Levi Clark (May 7, 2026)

For the final time this season, Kiv's Korner, presented by Calhoun's, features Tennessee Baseball's recruiting coordinator Ross Kivett and first baseman/catcher Levi Clark as part of the Mike Keith Show.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

This is the show within a show, the final time for 2026. And it's Kib's Corner. Presented by Calhoun. This is Ross Kibbitt, better known as Kibb, assistant baseball coach recruiting coordinator for the University of Tennessee. And he comes each week, presented by Calhoun and brings a guest with him. And we talk baseball life and about the individual.

SPEAKER_02 0:33

So would you introduce long time coming on this guest? Okay. His SEC numbers have been off the hook the last month. A little bit of a slow start, but after a very promising freshman year, he has finally got it going. Finally, being your term, not mine. He's always been consistent with his prep and how he handles his business, and it is starting to show with some results. He's from Marietta, Georgia.

SPEAKER_01 0:56

Marietta, GA.

SPEAKER_02 0:57

A rich baseball state.

SPEAKER_00 0:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:00

Where his dad played at a rival football player, though. Okay. Okay. And his name is Levi Clark.

SPEAKER_01 1:08

Levi Clark. Welcome to Kiff's Corner. Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_02 1:10

I forgot to mention coming off an unbelievable Sunday at Kentucky. That was great.

SPEAKER_01 1:15

Unbelievable. Thank you for the ninth inning home run. Thank you. We were getting a little well.

SPEAKER_02 1:22

It's funny, and I would like to take credit because it's a very humble no-ego show. We chatted right before a pregame, and it was hey, if you don't hit, it doesn't go like it's supposed to. And you said, Well, I think I got two today. And you did. He did have and he needed both of them. He's called it before, though. Don't let him kid you. But Levi Clark! Levi Clark. We'll just talk about you right next to you. Welcome to Kib's Corner. The last episode, which I am very sad about because this is so much fun to do and get to know you guys and your teammates. What's one thing with the last two weeks that you're you're really focused on?

SPEAKER_00 1:58

For myself and the team, yeah. I think the postseason's starting to be like a big conversation. I think we're coming to and I think the big thing we need to do to have success is just not worry about that. Yeah. Play our game, honestly, because we're two weeks away from that, I think, or yeah, not including the SEC tournament. So I I think we just need to go go play our game and we'll be okay. Does that get talked about?

SPEAKER_02 2:21

I didn't, I've never asked you this. Well, I guess it's only been two years. Do people talk about that in the clubhouse like postseason, or is it like Tuesday was Presbyterian, now it's we're focusing on Texas? Like, is that something that needs to be addressed?

SPEAKER_00 2:34

No, I think E brought it up the other before Kentucky about how like if we're talking about the postseason right now, we're crazy, which I think was a good point because we're so far away from it and locking out from then. So I think that kind of died everything down, but before then, a little bit just to like everyone's kind of doing the math, but since then nothing really. Let me piggyback on that.

SPEAKER_02 2:54

So E brings it up the postseason, there's two weeks left. Anything can happen in this league this year. It's been, I don't want to say it, it's been consistently consistent in the fact that everyone's so bunched up between place nine, ten to even place three or four. Is that something that gives you guys motivation going into weekends, knowing hey, if we handle our business at home and then you have a road series that you can certainly play well and win, that you control everything that you want to control?

SPEAKER_00 3:23

Oh, yeah. I mean, you look at the standings, I think there's like 10 teams tied right now. Like it's kind of crazy. I've never really seen something like that before. So definitely a good feeling for us that we kind of control our own destiny.

SPEAKER_02 3:34

How about the slow start? Your second year, you had a really good freshman campaign, in and out towards the end, but really good in that regional. And then you're getting every day at bats. You're you're in there every day, whether you want them or not. How what was the mind shift, or maybe it was a physical shift that has gotten you over the last dude, I would say seven, eight weeks to be one of the toughest outs, not only in our lineup, but in the league?

SPEAKER_00 4:01

Everything's kind of for a reason. Like it happened, it happened to me for a reason. You know, I went through it for a reason and like lessons were learned, and you know, you can never get too high and you can never get too low. So that's what I would say. It's kind of just focusing on that.

SPEAKER_01 4:13

Had you ever been through something like that as a hitter, what you went through in the first half of the season?

SPEAKER_00 4:18

Nothing to really that extent. Um, I've definitely been through slumps before. Every hitter has, I'd say. Uh, nothing to that extent though. Not in 2013, I didn't.

SPEAKER_01 4:27

Yeah, you were pretty good then. But when you're in sort of the desert, which is where you were, and you know you have to pull yourself out at bat by at bat, and you haven't been there before. What's the thing you learned from bat that you're applying now that's helping you start to take off as we go down the stretch?

SPEAKER_00 4:46

That when you're struggling, you can't make up for every at bat just in one at bat. I would say such a good answer. That's the biggest thing.

SPEAKER_01 4:53

He's coached. It's kind of life, too. It makes me so happy that he said, but it really is because you I mean, you want to go up and you want to hit a 10-run home run to make it all better, and you can't.

SPEAKER_00 5:04

You want to get three hits and one at bat.

SPEAKER_02 5:06

What is a a way that maybe you can lift a teammate that might be struggling the same way that you were and say, hey, look, man, I've been through this. Uh, you you can't do it all by yourself. Let's trust the next guy.

SPEAKER_00 5:18

I think another big thing was the coaches and like the players in our lineup, like giving me confidence over and over and over again, knowing like sure, you're not going through it by yourself and truly believing that the guy behind you is gonna pick you up when you're struggling or the guy in front of you.

SPEAKER_01 5:31

I remember seeing your batting average in February of 25, and it was something like 583 at one point early in the year. They couldn't get you out to go from that to what you went through the first half of the year. I mean, that's really baseball, right?

SPEAKER_02 5:47

I I think to, and I'll answer this one for you, coach. The work ethic here is a is a gene or a trade or a characteristic that he was born with. Every every Tuesday and Friday, early work on the infield, even if he's catching that bit. He's always doing his cage routine, he's always in the meetings early, he's staying in the meetings late, getting with Ricky and Chuck and Coach E. Lander on stuff that whether it be defense or offense, or honestly, even some base running stuff, and we were starting to talk about that throughout the league. Eventually, a hard worker gets rewarded. And he's starting to kind of see the fruits of his labor. So everyone needs to lay off him on Twitter because this guy's been carrying us the last month.

SPEAKER_01 6:29

Well, and I mean what a prospect.

SPEAKER_02 6:31

A prospect. I had just left for Houston when we started recruiting him. And when I left, I told Tony and Josh, his dad played football at Georgia. We don't have a chance, no chance, no chance. Boy, was I wrong. The recruiting hats turned on for for both of those guys, and your relationship with Coach E Lander, uh, as you're going through that recruiting process, one, so it's a two-parter. And then when Tony leaves and he's going through the head coaching, what's going through your mind?

SPEAKER_00 6:56

I don't know if you know this at first. It was only V recruiting me. Really? Yeah. Like I only talked to E, I think, one time before I committed. And then once I committed, me and E got really close and we started talking a bunch. And then um I honestly never really wanted to go to Georgia. My dad knew that from a young age. That I never really wanted to go to Georgia after.

SPEAKER_01 7:17

Now, why is that?

SPEAKER_00 7:18

I don't know. I went there a bunch growing up, just wasn't really I didn't really think it was me. I didn't think Athens was much.

SPEAKER_01 7:30

Because I'm sure it hurt his heart some. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:32

Yeah, but that's it took him a while to get used to orange. Well, he's still not wearing orange on football Saturdays. Let's be real. That's okay. And then Tony leaves, and it's like, okay, now what? As a leader on the team, even being a sophomore, vocal leader, and by example. What are you thinking?

SPEAKER_00 7:48

I mean, we all knew that that's the guy we wanted. And I mean, when he got the job, I don't think there was anyone happier than us. I mean, you can see by our reaction, and I mean, he's done a great job coaching this year. And I I know like us as a team has caught a lot of heat, but I mean, throughout the whole course of the season, he's done a great job keeping it level headed.

SPEAKER_02 8:07

He is steady, so steady throughout the game that sometimes people think that's a fault. How is that a positive and and what doesn't get talked about enough? Because there are some hot heads down the down the rail that are doing it for him. But uh looking at your captain when the waters get a little rocky and being that steady, how does that instill confidence into you and the group?

SPEAKER_00 8:29

I don't think you can ever really tell when he's like mad or happy, like like he's always the same person no matter what. And so when you look over at him and he's kind of just sitting there and he's like, Let's go! Like we gotta figure it out when it's going bad and we gotta keep it going when it's going good, you're like, let's do it. Sure. Part of the Vol Leaders here.

SPEAKER_02 8:46

What makes the Vol Leader program so exciting? It's a great question. Well done.

SPEAKER_01 8:53

Shout out Vall Leaders, Vall Leaders.

SPEAKER_02 8:54

You guys are stupendous. And obviously, that's one of your classes, but what's something that excites you most about being a ball leader?

SPEAKER_00 9:01

I think one of the coolest things is we were just doing our final presentation and we were kind of talking about what we really learned. And I think what I talked about was like coming into college, you always think the leader is like the oldest guy or like the person who's the best on the field. And that's not always the case. The leader can be someone who doesn't even play at all. It's just someone you believe in and someone you trust. I think that's one of the biggest things that taught me.

SPEAKER_02 9:24

Trust is a big word in recruiting because their parents have to trust us with, and then they have to trust us as well with their development. What's one thing that was talked about in your recruitment or on those phone calls with Koachy about hitting that has certainly been fulfilled that you feel confident going in these last two weeks and then even into the postseason plus summer?

SPEAKER_00 9:42

One of the biggest things me and him talked about was just being myself, kind of like we said earlier, not trying to do too much and just believing in yourself and knowing that you belong there.

SPEAKER_02 9:51

I have another positional one because he is part of the infield club, but also does some catching because you have to juggle a staff, then you have my crazy self doing a bunch of the positioning stuff with you. How do you manage it all?

SPEAKER_00 10:02

I think y'all do a great job um juggling both for me and knowing what I need to do that day and that certain um for that certain weekend. And I think that helps me a lot, but also just making sure I feel comfortable at both positions because when I am playing first, something can happen. I can go back there at eight points.

SPEAKER_01 10:18

Well, and he plays on one of the best defensive teams in America. I appreciate that, coach. Yeah, yeah, he does. I mean, feel it. What are you feeling? 985?

SPEAKER_02 10:25

985. That's crazy. I know, and it's a lot because you're saving Henry Ford's pits. You want to do you want to give a shout out to Henry for making you look like a gold glover over there? Or Henry maybe hit him in the chest. He could do that too.

SPEAKER_00 10:38

Hey, he's been good recently.

SPEAKER_02 10:39

Did you play first at all in high school?

SPEAKER_00 10:43

Very rarely.

SPEAKER_02 10:44

See, that's what I'm most impressed with, too, because his footwork he is, and he can throw. So I was like, yeah, he's got so many um just traits of a really solid backstop, but also he's kind of like a cat. He can move around there, his hands are obviously clean with some of the picks. I've been really impressed with your first base, and I think it's only gonna help you going in. What did Cape Cod teach you as far as I can handle the best players in the country that gives you confidence going into this season, obviously, but then going forward?

SPEAKER_00 11:12

The biggest thing was like I wasn't really too confident in my defensive abilities last year because I DH'd and I kind of like didn't really know what it was like playing in the game. And I mean, I played every day up there, um, somewhere new defensively, whether that was catching first or left. I mean, just kind of installed the confidence I needed for this year defensively.

SPEAKER_02 11:31

I want to touch on Kentucky before we have to run. That Sunday, you were in a different zone. It was kind of like when Michael Jordan got his magic back and beat the monsters. When you're in that type of rhythm, what is something that you can bottle up and bring to the next game? And how much of it is just, hey, it's a really good matchup for me.

SPEAKER_00 11:52

I think just the confidence it gives you, like obviously you feel pretty good that day. Um, but just the confidence it brings and the confidence in the stores in you and the team, and just knowing that you can do that at any point.

SPEAKER_02 12:05

He went up from nine to six because he keeps having that confidence and keeps banging it around in SEC, which leads me to the preview of Texas. They have a dragon on Friday with Philantis. It's a good club, top five team in the country. Been there before when we went down to Starkville. What's something that their pitching matchup uh may cause a little bit of an issue? And what do you like about the matchup with Texas?

SPEAKER_00 12:27

I mean, it's gonna be fun. You know, we played them last year in game one game. I feel like fans wanted a few more. So that game was a lot of fun. I wanted extras, and we got to face their Friday night guy because he was relieved. That's right. And the tournament last year, Atlantis. Yeah, and I mean both guys on Friday and Saturday are really good. So we just got to prepare the way we do, and uh, I mean, we'll figure it out one way or another, you know.

SPEAKER_02 12:50

Always the league is a gauntlet, man. How fun is it? It's literally double-A baseball every single weekend, and I think that would be you didn't ask me the question because it's my corner. But it if if you asked me about the SEC and why it's so close, it's because the players are so good. You're seeing the portal and freshmen starting to make it to campus, and guys develop through the system that might not have played in two years, and every team's good. So this weekend should be fun, it should be packed, right, Coach Keith? It's gotta be the last weekend. The weather looks beautiful, weather looks fantastic. Mother's Day on Sunday on Sunday shout out, shout out mom.

SPEAKER_00 13:27

I know. Happy Mother's Day. We have a um me, Arvin Ford have a little thing on Sunday that we're gonna play.

SPEAKER_02 13:32

Good little teaser. He's getting into broadcasting too. Good. Shout out to Jacqueline Kivitt, mother of Reese, and Mary Kivitt, mother of Ross. How about that? Yes.

SPEAKER_01 13:42

Thank you uh for finally coming on. Thank you all for having me. Well, he gotta earn it. And he did. He earned it on Sunday. I've enjoyed it. Dude, I've had a lot of people. Cal Holmes has enjoyed it.

SPEAKER_02 13:51

I I'm bummed it's the last one. I wish we had more weeks, but you earned a vacation. It's gonna be a 2.0. The Mike Keith show is so fun. Well, we think it's gonna be renewed. If it does, can you please help and get this show renewed? Okay. Someone's gotta make it laugh.

SPEAKER_01 14:07

You do. And you asked good questions. He's the goat. Come on. More than renew him. He's the goat. Please. More right after this.