In & Out Talks Podcast 66: Joey Scarf

On this episode of the In & Out Talks Podcast, powered by Tier One Performance, we’re joined by Joey Scarf, a Houston native whose athletic journey is a testament to dedication, consistency, and excellence.

Joey starred as an outfielder at Humble High School before continuing her softball career at the University of Pittsburgh, where she played all four years and established herself as one of the program's top performers. During her collegiate career, she earned First Team All-Big East honors, tied the school's single-season doubles record, and started all but four games throughout her time as a Panther.

In this episode, Joey reflects on her path from Houston to Division I softball, the lessons she learned competing at a high level, and the mindset required to succeed both on and off the field. She shares insights on leadership, perseverance, balancing athletics with life after sports, and how the game helped shape the person she is today.

Today, Joey is a Marine Terminal Engineer, a devoted wife, and the proud mother of two athletic boys, continuing to apply the same principles that fueled her success as a student-athlete.

🎙️ Tune in for an inspiring conversation about family, faith, competition, and the lifelong impact that sports can have on shaping future success.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:34

Hey guys, welcome back to the In N Out Talks podcast. My name is Jordan Powell. Today we have a very special guest, the one and only Joey Scarf, currently known as Joey Martinelli. Alright, yeah, but going back, Joey, I appreciate you making it to this podcast. Very special guest, being that we're from the same hometown. Didn't know I had such a softball star. So close to where I work at Dbat. But go ahead and tell us a little bit about yourself and uh how you got into softball.

SPEAKER_02 1:02

Yeah, sure. So uh also thanks for having me. Um very excited. Um so I started really young, kind of like how my son is now. So my dad, I have two older sisters, they also played softball, um, not quite at the level, because this was you know way back when, so it wasn't at the level that it's at even when I was playing. Um but so I started playing at Lindsay Lions um at like seven, six or seven when you could first start playing. Um and so I did, you know, the little league gig all through up until high school. Um where I but also I'd say probably through like middle school or so, and then I started doing travel ball. Um so we had a good group of friends where one of the dads started a coach coaching. Um we kind of branched off and made our own kind of like travel team.

SPEAKER_00 1:45

What's the league that you played in? Was it like the Forest Cove League or was it like Umble?

SPEAKER_02 1:49

It was Umble. Actually, no, it wasn't even Umble because it was far. I mean, because we would practice at baseball USA.

SPEAKER_00 1:55

Oh wow, and so I can was it the you was that the Texas Storm?

SPEAKER_02 2:00

We did play on the storm for so we were the storm for a couple. We started on the Cobras, actually. Okay. Um and I actually remember the first year I tried out for the Cobras, I did not make it. And so then then a couple of us rejects started our own. I think we were the we were called the Power. Was this like a new thing?

SPEAKER_00 2:16

Because this was kind of like on the early stages of like travel ball.

SPEAKER_02 2:18

Yeah. Really? Like the Cobras was like that was the team, right? They had their like letter jack, like it was like everyone wanted to be on the team. Um so didn't make it that first year. I tried out. We did our own team. It was like the power, so like if if um the storm, uh impact, yeah, and they're still around actually. So it was like those, it was that kind of we played them a lot, so that was kind of like the I don't know if you can call it the league, but that's what it was.

SPEAKER_00 2:42

The little round robin teams that you played against.

SPEAKER_02 2:44

Yeah, exactly. And then so that following year, then then I made the Cobras. Um, and then so we did that for a year or two, then we branched off, and then we were on the storm, then I was on the storm for a couple years. So I did that.

SPEAKER_00 2:55

Um did you play any other any other sports as well?

SPEAKER_02 2:59

I did. I played volleyball. Um, and I also did track and field.

SPEAKER_00 3:02

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 3:02

So I did the triple jump.

SPEAKER_00 3:04

Nice.

SPEAKER_02 3:04

Um, and then I did relays. So like the hundred meter relay and the four hundred meter relay. Well, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:11

A lot of running. Yes. And then where'd you play um in volleyball?

SPEAKER_02 3:14

Uh I was a setter.

SPEAKER_00 3:15

Okay. Yeah. Nice. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:16

I'm too short to spike the ball. Very good. Um, but I so I played volleyball my freshman and sophomore year. Okay. Um, and then I'm not really sure why, but at the time I just I quit after that. I don't know. Did you want to do that? Did you want to focus it more on softball? It was one of the it was kind of that deal where softball was getting pretty heavy with travel and just games, so I kind of had to pick one ultimately.

SPEAKER_00 3:37

Was softball always your number one, your go-to? Were you always shined at least?

SPEAKER_02 3:41

Yes. Yeah. That one was more, just more of that natural kind of just pick that one. And then I played it for so long.

SPEAKER_00 3:46

Now, going uh I I deal with some parents that um say, like, oh, if my kid wants to play, um, I'll if he show he or she shows interest, I'll let them, I'll we'll go, we'll go that route. Now, did your parents necessarily ask you, hey, do you want to play softball, or did they just throw you in it and guide you through it?

SPEAKER_02 4:03

Yeah, no, it was you are playing softball. Your sisters played softball, you're playing softball. Um, they were we've never really been into soccer as a family. Okay. Um, so just it was it was always just softball.

SPEAKER_00 4:14

It was always just softball. Did your parents also play?

unknown 4:16

No.

SPEAKER_02 4:16

No, just no, I don't even know how that started. Um I think my dad coached some of my sisters' teams and he just really enjoyed that. Okay. And so we just kind of stuck with softball. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:26

Awesome. So um high school. When you got to high school, you went to Umbull, Umbull High School. Yeah. Um, back when they were pretty good.

SPEAKER_01 4:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:35

I would say like during those, during those years, they were pretty good. Um, you were first team all district at center field and second base. What was that? What was that like um, you know, kind of solidifying yourself as an outfielder while also playing infield?

SPEAKER_02 4:50

It felt pretty good. I remember, so I just to brag on myself, I guess a little bit, I made varsity as a freshman. And that was like my goal. Like, I don't know. I felt like if I did that, like I made it. Like, you know.

SPEAKER_00 5:02

Um were your sisters also up there on varsity too, or were they so my sisters kind of got a raw end of the deal.

SPEAKER_02 5:08

So they moved quite often when they were growing up. Okay. Um, and so they I remember my oldest sister kind of she didn't really play through high school, she kind of just stopped playing. Um, my middle sister came, she actually they both went to Umble, actually. Um, and so my middle sister did play softball, but she came in, it was like her junior year. And you know, teams are kind of already. Or solidify, yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 5:31

Especially with upperclassmen.

SPEAKER_02 5:32

Right. So she pretty much sat the bench. I mean, I saw her play a couple times, um, but so she they both tried to play. Um but going back to the question, I I I actually played more second base in high school than outfield. I it was weird, like for high school, I've mainly played second base, but then for my travel team, I was playing center field. So I kind of was doing both at the time. So I kind of started to love outfield more than playing second base. Okay. Um, I think I just really loved throwing runners out, right? Yeah. From second base. Like, I can totally relate.

SPEAKER_00 6:08

I can totally relate on that.

SPEAKER_02 6:10

Um, like the diving catches, like that was just more kind of just what I really enjoyed.

SPEAKER_00 6:14

And I people don't give outfielders enough credit because it it in like so I was a very intense player, and for me, when I was in center field, I like you said, I played third majority, third and first, and then when I I mean I was a really big kid, and then I stopped growing. Um, a little bit of those Asian genes kicked in, and so then I stopped growing. And then I when I got to high school, I grew fast and I grew again. But at that point, I was just known as like the fast kid, so they put me more in the outfield and they didn't give me a chance in the infield. But I kind of like it was kind of like a come to Jesus moment where I was like, I can either enjoy this and learn how to be the best in it, since I'm clearly good at it. Yeah, and then um, but then I took it into a level where I was like, we're the last line of defense. Yeah, and then you can I I think an outfielder is one of the few people that can just silence a crowd.

SPEAKER_01 6:59

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:00

As soon as the ball is hit, you run into the gap and then you leave your feet, rob them of whatever momentum they had, or throw them out.

SPEAKER_02 7:07

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 7:08

And then, oh, it is my favorite. I used to talk trash from the outfield all the time. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:12

Well, because I think people think, you know, because especially when they're young like this, right? You usually stick the not so great kids in the outfit, right? And they're like picking flowers or whatever, but like it it's not like that. It's not like they are you are they are the last line of the defense.

SPEAKER_00 7:26

I was about to say, if a pitcher's best friend isn't, you know, their catcher, or necessarily their shortstop if they're a rollover pitcher, but like it's definitely their outfield because they're saving them. Like, um I don't know what could be more exhilarating than robbing a home run.

SPEAKER_01 7:39

Yeah. Oh yeah, oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:41

You know, like I mean, it might be a little it might be a little evil of me to say, but like taking the joy is my joy when it came to baseball.

SPEAKER_01 7:47

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 7:48

It was my favorite thing to do.

SPEAKER_02 7:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:49

Um, so with that being said, getting recruited, you um what was that process like?

SPEAKER_02 7:55

Yeah, so it was mainly for me. It was not high school. I don't really remember college coaches coming to watch us play in high school at all, actually. Right. So it was all through travel teams. Yeah. So we would there'd be tournaments every year. Like Nat I think it was called National. This is so old. Um I think it was you'd always there were always tournaments where you knew college coaches were gonna be at, but you had to qualify, right? Because they didn't want any just anyone going. So you'd always have to try and qualify for those tournaments, and they would have them every year. Like I remember we went to Colorado every summer. Oh wow. And that was where a bunch of college coaches would always go. So it was always during the summer when we would get recruited.

SPEAKER_00 8:30

Did you have to qualify for those tournaments to go?

SPEAKER_02 8:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:33

So you were on a pretty good team.

SPEAKER_02 8:35

Yeah, I mean we were like a known team for sure. Yeah. I think um, like again, it's like the storm, the cobras, like all of like you kind of know that they're pretty good teams, right? So um, but yeah, so then that's where that would happen. They would come watch, you know, and if they were obviously if they were interested, they would talk to you, they talk to the parents and just kind of get that conversation going. Um so that's that's mainly it was all summer. It was nothing to do with high school.

SPEAKER_00 8:57

And then how many people were recruiting you, or did you just wit openly sought you and then it was pretty much a done deal after that?

SPEAKER_02 9:04

So no, well, so I had pit, um Sarah, I was talking to Syracuse as well, a little bit to Villanova. All but all New England, all northern schools. All up north, because back then and it's kind of I don't know if it's it might be similar now, but down south it was the bigger home run headers or pitchers. That's what they wanted.

SPEAKER_00 9:20

And I was like, big Oklahoma, Alabama girls, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:23

Exactly, exactly. So I was always talking to the the school where they wanted quick speed, exactly. So I fit more into that category because I had girls on my team that went to AM and all those schools. Yeah. Um, I don't know, Amanda Scarborough, I played with her, she's on ESPN all the time, and we're like, hey, what's up? But I played, she went to AM, so but she was a really good pitcher as well. But yeah, so I definitely was way up north.

SPEAKER_00 9:45

And that's another thing, like people I think I feel like a lot of parents also have this um, especially during the recruiting scene, boys and girls, they feel like I want my kid to go play at AM or UT or Texas Tech. But and then like, you know, not saying those people don't have a chance, they do have a chance of playing collegiate ball, but they don't look at the roster or what other teams recruit because you know, I think, you know, I was looking at um Baylor, U of H, uh, shoot, um, you know, all these bigger schools, UT, and then I realized like I'm not 6'4. Right. Yeah, I'm not I'm not 6'4, I don't weigh 220. Exactly. I am not doing X, Y, and Z. And also like a lot of these schools also just pull from JUCA as well nowadays. Yeah. And so I like, so then me going up to like, you know, Rhode Island or these other schools, you know, if I you really fit into their tier. And I I forget who told me that, but I saw all of a sudden I started looking up um college, uh, collegiate baseball teams that have 5'11 outfielders.

SPEAKER_02 10:41

Like you know, like but you gotta know, right? Like I I learned real quick that I was not a southern school kind of fit. I always knew I was gonna, if I was gonna play, it was gonna be somewhere else.

SPEAKER_00 10:53

Yeah, I always knew too that I didn't want to stay in state. Um mostly because one, it was hot playing out there. Oh yeah, but two, like I just I always felt like there was also more out there, and then every if everyone wanted to go to UT, I definitely did not.

SPEAKER_02 11:06

Like I that's that's kind of I didn't want to fall into that little train. Yeah, I actually wanted to go as far as possible. So I was okay with talking to all of those schools that weren't quite far.

SPEAKER_00 11:16

So like my my dream school was Duke University. Oh that's a good one. Like I I loved it, and they're it was heartbreaking because they were recruiting my teammates, but like not me. Yeah, and it fell into that because like they didn't need an outfielder for my year, they had like three juniors, one was a potential draft pick, like yeah, you know, and I and I ended up meeting like them in the regional later. So like yeah, but um they didn't pick up my teammate. Um, but like you know, I was I was remembering I was like, man, like why I just want this school so bad, and they they didn't want you, so I had to like you had to move on. So, what ultimately made you decide to go with Pitt?

SPEAKER_02 11:51

So I went for a visit to Pitt. Um I had I had talked, like I said, I had talked to a bunch of other schools, had some visits kind of lined up. Um, why I liked Pitt so much was actually because of the way that the school was itself, actually. Um because I will tell you back then the facilities back then were not great. That didn't sell me. I mean, if if you showed me them now, they're amazing. Yeah, I'm sure they're beautiful and it's like hell yeah, they have all new facilities, it's great.

SPEAKER_00 12:17

Built off your hard work.

SPEAKER_02 12:18

Yeah, exactly. Um, but it was because it's in a city, so it's in Oakland, is where it's at. Um, and so it's it wasn't like your traditional campus, right? It was there were hills. I was like, what are these? Like it's not flat. What are you talking about? Yes. Um I did like the weather, I thought I liked the weather at the time. Snow was actually awesome.

SPEAKER_00 12:36

When did you when did you visit?

SPEAKER_02 12:38

Um, so I went, it was like fall, so it was beautiful. There was an actual fall, and then there was colors on the leaves, and so that just kind of the atmosphere itself and the girls on the team. Okay. Um, I had a great time. I mean, they took me out, they did all the things. So it was just, I don't know, it was pretty easy. I didn't go on any other visits. I was like, I chemistry was already there. Yeah, and it wasn't a very known, like no one really talks about Pittsburgh that much.

SPEAKER_00 13:02

At least not down here.

SPEAKER_02 13:03

Right, exactly. Yes, 100%. So that was also cool too. I didn't like you, like I didn't really know what it would be nice to get recruited by AM and all those big schools. Absolutely. Sure. But I actually liked the fact that it was kind of unknown, it was new territory, like, and it was far.

SPEAKER_00 13:18

You know, it was you know, yeah, I get it. Like, I was the same way when I went to Rhode Island. Um, I had people ask me, like, where's Rhode Island? And I was like, Right, I was like, okay, well, it's a state, and you know, it's right there. Yeah, but um, you know, when I went there on my visit, I was just like completely overwhelmed. I mean, it was right on the beach. Um, they drove me around the beach, not that we stay on the beach. Like they drove me around the beach, they took me out, they showed me all great time, and then I was like, after that visit, they pretty much sealed it that we didn't have the nicest locker room, they didn't even take me to the locker room.

SPEAKER_02 13:49

They were like, you don't need to still come in first, then we'll show you.

SPEAKER_00 13:52

Yeah, and then yeah, it's like it's under construction or something like that. And they didn't show me, but after that, I pretty much it was a done, it was a done deal. Yeah. Um, and I knew for a fact they got me in the summer when it was like 75. Oh, beautiful, beautiful, and then you know, my first winter there was terrible, awful. So I want you to kind of dive into that because not a lot of people, one, not a lot of people from the south go up north, two, not the people that do very few stay. Like, I think we're two anomalies, which is pretty great to stay up there, and then through three, how how was it adapting? Because for me, it was very harsh reality, my freshman year fall.

SPEAKER_02 14:28

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 14:29

And because like so many new things are thrown at you, but how was it for you trying to adapt?

SPEAKER_02 14:33

So I will never forget, because down in Texas, right? Like you have jackets, like, but they're like cute jackets, they're like free.

SPEAKER_00 14:39

Exactly, they're stylish, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:40

Yeah, so I had those, right? Now I'm I'm good, I'm ready. I remember calling my parents, I need money, stat, because I have no winter clothes. I was freezing. So that was the first shock, right? So I had to get all new clothes, all actual winter clothes. Uh-huh. Um, I brought my truck, I saw at the time I had a truck, and I brought my truck up there and long drive. Didn't ri Yeah, it was a long drive, but did not realize there's gonna be the snow tires and there's gonna be ice on my window that I will have to take forever to defrost.

SPEAKER_00 15:08

The scraper and the defrost.

SPEAKER_02 15:09

Didn't have a scraper, so I had to get that. So that was a huge adjustment very quickly. Um that was getting new clothes, all of those things. Also, parents probably thought you were crazy. Well, I think my dad, so my dad went to Villanova. Oh he's from up north, he lived in Buffalo, so he knows more than that. I don't know how he didn't send me more prepared, to be honest. He knows more than anyone. Right. So I don't, it wasn't really my dad was like, okay, like they I think he kind of wanted me to figure that out, which I very quickly figured out. Um and so he was good with it. Um he probably laughed, actually. Um so yeah, but that and then hitting and practicing out in the freezing cold was a good one. Didn't enjoy that either.

SPEAKER_00 15:47

Different mental shit and different mentality.

SPEAKER_02 15:49

It got to the point where I had to just stop being a bit like I didn't want to swing. That's how bad it got. Like, because it hurts. It hurts if you don't hit it perfectly, like it stings, like it's and everyone else. A lot of my teammates were either from Pittsburgh. Um, we did have a couple girls, we had a girl from a couple from California, from Texas, Dallas area. So like we're all kind of like adjusting together, kind of sticking together. Yeah, exactly. They're all making fun of us because we're all cold. Um, so that was it was a huge adjustment. And then, you know, conditioning is at like 5, 6 a.m. Having to walk, I mean, just getting up from your dorm and having to walk in freezing cold weather, right? And then being sweaty and having to put your jacket on and go to class. So all of that was overwhelming. It was an adjustment. Um, but also with Pittsburgh, like at picture, did you guys have jackets, like the letter jackets?

SPEAKER_00 16:38

No.

SPEAKER_02 16:39

Okay. Some of those, like Notre Dame has them, some like some of the schools up north. Yeah. So like it was also kind of cool because uh Pitt is a very much like athletic school. Right. Um, they're not like big on sororities, that kind of stuff. So if you had, I mean, everyone wore their jackets if he played a sport.

SPEAKER_00 16:53

So it was we could we got them, but like it was like they were handed out to us, and then we had to hand them back. Like we couldn't we didn't get to keep them, like they were like they're like thick, heavy duty. Yeah, and we could wear them like if we it was game affiliated. Yes. But like after the game, we had to literally we had a guy who took all our clothes.

SPEAKER_02 17:08

Yeah, so we had those as well, so we had to give those back. But these were like in high school, you know how you get legit, like it was those. Oh, you didn't get patches, like no one put patches, but it was you know, it was navy blue and you had the big P on there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so it was like it was also kind of cool. Like I felt cool, right? Like being like an athlete. Yeah, exactly. Like it sucked, it was a lot, but I wasn't gonna. I think growing up, one thing that my parents have always like instilled was like you don't quit. Like if you're gonna start something, like you're gonna finish it. Finish it through. Um and so it was kind of one of those things. Like it was just like it was really hard, but I had my teammates, we all roomed together freshman year, like in in like one big thing. Um, so we kind of all just kind of it was our freshman year was actually very tough on all of us. So we all kind of stuck together and kind of just formed that like we're in this together. We're gonna get it.

SPEAKER_00 17:56

Was it hard being went from home? Kinda.

SPEAKER_02 17:59

Kinda. In the beginning, I'm like, I feel like this is great, I can do whatever I want. I probably took that a little too much over the top, but after a while it was kind of like, oh, I'm not going home like for a while.

SPEAKER_00 18:12

It's kind of like you you you have you always know on the back of your mind you can call your parents, whatever, but you don't have that backbone security of like like let's say you wake up sick because you know you just walked in 25 degree weather with no jacket and mom's just the phone call away and she no one can do anything for you. Yep your teammates aren't gonna do anything for you, you better walk to health services and get checked out, you know. And I think that was kind of like that was a big that was a big kind of wake-up call when something went wrong, or you know, like we've all been in that situation where you wake up and you just don't feel good from prior activities and you're like you gotta be an adult here, you know, you gotta be gotta be a big boy. And I remember when I I had one jacket and my mom, um she's lived in Canada for a while, but uh she uh formerly she she got me a jacket, just one jacket. She's like, You're gonna need this winter jacket.

SPEAKER_01 19:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:01

And I I had like my five or six hoodies that you know you wear from like a football game in high school.

SPEAKER_01 19:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:06

And I mean, I'd never I put on like an undershirt, a t-shirt, a long sleeve, the hoodie with the jacket, two sweatpants, and boots, and I would march my butt to class. Yep. You know, and I would just be like, in in Rhode Island also, sit the camp college campus sits on a gigantic hill. Yeah. And so, and then like, and then I'm just falling everywhere from this black ice. Like it, like, you know, me, the athlete who's never like never fallen a day in his life. I'm walking back to my dorm, and next thing you know, I'm staring at the sun. I'm staring at the time.

SPEAKER_02 19:37

It's all new terrain. Like, I'm so weird.

SPEAKER_00 19:39

Like, I don't know. And then I think what got me too um academically was things were do were done differently, especially in Umble ISD. And then I'm used to like doing things a certain way, and then you know, you go to college and they operate on a whole different system. Oh yeah. Like, I thought it was crazy that I had so I know you're also an engineering major. You were. I was too when I went up there. Like it was everything had I'd always gone to one building.

SPEAKER_01 20:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:08

For everything. And then they're like, hey, classes start Wednesday. And I was like, okay, cool. And then I'm looking at my schedule, they're in all different buildings on all different sides of campus. And then within these buildings, I gotta find the small little room that hosts like 15 kids. And I remember this and I moved in um the week before school starts. So like I didn't even do freshman orientation. Like I was a late, I was a late, I got there late, like we barely got me in, and I was like, I had nowhere around my campus. I was late to every class.

SPEAKER_02 20:38

Yeah, right. Well, again, because now you're expected to. I mean, no one cares. I mean, they're like, figure it out. Here are yours, here's your schedule.

SPEAKER_00 20:43

Exactly, figure out the theme song to my college career was figure it out. Uh-huh. I was like, oh man, this is brutal. Yeah. So um, after your freshman year, which you had a pretty good freshman year, I think um, I looked it up, I did a little research, I did a little nerdy research. Um, I think out of your first three seasons you started um for Pitt, you only didn't start four games. Yep. Which is crazy. I couldn't get your senior year because all of a sudden there's like a 2008, 2007 gap year.

SPEAKER_02 21:12

Oh, really?

SPEAKER_00 21:13

In the at least in the in the information online. So I could I don't know how you did your senior year.

SPEAKER_02 21:18

I capped my junior year, that's for sure. That's for sure. I think I did D I was probably similar to like my freshman sophomore year. Okay, because junior yeah was like my best year.

SPEAKER_00 21:25

Your junior year was out out, was out, was outstanding. You had the um, I think you were the second Pitt Panther to earn all big East first team. Super impressive. Even I couldn't do that for my conference. I think I sat like second team my whole career. Um and then you tied the single season record for doubles, yeah. Which is also, I think, also really brilliant because a lot of people look at center fielders and think contact, slappers, sure, maybe like weak hitters, but you were able to drive it. Um, I kind of want to dive into that. So, like, what was your mindset as a hitter?

SPEAKER_02 21:56

So I actually, up until freshman, sophomore year. Of high school, I was right hand. I'm right-handed. Okay. I was a right-handed hitter. Um, and all through high school I hit, I bat right uh was right-handed.

SPEAKER_00 22:07

Never divvy to the left.

SPEAKER_02 22:08

Never.

SPEAKER_00 22:08

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 22:09

Um, but my travel team, I started slapping. Um, and so that was probably I think like my freshman year, I started doing that. I started slapping, and then I got hit multiple times one like a couple games, and I was like, I'm not running at the ball anymore. Like, I'm just not doing it. I don't want to do this anymore. Like I kind of like whist out about it. But I I saw the ball just better from the left-hand side. Oh. So then I just started swinging.

SPEAKER_00 22:34

So you were right hand, you were always right-handed, but you're right eye dominant?

SPEAKER_02 22:38

Apparently.

SPEAKER_00 22:39

Okay, nice. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 22:40

So I just started hitting left-handed, and I seemed to be pretty good at it. So I just never hit right-handed ever again.

SPEAKER_00 22:47

When did you make this complete change?

SPEAKER_02 22:49

This was like probably middle of my freshman year of high school.

SPEAKER_00 22:51

Whoa.

SPEAKER_02 22:52

Up until then I was right-handed.

SPEAKER_00 22:54

Freshman year of high school, and then you still made varsity off that? That's nice. Okay. That is seriously impressive. Okay, that's cool. So being that as it may, obviously, um, what was the difference between high school and college for you playing wise? Like, I guess competition. I guess you're who you go up against.

SPEAKER_02 23:11

Yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:12

So I think and not high school, like humble high school, because I know that's different. Like you getting recruited, playing with those recruits, and then going and playing against actual collegiate players.

SPEAKER_02 23:21

Oh, yeah, it was a very humbling experience. Um, right, because you come from high school, like, oh, I got first team, this, that, and the other, every whatever, however many times.

SPEAKER_01 23:29

Everyone's done that.

SPEAKER_02 23:30

Exactly. Like, if you didn't, then it's like, well, who are you kind of a thing. So it was very, very humbling. Um, my problem um was the mental toughness. I lacked that.

SPEAKER_00 23:44

Oh, really?

SPEAKER_02 23:44

Okay. And that's what I think I feel like I could have really set myself apart from the others had I been mentally tougher.

SPEAKER_00 23:52

Can you dive into that? Because mental toughness is pretty broad. What do you sure?

SPEAKER_02 23:55

Especially with hitting. Yes. It was always hitting. Fielding, I think I was I was pretty good in the outfield, so like I felt pretty confident about that.

SPEAKER_00 24:01

I feel like defense for most outfielders is their baseline.

SPEAKER_02 24:04

Yes. Like, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:05

Like you might suck at hitting, but defense, you play, you play, you play your defense, it'll pull you back out psychology. Psychologically.

SPEAKER_02 24:11

Right.

SPEAKER_00 24:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:12

But it was, I'd strike out, because you will, because baseball and softball is a game of failure. Right. Correct. Um, and I would be the one that would go in and be a baby about it. I'd throw my helmet, I would just get mad, and then that would affect my next set bat because I'd be thinking about that one. And then you'd snowball be terrible at that one, and then I would get even more. Like, so it was that. I was kind of a big baby about it.

SPEAKER_00 24:33

And instead of like you're like a huge momentum kind of person.

SPEAKER_02 24:36

Yeah. Yeah. So instead of feeding off of that and thinking about, oh, what did I do wrong? Let me correct it. It was, oh, I shuck out, no, I suck. Like the rest of the game is I'm just everyone's mad at me.

SPEAKER_00 24:46

Like a huge baby. You're putting you're putting all that pressure on yourself. In reality, I always tell my guys, I was like, like, you have every right to be mad.

unknown 24:55

Right.

SPEAKER_02 24:56

Get mad, but use it.

SPEAKER_00 24:58

You gotta use it, exactly. Like make that adjustment. Um, what did you learn from it and then move on? Like, I always tell, like, because you know, you always get those parents to be like, hey, don't show it, don't show you can show emotion on the field.

SPEAKER_01 25:09

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_00 25:09

You can definitely get mad, but you can't let it torpedo your next stage.

SPEAKER_02 25:14

That was my problem. Yeah. Yeah. So that would happen. And it ironically enough, my junior year was the one year I essentially kind of like stopped caring about it. Right.

SPEAKER_00 25:24

And then you can't torpedo.

SPEAKER_02 25:29

We went to the banquet, right, for the conference, and they were like, Joey, like you you might get something. And I was like, why would I get anything? Like, I don't even know like what my batting average was. Like, I wasn't paying attention to any of it.

SPEAKER_01 25:37

Right.

SPEAKER_02 25:38

Um, it was my dad because I would call them after every game and because they'd want to know, and I'd be like, Oh, I was like four for four, three for four, you know. And but I just never I just stringed it along, yeah. Yeah, I just was like, here's how I did, and I moved on. And so ironically, that year was the year that I did the best as compared to all the other years where I was like very stressed about it and that kind of thing.

SPEAKER_00 25:56

And I I think that goes to show because I was kind of the same way, like my freshman year, I was just happy to be there. Yeah, right. I was so happy to be there that there was like I was like, dude, I'm nine, like I'm nine whole. Like I'm nine, yes, it's so great. I'm just getting fastballs, like you know, you just swing and you you do well, and I ended up batting like 300. And my sophomore year, I mean, to me, getting drafted was all that kind of mattered um in the grand scheme. Like, so like my sophomore year, I can't get drafted till my junior year, because I have to be 21 at least, or um come out of a JUCO. So, but I was at a four-year school, and so my sophomore year, I was like, I'm just having fun again. Right, like it's cool. And then I batted 350, and then I was doing outrageously well, and then my junior year, you know, this was a big year, um, we fell short, but honestly, mentally, I was so good. Yeah, and then I was able to get it again, didn't get drafted, and then I was and then all of a sudden I felt like I had to do more than what I did previously. In reality, I think if I just would have stayed the course, I probably would have ended up, but my senior year was my worst year. I put all that pressure on me. I was the only um one of the main starters in the lineup that came back, everyone else had graduated. We were a very young team, and I was a senior, and we didn't even make playoffs, and like and like and then like that's all she wrote, like right then and there. So you know, that mental toughness aspect is not even taught enough, I think. Yes, and then it's it's especially if um a high school student going to college hasn't had to deal with such like di or is currently dealing with you were dealing with a lot of stuff on top of that, yeah. You know, and so then dealing with that on a grand scale at a high level is very, very, very, very tough. Yeah. So what would um what would be your advice to helping someone go through that and deal with that or get that mental toughness?

SPEAKER_02 27:41

Well, I think just because I think about this all the time, because if you talk about like any regrets that you have in life, it's always that. Like also switching majors in the thing. But uh I did go back and get my engineering degree, but anyways, so like we'll we'll get into that. Yeah, so I feel like you just have to realize again, I tell Griffin this, my son, all the time baseball is a game of failure. You are not gonna be perfect every game. No one is. You just that you just have to learn it and you have to accept it. Correct. And that once you realize that, then you can take it and run with it. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 28:13

That'd be so far off.

SPEAKER_02 28:14

Again, yeah. So you just have to take that and run with it. Learn from what you did before. Try, you know, obviously you're gonna get mad, you can get upset, and you can, like you said, you can show emotion, go for it. But don't let it affect the rest of your game.

SPEAKER_01 28:28

Correct.

SPEAKER_02 28:28

Like you can have all the talent in the world, but if you don't have the passion and the love for the game, it doesn't really matter. I mean, you can be talent-wise on paper the best.

SPEAKER_01 28:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:39

But if you don't care, then it's not gonna you're not gonna do anything with that, right? Like, so I I guess it's just really like you have to know that you're gonna make mistakes. It's gonna happen.

SPEAKER_00 28:50

You have to accept the failure before it happens.

SPEAKER_02 28:52

Right.

SPEAKER_00 28:52

Yeah. I understand.

SPEAKER_02 28:54

Just don't let it affect you.

SPEAKER_00 28:55

And then you said something, you also said something about passion. So passion when it comes to this sport requires sacrifice.

SPEAKER_01 29:01

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:02

You know, so what um can you for the for the especially the young girls or young players out there, how much when when you say passion, how much effort did you put into it, especially when you were growing up, going through high school, even training in college, were you constantly working out, were you constantly working on something, or did you just take it for a ride and some sometimes I took some parts of it for a ride, but once you get to kind of that level where you know kind of like, okay, we're gonna keep doing this because the end goal is to get you know, to play in college, right?

SPEAKER_02 29:29

It changes, right? Like your mindset has to kind of change.

SPEAKER_00 29:32

Yes, for sure.

SPEAKER_02 29:33

Um, I never had spring break in high school, right? All my friends would go and like exactly, right? Um, I tried to work actually in high school. I wanted to get a job, but they never I they never started. Right, to prove practices. Um, I remember my dad in Kingwood, they used to have, I don't remember what it's called, but it was like one of those places where you had putt-putt and like the goat car.

SPEAKER_00 29:55

Mountasia.

SPEAKER_02 29:56

Mountasia, and they had the batting cages. My dad drugged me to those batting cages almost every day.

SPEAKER_00 30:02

The outdoor concrete batting cages. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:05

And so he would work with me. I would go kicking and screaming, but I went, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so that if I wasn't doing that, we were traveling and we were playing on weekends. So I didn't have weekends to literally go out with my friends. Right. Um, in high school, it's tough. Um, for me it was tough because all my friends went out and I wanted to go be with my friends.

SPEAKER_00 30:21

Right.

SPEAKER_02 30:22

But also There's an end goal. There is an end goal, and then I college coaches did start talking to me. And so I was kind of seeing the fruits of your labor, yeah. Exactly. And so that kind of pushed me to kind of be like, okay, like I still would complain, no doubt. But it kind of changed it shifted my mind where I was like, this is actually gonna happen. So you need to put in the work, right?

SPEAKER_00 30:42

Or else Yeah. So let's kind of dive into the specifics of uh softball. Now, you faced all kinds of pitching, especially being up there. Um, what is the fastest you ever faced, the velocity-wise?

SPEAKER_02 30:54

Oh, that is a good question. Um I remember in when we played, was it Purdue? I think it might have been Purdue. We did play you guys, we played Rhode Island, I remember. You probably crushed us. I don't I don't no, I don't think so. But I don't what is can this is gonna sound terrible. What is like an average speed now? So I have a number in my head.

SPEAKER_00 31:16

I'm watching the softball world series right now, and those girls are throwing like 70, which back in the day, like even when I played, I don't think we had girls on our softball team throwing 70.

SPEAKER_02 31:25

I was gonna say like 60, 65 was probably the quickest I saw.

SPEAKER_00 31:28

Okay. That's kind of like what I was in the realm that I was, but these girls now, and I think some rules have changed, like they can drag and lift their foot off the mound.

SPEAKER_02 31:36

Oh, yeah. See, they couldn't do that before. They can't do that before.

SPEAKER_00 31:39

But I think as long as they start off with a drag, they can't just hop off the mound.

SPEAKER_02 31:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:42

But I think they can start with a drag and the foot, they give some leeway. I think that's the rule now. I'm not quite sure. But yeah, so but apparently, like I think the equivalent was like 65, was like the equivalent of seeing like 95.

SPEAKER_01 31:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:52

You know, for like a baseball player. Yeah. And so that like that is absolutely wild. Because that's what I was seeing in college, and then I, you know, I would I never show any um I never talked down on any softball team because when I was in college, I saw some of the softball players pitching. Yeah, and then I saw my teammate like talking crap. And he got in there and I think he almost died. Like, you know, all it takes and there's nothing soft about a softball.

SPEAKER_01 32:18

No.

SPEAKER_00 32:19

I would rather get beamed 94 by a baseball on the ribs than take a softball 60 miles an hour in the root cage. That is not felt. It looks like it's a brick, it's a brick ball.

SPEAKER_02 32:29

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:30

Don't even know how that it's it's scary. But so seeing 6065, obviously, how do you prepare for something like that? Because they all the pitches, you guys have different pitches. You guys have rise balls, drops, you have way more avenues of trickery than us.

SPEAKER_02 32:46

I think for like the really quick pitchers, honestly, if it looked in the zone, I was swinging on it. And I was just trying to get the timing. It wasn't really more so okay, I'm gonna check for like a rise ball and try and hit like watch it because everybody's gonna tell them to watch it, right?

SPEAKER_00 32:58

Yeah, generally break it down.

SPEAKER_02 32:59

Yeah, like if it looked even remotely in the zone, it was because it was so quick, like you'd have to make that it's a split second decision, right? So I would honestly I would just kind of try and swing in that direction. Because I mean, when it goes that fast, you don't have to hit it that hard. No, you just gotta make contact with it. Exactly. So, but I would also, I was little and I or short, I guess I'd say, and I was always probably two or three, one, two or three.

SPEAKER_01 33:21

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 33:22

And especially when I was two, I mean, they're expecting me to bunt. So, and especially being left-handed, so that was always like so. Then I was like, all right, so they'd always move up.

SPEAKER_00 33:31

They'd shrink the feel for you. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 33:32

Yeah. But if I was three and they're scooting back, I'm butting it or something. Right. Like I'm just dropping that quick bunt because they weren't expecting it, right?

SPEAKER_00 33:41

And I think and I I I actually still coach this to some of my high schoolers. I'm like, if you can get a good dragon, like you can get a nice butt. If if you on I this is my this is my staple at Rhode Island, I would walk up and you know, coach gives you the sign. I'm I'm a righty. So coach gives me the sign. Um, and then I look at the third baseman like quick glance, if he's even with the bag, like I'll probably take a gigantic swing. My first swing is gonna be like a home run swing. I don't care if I miss it or not. And I usually swing out of my shoes, shock guy I miss. Right? And so then I step out of the box, the third baseman does what? Backs up like two steps. Yep. And then the next pitch, it doesn't matter.

SPEAKER_02 34:17

Right?

SPEAKER_00 34:18

And then and then that's a free base. And then you know what's in my head for the rest of the game? I did my job. Yeah, I'm gonna swing for the fence every other time. And then if he wants to come in, I will send him a rocket to third if I need to.

SPEAKER_02 34:29

Yep, yeah. It's it's you gotta, like you said, like taking a look at where the players are at, I would definitely use that to my advantage because especially being quick. Yes, you can drop the bunt. And I wouldn't slap it, I would literally just drop a bun.

SPEAKER_00 34:39

Drop a bunt and you're down the line.

SPEAKER_02 34:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 34:41

So when it comes to like uh recruiting for pit, like do they have any like like I guess requirements that you needed to do? So like for for us, I should say, like, you know, most guys gotta run a like a six, nine, sixty under throw X amount. Um, they gotta be able to run the bases at this speed, like, you know, or like hitting, hitting wise, you have to be able to, you know, at least drive the ball somewhere. Were there specific things that Pitt made you do, or are they just like, hey, we like you?

SPEAKER_02 35:08

Yeah, so they yeah, it would be they would just start coming more and more and more and just kind of watching and kind of honing in on mechanics and what you looked like and that kind of thing. But no, I there was no like it was it was more academics, like you have to get a minimum of whatever on your ACT or SAT. Okay. And then you remember.

SPEAKER_00 35:24

Y'all are very academically challenging school.

SPEAKER_02 35:26

Well, but I'll tell you what, for athletes, uh the entry requirements I think were a lot more linear.

SPEAKER_00 35:31

Yeah, I mean, I'm sure there's exceptions to the exceptions. So we've all met those people, right? Um but you were an engineering major to start at.

SPEAKER_02 35:38

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 35:38

So what happened, what happened with that?

SPEAKER_02 35:40

Yes. So my father and my oldest sister, they're both civil engineers. Okay. Um, I had no way, I was 17 when I went to school.

SPEAKER_00 35:46

I had to know.

SPEAKER_02 35:48

No idea what I wanted to do. Engineering sounded great. I, you know, it sounded like a good stable job that gets paid decent, right? So I was like, oh, I'm gonna do this. Um, but again, I was 17, I was extremely immature throughout college. Actually, it took me a little bit to grow up.

SPEAKER_00 36:02

Um and so most people four years in college to grow up, right?

SPEAKER_02 36:06

Yeah, and engineering is demanding, right? Like you actually have to go to class and study and do all the stuff.

SPEAKER_00 36:10

It'll punish you for having fun.

SPEAKER_02 36:12

Exactly. And with that, and softball, and of course going out, because going out and softball were my main priorities. Didn't quite make it in engineering, right? Um, and so about halfway through I switched majors. My parents were not pleased at all, which now I, you know, makes sense. Right. Um, but I knew everything back then. So I switched majors and I switched to psychology. Um so that's what I actually graduated with at from Pitt. So I have a psychology degree. Um and then later I went back because that didn't really pan out as well as I thought it was.

SPEAKER_00 36:45

No, I mean But it's it's it's something it's something to learn, right? Because I I changed it's like a carbon copy. I also changed my major, but I didn't change it once. I changed my major like three times.

SPEAKER_01 36:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:54

But I went in um and I didn't you had to like test into the engineering department, and I felt so bad because I literally did that to be like, yeah, I'm leaving.

SPEAKER_02 37:04

I took a kid's spot an hour and ago.

SPEAKER_00 37:06

Yeah, so like, well, when I re-enrolled, they gave me 18 credits. Okay, and it was like a four-year degree, and I was like, Yeah, I want to do it in four, and then I'm looking at it, and it was like, I was like, your freshman year, you take 18. I was like, okay. I was like, the spring, you take 17. I was like, Yeah, but like remember, I'm like you said, 17 years old. I don't know what 18 credits? Sure. I only know is if it's less than five classes, I took five classes in high school. Sure. You know, that's all I know. And then I'm going to class, and like you said, I'm also going out, I'm also trying to make the team.

SPEAKER_01 37:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 37:37

And I I view college like a like there's three areas social, athletics, academics. You can only thrive in two.

SPEAKER_01 37:45

Right.

SPEAKER_00 37:46

You have to sacrifice one.

SPEAKER_01 37:47

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 37:47

And or if you don't want to sacrifice anything, you sacrifice your health. Yeah, exactly. I chose my health because I think engineering was so hard. We got, I was in in my our math class, I couldn't use a calculator. Yeah. In chemistry, couldn't use a calculator. You had to do it all by hand. And then I'm like, I'm like, this is gonna, I'm looking at my homework, I was like, it's gonna take me like three or four hours to do everything. And then I'm like, oh fucking, there's a there's something outside, like, you know, we wanna go out there. Oh, yeah you know, and so and then you know, you you you you do the wrong thing, and then you get punished, and then your grades start to suffer. Yeah, and then you're like, oh well, I was doing really good in sports, and then I remember, I remember I had this conversation with my advisor, scariest thing I've ever done. And she goes in, she's like, Alright, let's let's see, you know, your worst case and your best case. And so, like, my best case was like I my GPA was like a 3-2, which I was like, oh, okay. And then they're like and then my worst case was like a 1-8.

SPEAKER_01 38:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:41

And I was like, and they're like, and she's like, confidently, where do you see yourself in these classes? And I'm like, I really don't know. It's like make or break on the finals. Oh yeah. And I like we had already had a couple teammates like not play because of like ineligibility. And I was an engineering major, and everyone else is like a com or sports management major, and they're worried about you know, giving a speech, and I gotta take this cal too. I gotta take this out. And I remember calling my dad, and I was like, There's a very good chance, there's like there's a there's a possible chance I may not be able to play in the spring, yeah, and I might just have to redshirt. And my dad was just like, Well, just make sure you redshirt, like you know, like do whatever you can. And then my mom, she's always like the academic weapon of the family. Yeah, she was like, Are you mean? Yeah, right. She's like, What? Tutoring, all this stuff, like you know how to. And I'm just like, I hear you, I I just never know. And like luckily, I ended up getting like a through two nine or something, but I changed majors that spring. Yeah, because I was like, There's no way there were like Cal 3 in the spring, yeah, we're traveling. I was like, there's like a whole month I'm gone. Yeah, I wasn't gonna deal with that. So then I went to geology and then I changed to uh environmental science and management, and I graduated with that, and then I ended up going to University of Florida and getting my environmental engineering degree. Okay, and the master's of that as well. So nice. Yeah, we ended up finishing it up. So what do you currently do now?

SPEAKER_02 40:06

So I did go back, I went to Lamar University in Beaumont and got my civil engineering degree. Okay. Just something because I don't really do civil now. So I work at Exxon. Okay. Um, and I am in so when I was going to school, um the second time, I started an internship doing more of like marine type engineering. Okay. So like docks. So like your vessels come in, so those structures. So I started doing an internship there. Um, I ended up working there for like five and a half years after I finished school. Okay. And so I'm doing something very similar at Exxon now.

SPEAKER_00 40:36

Some of my You deal with the Coast Guard a lot?

SPEAKER_02 40:38

I do deal with the Coast Guard sometimes, yes. Um, but I'm a marine terminal engineer is my title there.

SPEAKER_00 40:43

Okay. And um, so kind of peeling back before you started your secondary school when your s when softball finally ended for you, how brutal and rough was that? And what was it like converting back to normalcy in regular life?

SPEAKER_02 41:00

It was tough again, humbling experience, right? Because I'm, you know, I'm doing all this in school, I have my life there. It's your identity. Yeah, and then I graduate and I moved back. So I came back to Texas, and it was kind of like my parents were like, All right, so do something get a job. Yeah. And I was like, What am I gonna do? I didn't really think it all through, right? I just wanted to graduate at the time. But it's the goal, yeah. With psychology, I feel like you kind of have to go on and get like master's for the most part. I'm sure there's other people I didn't even know, right? Um and I was like, what am I gonna do? Like, I have no idea. So I actually went back and got it was so it was rough, right? I had no idea. Um, I went and got my teaching certificate because at the time, if you had a degree, you could take like a year of classes at like a I went to like Lone Star and got my teaching certificate. You can be a teacher. And I taught fourth grade math and science for one year. It was the hardest job. I had really had no idea what I was doing. It wasn't it was a tough school, also, so I wasn't really teaching, it was kind of more just like babysitting. Um that did not last very long at all. Um so then I'm like, now what do I do? Um and then I went to work for Occidental or Oxy, you know, the big sign that the astros came. So I went to go work at Oxy, um, more on like the marketing side, so like the traders, financial risk, that kind of thing. I did that for like four and a half years, but again, I had quit engineering, right? And so that had always been like eating at me. And so I left that job and then I moved to Beaumont and went to school. Oh wow at like 30, at like 30, 30, 31. And then that's whenever I finished my engineering degree and kind of did that.

SPEAKER_00 42:38

So it was so when you were going through that, you know, identity crisis, you know, kind of like I mean it essentially it's what it is. Of course, that's how I felt like I I moved back home. Oh well, one, I didn't want to come back home.

SPEAKER_01 42:49

I didn't either. I didn't either.

SPEAKER_00 42:50

I'm the biggest, I for sure was like, I'm never coming back home. Why would I come back home? And then, you know, the reality side, I graduated, um, I tried to do the whole pro thing, it didn't work out. I'm living out of my car.

SPEAKER_01 43:03

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 43:03

You know, I got 200 bucks to my name, and my parents are like, you can come here, you can come back. Right, you know, and then like I get back home. I'm I'm not gonna lie, I was depressed. You know, you go from king of the campus, everything to now, hey, back where we are when we were 18. Like parents' house under that, and then um, you know, my dad comes wandering around like after a month, and he's like, get a job.

SPEAKER_02 43:27

Right.

SPEAKER_00 43:27

He's like, Or I'm gonna have to start charging you rent.

SPEAKER_02 43:29

Yeah, you know, and you're the real world now. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 43:32

And I mean, and then that's when that starts that identity, and like, who are you after your sport is taken away? And you know, some people cope um by finding a job, some people cope by uh, you know, starting a family, other people cope in worser ways. Sure. Yeah, and then like, but it's ultimately it's finding a way to like, you know, kinda for me, it's finding something that I enjoy as much as I did in baseball. Like, for example, this podcast. I really enjoy this. Yeah, super fun. But Part of me that's missing is that competitive edge because I have nothing to compete against. And I think that's why a lot of former um athletes fall into gambling.

unknown 44:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 44:08

Like I like You do enjoy gambling. Yeah, I I enjoy like especially like fantasy, fantasy football, I know, drives my better half nuts.

SPEAKER_01 44:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 44:17

She it drives her out. So she gets stressed out about it. And I because I'm stressed out about it. Right. But it's intense, and I'm loving it. And like, I know it's kind of like being able to separate that out. And for me, you know, once I was able to, I couldn't put it together. I couldn't, I couldn't understand why I was feeling bad, why I was so down. I just felt like a loser. And I also like not having money didn't help either. Right. You know, and like relying on others. You used to go so independent. People used to make money off your name.

SPEAKER_01 44:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 44:45

And now you're now you're now you're a citizen, it's back to normal. And learning how to cope with that, like is a very hard, is a very hard thing to do. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 44:54

I think I'm pretty thankful for my parents because they didn't really give me a choice to like mope. Like I because I was in the same state. Yeah. It was like get up and get a job. Like you had your time.

SPEAKER_00 45:05

Just move.

SPEAKER_02 45:05

Right. Like you, it's you are in the world now, like you need to find your place. So, and I again kicking and screaming. I just was like, what do I do? Like, I same thing.

SPEAKER_00 45:14

So fast forwarding, fast forwarding now to better times, right? You are married with two kids, Griffin and Beckett, um, ages five and four. What's that like now that you're starting to see them go through sports?

SPEAKER_02 45:26

Oh, I'm so excited. I and again, because I think it's that just like having that thrill of having that competitiveness. I'm not playing, but watching them play, like it's so exciting. Like it's just exhilarating watching them. Like he plays soccer too. And those I don't really I don't know soccer. And I was like, you want to play soccer? Like nothing against soccer, I just never played it, I didn't know it. Um, but those are the most exciting games to watch. You just like we're screaming like jumping up and down, we're yelling, like it's going, it's so it is a lot of fun. Um, I hope that they continue to play baseball. That's like what I want their number one sport to be.

SPEAKER_00 46:03

Also mine, I hope they play baseball, you know, and softball. Yeah, and softball.

SPEAKER_02 46:07

And softball.

SPEAKER_00 46:08

Same thing for uh, because Griffin came in um with your husband the other day, and like I think it was his last soccer game that had just happened, and he's like, I scored like three goals. Dude, he went off that game. Yeah, he said I scored, I scored like three goals, and I was like, Oh, I was like, Oh, did you win? And then he's like, they don't keep score.

SPEAKER_02 46:24

You know why he said that? Because we lost that game.

SPEAKER_00 46:26

Oh, really?

SPEAKER_02 46:27

We were going, so we were going for two seasons of being undefeated, and that was our last game of that second season. We were gonna go undefeated for two seasons and we lost that game, and that's why he's gonna Because he keeps the score score anytime.

SPEAKER_00 46:39

But yeah, I was like, You did so good. He goes, They don't keep score. And he like looked off and I was like, oh my god. That is hilarious.

SPEAKER_02 46:44

Yeah, no, we lost that game.

SPEAKER_00 46:46

Yeah, no, it was so funny. So Dylan, how do you how do you deal with that um situation from being competitive but not being over the top? Because everyone knows parents are also the biggest career killers alongside coaches, sure, you know. So, like, how do you how do you navigate that threshold? Are you still learning?

SPEAKER_02 47:04

I'm still learning. Um, I have to remember that Griffin's only five. And so when he doesn't want to go practice every single day, yeah, I'm like, but like why? What are you doing? You're watching TV, like get up, like let's go, and I have to kind of remind myself, like, I don't want him to hate baseball at the age of six. Right. Right. Right. So I have to I'm still learning that. Um me and Dan both are still trying to navigate to like not go over the top and push him out of the sport. Push him out of it, yes. It's very easy to do. Yes, very easy to do.

SPEAKER_00 47:36

Yes, especially depending on your kid.

SPEAKER_02 47:38

Yeah, yes. So that's why we're very excited for Beckett to play because I feel like he's gonna be like our I think they're they might push each other to the max, and they'll probably bring the best out of each other. Because they'll be competitive, they already are like with other things, so I have no doubt when it comes to sports, they'll be extremely competitive.

SPEAKER_00 47:54

I'm really hoping that Beckett brings out more competitive side from Griffin, just in general, because if I mean everyone's sibling can freak it out of them, right?

SPEAKER_02 48:03

They're very much in that right now.

SPEAKER_00 48:04

If they can learn to do it to others outside, yeah, they'll be shooting for the stars.

SPEAKER_02 48:09

Yeah, so I'm still learning.

SPEAKER_00 48:10

Yeah, well, Joey, it's been almost an hour. Um, thank you so much for coming on. It was an absolute blast, and hopefully I can get you on again when um the boys are a little bit older. Yeah, absolutely. And we can circle back to that.

SPEAKER_02 48:21

Would love it.

SPEAKER_00 48:21

All right, thank you.

SPEAKER_02 48:22

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