Episodes

We have had many conversations with high school coaches, college coaches, authors, speakers, advisors, players, and many people involved in amateur baseball. In this episode, we get a look inside the baseball program at Archbishop Stepinac High School by speaking to Varsity Baseball Head Coach, Keith Richardson. It is an honor, for me, to be involved in this great baseball program and you’ll see why by listening to what Coach Richardson has to say.

He’s a self-proclaimed blue-collar coach, a high school coach by choice, and he’s genuinely trying to make a difference for all baseball players. He travels the country delivering his message and breaking down fundamental skills that are so important in building a strong foundation. He was the 2017 National High School Baseball “Coach of the Year” and a two-time State of Georgia “Coach of the Year”. It was an absolute pleasure sitting down and talking baseball with Coach Trent Mongero.

We invited a few travel baseball parents on the show to share some of their experiences with us. The idea came from one of our listeners and we decided to give it a try. What transpired was an interesting conversation regarding various topics with different points of view from a cross section of the country. There was a lot of ground to cover, so the episode is a little lengthy, but we thought that you might enjoy it!

There were a few things that have happened in the high school and college baseball world that we found to be noteworthy. We preach that there are so many aspects of the game that coaches and players need to be on top of, so we wanted to bring these occurrences to the forefront. In this episode we discuss rules, pitch counts, practicing events that happen most often in games and bunting.

Eric Holtz is the former manager of the Israel National Baseball Team. He was the assistant coach for the gold-medal-winning Team USA Baseball team at the 2013 Maccabiah Games, and the Team USA head coach for the gold-medal-winning 18U baseball team at the 2017 Maccabiah Games. He was the Head Coach of the 1st and only Olympic Baseball team to represent Israel. He currently owns and operates the GameOn 13 training facility in Elmsford, NY. Coach Holtz is passionate about embodying the values of ...

Dr. Travis Dorsch is an Associate Professor at Utah State University and the founding director of the USU Families in Sport Lab. Dr. Dorsch’s research is specifically targeted at understanding the impact of parent involvement in organized sport across the stages of child and adolescent development, the role of sport participation on family relationships, and the impact of parent involvement behaviors on developmental outcomes for youth in various achievement domains.

Alan Jaeger founded Jaeger Sports on the principle that athletes need to develop both their physical and mental skills in order to be successful in game situations. He is one of the most well respected and sought after trainers in both of these crucial aspects of baseball. Get your notepads ready because you won't want to miss any part of the best baseball information out there!

"It's not really people stealing other people's information, it's really people helping people because at the end of the day we are all in this together high school, summer ball, college ball, pro ball… we're all doing the same thing we just might be at a different level." - Taylor Valentine - Centre College and USA Baseball National Team Identification Series. Lot's of good stuff from a great guy in this chat. You'll love what this rising star has to say!

We went live at the 2023 ABCA Convention in Nashville. Our last 2 interviews were with Jonathan Reinebold and Zach Casto. These two guys wrapped up our visit to Nashville with a nice tidy bow!

We went live at the 2023 ABCA Convention in Nashville. Our first 3 interviews were with Anthony Pla, Buzz McNish and Jake Lindmeier. Listen to what they have to say in this first episode and stay tuned for part 2!

From the front lines to the foul lines... we bring you the Voice of the Round Rock Express - Mike Capps. Mike worked in radio and TV news for 22 years before landing in his prized home, the Texas Rangers AAA broadcast booth for the Round Rock Express. There is so much more to the man including authoring the book, "Grinders: Baseball’s Intrepid Infantry" where he tells the tales of the game's unheralded foot soldiers. Give a listen to what Mike has to say... We're sure you will be glad that you d...

There are well-known, high-level coaches that we all know and respect. Then there are relatively unknown coaches that have a great message and fully understand what it takes to be “that” coach that can change a young players life. In this episode, we pull back the curtain and give everyone a look at the man behind A Coach’s Diary, Reggie Bibb. Reggie is a young coach that brings so much to his players. You’re not going to want to miss this conversation.

The coaching journey can take you down many different paths. Many times, that track is a long and windy road. Coach Kirk Cabana, Head Coach of Marian University’s Ancilla College, talks to us about his, let’s say unorthodox, arrival at his current position as well as his experiences and beliefs as a college baseball coach.

Paul Reddick transforms pitchers and so much more. He has been endorsed by Hall Of Famers, MLB pitching coaches, and Navy SEALs. In this episode we discuss pitch counts, recovery time between innings, weight training for pitchers, hitting and, of course, some mental aspects for coaching players. There was so much to talk about that we didn't even get into his book, "The 5-6-7 Dad". We will have Paul back for that conversation soon. So, sit back and enjoy Part 1 of a conversation with Paul Reddic...

Bill Eckstrom is a leading authority on performance coaching and growth. He is the founding CEO of Ecsell Sports and Ecsell Institute. With nearly two decades of experience, Bill remains a renowned TEDx Talk presenter, keynote speaker and podcast and radio show guest. In addition, he is the author of numerous research articles and white papers and the co-author of the best selling book, The Coaching Effect. You will also find his written work in Coach & AD Magazine.

There are many distinguishable differences between baseball coaches. Coach Mike “Kaz” Kazlausky of The U.S. Air Force Academy has a very discernible distinction. He not only prepares players for high level competition on the field, but he must also prepare them for so much more than that. Take a listen to what the “Life Coach” has to say in this episode, have a pen and paper ready to write down the many powerful quotes from Coach Kaz and prepare to feel extremely proud to be an American!

Author and freelance journalist Linda Flanagan joins us to discuss how big money and high stakes have transformed youth sports. We talk about many of the issues that parents have with the current state of youth sports and the consequences of raising the stakes for kids and parents alike – and the changes that must be made.

When we talk about practice, what should our main goals be? Are we practicing the areas of the game that happen most often so that they create an automatic response during games? Are we being efficient, purposeful, and productive? Are we keeping it simple? Are we perfecting fundamentals? Do we have a plan? Are we making it FUN? There are a lot of components to having a great practice so, let’s set up our… Practice!

Navigating through the recruiting process can be quite a challenge. Why not make it fun and interesting? The Baseball Bluebook App affords players, recruiters, vendors, and everyone involved with baseball a place to develop relationships. In this episode Eric Wubbena, President at Baseball Bluebook, talks about “The LinkedIn of Baseball”.

It is that time of year once again! Tryout time. What does a good tryout look like? How do I decide what team is the right fit? How do coaches and organizations run their tryouts? There are so many questions that need answers as players and their parents navigate through the complex maze of youth baseball! One wrong turn can get you locked into the puzzle, scurrying for a way out!

In this episode we meet up with author, coach and youth baseball administrator, Adam Sarancik. Adam shares his views on the current state of affairs and uses his many years of experience to explain what, he believes, is needed to make participating in youth baseball more enjoyable for everyone!

There are coaches and then there are coaches that are among the best in the country. What makes them tick differently from the others? How did they become part of an elite fraternity? Every coach’s journey is different from the other and in this episode, we get some great insight from the 2021 National Coach of The Year, Jeremy “Sheets” Sheetinger.

There are many tools in a coaches tool box that need to be honed and sharpened. The is no greater aspect to the craft than communication. In order to be an effective coach, communicating skills have to be high on the priority list. All of the great coaches throughout the history of sports are great communicators.

There are many people in the baseball world that aim to promote our game for the betterment of all who are involved. There are a lot of good ones but there is no better advocate than Peter Caliendo. Peter has literally traveled the world teaching coaches and players how to be the best that they can be. He also shares some knowledge of what he has learned from his many journeys.