ABCA Calls from the Clubhouse

This episode features our first NAIA coach on the podcast and one of the legendary figures in our game. Woody Hunt, the head coach at Cumberland University (Tennessee) joins the podcast to offer his insight and perspective from 38 years in the dugout, three national championships and an impressive 12 NAIA World Series appearances. Hunt dives into his reflections on the growth of NAIA baseball, his humble beginnings in our game and the hardships in building of the most prominent programs in the country.

This episode is an infield coach's dream, as we sit down with the brain trust behind Twitter's #FridayFielders crew – Billy Boyer from Washington, Kainoa Correa from Northern Colorado and Tucker Frawley from Yale. These are three young but progressive thinkers with infield play and how to creatively challenge our traditional drills, coaching cues and thoughts on developing our infielders. We open up the door to the creation and mission behind #FridayFielders, which has built an online community for positional coaches, along with "thinking outside the box" when it comes to structuring our practice plans, catch play routines, etc.

We dive into the small college ranks to highlight Jamie Shevchik, who is entering his 16th season as the skipper at Keystone College in Pennsylvania. Shevchik outlines an interesting path and commitment to the game. He became a head coach very early in his career and dedicates his summer months to growing his reach and networks in collegiate summer baseball, where he currently serves as the manager of the Brewster Whitecaps of the Cape Cod League. Shevchik reflects on the lessons learned throughout his career while providing insight into the special baseball men that guided his path.

We unpack the volunteer assistant coach position in college baseball with two coaches living it every day: Derek Simmons from the University of Alabama and Dillon Lawson from the University of Missouri. Both Simmons and Lawson experienced success as recruiting coordinators in their previous positions but saw the opportunity to join new coaching staffs, giving each of them a unique perspective on the volunteer role. This episode details each coach's daily activities and specific responsibilities within their coaching staffs and will provide all of us insight into this important role.

Entering his sixth season as the head coach and 27th overall in a Titan uniform, Rick Vanderhook joins our show to discuss his career in college baseball with most of those years at Cal State Fullerton. "Hooky" offers us insight into his life outside of the game but also his extensive experience being around incredible coaches and great quality baseball throughout his career. There are some truly introspective moments for Vanderhook on this show and our listeners will connect with his personality and reflections over many years on the field.

Tanner Swanson, assistant coach at the University of Washington is making a name for himself as a progressive thinker in developing catchers. Swanson has created a comprehensive plan that leads with a clear focus on achievement above simple activity for catchers, while adding in a complete drill progression that prepares players for the "chaos" of game competition. Tanner dives into his "outside the box" thinking that will challenge listeners on how they approach developing catchers.

In the first episode of "Dugout Chatter", we sat down with Jim Schlossnagle, head coach at Texas Christian University. On this episode, Schloss talks about his path in baseball over the past 28 years, diving into several highs and lows throughout his career while breaking down the true pivotal moments. The lighter side of this interview gives our listeners a glimpse into who Schloss is off the field, detailing his hobbies (or lack thereof) and also some of the funny happenings throughout the years on the road with his team. Schloss also divulges his personal "Mount Rushmore" – the men in baseball who impacted him the most while adding several key points to keep young coaches on the right track.

First-year head coaches Scott Jackson from Liberty, Nick Mingione from the Kentucky and Travis Jewett from Tulane join the first "Calls from the Clubhouse" podcast for 2017. The three coaches discuss their transitions from long-time assistant coaches to now leading college baseball programs. On this episode, each coach goes through their approaches to changing cultures, leaning on the lessons learned from their mentors while also talking through the adjustments to their daily routines as they sit in new office chairs. They also offer insight to assistant coaches and wrap up the episode with their new recruiting pitches.

As we approach the 2017 ABCA Convention in Anaheim, Jan. 5-8, a special edition of this podcast offers our coaches insight and ultimately the #ABCAkeys to DOMINATING their convention experience. Our host, Jeremy Sheetinger, takes listeners through the ABCA’s Top Ten list of very important reminders and tips to help our attendees plan for success during their time in Anaheim. Information includes the power of networking, fully exploring the Trade Show, being aware of your surroundings and opportunities while also helping plan your time for a tremendous experience surrounded by 4,000 fellow coaches.

In our final episode of 2016, we sat down with coaching legend and ABCA Hall of Famer Jerry Weinstein, who currently coaches in the Colorado Rockies organization and serves as the Manager for Team Israel. We dive into Weinstein's dedication to growing the game and impacting players plus his passion for challenging conventional thinking and enhance his perspective on baseball. Weinstein also offers insight into creative changes to our practice routines and how to let drills teach our players, leading them towards becoming more invested and independent. This episode is packed with terrific insight from one of the best baseball minds in our game.

This episode is all about infield play and we go straight to one of the very best infield coaches in the country - Marty Lees - in his second season as the head coach at Washington State University. Lees has a tremendous reputation as a tenacious recruiter and also a developer on the infield, helping guide his team to the NCAA postseason in 10 of his 15 seasons in college baseball. Lees takes our listeners through his development plan including insight into their warm-up and catch play routines, discusses how to spot infield potential on the recruiting trails and getting his players mentally prepared for the adversity in our game.

Having success as a pitching coach and taking a different approach, Greg Moore sits down to discuss in more detail his approach to "Pitching Mechanic-less". Moore, the head coach at Cal State Northridge, has worked to empower his pitching staff with an ability to cut ties with thoughts of mechanics to make adjustments in practice and in games. Instead, Moore has armed his staff with clear cues that keep his players focused on what they're doing with the baseball in relation to attacking hitters and staying simple with their thoughts. Moore offers our listeners a look inside the specifics of this approach with his hurlers and also the program culture change which has turned positive for the Matadors under his leadership.

With the 13th episode of our "Calls from the Clubhouse" podcast, we sat down with Dennis Rogers, longtime coach at Riverside City College in Riverside, California, to discuss his approach through the years of developing not only his players but also his assistant coaches and staff. Rogers is well-known throughout the country as a master of practice efficiency and he offers our listeners insight into his approaches to mental and visual development within his program along with enhancing baseball skills within his players. Rogers is a disciple of the legendary ABCA clinician and former Cal Poly Pomona head coach John Scolinos. Rogers provides tremendous reflections and stories from his time and sincere impact from Scolinos. Rogers has also used RCC as a breeding ground for exceptional young assistant coaches, giving them a platform to develop and hone their craft while also learning and growing himself from their influence.

Continuing to highlight the clinicians for our upcoming ABCA Convention in Anaheim, we sat down with Rusty Stroupe, the head coach at Gardner-Webb University, to discuss character and ethics in our great game. Coach Stroupe is well known throughout the baseball coaching community as one of the great people in our profession, as is evident by his 2013 Jerry Kindall Character in Coaching Award given to him by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. In this 12th episode of our "Calls from the Clubhouse" podcast, Coach Stroupe gives us a glimpse into his program at GWU, what recruiting character looks like for our coaches and also specific game examples and stories of doing the right things by our players and for the game of baseball.

In our 11th episode, we are diving into infield play with Nate Trosky from Trosky Baseball. Trosky is an infield specialist who had dedicated his career to maximizing the elite infield defender from both the physical and mental sides of the game. Trosky gives us tremendous insight in the core principles of great infielders, the essential characteristics that will help each player move closer to consistency while also offering practice specifics and drills that will help raise our players' abilities. Trosky also spends time discussing the mental make-up of elite defenders and the mindset they possess, wrapping up this episode with his Sith Tool discussion of intangibles.