In and Out Talks Remote Podcast 5: Ben Upton

On this episode of the In & Out Talks Podcast, powered by Tier One Performance, we’re joined by Ben Upton, a Kingwood Park High School alum whose journey through baseball has taken him from the field to the forefront of college baseball media.

Ben began his collegiate career at UT Martin before transferring to Blinn Junior College, where he continued to develop his game and ultimately earned the opportunity to play Division I baseball at Mercer University.

After his playing career, Ben stayed deeply involved in the sport and transitioned into media, where he now runs his own radio show and podcast, 11 Point 7, delivering unfiltered, in-depth coverage of college baseball across the nation.

In this episode, Ben shares his path through college baseball, the lessons learned at each level, and how he turned his passion for the game into a platform that informs and entertains fans nationwide. This conversation dives into development, adaptability, and what it takes to stay connected to the game beyond playing.

🎙️ Tune in for a unique perspective on baseball from someone who has experienced it as both a player and a voice of the sport.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Five four.

SPEAKER_00 0:34

Welcome back, guys, to the In N Out Talks Podcast. Your host, Mitch Metulia here with Jordan Powell. Guys, today's special guest, former teammate of ours, Ben Walkoff Upton, uh former Division I baseball player and owner and founder of 11.7. You might have heard about them on social media. Ben, thank you for joining us on the show today, brother.

SPEAKER_03 0:54

Yeah, dude, no, no problem at all. I uh I had a little bit of FOMO and some jealousy seeing some of the uh the former Kate Park Panthers coming on the show the last few weeks. And uh I was itching and scratching to get back on here. I needed to talk with you guys. It's been a while.

SPEAKER_00 1:10

Oh, yeah, we'd love to see it, brother. It's been it's an honor to have you on. And uh we know that you love baseball, and so we're gonna get into a lot of topics today. But you know, first and foremost, just for our viewers out there, man, a little bit about yourself, you know, where you're from and and kind of your upbringing and and your introduction into baseball.

SPEAKER_03 1:28

Yeah, a thousand percent. Um, so I've always joked around, you know, like the Sunday night football intros, and it's like, you know, uh JJ Watt, Wisconsin. You know, they say the school. I always like made some jokes with my buddies at Mercer or Blynn Junior College that if I ever got a chance to like be on screen and say, like, you know, Ben Upton, like where are you from? I would say Kingwood Forest Cove Little League. Like that's that's where I feel like everything was uh I don't know, my love for baseball started there. So uh yeah, but my name's Ben Upton. I'll do like a college intro here, you know, stand in front of the class and say it.

SPEAKER_04 2:05

But keep the class, I like it.

SPEAKER_03 2:06

Ben Upton, born and raised in Kingwood, Texas. Uh lived there until I graduated high school with you guys, and then went on the uh the athlete journey of trying to find any school that would take me to play baseball. So it led me to a little small town in Martin, Tennessee, um, to play for the UT Martin Skyhawks for a year, transferred to Blynn Junior College in Brigham, and then uh spent my last two years playing at Mercer University over in Georgia. Um you know, stayed in Georgia for a while and then just moved over to South Carolina uh a few years ago after my son was born. So I'm still down here in the low country.

SPEAKER_00 2:47

Dude, that's awesome. And and for all you viewers out there who don't know this, but like Ben and I were on the same travel baseball team when we were 10 years old, uh called the Lake Houston Gators, coached by both of our dads. And so like we go way back. Legends, yeah, dude. And that was back in their prime. Their testosterone was at a you know their peak levels, and like, dude, they're it was a wild time. Um, Craddock, Corey Mock, Eaglehart, Michael Campos. I mean, like, dude, the whole crew crazy, crazy.

SPEAKER_03 3:17

You could still name that whole roster, dude. Like the the the 10 and under and 11 and under Lake Houston Gators, uh, we deserved our own like reality show at some times, uh, especially with some of the characters we had on the team, and then the parents were like a different story, too.

unknown 3:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:34

And this and that was back before travel ball was really travel ball. Like, we have to remind ourselves that 2004, 2005. I mean, what was there like a handful of travel ball teams in like the northeast Houston area? Getting started, I know. It was like the Umball Lasers and like the Kingwood Colts or something, like that was it. Yeah, Kingwood Knights, Kingwood Mustangs, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:57

For our sector in Houston, like the Kingwood Umblets has to hit a pocket. That's arguably one of the best like baseball sections of Houston, other than like Tomball, Montgomery, Magnolia. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_04 4:06

So like that's currently right now, too.

SPEAKER_00 4:08

Yeah, and that's how it stands today, is like North Side and Northeast Side. That's pretty much baseball hub of Houston. Um, but dude, like you've always been a spectacular first best first baseman I ever played with, always getting me out of trouble with my bad throws from time to time, and uh could always raid.

SPEAKER_03 4:26

Time out, Mitch. No, he's lying, he's lying. To apologize to you because there was nothing that made you more mad than ever whenever we would throw it around the horn after getting it out. I would launch it over your head probably twice a game, and like that was the only time I saw you mad on a baseball field was cool, man. I was like, just I could see it in your face, and like I'll be yips throwing you the ball.

SPEAKER_01 4:57

You know what I'm talking about, too. Yes, but you could pick it. That's all that mattered. I was like, as long as you pick it, I'll let you throw it in the outfield, throw it to an evolving door out in left field, whoever was out there. Whether it be Craddock, whether it be Velko or whoever was out there, you know.

SPEAKER_00 5:19

Um, but bro, you're I mean, we played together for so long, but you know, your journey was so different after high school, you know. And I also want to highlight that to these kids because it's like it's not all rainbows and unicorns, like you know, because you batted, like I mean, what was your recruiting process like, you know, out of high school?

SPEAKER_03 5:39

So it was like nothing for a long time. Um, so the summer after my junior year, so going into the fall of a senior year, uh, I mean, we didn't have a high school coach to like fall back on to like help us get recruited because buddy Thames retired. Um, so we were without a head coach for high school, and then I played for a travel ball team that was just local, um, the Bayou City Gators with Ronnie Sowell, who's an awesome dude, like one of my favorite dudes in the in the whole country. Um, but like he was also not somebody that was like uh like he would help you with recruiting, but like he wasn't um he was trying to win games and like and played you know summer baseball competitively, which I've loved. Uh I hit pretty well in a couple um showcase tournaments. Like we would travel a little bit. Um, we went to Atlanta for one, and I think I played good enough to like get some traction from some JUCOs and some uh you know non-D1s out there. And then um the fall of my senior year, I got one phone call from a Division I school, which was uh UT Martin, and I like ignored the call because I didn't know who it was. Guy left me a voicemail, tried to call back, uh he didn't answer, so I left a voicemail and I was so nervous talking to him on the phone, like leaving a voicemail. Like I was so nervous. Uh and then like we would I played some fallball. Excuse me. I played some fallball uh my senior year, and um after fallball was over, I was like, dude, I don't know where I'm gonna go. Like I I feel like I'm good enough to play somewhere in college, but like I don't know where. And then I got sick for like two weeks and lost like 20 pounds. So I I was at the time like 185 down to like 165. So that was like around Thanksgiving. I think it was mono or something along the lines of mono where I just couldn't eat. So I remember I was like panicking because guys like yourself, Mitch, you guys were like at sight day and stuff, and I felt like I was behind. I called the UT Martin coach back. Um called him back and I was like, hey, I want to go there. And he said, okay, cool. So then after that we we I took a visit and then uh took a visit and then uh signed like the next day. So I just took the first opportunity that was given to me.

SPEAKER_04 8:15

Did you sign for anything or was it a walk-on, or did you sign for 10, 20, 30?

SPEAKER_03 8:20

It was um it was all I think everything was covered except for a few things with academics. And then at uh so I guess I was I didn't get athletic money until the um like the December break after my freshman year. So like at that halfway point, I think I ended up getting some some athletic money there. But yeah, it was uh it was one of those where I was like, yeah, dude, he's the only coach that like believes in me and like I want to go travel somewhere. So let's do it.

SPEAKER_04 8:52

So how did he how did he hear about you? Did he watch you play or did he uh did he like just hear word to mouth and then become a big thing?

SPEAKER_03 9:00

It was word of mouth. It was word of mouth. I forget the connection, but like what these what people will learn is like everybody in the college industry like knows somebody or they know somebody that knows somebody and like word spreads pretty quickly because all college coaches like trust each other. So I forget the exact story, um but somebody like referred me over there. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 9:29

And I saw Do you believe that like if you're good enough they'll find you?

SPEAKER_03 9:33

Yeah, 100%. Like if you're if you're a good enough player, somebody's gonna speak up for you. I like it's the the best way I always uh talk, like especially with like recruiting advice, is if you're a good player, somebody's gonna stick their neck out and like help you any way possible. Like they'll they'll text somebody, call somebody, word will spread. And then like stats don't lie. It's always like a big thing. You know, if you're playing for Kingwood Park High School and you're you know leading the district and slugging percentage, like somebody's gonna find out and somebody's gonna take a chance on you.

SPEAKER_00 10:12

Absolutely. And so that visit was in the fall, like that was in December going into your uh going into the first it was the first week of January.

SPEAKER_03 10:21

It was like January 5th.

SPEAKER_04 10:23

And what kind of uh what kind of player are you at this time? Like had you been working on like, you know, certain holes in your game were you just uh you're like, hey, I'm just gonna do whatever whatever I need to to feel good to go out there, or like what kind of player are you at this point?

SPEAKER_03 10:39

At that point, I'm an undersized first baseman that didn't hit for much power. Um slow footed. Um I think I think the uh the ability like I I was good at hitting the ball on a line. Like I I guess like the the hit ability was there, the defense at first was there, but like I didn't have any like five-star like attributes. Like I wasn't the best athlete on the field. I was probably the you know, fourth or fifth best player on our high school team. Like it wasn't like I stood out in any way. I just I didn't strike out very often and like you know tried to hit the ball where it was pitched, and good things sometimes happen. So at that time though, it was it was a it was a tough reality for me because I was a six foot 185 first baseman that hit left-handed, threw right-handed, didn't throw hard, didn't run fast, didn't hit the ball over the fence. So there was like an identity crisis there for a while.

SPEAKER_04 11:54

You had the best jumps I've ever seen in my life, though.

SPEAKER_00 11:56

When you I was about to say, dude, this is the best baseball I've ever seen.

SPEAKER_04 12:00

You have the most best pitcher sense I've ever seen to where I was like, surely they have to step off and throw him out.

SPEAKER_00 12:07

I had to be baseball IQ was off the charts.

SPEAKER_01 12:11

It was like this dude's skill percentage. If you were moving like Charles Xavier out there, they're like three.

SPEAKER_03 12:20

I know, I I looked like I was running in a wheelchair, it was not good.

SPEAKER_04 12:24

Um way, and then they would just throw home right as everyone said step off, and you're in there by a landslide. And I was like, that's incredible. Yeah, I it it's so shitless to do that.

SPEAKER_03 12:43

It's kind of like dude, I also played the outfield a little bit, like my sophomore year, and I was the slowest kid on the team, but like anything that would get to anything I'd get to, I'd catch, and like that was good enough for high school baseball back then. 100%, yeah. As long as you can catch what's hit to you, yeah. Yeah, yes. But dude, I I want to bring this up with you guys because you guys are still in touch with with high school baseball and even like travel ball. The kids these days seem like they're much more powerful athletes than like what we played against or played with. It like I feel like the training has gotten so much better because kids are bigger, faster, and stronger than what they were even 10-15 years ago.

SPEAKER_04 13:24

So like I'd say yes to that, to that, to that statement. I'll also say that like I don't know, I feel like we I feel like the the skill sets are like the the sports science behind it, the kinesiology behind baseball, and multiple sports, but the sports science behind it has gone so far that like you know having a kid do a barehand, a 10-year-old doing a barehand slow roller is not that uncommon than when we did it as like 17-year-olds, and some people thought that was like showboating. Like, you know, like some people thought, like, you who you think you are, Karen Jader, like doing doing little girl like that, but like it's like widely adopted now as like you need to learn how to do this. And then on the and we also play with some, but I also think we played with freaks of nature because you got like Caleb Loson, you got like you know, if everyone in our district had one guy that went D1 on their team at least, you know. Like I also, and then a lot of these kids, so I feel like in your in terms of what you're referencing, Ben, like the kids that you're referring to, like the actual baseball guys that are going to play college ball, I agree, are like absolute units compared to we what we were, but the standard high school student is not if that makes sense. That makes sense.

SPEAKER_00 14:43

Well, Jordan and I talk about it, like the average like high school height for these dudes is like they're all like six, two, six, three, six, four. Like, there's like no.

SPEAKER_04 14:50

Look at the high school students.

SPEAKER_00 14:51

Yeah, like they're just they're tall kids. I don't know what's in the water, the phones, like in the milk, like I don't really know, right? But also it's become so skill specific, you know. Like these kids aren't playing three, four, five sports a year anymore, like we were. So like they're playing baseball year round. So like at the actual skills of like fielding ground balls, of hitting home runs, I think that skill set has progressed, right? Um, but I do feel that they don't have the physical toughness because they don't play the physical sports sometimes, like right. They don't play football, they don't play those types of, they're not used to getting hit in the mouth, so like they're just not as tough.

SPEAKER_04 15:32

That culture shift, like in between the generations, I feel like.

SPEAKER_00 15:35

And also, like I will say, like these bats are pretty juiced now. Like, not to take anything away from these hitters, but it's like they've they've gone back to the BESR era bats because like we had the first generation of BB cores.

SPEAKER_04 15:48

Yeah, we were just talking about I was like, bro, we struggled against those bats. We put our life force into that.

SPEAKER_00 16:01

I I remember I was swinging one of Phil's bats in the cages, and I was like, Oh, what I can this these bats killed somebody, these bats will kill somebody, dude. Like, this is wild. This was like three, four years ago.

SPEAKER_03 16:12

Mitch, do you remember how many balls you hit off the wall in high school that like it would used to piss you off so much that it weren't home runs? And that was dead ball, dead bat era.

SPEAKER_00 16:26

Here's the thing: your your dad and my dad were from the similar era from old school philosophy. They taught us to swim level, so we swung level, hit with our hands, bro. So I was like, if we just learned how to lift the ball a little bit, like a little bit about launch angle, like getting that back shoulders a little bit lower on plane with the pitch, you and I would have had so many more home runs.

SPEAKER_03 16:49

We we also played in an era that like we were cursed, Mitch. Maybe it was a blessing, but think about this. Every coach wanted to be Augie Garrito and Wayne Graham, like growing up in Texas, uh, Texas High School, Texas Middle School, um, between the era of 2005 to 2013, when like Augie Garrito and Wayne Graham were like Jesus, uh like the like the Lord Jesus and God, like they were preached upon, and they love small ball, and like they love doing the little things like hitting line drives the other way, and bunting and running, and like so. Every high school, every coach in Texas wanted to be like that. And like they adopted, and like that's what was taught to us for our youth, and and it wasn't our game, and that wasn't our game.

SPEAKER_00 17:42

Like, we you and I, you meet like we're not small ball guys, like we're not bunters. Jordan's a bunter.

SPEAKER_04 17:48

Jordan can in high school, not in high school, juice.

SPEAKER_00 17:51

Jordan had juice too.

SPEAKER_04 17:53

Yeah, not in high school, though. I I was a bunter in college, but I did not but I never buntered in high school.

SPEAKER_00 17:58

But that was because Jordan's dad taught him. So Jordan didn't know how to hit the ball with back spin. He only had he only knew how to hit it with top spin until he got to college, and then he started hitting bombs.

SPEAKER_04 18:07

Yeah, my dad, my dad got me this uh this little league bat, and then he duct taped a 10-pound weight. And like what would happen is when I started facing like harder pitching, you know, like sometimes my wrist would break on contact, just because, you know, like probably because of bad timing on my part, not necessarily because I'm weak. My dad took it as a sign of weakness, and he would literally have me a hundred times a day just practice rolling over my wrist, which is I swear to God. That's why you have those big wrists now. Big four, probably, and that's also why I would smack balls and it would dive into the outfield, and I would never hit any home runs. I think I had five home runs my senior year, all top spin bombs. Like a top spin, hard is gonna top spin home run. Like I'm in the 350 topspin over K Park's field. Yeah, because the fence is tall as shit. Like, you gotta like it, it is ridiculous.

SPEAKER_00 19:02

Dude, yeah, no, so Ben, you go to Tennessee Martin, and like, dude, describe to us your first season because like, bro, you hit like 325 or something like that your first year. Outstanding.

SPEAKER_03 19:13

Yeah, I had I had a good freshman year, and like honestly, it was because I was so scared I was going to get cut. Like in my head, um going to UT Martin, like I was like, dude, I'm a freshman from out of state, like there's no reason for them to keep me here. Like, you gotta do something to like prove the coaches that like at least you like at least I want to be there. So like I would I would hit in the cages nonstop, like I'd be around the facility just to like try to show the upperclassmen who the upperclassmen like weren't great, like they had terrible college careers and like the program never won games. Like we were it was a bad program back then. So I don't know why I was trying to impress those guys. Um but yeah, like I I ended up getting some playing time, like just uh it was a little bit of luck. Like we had some injuries, and then like I made I I made the most of the opportunities that I got early in the year, and it kind of carried me through the rest of the year. But yeah, it was really my freshman year where I learned how to hit the ball in the air, and uh I think I hit five or six homers as a freshman, which back then like nobody was hitting homers in college baseball. So hard. Um it was so hard. Like I think I led the OVC and home runs as a freshman, um, just like swinging a bigger bat. Because guys, like I swung a 32, I swung a 32 29 in high school. No way, really and then in college I swung a 34. I went two like two inches. Wow, wow, dude. I swung a 32-inch Marucci in high school. You started lifting weights all of a sudden. Yeah, just I started eating a lot. I mean, the freshman 15 was something that like I it was so easy, guys. Like, I probably put on like a freshman 30. Just eating in a calf every day, three times a day. I was living my best life. So the OVC, what conference was that? Ohio Valley Conference. So you played you play Ohio, University of Ohio? No, it was uh I can name you all teams. It's South SEMO, Tennessee Tech, um SIMO, Eastern Illinois, SIUE, uh Moorhead State, Murray State. Oh, Murray State, that's right. Okay, um Jacksonville State used to be in so Jacksonville State and Murray State left. Um, I see. Okay. But back then they were in it. Austin P was in it. Okay. Yeah, I mean it wasn't it wasn't a great baseball conference, but like I don't know. There was some you got some competitive teams in there.

SPEAKER_00 21:56

Yeah, you got some competitive teams in there for sure. So you had like over 100 at bachelor freshman, you're right, or close to it?

SPEAKER_03 22:02

Yeah, no, I had I played almost played almost every game. Like there was some games against left-handed pitching that like I would I would sit. But yeah, I mean we at the end of the year we started seven freshmen. Like we had our freshman class was pretty much everywhere except for pitcher and catcher.

SPEAKER_04 22:22

Are we talking, are you are you at uh are you switching off first base as well or are you dh'ing? Uh a lot of a lot of dhing, some first base, but a lot of dhing. Um and how was that pitching coming you know from high school straight to college? Was it different? Was it harder? Did you have to make some crazy adjustments in the fall, or what was that like for you?

SPEAKER_03 22:42

Or you kind of just clicked lucky for us, and I think Mitch hit on it earlier. Dude, our high school, like our district, had some arms that we had to face. Like, dude, Davenport from Crosby was unhittable, Christian Timms was really good at uh uh Barbers Hill, um Cody Martin from Umble threw hard. Like it wasn't a huge adjustment, it was more of like trying to see that every single at bat. Like there was no like off at bats, if that makes sense. You're not gonna have a guy throwing 75, like tossing junk at you. Um I think the biggest adjustment was like you couldn't sit fastball every at-bat, like you could in high school. Yeah, yeah. You're gonna mix in a few different pitches. Um, so like timing was a big thing for me. I developed a leg kick my uh my freshman year that like helped me just like stay on time, you know. Something easy.

SPEAKER_04 23:43

Something like nice.

SPEAKER_00 23:44

And what was your uh uh approach at the plate? I mean, like, how did it change? I mean, like, were you sitting a certain pitch based on scouting reports? Like, were you sitting their best pitch, or was it more so like I mean, sitting fastball, reacting to off-speed, but with better balance on their on your front foot? I mean, how did you go about that?

SPEAKER_03 24:02

Yeah, uh the sac the latter part of your your answer. Like, I would sit fastball it whether it was 3-0 or 0-2. Like I would sit fastball, but I knew like if it was an off-speed pitch and it was in the zone, like you can still, you know, you can still do damage or at least hit it hard somewhere, even if you're fooled. Because like the pitching wasn't what it is today. Like it was probably harder than yeah, like it was mid to upper 80s, like some low 90s, and then like the sliders back then, like they were they're not what the sliders are today. And like you don't have to work, you didn't have to worry about splitters or uh change ups. Like it was pretty it wasn't what it is today. Like today, if if I hit in today's world, like I would probably be in trouble because I think you do kind of have to sit a certain pitch today um against some of the best college players. Um, even it out, I think. Yeah. But like back then, if you if you just hit the fastball, like you were gonna get a fastball at some point in the in the at that. Like sit fastball, um, just see it and and and take a take a hack take a hack at it.

SPEAKER_00 25:13

Yeah, I just couldn't miss it. I'm gonna get at least one, yeah. No doubt. And then so like after that season ended, your freshman year, I mean, like, what happened? Did the coaching staff get fired?

SPEAKER_03 25:24

I mean, like I was recording. We were nine and forty-three. We were the like we were like 297 in the RPI out of 303.

SPEAKER_00 25:34

Uh I think Southern Southern was right behind you guys.

SPEAKER_03 25:39

Yeah, like right behind us. So, yeah, like Connor Baumgarter and Bernie May at Southern. Yeah. Um, dude, we were we were bad, but like I was devastated because we had so much potential. Like, we started winning games. I think we won like six of our last 15 games, which like doesn't like six and nine in your last 15 isn't great, but we were like three and forty uh or three and thirty-five at one point, and it was after we started playing like all freshmen. So like I was devastated whenever uh I got the call that a new coaching staff was coming in and uh they weren't gonna bring anybody back except for me and like three or four of my buddies. Like it wasn't the whole group, and so um I talked to the new coach, and the reason why I left was because um like okay, so like long story short, I signed a scholarship, like a nice athletic scholarship after my freshman year because I was like all freshman OVC, I was all OVC, like everything. Um, and the scholarship, the first time I talked to the new coach was there, and then like three weeks later, he's like, Hey man, uh we we used all our scholarship, bringing in JUCO guys from the from the West Coast, and um, you know, you can come back on the team, you're invited back, but it's gonna be on as a walk-on.

SPEAKER_04 27:10

And disrespectful.

SPEAKER_03 27:12

Yeah, and I was like, wait, what are you are you being serious? Like, I thought we'd I mean I already signed the the paperwork and blah blah blah. And he's like, Oh, the paperwork was on the prior staff, like this is everything resets, it's new, and so it just left a bad taste in my mouth. Plus, all of my like six freshman buddies uh or seven other freshman buddies were not coming back. So I was like, all right, well, I'm gonna transfer. And that was back before the transfer portal. So I was like, after I said I was gonna transfer to this coach, I'm like, oh shoot, I gotta go to my school. Yeah, like what do I do? Like, do I go sit out? Because it was either sit out at a different school, um different a different Division I school, or go to junior college. And I almost messed this up too. So uh I had a spot, Blyn College, thanks to James Berry. Uh James vouched for me. Blyn was just coming back from a JUCO World Series appearance and I told the Blyn coaches that I was coming, and they were like, or like they they offered me a scholarship, and they're like, hey, please come, blah blah blah. Well I didn't show up to like this one tryout that they wanted me to go to. And I don't remember the reason why I didn't show up. Um I think I think I just thought I was on the team, so and like already had the scholarship stuff, and I was like, I'm good, I don't have to go to this tryout. Well, that made them mad, and then they told me I I didn't have a spot on the team. So now it's like middle of July, and I have nowhere to play. And um luckily, like two days later, San Jack called me, and they're like, Hey, we heard it didn't work out at Blyn. Do you want to come play at San Jack? And I the reason why San Jack called me was just because the head coach at the time, uh Coach Arrington, like he's from Kingwood, and like my little brother is friends with his son. Yeah, his son's like a couple years younger than me. Yeah, his son Alden Arrington. Um, so I guess my brother told Alden or something. Like, word got to Coach Arrington, I wasn't going to Blend, so he offered me a spot. But I didn't want to go to Sanjak because back then Sanjak brought in like 60 dudes every four. And um it like it was just gonna be a very stressful fall, like to try to like make the roster. And if I didn't make it, like, where do I go from there? So um, I called the blend coaches back, and I'm like, hey, I'm so sorry for missing this tryout. Like, I want to be a blend buccaneer. Uh San Jack has given me 24 hours to accept the scholarship, but like I don't want to accept it. Like, I do not want to go to San Jack. And the Blend coaching staff was like, Oh, San Jack offered you? Yeah. They're like, All right, well, if you hate they're like, if you hate San Jack, then like we want you. Like, we we hate those guys. So they're like, just please come this Saturday. We just want to do a workout with you. Like, it'll just be you. I we we just want to see you before we offer you a scholarship. And I showed up and uh after that, like, was on the team. So I almost fumbled it bad. Like, my backup plan was to go enroll at Stephen F. Austin and sit out a year. Like, if all that didn't work. Wow.

SPEAKER_00 30:41

Meanwhile, are you even playing summer ball at this point?

SPEAKER_04 30:44

Like, no, no, not you hadn't seen live pitching in over like five months.

SPEAKER_03 30:48

Yeah, literally, haven't seen it since like the second week of May. And uh, yeah, like I was not playing. I had places I could have played, but I turned them all down because I'm like, I don't want to play summer ball in Ohio. Like, um, like I I want to go back home. Like, I I live I'm I'm living in Tennessee, like I want to go back home and hang out with my buddies, and like almost screwed myself up big time. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 31:13

So how was Blen when you got over there?

SPEAKER_03 31:16

Oh, it's the best, dude. And it still is. Um you love being a Juco bandit?

SPEAKER_00 31:21

Is your is your coach still there?

SPEAKER_03 31:23

No, it's a different coach now. Um the coach I played for, I'm still very close with, Harvey McIntyre. Like, so many great things to say about him. Uh, truly like a baseball guy through and through. Um he played at Blyn and then played at Northwestern State and then came back and coached at Blyn and was the head coach there for like 20 years. But yeah, super great guy. I love Brenham, Texas. It was dude, it's such a sports town. Like everybody goes to like the Brenham High School football games and then uh Brenham High School baseball games, the Blend games, like Blend football, like it's it's more than just Bluebell factories there. Like it's some diehard sports fans. And compared to all the other most I'd say most JUCOs in Texas, it's the nicest place to live by far. Like you're not in Ranger America out there in the middle of nowhere. You guys actually had like a decent sized stadium that seemed quite a bit of people. It's it got better after we left, too. Like they built this huge indoor facility now. Um, and it's like top, it's like a D1 indoor facility at a JUCO.

SPEAKER_00 32:31

That's sweet. Yeah. And like your experience at a JUCO, man, like walk us through it. Do you have like basket weaving classes? I mean, like, all you're doing is focusing on the task at hand, which is baseball, right? Yeah. No, but so it's distractions.

SPEAKER_03 32:47

You would laugh at some of the classes I took at uh at Blynn. The problem, so I did run into a little bit of an issue. I don't know if it's still the same requirements um in today's world, but back then, if you went from a four-year school to a two-year school and you wanted to go back to a four-year school, you had to graduate with your associate's degree at uh your Jupiter. Yeah, so um I ended up having to take 18 hours in the fall and the spring, plus I had to take a winter course, um, like a three credit hour winter course um over December and January. Is that because you didn't have a major at UT Martin? Well, they didn't, they only took like I think they only took like 12 hours total for my UT Martin classes. Oh my gosh, I don't have two. Yeah, like most of my classes didn't transfer from UT Martin to Blyn. I don't know why. That's crazy. Yeah, so yeah, dude, I was grinding, but like it's funny, like I I would you would have like a history credit and like a uh a math credit and a science credit that like you had to take, I had to take both semesters, but I also had to just get enough credits to graduate. So I would take like there was a walking class I took as like my P credit. There was a music class that I'm not kidding. We didn't pick up an instrument or learn anything about music, we just watched movies. Um, like so many classes there, dude. The the class I took in December that winter mester was um, dude, I want to say it was called like hypotheticals or something, or it it meant it might have had a better name, but all the class was was discussing with the professor hypothetical situations, and it was like a it was almost like a debate class, but not really. It was so much fun. Um I called it dinner table class because it was like you're gathered around a dinner table and be like, hey, you know, what do you think is harder? Uh to kick one 50-yard field goal or make a hole in one, and then we would just like discuss that. But that was the class. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 35:00

That sounds like your type of class.

SPEAKER_03 35:02

So, yeah, I mean, like, honestly, Juco classes were not hard at all. Um, if for most back then, like if you had two years at a junior college, like my best friend James Barry, like he was taking some of the easiest classes of all time. Because he was at Blynn for two years, and it would be like math classes with multiplication tables that you would do in like third grade.

SPEAKER_00 35:28

Remedial, remedial math class. You were such a smart dude. Like, school, I mean, kind of came easy to you. You were very, you know, made great grades, and so going to like JUCO was probably just like, oh man, this is like a cakewalk. Oh, it was easier than high school.

SPEAKER_03 35:42

It was so easy, dude. Um, yeah, I I loved it because it it really did it let me focus on baseball, like learning how to lift weights properly, um, you know, just hanging around the facility a lot. Like the the good thing about junior college back then was there was no restriction on practice time. You know, Mitch and and Powell, like when we were playing at Division I schools, they could only see us like four weeks out of the fall, and we'd have like four on ones um that would only be like 45 minutes each, and like the rest was on your own. Yeah, for sure. Juco baseball, we would be out there sometimes from 3 p.m. to 8 30, like just playing ball, intersquatting.

SPEAKER_04 36:25

So let me let me ask you this. Um, compared to high school, did you learn more at UT Martin or when you were at Blyn when it came to baseball? And I guess being a better player.

SPEAKER_03 36:37

Yeah, no, 100% Blyn. Now, there was some I I learned a lot of lessons at UT Martin. More about like character and the process behind the scenes. Yeah, the process, like getting a good routine and um, you know, slowing the game down. Like a lot of mental stuff uh came from UT Martin, especially since like we were losing a lot of games. Uh he kind of had to use that time to like uh you had to use the losing time to like build you up for um to make small moments big moments, I guess. Um but yeah, Blyn, like this the skill development was some of the best I ever received. Uh everything from the weight room to uh pitch selection to like I don't know, like hitting the ball hard. It was it was good.

SPEAKER_04 37:36

Um Do you think Junco transformed you to do that, or do you think it was because you those coaches in particular helped you?

SPEAKER_03 37:43

Dude, I think I learned a ton from the players, man, because uh at Blyn, and I think this goes at any college, but especially a junior college, like you get guys that are like not afraid to like get in your face and like um uh tell you off for a better word, or like call you out. And like if you miss you know, you miss a a hit and run, or if you do something, like they're in your face. And like that helped me a lot. But then also everybody was an open book. So if you saw somebody hitting balls off the the wall to the opposite field, you know, you go up to them to ask, like, dude, what do you do? Like, how do you sit back on that pitch and hit it off the wall? Like, what's what's going on? And then, you know, there was a lot of communication, and like they would uh the players would would help other players out just because everybody was coming from different walks of life. Yeah, you had some super rich kids that um you know had professional hitting lessons that might know something that you don't know. Or like we had guys from the middle of nowhere, Texas, that were just grinders and like strong as an ox, and and would be like, uh, you know, you need to start doing this kind of stuff in the weight room. Like it was just a lot of different avenues you could adventure down with the players.

SPEAKER_00 39:00

And correct me if I'm wrong, Ben, but it just seems like JUCO guys are just so hungry because they know that they're there for a very limited amount of time. And the end goal, of course, is to either get drafted or go to a big four-year school. You know, so it's like I I mean, I think we can all think of people off the top of our heads who like we didn't think had any business playing Division I ball, but they go to develop their skills for a year or two at a JUCO, and all of a sudden you see them playing on TV, and you're like, What? Like, this dude developed that much skill in this amount of time, like and the thing is, is like there's minimal distractions, right? Like, like, you know, girls aren't as good looking there as the four-year schools, and then like, of course, you're in a small Texas town, right? You have nothing to do but play baseball, and um, you know, I think you just have nothing to do but get better at it. It's like you either get better or you quit, like it's one or the other.

SPEAKER_03 39:50

Oh, yeah, they'll run you off quickly. I think not only the coaches, but like the players too. Like you're not if you're not like busting your ass and like giving it a hundred percent, like you're gonna get run out of town. Like nobody's gonna respect you, nobody's gonna want to like be on the same field as you, and like you're gonna quit. You're gonna just pack up your stuff and leave.

SPEAKER_04 40:10

So, how was that uh competition level when you were playing at Blynn? Um, obviously, you probably tr you had to transform as a player again, but was that competition level like even harder compared to UT Martin, or was it kind of like um it's just a different it maybe it was the same, but just a different setting since your back was against the wall and your future was uncertain? Like, what was that like?

SPEAKER_03 40:32

I I think the variance at the JUCO level back then was crazy. And I'm not I'm not kidding. Like you would have some guys, like we'll take Sam Jack, for example, who on the mound, they were better than anything in the OVC that I saw. Um, and then like some teams like Wharton or Galveston would have one or two guys that were like, like this is an SEC guy. Like, and sure enough, like they would go to Auburn or LSU or whatever. Um, but then you would have guys that were like not even close to like Division I left level ready. The gap was just so the gap was so like OVC was pretty consistent my freshman year. Like you would have you know one or two draft guys, but not top 10 round potential um on the mound, but everybody was good, like there wasn't a huge drop-off. Juco, it was like, dude, this kid's a second rounder going to Auburn, and then you have you know somebody from Miss Mary's daycare high school um getting a spot on the team throwing 75, and you're like, dude, I just saw in a four-game weekend series, I saw 96 and I saw 75. Like it was the variance was crazy.

SPEAKER_00 41:43

Okay, that's awesome. And and dude, so did you just tear it up at Blenn? And then, like, I mean, that's how ultimately you went to Mercer, right?

SPEAKER_03 41:51

Yeah. Um crazy story about Blynn. Um the first month, like so February to like middle of March. I I don't know what happened, but I was seeing beach balls, and my numbers were stupid. I I was hitting I mean, the most home runs I've ever hit in my life. Like I was hitting, I was just piecing balls up, and I was like, dude, I'm the greatest hitter of all time. I don't know what's going on. There was like a 15 to 20 game stretch that I mean, it was teams built their scouting reports around me, and which was totally different than me like sneaking in like the six holes. Yeah, and uh, you know, I was I was getting letters and like calls from some big time schools, um, not like University of Texas, but you know, like Indiana was interested. Like there was some there were some schools that um were interested in me, and then I got I'm gonna I'm gonna talk about you guys here in just a second, but you guys would be proud. I I thought I was the coolest kid in the world when uh I came into my locker and I had a letter from the Toronto Blue Jays, and it was a questionnaire that uh 20 of those back in the day, but like I got my first one and I do I filled it out, mailed it back, and uh the the scout who saw me like called me or whatever, and he was like, Yeah, we saw you play at the uh the Sugarland tournament uh at the Skeeters Field, like you hit really well. Like, we're just gonna keep an eye out on you. I thought he was calling to like draft me, tell me I was gonna get picked in like the first round. Like that's how I was feeling. Not kidding. I was on top of the world. And then I hit like a 20 game spell where I got benched, like I sucked, couldn't see the ball, couldn't hit the ball, and like I was terrible. And nobody started like no school was talking to me then, like everybody was like kind of moved past me. I don't like it was it was one of the biggest slumps of my life. Um and I I I think the last 15 games I started hitting pretty decent again. Um, but like nobody was really calling me. So um luckily the team the first team that that recruited me out of blend was Mercer, and that was like in September, like in the fall. He was the first coach that called, uh, Coach Shade, who I still love to death. I mean, he's one of the best humans around, but he called me in September and said, Hey, just to let you know, like, Mercer, we're a small division one school in Georgia, like we'd love to have you. Like, we think you're probably gonna sign somewhere bigger than us. Um, but just let I just want to let you know, like, you're on our radar and like we want you back. And from like September all through, you know, um, you know, all through fall ball, he would he would call like every two weeks when I was doing well, when I sucked, when I wasn't even playing, you know, he called and called and called, and then finally before our conference tournament uh at Blyn, so like in May, he called and I'm I so I finally asked him, like, dude, like did you not see that like I was awful in March and April? Why are you still recruiting me? And he's like, dude, you're our guy, like we want you. And I on that phone call, I was like, whatever, whatever I need to do to like commit to you or sign, like I want to do it now. Like you're the only one that like rode with me through the highs and the lows. Like I was embarrassed to pick up the phone when I was like not playing. I was benched at Blyn for a three-week, four-week spell. I like I was embarrassed to pick up the phone and like talk to this guy, but he acted like nothing was wrong. Like he dude, listen to this. He flew down, good shade flew down to watch me play against San Jack, and I didn't start. I didn't play, it was a double header on a Friday. I I had one at bat, it was a pinch hit. And like he called me the next day, and he was like, hey man, we still want you. Like, I know things are you're you're struggling, but like we still want you. And like that kind of loyalty like stuck out to me, and I and I still live by I it like switched something in my brain where I was like, Oh, dude, loyalty is like the greatest thing a human could have. You know, you being loyal to somebody or someone showing loyalty to you is like the most important trait, I think, in the world, because it comes with with loyalty comes trust, it comes like you know, success or it comes failure, but like you're doing it together and um you know, wipe humility out of the picture, like it doesn't matter. And um, I remember having that phone call like the day before our conference tournament where I was like, dude, whatever I need to do, like I want to play for you. And uh, and like so I committed on the spot, and then I had a great conference tournament, and I had probably four or five colleges there at the conference tournament that tried to offer me, and I told them no, like I'm going to Mercer. And it felt good. And they were schools that were like local schools that like not local, but like better schools than Mercer. Um, like Texas AM Corpus Christie would have been cool, Memphis would have been cool, uh, Northwestern State, like some of these schools would have been cool to play at, but I was like, nah, dude, like I want to go play for Coach Shade at Mercer.

SPEAKER_04 47:24

Yeah, tell us about Mercer. What's uh what what what was it like playing there? And what was the team like in the like being a small Division I school? That's obviously a different feeling.

SPEAKER_03 47:33

Yeah, no, it was it was really cool. It was the best experience. Like I would put my experience at Mercer over Blyn, and like I loved Blyn. Um, so it should show you how much I I'm still a diehard Mercer baseball, football, basketball fan. It's a smaller private school in Macon, Georgia, and the campus is beautiful, the the people there are awesome, and it's got a pretty loyal like following and fan base. Do what? How many how many people go there?

SPEAKER_04 48:03

Um because he says Christian.

SPEAKER_03 48:06

I I don't know the exact number of the undergrad. I can look it up here in a little bit, but um, you know, I got lucky because like Mercer made a regional uh in 2015, so the year before I got there. Um, and then when I got to campus, I was roommates. Like they put me in a room, uh like a four-bedroom apartment with uh the future Golden Spikes winner, Kyle Lewis. Like, so yeah, he's a beast. Yeah, like first round pick, like we had we were so good both years I was there, junior and senior year. Um the the team was awesome. I I didn't play a ton, like I played a decent amount, but like I didn't start every game. Um and but I loved it, like I loved being on the bench, like I loved hyping the guys up. Uh I loved my opportunities whenever I got them, but like I was bought into like Mercer baseball, and I wanted the team to succeed more than anything, which was a total shift from really my time at UT Martin when like we were terrible, and like I had to worry about being the best player I could be, uh, versus like winning games because like that just was almost impossible at that time. Uh and then Blynn, like JUCO is it's team focused, but it's more individual. Like everybody's everybody knows that. Like kids are trying to get drafted or uh move on to a different school. So wins and losses are not the end all be all. But yeah, Mercer, it was like, dude, I want to do whatever it takes to to win games and like try to make a regional um or whatever, you know.

SPEAKER_00 49:45

And what conference were you playing in at Mercer? Southern conference. Yeah, it's uh Sokon is like Mitch, the Citadel?

SPEAKER_03 49:55

Citadel? Yes. Is that Radford in it? No, they're in the Big South. So like the Big South and the Socon are very similar, except the Big South doesn't have football, and the SoCon does. So it's like Samford, uh, East Tennessee State, um, Wafford, Furman, Citadel, uh, UNC Greensboro, Western Carolina.

SPEAKER_04 50:22

Like, dude, so a solid baseball. They got some they got some teams there, yeah. There's some teams there.

SPEAKER_03 50:27

VMI is another team. Um, so like it was, dude, it's the perfect conference because it's it's nine teams, or nine have baseball, and they haven't changed. Like, they're adding Tennessee Tech next year, and it's the first time they've changed in over a decade. Like, it's always been like that core eight teams. Uh, so there's some big rivalries, like these coaches don't like each other, the players don't really like each other. Um, and it's just I don't know, it's it's such a fun conference because it's small, um, and it's the same teams every year. There's not a lot of like conference realignment stuff. That's so awesome. So, how was your senior year? Senior year was good. You know, I didn't start. Uh, I played way more as a junior as I did a senior. I I just ran into the I was positionless. Uh, we had a 6'5, 270 first baseman that hit bombs, and he was good defensively. So he played first, and then we got a JUCO guy um that DH'd for us, and uh he was the best hitter on the team, like after Kyle Lewis left. So like I had nowhere to play. Like our outfield was stacked, corner infield was stacked, DH was stacked. So I was a uh a pinch hit specialist. I like to call myself. That's a that's a tough, that's a tough, tough thing to do. Yeah, yeah. I loved it, man. I loved it.

SPEAKER_04 51:51

Pinch hitting is the hardest thing, if you ask me, in all of baseball.

SPEAKER_03 51:54

Yeah, no, but it was it was great. Like I loved my time as a pinch hitter. Like, I seriously would like hype myself up. It would be awesome. Be like, dude, I get to go hit. Like, this is sick. You're clutched on Mr. Clutch, dude. Mr.

SPEAKER_04 52:06

Clutch right there. That's crunch time.

SPEAKER_03 52:09

The first pitch fastballs was awesome too.

SPEAKER_04 52:11

Everyone always everyone always assumes, too, because they're like, oh, this guy's coming off cold. He wants to get ball pitching, fastball. But if you get your timing down, you can rope that pitch. I mean, it's a fastball. Any college guy can get a fastball, right?

SPEAKER_00 52:25

So did you play summer bowl at all, like throughout your college career been?

SPEAKER_03 52:29

Like going into I played I played a couple summers. They were both in the uh Houston Collegiate League. So I didn't I didn't travel just because I lived out of state for nine months of the year, like I would always just come back home and play Houston Collegiate League. It was fun, like pretty competitive, but no, I never played in like the Coastal Plains. Funny, my after my junior year, I was supposed to go play for a team called the Savannah Bananas in the Coastal Plains League. No, I was like ready to sign on and everything, and then last minute I was like, it was their first year too. Like it was gonna be like their first year as a uh organization. I was like, nah, dude, I kind of just want to go home. Like, I don't want to go play summer ball somewhere else. That's crazy. Small world, actually. Small world, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 53:16

I was almost a banana.

SPEAKER_00 53:20

So what I mean, like if you were to sum up your college experience, Ben, like what advice would you give to kids that are wanting to play at the Division I level? Like, what should they be focused on? Should they be focused on being on being as much of a five tool athlete as they possibly can? Um, you know, what's your take on that? Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 53:41

So today's day and age, it's way more competitive. It's way harder to get to the division one level uh significantly harder than like what we had it. Um I mean, number one will always be grades. Like when you're being compared to maybe as much as like 20 other people that they're considering for a spot on the team, these coaching coaching staffs are looking for any way to separate you from the rest. And if you have bad grades or you know, bad test scores, like they're gonna scratch you off the list and be like, ah, we'll follow up with him after a year or two of him playing, you know, D2 ball or JUCO or NAIA. Like, you know, we'll we don't want to take the risk on lowering the team GPA because that does play a big factor in the administrative side of college. Um these these baseball programs, or every athletic team in a cover college, but baseball teams particular, like if they're not hitting their grade thresholds, they could lose out on scholarship money, funding, like travel expenses. Like they the schools take GPA, team GPAs very seriously. So grades will always be number one for me. Um the the second piece of advice, I don't know if it gets tossed around very often, but like I think in order to play Division I baseball, like you have to have one skill set that is top 95% of high school people. Like if you're coming from high school, like you either have to throw in the top 90 to 95 percent, you got to be able to hit uh for power in the top 90. Like it doesn't have to be four or five different skills. If you can just do one thing better than nine out of ten guys, there will be a division one school that's like, yes, we will take him. It could be running, it could be hitting for power, it could be throwing hard, like it could be as simple as like, dude, like a defensive wizard at shortstop, like D1 schools would die for that because nothing pisses off a coach more than like messing up a routine play. Right? Like, if you're a shortstop in high school and you make the routine play and like have a great fielding percentage and you look good doing it, there will be a college that's like, hey, we will take him and we will teach him how to hit or whatever. So I uh going back to my thought, like it you gotta find what skill you're the best at and like completely dedicate your life to that skill. So um being a really good uh player in one aspect, like you don't have to focus on all of them. Um obviously make sure you're a well-rounded player, but uh you know, try to find what you're the best at and be even better at that.

SPEAKER_00 56:30

I like that, man. That's super sound advice because I mean I think some kids like they find themselves just lost as to like, okay, like what do I need to work on? Like, how do I get seen? It's like, dude, if you're good enough, they'll find you. If you're the top if you're a plus plus at this, this, and this, you're gonna get offers to the next level. You know what I mean? But the key is to be plus plus out of just a couple a couple of things.

SPEAKER_03 56:55

For sure. Um you know, something else too, like don't uh like swallow your pride, like don't don't think you're too good to go play somewhere. Um if a coach wants you to come play and he's the only one asking, and go play for him. Because if you produce at the D3 level for a year and become all conference as a freshman, I promise you there's going to be bigger schools that will be calling you if you enter the transfer portal. Like they just coaches just want to see uh out of the transfer portal uh immediate impact on their team for next year. Like, can you play at this level? Um, you produced really well at the last level. So, like, yes, we will take you on this team.

SPEAKER_00 57:40

I I think that's super sound advice because like you're only going to develop and get better over the years, like you know what I mean. Like, I think there's some early, there's some early bloomers that like were committed to UT whenever we were like sophomores in high school or freshmen in high school, right? But they were also they had their grown man bodies, right? Where it's like a lot of us that were more of late bloomers, we didn't start getting like really, really good until our junior senior years of high school. And then it's like as long as you keep progressing, really. I mean, you you never know how far you can make it in this game. Yeah, thousand percent.

SPEAKER_03 58:13

Yeah, you don't have to be like a a big body or a strong, like you don't have to be the biggest, fastest, strongest guy. Like baseball is a great sport where like all size matters, you know. Yeah, you can find you can be a great baseball player in an average body or a below average body. Uh, there's still a lot of skills that you have to possess that some of the bigger body people don't have.

SPEAKER_00 58:39

Or they or their bodies break down because of how big they are, right? Um and so, dude, walk us through like talk to our guests about what you what you got going on with 11.7.

SPEAKER_03 58:49

Yes, yes, yes, yes. It's a passion project I started in uh January of 2019. Just because like playing, I I knew after I got done playing college baseball, like I still wanted to follow it. Like I love the game. Like I think college baseball uh is like the purest form of like competition, uh entertainment, and just like raw emotions. Uh, I have a theory that playing in a college baseball game, there's never like that's the highest level. Uh like let's take like pal, you played in an NCAA regional and and beat South Carolina as a four seed. I remember watching that on TV. Like that game is the highest level of baseball until you reach the major leagues. Yes, because the atmosphere, the attention that you get, like the uh like the once you get into the minor leagues and you're traveling on buses from like Boise, Idaho. There's no crowd or anything. Yeah, St. George, Utah, like there's no crowd there, nobody cares. Like even in Pro Bowl, yeah, it's like Chico where they're like everybody's just trying to get to the next level. But the team camaraderie of college baseball, like, and the importance and focus on winning is the highest level that players will have until they reach the major leagues, and really like MLB postseason, like it's it's like that kind of stuff that like I love. So it's real baseball at its highest form. Yeah, it's baseball in its highest and purest form. So like I knew I wanted to like after I got on playing, like cover the sport and like showcase and like really hit on like mid-major schools that don't get a ton of attention and love because I think there's millions of untapped stories inside that level and people that actually care. So um, yeah, to start it like a social media uh website, YouTube channel, like just to I don't know, highlight big moments and and promote the sport. Since then, you know, I've got to meet really cool people and like have a few guys that work for us. Um James Barry was one of the co-founders. Uh he did it for 2019 year. And then my guy Dimitri Cortis, who played with me at he went to Mercer too. I actually never played with each other, but he's been with me since 2019. And then now we got a couple other guys that are working for us too that um you know love the game of college baseball and like want to promote it on a like a social media platform. So it's turned out to be really cool and really just opened the door for like a lot of connections in the industry. Like that's been a real blessing.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:29

That's awesome. That's so awesome, dude. We love we love following it, man. Like you I love your content. And so, I mean, for our viewers out there, I mean, where what platforms can they find you on?

SPEAKER_03 1:01:38

Yeah, uh, we're on Twitter. I'm sorry, X isn't X the Everything app. No, they call it. It's just at 11 P O I N T 7, um 11.7. And then like we're on Instagram, YouTube, uh, I think we have a Facebook page. I don't think it's very big. We we hardly ever post on Facebook, but most of our stuff is on Twitter. Like, that's where we do most of our social media work. And we have a website too that's really cool. Uh, we've we've built it up over like the last five or six years, so it's just 11.7.com. That's awesome. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:19

We'll be sure to tag all that too on these and just kind of like you know, get some more exposure out there and get some more eyes on what you guys are doing because I mean we we love it. I want an 11.7 hat.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:29

I'll give you some. I'll send you some for a while. I'll give you a we'll send you some tier one performance though, too.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:34

We'll do a jersey swap. We'll just do a jersey, yeah. We'll do a huge jersey.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:39

No, that's awesome. Well, Ben, dude, it's been it's been a pleasure catching up with you, brother. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with all our viewers on on this platform. And uh, of course, we can't wait to get you in the studio too, man. That's gonna be part two coming out.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:54

When hey, part two, I get to interview you guys. That's the one thing because I listen to the pods, uh, I've listened to like the last three that you guys have posted. Dude, nobody asks you guys questions, and like I think you guys both have like tons and tons of knowledge. And um I got some takes.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:12

I got some takes.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:13

Dude, I think you guys like somebody needs to interview you guys, and I would love to do it. So, like, as a podcast host myself, like part two, I'm gonna come onto your turf and I want to interview you guys. Let's do it. I'm down, please. Like, you guys do it. You guys are too humble. Like, I know you guys both have had unbelievable experiences, and like just like you guys know baseball better than anybody else that that that is in the Houston area. I swear on it. Dude, that's that that's an honor for you to say.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:44

It is an honor. I would love to get interviewed by people. Let's do it, dude. We gotta make it happen. When you whenever you come down, you you have to start we'll make it happen.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:52

Anytime people struggled, like on our high school teams, they would come to you guys for advice. Like it was always Mitch and Powell. Like, you guys were the guys that that people flock to for advice. Like, I this next episode is gonna be 100 times better. Be like part two, uh, because I will I I have some questions I want to ask you guys that that will really open up the minds of the young people out there. We'll let you open it up, we'll let you host, we'll do the whole thing.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:18

Yeah, like 11.7 takeover. I like it. We appreciate it again, dude. And can't wait till you till we're back here in person. And congrats on the baby again, brother.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:32

Baby, all of you coming through.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:34

Thank you, thank you. Five, four, three, two, three.