The HD Experience
Hunter Dawkins, owner and publisher of The Gazebo Gazette, covers Mississippi high school and college sports like no one else. Join Hunter and his special guests as they bring the best in what's happening in sports on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
The HD Experience
The HD Experience Episode 39: Baseburg & Starkvegas
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The HD Experience Episode 39: Baseburg & Starkvegas
HOST: Hunter Dawkins - Owner/Publisher of the award-winning newspaper - The Gazebo Gazette, Sports Correspondent SuperTalk Mississippi News, Gulfport High Radio Host G96.7, Member of the Football Writer Association of America (FWAA, Heisman Voter), Member of the Associated Press Sports & Editors (APSE)
PRODUCER: Jeff Clark - Award-Winning Journalist, Multimedia/Podcast Host, South Alabama Beat Writer, Director for the Harrison County Senior Services
GUESTS:
- Heath Hinton - Editor, Big Gold Nation, Southern Miss Beat Reporter
- Caleb Salers - SuperTalk Mississippi News Reporter, Ole Miss Beat Writer
- Steve Robertson - Mississippi State Beat Writer, host of The Boneyard, 247 sportswriter, 7-time author, Owner of genespage.com
- Mitch Gibbs - WGSO 990AM New Orleans Radio Host, "In the Zone" & "Breakfast with Bayou Bengals"
- Dale McKee - Pine Belt sportswriter, Radio Broadcast Host of "The Brouhaha" on WABO 105.5FM with Marshall Wood
Mississippi has three teams in the College Baseball Playoffs!
What happens next?!
I would like to introduce to one of my good friends, Heath Hinton, the editor and sports writer for Big Gold Nation. Additionally, Heath is the true insider on the Southern Myths Athletics. Heath, after playing five games in five days in the conference tournament and winning it, do you believe in your heart the Southern Myths baseball team is really ready for this regional?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I do. I think that the guys they played so well in the month of May and in April. It's just been impressive to watch them. I think the staff is set up for a regional. I think uh Coach Oxbrander has really put this team in a place to be successful in the postseason. Veteran leadership, strong pitching staff. Yeah, I expect them to do very well in this tournament. I expect them to be ready to play.
SPEAKER_01As a regional host, despite the strength of these current teams, because as you are aware, Southern Miss has a very strengthy regional right now. Is there a huge advantage to being a host?
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah. I mean, think about it. You don't have to travel in. You're sleeping in your own bed. Uh family's around you. Uh it's comfortable. You don't have to worry about figuring out what you're going to do to get a snack, what you're going to do to go where, how you're going to, you know, what you're going to do to waste time between games. Being on a bus. If it rains, you have a locker room. You don't have to worry about going across the road to maybe the volleyball center or a rear green Coliseum and have to wait it out in there. You got a locker room. You can lay down on couches and just relax, play video games, do whatever you want to do. So yeah, I mean, it's just a huge advantage to uh play at home because it's familiar and it's your fan base. And uh, you know, the P it can get crazy, and I expect it will be this weekend.
SPEAKER_01Heath, tell me about what do you in your mind, what kept Southern Miss out of the national seeding? Because they did finish number nine seed, which I'm not really sure why they weren't eight, but you know, just up to your thoughts.
SPEAKER_00I I don't know. I mean, uh Sun Belt's a five-bin league. I think it's the third most in uh all conferences this year, and they won both the regular season and conference tournament championship. I don't know. I don't know what you got to do to become a top eight if you do that. I I think a lot of it is, let's be honest, a little bit SEC bias. Um these teams, I mean, look at Kentucky. Does Kentucky really deserve to be in at 31 and 20? I mean, I don't think they won a maybe a a conference series all season or something. Something crazy like that. I mean, it is why are they in over somebody like Mercer, who just throttled Georgia Tech, who sworn the top two seeds not too long ago in a midweek eight. Uh and so I don't know. Some things just don't make sense. You know, you look at Alabama at number seven, but Southern Miz 10 run them earlier in the season. Uh 17 10 run win over Alabama. And Alabama's run higher. So I I don't know. I I don't know how these metrics work, how the R, you know. It's it's a lot of mystery into it, how some teams get in and other teams don't. I'll just say that.
SPEAKER_01If both of the high seeds are victors between eight and nine, do you honestly think that Southern Myths can turn it back to 2009, their one college world series year?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, because they've got the pitching to do it. They've got three quality starters. Uh we call them the sophomore three. I mean, you're talking guys that know how to pitch. Got a guy in uh, you know, Harris who comes from a sidearm lefty, kind of like a Chris Sale. Not saying his Chris Sale, I'm just saying his deliveries like that. And was the summed up pitcher year, you got Camden Clark, who has uh really had a little stubborn the conference tournament, but at home, and uh usually he is uh pretty pretty on point. And of course Camden Sustram, who's been really good this year. So, yeah, I do. I think with the pitching, with the depth of the staff, yeah, I do. I think they can go to Florida and win. Uh it's not like you know they're gonna be intimidated by playing in Florida. They're not. Uh the crowd's not gonna intimidate them because of what they play in in front of home. So yeah, I think they can go in Florida and win. Done it before, why can't they do it now?
SPEAKER_01Tell me your thoughts about the since you already talked about the pitching rotation, talk to me a little bit about your offensive rotation. You know, how if the bats, even in the conference tournament, you start seeing some guys like Tucker Stockman, you know, the catcher, and then a couple other guys like Ty Long, you know, starting to show up and build their average up, even though it's been pretty low for most of the season.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, you started seeing guys turn it around towards the end of the season. Stockman was a you know 330 hitter last year. And he stumbled, he stumbled a lot. But here lately he's really passed, I would say, three to four weeks and hit the ball extremely well to both sides of the field. I think what really turned the batting order around is the insertion of Ty Long, playing third base and moving Drake Barrett to DH. Uh Ty the other day in the championship game hit one to uh right center field I thought was gone. But it was a uh, you know, a base clear. Yeah, I mean it wasn't precedent. So I I think the lengthening of the lineup because of those two guys, and then you look at the top of the oil with Seth Smith, who's hitting the ball real well, he hit a home run that was a no-dougter. Urban's been a professional hitter. Morrison's been solid at second base, and then of course you've got Gillespie who has an Kenny power to every every bit of a uh ball field. Russo, who's Mr. Klutch, and then Dre Barrett. I still don't think that Grand Slam's come down. He hit that thing in the warden. I mean, out of the stadium, across the train tracks. Uh I was told they found it in the trees across the road in the train track. So if that went 422 feet, I I think I think they shortchanged it on it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. But uh definitely looked like a golf shot. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, he hit another one that hit off the uh top of the uh scoreboard in left center. So I mean the kid, the kid has uncanny powers, so and then Higdon uh really deceptive power to the opposite field but can pull the ball. I just think that they found their groove later in the season and they're playing their best baseball.
SPEAKER_01Heath, it's always good to talk to you. Tell everybody how they can reach out to you and how they can get in touch with you and follow you guys online.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, you can just uh follow us at uh at Big Old Nation or on three uh just Google on three Big Old Nation or follow me on Twitter at BGN Heath Hinton. Uh have a lot of fun, have a lot of good banner talking about the rehable stuff right now. It's gonna be a fun weekend if you uh and if you want tickets, I'm sorry you're probably not gonna get them because uh the P sells those pretty quickly as a season ticket holders, so it should be a lot of fun.
SPEAKER_01That's good, my friend. Hopefully, you know, we'll get in touch with you this weekend because I think I should be up in Hadysburg at the regionals, so we'll uh we'll be in touch.
SPEAKER_00Man, it's the best food uh best food of the year for us uh media members of the regional at the Catholic Church, let me tell you.
SPEAKER_01That's right. You take care of yourself.
SPEAKER_00You too, my friend.