laid out exactly what was going to happen in the final games of the College World Series Tutors players.
00:05:43.360 --> 00:05:45.920
A true David Virts Goliath story.
00:05:46.160 --> 00:05:48.639
Next on Baseball Coaches Unplugged.
00:05:49.600 --> 00:05:54.639
Welcome to Baseball Coaches Unplugged with Coach Ken Carpenter, presented by Athlete One.
00:05:54.879 --> 00:05:58.240
Baseball Coaches Unplugged is a podcast for baseball coaches.
00:05:58.399 --> 00:06:04.480
With 27 years of high school baseball coaching under its belt, here to bring you the inside scoop on all things baseball.
00:06:04.639 --> 00:06:10.160
From game-winning strategies and fixing secrets to hitting drills and defensive drills, we're covering it all.
00:06:10.399 --> 00:06:18.800
Whether you're a high school coach, college coach, or just a baseball enthusiast, we'll dive into the tactics and techniques that make the difference on and off the field.
00:06:19.040 --> 00:06:25.199
Discover how to build a winning mentality, inspire your players, and get them truly bought into your game philosophy.
00:06:25.360 --> 00:06:32.240
Plus, get the latest insights on recruiting, coaching leadership, and crafting a team culture that champions productivity and success.
00:06:32.560 --> 00:06:36.800
Join Coach every week as he breaks down the game and shares incredible behind-the-scenes stories.
00:06:36.959 --> 00:06:38.720
Your competitive edge starts here.
00:06:38.800 --> 00:06:44.480
So check out the show weekly and hear from the best coaches in the game on Baseball Coaches Unplugged.
00:06:47.600 --> 00:06:54.800
This episode of Baseball Coaches Unplugged is powered by the Netting Professionals improving programs, one facility at a time.
00:06:55.040 --> 00:07:03.680
Will Minor and his team at the Netting Professionals specialize in the design, fabrication, and installation of custom netting for baseball and softball.
00:07:03.920 --> 00:07:09.519
This includes backstops, batting cages, BP turtles, screens, ball carts, and more.
00:07:09.759 --> 00:07:17.279
They also design and install digital graphic wall padding, windscreen turf, turf protectors, dugout benches, and cubbies.
00:07:17.680 --> 00:07:24.000
The netting pros also work with football, soccer, lacrosse, golf courses, and now pickleball.
00:07:24.240 --> 00:07:28.240
Contact them today at 844-620-2707.
00:07:28.560 --> 00:07:37.600
That's 844-620-2707, or visit them online at www.nettingpros.com.
00:07:38.319 --> 00:07:44.959
Check out Netting Pros on X, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn for all their latest products and projects.
00:07:45.279 --> 00:07:47.439
Hello and welcome to Baseball Coaches Unplugged.
00:07:47.600 --> 00:07:49.439
I'm your host, Coach Ken Carpenter.
00:07:49.759 --> 00:07:54.959
Don't forget to hit that subscribe button and look for a new episode every Wednesday.
00:07:55.439 --> 00:08:03.839
Coastal Carolina head coach Gary Gilmore takes us behind the scenes from the clubhouse to the dive out and even onto the field.
00:08:04.000 --> 00:08:10.879
And he shares what made 2016 such a magical season for the Chanticlairs.
00:08:11.199 --> 00:08:13.759
Vlogged under host, Coach Ken Carpenter.
00:08:14.319 --> 00:08:23.040
And joining me today is Gary Gilmore, retired head coach and college World Series champion at Coastal Carolina.
00:08:23.279 --> 00:08:25.439
Coach, thanks for taking time to be on baseball.
00:08:25.519 --> 00:08:26.639
Coach is unplugged.
00:08:27.040 --> 00:08:38.720
Ken, I appreciate it and uh look forward to uh our conversation and uh I hope it's something uh that's worthy for people to uh listen to and uh get some knowledge from.
00:08:38.879 --> 00:08:42.080
Hopefully it'll uh make their life and day better.
00:08:42.320 --> 00:08:47.279
Well, without a doubt, I I there's there's no doubt that that's gonna happen since I got you on the show.
00:08:47.360 --> 00:08:57.279
I'm been really excited uh, you know, once I found out I was able to get you on the show, and uh you know, I I I always like to figure out, you know, what can I start off with?
00:08:57.440 --> 00:09:06.480
And I I own I'm always curious about what do coaches do when they're not coaching, and you know, since retirement, what's your passion now?
00:09:08.879 --> 00:09:15.919
Uh I mean, I I'll be honest with you, I haven't like like truly latched on to any one thing or whatever.
00:09:16.159 --> 00:09:18.799
Uh you know, like being outdoors a lot.
00:09:18.960 --> 00:09:26.399
And uh, you know, one of the one of the things that I mean, obviously my some of my health challenges are out there, but you know, mainly too.
00:09:26.480 --> 00:09:32.000
I I I I I I miss so much of my own son and daughter growing up.
00:09:32.320 --> 00:09:50.720
And uh I've got four little grandsons, and I said, you know, I I don't I I as much as I love college baseball, and I I I mean I'm I'm I miss it a lot, but I I I I didn't want to go through life and um not know my grandchildren.
00:09:50.879 --> 00:10:00.159
You know, uh my wife's parents, my parents both loved our grandkids, but they, you know, they they were working and doing stuff.
00:10:00.240 --> 00:10:06.960
They they never really got a chance to really know their own grandkids, not the way I know mine already.
00:10:07.120 --> 00:10:23.120
You know, I mean, so you know, I uh you know, I kind of I you know kind of got uh highly persuaded and uh semi-volunteer to coach my my uh 11 year grandson's uh little travel team.
00:10:23.279 --> 00:10:28.480
So, you know, I've I've I've I'm I'm I call it the dark side.
00:10:28.559 --> 00:10:29.919
I've I I've gone over.
00:10:30.080 --> 00:10:47.120
So, you know, I you know, I swore I'd never do that, but it uh you know it's amazing just you know to be out there and get to be around him and uh you know practice with him some and and and do things with him, just just to spend time with them and and and be around the game of baseball.
00:10:47.279 --> 00:10:49.679
It uh makes that part fun for me.
00:10:49.759 --> 00:10:52.879
And you know, we live we live a couple blocks from the beach.
00:10:53.039 --> 00:10:57.840
My wife's a big beach girl, so you know we we we spend a time down there as well.
00:10:58.000 --> 00:11:03.519
And uh, you know, just pretty much anything outside that we can do.
00:11:03.679 --> 00:11:10.960
We do we you know uh she she's she does a ton of walking, and when she can drag me out of the house, she drags me out of the house.
00:11:11.039 --> 00:11:18.000
And I go with her because uh there are very few of those times during during the coaching career.
00:11:18.639 --> 00:11:26.480
It's just hard to whittle out consistent opportunities to do a lot of things that you know normal families do.
00:11:26.639 --> 00:11:40.960
You may you make you know, coaching, coaching it's seven days a week because I mean, you know, you go, oh man, I got I got Sunday off, we can do this and that, and you know, and it's during recruiting season, sure as tootin'.
00:11:41.279 --> 00:11:45.600
One of the guys is gonna run across somebody and go, you know, coach, I I I got him.
00:11:45.679 --> 00:11:48.320
He's gonna he's gonna come on campus on Sunday or whatever.
00:11:48.399 --> 00:11:50.879
And so you're the you're the guy, you know.
00:11:50.960 --> 00:11:55.120
If you're not out on the road as well, you're you're you're the guy back at campus.
00:11:55.200 --> 00:11:59.919
So you, you know, instead of spending a Sunday with your family, you spend it with someone else's family.
00:12:00.080 --> 00:12:03.200
And it's just, you know, it just it's it's just how it works.
00:12:03.360 --> 00:12:20.720
And uh, you know, I you have to be married to the right woman and have the right kind of family mentality to you know be able to cherish the little pieces we can chip out of uh the the career piece if you're a coach.
00:12:21.200 --> 00:12:35.200
Well, you know, reflecting on your career at Coastal, can you is there one single thing that uh was like you thought this is the most important factor for building that championship program?
00:12:36.720 --> 00:12:45.039
Uh you know, I mean I I I mean when we started uh I had been very I had been very fortunate.
00:12:45.200 --> 00:12:53.600
When I when I went to USCA can out of Pro Bowl, uh Coach Wark already had a very a very good program.
00:12:53.759 --> 00:12:59.200
It was on the precipice of of being a championship caliber program.
00:12:59.840 --> 00:13:08.559
You know, the one thing he hired he he hired me, he told me, he said, uh, there's not a lot of money, you know, pay for you to go to graduate school.
00:13:08.720 --> 00:13:20.320
He said, the the one thing I want in return, he said, you know, we our our program, we have we have gotten right to the very top, but we can't figure out how to beat Coastal Carolina.
00:13:20.480 --> 00:13:24.399
And he said, I need you to bring that here.
00:13:24.720 --> 00:13:33.840
And I told him, I said, I said, well, I said, my answer to that will be the same thing as the answer you're asking me about Coastal Carolina.
00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:42.159
I said, I said, you you have to be thick skinned enough for us to develop a culture that's a little different.
00:13:42.480 --> 00:13:49.840
Because the culture, whatever you've done, is obviously good, but it's only gotten you to a certain point.
00:13:50.159 --> 00:13:56.080
But we we have to examine all the factors in the culture that you have, because the culture is gonna win.
00:13:56.320 --> 00:14:15.440
You know, and I said that you know when to answer your question, you know, it it it it took it took longer than I thought to really create the culture because we did not have we did not have the athletes here, regardless of culture.
00:14:15.679 --> 00:14:45.039
You you you can have the greatest culture in the world, but you know, if if you don't have X amount of athletes to execute that culture both on the field and off the field, it it doesn't matter what your culture is, you know, if ever everybody if everyone's doing 85 and all your all your athletes in the field run 7-2 in the 60, there well, we're we're we're just not gonna win many games because everyone else is just better than us.
00:14:45.200 --> 00:14:51.759
You know, we have to, you know, it is a deal we're you know, recruiting and bringing in athletic people and development.
00:14:51.919 --> 00:15:03.600
I mean, the core part of a cultural coastal Carolina during the time that I was there, and I can't imagine it ever changing with with Kevin being there.
00:15:04.240 --> 00:15:06.000
It's all about development.
00:15:06.159 --> 00:15:23.039
It is it's you know, I mean, there are very few players that ever came in there that had a skill set that could just in and of itself just you know play at a certain level.
00:15:23.120 --> 00:15:37.519
You know, I mean, my first year at Aiken recruited a guy named Roberto Hernandez, played 18 years in the major leagues and the top ten in saves in the history of college and in the history of uh major league baseball, pitched in three all-star games.
00:15:37.679 --> 00:15:40.399
He had never thrown a pitch in his life off the pitchers now.
00:15:41.039 --> 00:15:42.000
It'd been a catcher.
00:15:43.200 --> 00:15:50.960
Threw he threw, I think, three or four innings in the Valley League the summer before he came to us.
00:15:51.440 --> 00:16:22.960
And uh the good part about that part, Kent, uh, is that unlike maybe anyone else ever coached in my life, the fact that he had never pitched, he had been a catcher, he had the mentality of understanding how to pitch, but did not have the physical movements and mechanics and pitch repertoire to execute on the mound physically pitching.
00:16:23.200 --> 00:16:25.840
You know, most guys are the other way around.
00:16:26.000 --> 00:16:43.039
You see their physical pitching attributes, but understanding how to pitch, what to do, how to make an adjustment if you're just a tick off that day, how do I figure out how to you know right myself in the middle of a uh you know, middle of chaos and things like that.
00:16:43.440 --> 00:16:52.080
You know, so you know that that's just an example of of the part at Coastal that I feel like, you know, I mean, we we had to do.
00:16:52.159 --> 00:16:57.519
I I I mean, the the year I walked in at Coastal, they had won 17 games the year before.
00:16:58.399 --> 00:17:02.480
And you know, we we just we just didn't have the ability.
00:17:02.559 --> 00:17:16.720
You know, we have we had to go out and find some guys, you know, and and you know, the core group that kind of turned the program around uh was a well, you know, to a large degree, uh along with Coach Schnall, who played on one of those teams.
00:17:17.039 --> 00:17:22.559
Uh you know, it it came down to redshirting several.
00:17:22.720 --> 00:17:28.000
Well, we redshirted about six or seven freshmen one year, the very first year.
00:17:28.240 --> 00:17:33.279
And, you know, uh, or excuse me, the second year, because the first year I didn't get a chance to recruit.
00:17:33.359 --> 00:17:35.440
I just had to play with what we had.
00:17:35.599 --> 00:17:38.160
And so it was really our first recruiting class.
00:17:38.319 --> 00:17:48.079
Now we basically set most of them out and took another beating because putting them out there in games defeated the purpose.
00:17:48.319 --> 00:17:50.079
You know, it is in my mind.
00:17:50.240 --> 00:18:07.119
They weren't strong enough, they weren't skilled enough, they didn't have the things that they needed, but that group of guys bought into the culture, brought into the workout, all the things that became what coastal baseball stood for, that group bought into them.
00:18:07.599 --> 00:18:19.519
And as freshmen, you know, we we ended up uh losing in the in the conference championship game to a Liberty team that had several draft pick guys on it.
00:18:19.599 --> 00:18:27.599
They were they had a bunch of 22, 23-year-old, older guys on that team, big physical, talented, well coached.
00:18:27.680 --> 00:18:36.240
And you know, we took them, we took them to the second championship game, I think it was 13 innings, and we we we made an error that cost us the game.
00:18:36.480 --> 00:18:47.519
And uh, you know, it's uh you know, but from there, moving forward, then you know, we we got a taste of what it took to be good.
00:18:47.680 --> 00:18:54.160
And that that group basically led us to, you know, two years later we won a regional.
00:18:54.400 --> 00:19:00.640
Uh we took Georgia to the second championship game and lost in in 11 innings to those guys.
00:19:00.720 --> 00:19:04.640
They went to Omaha, and uh, you know, we should have won that game.
00:19:05.200 --> 00:19:09.440
They had a guy named Keppinger, hit three home runs in one game against us.
00:19:09.680 --> 00:19:30.480
And, you know, just uh one of those deals where uh, you know, not sure what I would do today, but I I I did I didn't walk in, I didn't walk him in the uh in the uh tenth inning with a chance to uh we're we're up by uh where they we had flip flop, we were the home team that game.
00:19:30.799 --> 00:19:36.480
And uh so they were the top of the, I don't know, it was the top of the 11th game where we lost.
00:19:36.559 --> 00:19:41.119
He got a two-run jack with two outs and two strikes on him.
00:19:41.279 --> 00:19:42.559
He had a two run homer.
00:19:42.880 --> 00:19:47.519
You know, we had first base open, and you know, I sit there and think about it now.
00:19:47.680 --> 00:19:59.759
Like, man, that goes against everything in baseball that you would ever do is the one tight run on the first base, and you're like, oh man, I'm like, this guy, there's no way this can't hit.
00:20:00.160 --> 00:20:04.400
three home runs in one game, you know, and low and ball he did, man.
00:20:04.720 --> 00:21:17.039
But uh, you know, I I'm uh I'm a huge huge uh huge huge faith-based person and uh I I I don't uh i it it wasn't God's right time for me you know I I I you know I I would have never I would have never kidnapped I would have never been able to stay at Coastal Carolina if we'd have won that thing and you know that would have been a like holy cow that's insane and if somehow we'd have gone to Florida State and beaten them the way Georgia beat them and gone to World Series I you know I mean financially man I was you know I was making less than forty thousand dollars you know at the time you know I I would have had no choice but to leave you know and I honestly I you I I always said it because I you know always preached that hey coastal is going to go to Omaha and this is how we're gonna do it whatever I you know I I'm pretty sure the one thing that uh the one thing that uh I do know that is a hundred percent that during my uh tenure there early in those early years that I was the only human being on the face of this earth that thought Coast of Carolina could go to Omaha.
00:21:17.440 --> 00:21:24.319
You know and so you know it uh you know it it there were a lot of there were a lot of bumps in the road.
00:21:25.119 --> 00:21:48.240
Well you know I'm I guess that you know that ties into the recruiting side of things you know you you had to get the right people in place and what would you tell you know high school coaches right now and their players that about what it takes to be a D1 player I imagine it's gotta be you got to have the right mindset and you got to be willing to grind.
00:21:48.720 --> 00:23:03.119
Yeah yeah well I think that's that I think that's a saving grace of um not not that coast of Carolina will be caught up in the NIL and the portal and this and that but I mean the culture that I left the culture that Coach Schnall is continuing to uh embrace uh that culture is is an us culture and as long as you have an us all of us culture and can sell it where they all believe in it and all want to be a part of it you can still compete against cultures that have way more NIO money have way more people moving in and out of their programs and they're just they're just floating talent through for nine months you're you're you know you're you still can do what needs to be done to get to Omaha and once you get to Omaha anyone can win an Omaha because you get days off you get to recycle guys you get you know you you're you're not you're not for the most part you're not throwing you know your your midweight guy might not get an inning out there.
00:23:03.680 --> 00:23:22.160
You know it's it's it's three starters and your bullpen guys you're you're running the majority of the time you're running you know six seven maybe max eight guys out there that get through the whole thing in Omaha you know so you know it it's it's not I'm not saying it's easier to win out there.
00:23:22.319 --> 00:24:30.480
It's just way I think winning the a regional is far more difficult because you can play five games in three days or four days excuse me in four days five games in four days you know so recycling the bullpen guys and doing different you know I mean it's a completely different strategy that has to take place to you know to win those type settings and compared to you know getting to Omaha yes definitely and uh you know I I love what you said Darren I it's a shame that more of that's not uh seen I guess and it's the way you're saying you know the the tweets and the the stuff that's put out there and it's it's all about me you know it seems yeah it's you know I mean I I I I think the whole the whole thing Ken and my you know during you know a college coach for 29 years and believe it or not I think more has changed in the last 12 months and maybe you know in the last 15 or 20 years.
00:24:31.440 --> 00:24:51.200
With the portal, the NIL, the the rule changes, the numbers of coaches that you can have the number of recruiters you I mean you know you know I coached for 29 years where you know the only two people that can be out you know were me and one other assistant or the two assistants.
00:24:51.279 --> 00:24:56.960
I mean you know you you you're out there beating the bushes all over the country and it's two of you.
00:24:57.119 --> 00:26:21.440
You know now they got like half a dozen you know and and stuff but you know for players themselves what used to be developmental you you you know I I can look you I can look around at the programs that were huge developers of young talent you know our ours was I I feel like ours was one of the very best I mean we we had to take guys that simply nobody know very few people ever heard of to be very honest with you they you know you know my my my formula position player wise was we weren't athletes if I was going to make an error on judgment of a player it was going to be an error in judgment of them being an athlete versus a non-athlete you know I I felt like we could take athletes and develop them into players you know if a guy was a quick twitch guy a guy that could run and could move had movement skills and things like that then we could develop that guy into a player you know um you know obviously that wasn't a necessity nine guys through the order but I mean we had teams at times in at Coastal where all nine guys could run.
00:26:22.000 --> 00:27:23.680
We led this league in the country and stole the bases several times and uh all of that but uh you know that that was a product of of young players that were athletes that you made bigger and stronger but virtually almost I don't know the percentage I'd guess 75 to 90 percent of those kids red shirted for you they were they were they were a lot of them were northern kids and it had limited I mean travel ball wasn't what it is today I mean they had limited exposure they also had limited game experience and they had they had to first of all learn how to play the game but physically had to get to a point where their their just natural skill set could perform at a high level consistently and you know it obviously they would show you something in you know in in in camp and workouts and uh showcases that you go to and things like that.
00:27:23.839 --> 00:27:30.240
They would show you something but at the end of the day you know it it it it sorely needed to be developed.
00:27:30.400 --> 00:28:00.559
There are very few there it was almost in our program I mean it got to a point where you know I mean you know bringing a high school recruit in that was a real player you know they get around our players and they they would tell them like hey man it's it's tough to impossible to play here as a freshman you know the guy the guy the things that you have to learn to actually be a player here are it's gonna take you a while unless you're just insanely skilled.
00:28:00.799 --> 00:28:34.079
And eventually you know we get a guy we got on my kid in 2005 named Mike Costanza first round draft pick guy eventually you know he played as a freshman pitched as a freshman you know and from there you know he kind of set the bar of uh okay what's it take to to be uh a freshman to walk in here and play and then we have this guy and that guy you know in the Big South we went I think three or four years in a row where our freshman was the player of the year in the league but they were all redshirt freshmen.
00:28:34.559 --> 00:28:38.720
So they really like sophomores even though they'd not use the year of eligibility.
00:28:39.039 --> 00:32:55.599
But they were just bigger and stronger and and more skilled than everybody else's normal true freshmen you know so you know it was funny they had they actually in the league meeting uh one one year they go well we're tired tired of coastal's uh red shirt freshman winning the league we're gonna change the the role you have to be a true freshman I started laughing as uh I said okay that that that's fair I I get it but no it it was uh I mean that was that was a huge part of it you know and I mean a lot of that with the pitching too we just you know you you to to try to play the teams we were trying to play we we wanted to play Clemson's in South Carolina's North Carolina's Virginia uh as time went on when when when Oak got there uh teams like that were the teams we want to play but also we you know man we we loaded up our schedule with Kent State who was unbelievably good back in those days Delaware man they were on rock solid back in the day they were really really good George Mason you know I go on and off you know our our schedule was very difficult and you know uh I felt like we need to we need to develop to play the schedule not not to play the schedule develop play we we had to we had to be better so we had to do some things to get better we wanted to be able to play that type of schedule because we you know it it you know the big south at that time in the league was very top heavy there Winthrop was outstanding when Coach Hudak was there all those years and uh you know we just had uh you know when uh coach hare was at was at Campbell there at the end of the end of their time in the Big South man they were they were a handful as well Erweyham Southern Coach Shu I mean it was you know at the top end of the league you you you you had to be a top 25 top 30 team to compete at the top end of that league you know the bottom end of the league was not nearly as good you know but so but all all of that it it it every everything we did in the culture piece was surrounded by development first we had to recruit but also is you know we we we put a thing together you know uh you know we had two mantra words that uh we developed along the way of selfless and relentless and what that looked like on the field what it looked like in the classroom what it looked like at Walmart uh what it looked like in all walks of life how can you show your two mantra words and characteristics of the culture of coastal in every setting and we spent a lot of time teaching kids how to do that and uh you know it it it it it was a day it was dead it was different I you know I I I I got a you know they and it was a product of the staff and the players and everyone else it wasn't just me but I got a ton of personal compliments from faculty and staff and people just uh you know the yes ma'am no sir this that whatever they go wow man your your kids are the most courteous kids I've ever met that their manners are so amazing I said well you know that starts at home first you know but you know we we we want to be an extension of what what we feel like true culture and belonging to a to a group means that we we want to be different we want to be we want to we want to be able to be in a crowd and no one pay attention to us but also we want to be in a crowd where everybody goes well i i want to I want to be like that I want to act like that want to be like that and I think too much of that in our world has gone away to be very honest with you we we we're we're not like that anymore we hide behind a a phone screen or a computer screen or whatever with some fake name we don't have the you know we don't we don't have the inner fortitude to to stand up and go hey man I I it's me I'm accountable you know that was that was my mistake or that was this or that whatever I'm accountable good or bad it's it that's on me.
00:32:56.720 --> 00:33:01.680
Well you you talked about it right there for me and and it kind of leads into my next question.
00:33:02.480 --> 00:33:31.440
You you kept building and building and building you know regionals and then you finally win the World Series what what was that like and you know what made it so special um the uh I mean what makes you so special is people said we couldn't do it.
00:33:31.839 --> 00:33:46.559
You know I mean I mean there's still I I have it in in my scrapbook I have a a picture of it you know they you know they're we're playing the number we're opening up against the number one team in the country University of Florida.
00:33:46.799 --> 00:33:58.319
They have four first round we only saw three but we played them on that Sunday night and we saw three of their first round pitchers all in one night.
00:33:58.559 --> 00:36:00.159
Alonzo was the first baseman on that team there are a couple other big league position players I can't think of they go off top my head but they had a they had a fourth first rounder who didn't pitch that day against us you know ESPN gave us a chance of the chance to win the World Series 3.7% chance of winning all right so we're we're we're we're sitting there and you know I mean for me I'll be honest with you I I don't think I ever got nervous one second until the last pitch of the last game and we're like we're sitting there like damn man we're one pitch away from winning the World Series and there's dudes on second and third and it's a full count and there's two outs and I'm like holy moly man this are we are we really this is what's going on up until then I don't think I got nervous at all because it was like we're here no one expects us to be here and every single day Ken that we stayed there every single day you could you could feel it the players could feel it like coach man everybody started to pull for us everybody in the country when we got every day we would go to batting practice or whatever we had a our team bus was all wrapped in teal and black and coastal stuff all over whatever is all those team buses are we'd pull down the street you know game one I we we may have as we left the hotel and weaved our way through to where we were going to take batting practice we may have had a handful of real coastal fans that were were our normal coastal fans step out of a bar or whatever saw the bus and you know we're getting maybe 25 claps crawl going down there.
00:36:00.559 --> 00:37:30.639
You know about four games into it when we get into the deal where we're in the last four we gotta we have to beat um uh uh TCU we have to beat them twice to move on to the championship series I'll never forget it it was a night game and we're we're pulling up for VP and it was like every stoplight we stopped that it was just 50 70 five hundred people they come walking out of these they see our bus coming they start walking out they're out on the corners man shots up they're clapping like crazy by the time we got to the last game I'm telling you it was like a roadblock of people every stoplight it was unbelievable I mean I mean they even made comments on TV that you know at the at the end of the day if you weren't an Arizona fan you're definitely a coastal fan that there's a whole country against their Arizona because they were all coastal people and it it it honestly our players in our meetings would go coach I I feel like these people are picking us up.
00:37:31.199 --> 00:38:37.280
I feel like I'm walking on air there's so many people pulling for us that I that that you know I don't even know this and that I mean our in our own state I mean it's you know it's like you know I I don't mean this derogatorily or anyway or whatever I don't want somebody jumping on me over race or whatever but it you know I mean in some ways you know in the South you still have remnants of uh Civil War so to speak you know and in South Carolina that's kind of how I always describe the South Carolina Clemson deal when they play one another I mean you're you're on one side of the sand with the other you know and for that one series when we're playing Arizona and especially the last day when we're in a championship do or die take it all everybody took off the garnet in black they took off the the orange and the purple everybody in our state was teal and black for one day there may that may never happen in history again.
00:38:37.519 --> 00:38:52.239
It was that big a deal you know our governor broke hundreds of years of of of protocol at the state level and flew our coastal flag above the state flag it never ever happened before.
00:38:52.480 --> 00:39:18.400
Oh yeah oh if she called hell about she's called she called hell about you know I mean she ain't even got a coastal connection you know but it was that big a deal for for all of us I mean it was a you know I mean it was an incredible surreal moment for you know uh I mean you think about it at Kim and there there hadn't been a mid-major win win the thing in like 70 years.
00:39:18.719 --> 00:39:39.039
You know back to when you know there just weren't in the same remotely the same landscape of Division I baseball it is now you know I mean you know as back in the days when you know Army or Navy or somebody like that could win the thing because you know they could enlist the right group of guys and be the best team in the country or something.
00:39:39.119 --> 00:39:46.800
But you know it it's it it it was um I don't know honestly how to describe it.
00:39:47.119 --> 00:39:51.599
Um it it it was so special to me.
00:39:51.679 --> 00:40:10.480
Uh my father passed away three years before we got there and he was so instrumental in my life and uh My faith had like just taken this exponential step forward.
00:40:10.880 --> 00:40:15.519
And uh it played itself out during all this series.
00:40:15.760 --> 00:40:24.239
I honestly think that that you know that I honestly think it had a part of it, to be honest with you.
00:40:24.320 --> 00:40:25.599
I I I I really do.
00:40:25.760 --> 00:40:43.440
I mean, the things that the things that happen, Ken, I mean, you know, heck, I mean, we we we could talk for uh we we can have this conversation for like next several hours, but I I'll I'll tell you I'll tell you two things that happened and uh try to make them as quick as possible.
00:40:43.519 --> 00:40:44.400
But that's all right.
00:40:44.719 --> 00:40:52.159
We're we're we're at LSU and we had we hadn't spanked them the first game.
00:40:52.320 --> 00:40:57.440
And then game two, we're up two to one going into the top of the night.
00:40:57.840 --> 00:41:03.119
And you know, we had flip-flop home, you know, the way they the NCAA does it, we were the home team.
00:41:03.599 --> 00:41:18.480
And uh my second baseman, uh Lancaster, had uh busted his knee uh I tried to squeeze in a run in the in the bottom half of the eighth to give us a two-run leap.
00:41:18.719 --> 00:41:30.480
And and when he dove in the home plate somehow, he and the catcher got tangled, and he did, I forget what they called it, uh medial meniscus or something.
00:41:30.559 --> 00:41:31.599
He did something to his knee.
00:41:32.079 --> 00:41:33.840
He's out for the rest of the year.
00:41:34.079 --> 00:41:43.760
So I I I put a freshman in who had had played some early in the year because Seth had been hurt, and so I had to wait this young man.
00:41:44.000 --> 00:41:46.960
But once Seth got well, the kid didn't know the other young man.
00:41:47.360 --> 00:41:53.119
He he got scrapped at bat here and there for 40 some games in been in a game really.
00:41:54.400 --> 00:42:02.000
So I put him at second base, and we go out there and and you you can only imagine what's happening.
00:42:02.320 --> 00:42:08.400
We're three outs away from Maha, the the you know, the the pinnacle of of what we're trying to achieve.
00:42:08.559 --> 00:42:13.119
And first pitch, three hop.
00:42:13.360 --> 00:42:16.079
I'm telling you, it was a fungo.
00:42:16.239 --> 00:42:23.280
I could not fungo a ball in rhythm more easy to catch than that ball.
00:42:24.400 --> 00:42:25.360
Smackdown.
00:42:27.840 --> 00:42:30.880
It might as well hit a Teflon skillet.
00:42:30.960 --> 00:42:36.480
You know, it was it hit his glove, it bounced down here, sat right at his feet.
00:42:36.800 --> 00:42:44.960
He went to grab it, he toppled it, dropped it, picked it up, threw it wide of first base, guy gets off.
00:42:45.119 --> 00:42:47.199
Well, you can imagine, listen, man.
00:42:47.280 --> 00:42:49.599
They had 18,000 people in that joint.
00:42:49.840 --> 00:42:50.320
All right.
00:42:50.480 --> 00:42:55.119
I'm telling you, our dugout, the concrete dugout was vibrating.
00:42:55.199 --> 00:42:58.719
It was like that much stuff going on, you know.
00:42:58.960 --> 00:43:10.480
And so, you know, we we had we had done an amazing job of keeping our focus and cool and and keeping all that stuff away from us.
00:43:10.559 --> 00:43:27.679
You know, we you know, we we watched for love of the game a couple of times, and you know, at least the the excerpts of Kevin Costner and like you know, uh control the mechanism, you know, and make all that other stuff out there, all those people screaming at you and hollering at it and make it go away.
00:43:27.840 --> 00:43:29.440
We're just playing the game.
00:43:29.679 --> 00:43:33.679
Lo and behold, my pitcher, four pitches later, there's a wall.
00:43:33.840 --> 00:43:35.760
So it's first and second.
00:43:36.159 --> 00:43:40.400
Now, I mean, you know, they they have one, they have the fastest guy in college baseball coming up.
00:43:40.480 --> 00:43:41.360
What's he do?
00:43:41.519 --> 00:43:46.800
He lays down a 25-foot bunt that's about three inches from the foul line.
00:43:47.199 --> 00:43:54.320
I mean, you know, I I had a guy that played in the big leagues at third base, and Remillard made a hell of a play.
00:43:54.480 --> 00:43:58.159
And I mean, we we knew he was bundling, we still couldn't get him.
00:43:58.320 --> 00:44:05.440
And so the kid cut the kid that made the original error, he made a play at first base that I'll be honest with him.
00:44:06.639 --> 00:44:11.440
But this ball comes up into him and forces him into the running lane.
00:44:11.760 --> 00:44:14.559
This guy just absolutely bulldozes him.
00:44:14.639 --> 00:44:19.760
I'm telling him, he comes up, he's got blood everywhere, whatever, but he kept the ball in front.
00:44:20.079 --> 00:44:22.400
Ball gets by, they score multiple runs.
00:44:22.559 --> 00:44:26.960
They scored one run and ended up with guys at second and third.
00:44:27.199 --> 00:44:30.639
Well, the next thing we what happens?
00:44:30.960 --> 00:44:33.920
Round ball to the pitcher, they don't run.
00:44:34.320 --> 00:44:36.400
My pitcher doesn't check third base.
00:44:36.559 --> 00:44:40.000
He catches it and actually threw a grenade to first base.
00:44:40.159 --> 00:44:42.159
I mean, my third could have walked on.
00:44:42.320 --> 00:44:43.599
He couldn't walk.
00:44:44.320 --> 00:44:48.639
Well, then we then we go, then then we get a walk.
00:44:48.880 --> 00:44:51.119
The bases are loaded now, one out.
00:44:51.679 --> 00:44:55.360
And my pitcher goes three and one on a pitch hitter.
00:44:55.599 --> 00:45:00.400
My pitcher's right-handed, left-handed pinch hitter, real good fastball hitter.
00:45:00.559 --> 00:45:07.599
My pitching coach looks at me, he says, Coach Thomas says, he says, Gilly, you okay if I throw a slider here?
00:45:07.920 --> 00:45:09.199
I said, huh?
00:45:09.360 --> 00:45:14.880
Well I said we just we've walked two guys already, and it's three and one.
00:45:15.519 --> 00:45:17.360
We're getting ready to walk in the tying run.
00:45:17.920 --> 00:45:22.079
He said, This guy, if we throw a fastball here, this guy's gonna crunch it.
00:45:22.400 --> 00:45:22.960
I see.
00:45:23.519 --> 00:45:24.400
All right, man.
00:45:24.639 --> 00:45:28.159
I said, uh I said, God brought us this far.
00:45:28.239 --> 00:45:30.960
I said, take it on, brother.
00:45:31.599 --> 00:45:36.800
He throws a slider and the guy swung out of his rear end and he missed it.
00:45:37.119 --> 00:45:45.280
And then he climbs the ladder with a 92 mile an hour fastball, four-seamer, and the guy who's looking for the slider again, threw it right by him.
00:45:45.519 --> 00:45:47.840
I mean, completely full, punched him out.