RAM TOUGH: Bristol Central Has Been On A Roll Since Dropping Its First Game

The Bristol Central Rams dropped their first game of the season and then went on a tear, winning 11 games in a row to improve to 11-1 on the season.

First year head coach Jeff Linsky and two of his captains—Lily VanNorstrand and Haley Powers—join us to talk about the season and changes that have happened over the past season.

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:09

Hi everyone, welcome to the Inside Corner Connecticut softball podcast with John Nash. I'm Rob Adams, and John, we head to a part of the state we haven't been to yet. At least I don't think so. We're we're heading up toward Bristol today.

SPEAKER_04 0:25

We are, and technically, I was up there just last week. Well, you were up there. Paul Catholic, yeah. But uh today we have the uh Bristol Central Rams. We have uh head coach Jeff Linsky and two of his four captains. We have Haley Powers and Lily Van Nostrand. So uh to all our Rams, first and foremost, thank you so much for joining us.

SPEAKER_01 0:45

Thank you for having us. Thank you.

SPEAKER_04 0:47

Yeah, appreciate it, John. My pleasure. And and coach, what's that with you? You know, you you you dropped the season opener to Berlin, and uh since then you've run the table. So, you know, uh how's the season gone? Would you like to have that Berlin game back and maybe be undefeated? Or kind of what's your take on the first half of the season?

SPEAKER_02 1:06

Yeah, I I uh it's funny. I've been telling the girls, I think I've probably told them three times now, um, that I would love to be able to have a chance to play Berlin uh now or again, I should say. Um when you look at how we started, right? Um, first ever high school game for me, and I'll just tell you a very quick, uh, quick story, and I'm gonna definitely embarrass myself, but that's okay. Um, so John, as you know, right, in the years of travel, right? So this year for me is 14 years for for travel softball. And when we have coaches and captains, right, we always get told what the ground rules are, right? Well, my learning curve in in high school, uh, I come up to home plate with the captains, umpires are there, and they say, Coach, why don't you bring us through ground rules? I probably stood there for five seconds and in utter silence. Um and then uh I I I basically did the best I could, and it was the you want to talk about embarrassing? That was the probably the most embarrassing part of my my opening day right there. But um yeah, but if you look at where we started, um just as a whole, right? You look at our roster, you know, our our lineup for that day, you look at what our infield looked like, you look at what our outfield looked like, and then you look at kind of where we've been trending, at least most recently. Um, we we're a completely different team. Um from top to bottom, uh hitters have really bought into the culture and the system that, you know, myself, my assistant coaches, um, you know, Brian Nash, Ryan Earnhardt, um, or Brian Nash, there we go. Um and everything is just we're clicking. And um, I and I don't mean that in an arrogant way, but um it's super kudos to to our girls for buying into the culture that we've been trying to instill from really since pre-workout. So um they've done a really great job. I'm super excited for where they are right now. And um, I kind of make this tongue in cheek. Um right now, I would love I I would love to play anybody, even even you know, some of the the top teams in the state, even if it was just something to, you know, where we get waxed, right? But I really kind of don't think that would happen. Um, I I just want to kind of see where we're at and where we line up, and I'm really excited for the future for where we're going here.

SPEAKER_04 3:33

What was it that kind of sparked that little bit of a turnaround? Because again, you know, losing your season opener while disappointing and you know, embarrassing yourself, uh, you know, is certainly uh not a great thing. But uh I'm sure it wasn't the first time it's happened to a a first-year rookie high school coach. But what was there a certain point, you know, where the kind of the light bulb, I always call it the light bulb light bulb moment where that light bulb appears above their heads and they get it. Was there one thing that happened that triggered it? Was it one game, one win?

SPEAKER_02 4:02

You know, um, so that was the Saturday just before Easter Sunday. Um, and I'll tell you what, so when we lost that game, um, if you ask my wife, uh, that was the longest weekend ever because I I literally um I wrote down different things that I didn't like what we did. I even texted my captains that night and said, guys, is it okay if we change dugouts? Because I I, you know, we we were always at third base side, and and the tradition always was for Bristol Central was was third base dugout. But calling pitches, I couldn't see the defense very well. Um, I I didn't like where I was positioned. So um it was a very long weekend, um, just to say the least. And I couldn't wait to get back on the field come Monday because we we made a lot of wholesale changes just in terms of the dugout positioning, our our batting order, how how I called pitches, how how we did things at third base. Um, and then I can't really think of anything, you know, game-wise, um, you know, because we've been continuing to make adjustments uh basically every game. And and so far, knocking on on wood here, um the the adjustments have been working very well. And we just continue on this on this trend, and and I couldn't be happier with where we're at so far.

SPEAKER_04 5:21

And Lily, you're the you're the senior captain, Haley's a junior. So so I have you speaking uh for Emmer as well here, who who couldn't make the podcast. But um when Coach comes and says, What do you guys think about switching dugouts? What was the reaction of the team? Did you guys care? I mean, I've always preferred a first base dugout personally, but that's just me.

SPEAKER_01 5:41

Honestly, it was a little bit weird at first because um like I was just so used to it because I've been on the third base side for the past three years. But I was like, you know what, it if that's gonna help the team, then whatever. And then it ended up being fine. And at practice we still go on the third base side, but um it really doesn't make much of a difference, so whatever was good for the team was good for me.

SPEAKER_04 6:14

The good news is if you do make an out, it's a shorter walk to the dugout, I suppose, you know, instead of having to go all the way across the field. But uh uh yeah, that I just Rob, you ever hear of that? A coach uh shaking things up by switching dugouts?

SPEAKER_03 6:27

Not not like that. I know the Yankees changed dugouts back in the 40s because it was a shorter walk to the clubhouse, but no, not in this case. This is fascinating. And the fact that you still practice in the in the third base dugout, uh I'm amazed.

SPEAKER_04 6:44

Uh hey, but some habits are hard to break, I guess, you know. So um, but uh hey yeah, it's it's worked for you because you're now what nine nine wins in a row, ten wins in a row in the first base dugout. Um well, that's not necessarily true because you haven't hosted all the games, I suppose, but uh uh uh maybe someday there'll be a plaque there. You know, we won a state title and went undefeated in this dugout during uh Linsky's rookie year. So um where's the strength in this team, Jeff? Is it is it pitching, defense, offense? Uh, you know, you've won close games, you've won blowouts. It's uh a real uh kind of uh you know uh mishmash of scores as I look at your your uh schedule, but where do you think the strength in the uh Bristol Central Rams lie this year?

SPEAKER_02 7:28

Yeah, you know, I I I think it's I think it's twofold, and I don't want to state the obvious here, but I I think it comes down to our batting order and then our pitching. Um, you know, when you look at our batting order and and right now, you know, from a from a coach's perspective, you know, and and John, you've known this when when you've got a large majority of your batting order batting, you know, between 300 and and 400 and and even higher for some of the players, um, it makes it makes opportunities very difficult, right, to provide for the remaining of the roster, right? Because we we've got 18 guys. Um and you know, we try to mix in the JV players when we possibly can on the varsity side, but our batting order is really strong right now. Um, you know, you look at our one through nine and one through nine, it it's a challenge. And I'm I'm really happy and and honored to come into a situation like that because not a lot of coaches have that luxury. Um, but then on the flip side of the coin, it's our pitching, right? So, you know, this year, um we've got three pitchers on our staff, whereas in years past, from what I've learned, it's it's really been, you know, one and you know, I'll call it a 1.5 for position players coming in to pitch. But this year we've got three pitchers. Um, you know, Meredith Kramer is is, you know, she's she's definitely, you know, and I'm okay saying that she's definitely our number one, right? I mean, um she's she pitched almost every single game, if not every single game last season. Um, went through a lot of rehab just to kind of rehab rehab the shoulder and and and bicep, tricep, everything to get ready for this season. Um, you know, we also have uh uh Zoe as well, incoming freshman, who has been she puts a really good spin on the ball. Really, really proud of her development and where she's come from in just a really short amount of time. Uh and then we also have Kylie Nass, incoming freshman. Um, you know, she's she's got a combination of of good spin, but she also has a really good changeup that really throws some of our batters off. So having three pitchers in this mix, and obviously with the defense that we have, but I really think it's our batting order and our pitching depth that's that's really been separating us from the pack.

SPEAKER_04 9:44

And and Rob, we got to say one thing about these three pitchers sophomore, freshman, freshman. So your circle's set for the next four years, basically, right?

SPEAKER_03 9:54

Yeah, I'll say one thing. Yikes. That's pretty good.

SPEAKER_02 9:58

We have and I I know we have another pitcher coming in um freshman year next year as well. So um the the depth is is I'm very excited for the future, but we got to get through this season first.

SPEAKER_04 10:13

And and and let's you know talk a little bit about the defense, and and I'm gonna jump from you, coach, to your shortstop, uh Haley Powers, the junior captain who joins us. And and uh she's also speaking for Abby Corbin, your other junior captain who couldn't make it, your catcher. Uh Haley, defensively, where do you feel you guys are right now? Can you still get better? Or uh do you feel like everybody's kind of settled in, you know, with at the midway point or just past the midway point?

SPEAKER_00 10:38

I think from the beginning of the season to now, I think one of the most important things that we've done to kind of set our defense to the maximum like potentially can is really like collapsing with each other and like being able to have that culture and friendship with each other because when you're on the field, you want to talk to one another, do you want to be both facilities and someone and feel like you can fly each other, and we have to specify and seriously for not having 15 if we have to do each other off. I just think from the year this five density factors I satisfied with micro sensitivity on the family, and it's feeling like we can all specifically be with each other now. And I think that's one of the most important things with on defense on trusting each other as we do. And I think from the beginning of the season to now that trust has really enhanced and reached a really high potential. And of course, there's always room for improvement. Um, but I think, like I said, from the start of the season to now, we're all just, I think, really confident in ourselves.

SPEAKER_04 11:46

And it seems like you've hit your stride a little bit. You know, you you you shut out Platt 21-0. That, you know, I guess could I I don't say could be expected and put down uh Platt or anything, but then you had kind of two high-scoring games against Bristol East in the middle town. But then your last three games, you've only given up seven runs in three games. So uh coach, jumping back to you, do you feel like right now they're playing the best defense of the season?

SPEAKER_02 12:10

Yeah, I I think so. Um, you know, if you look at one of our opportunity areas right now, and you just alluded to it from the allowed runs the last couple games, um, being able to finish games, you know, we've if you look at our our our first half of scores, right? If you go back to, you know, the majority of our games, you know, we've either allowed no runs or one or two runs at max. Um we we tend to struggle a little bit once we get that get past that midway point right now. Um we've talked about different approaches and having a different mindset. So I think um we are getting better. And I you see that through the trend and to what you're alluding to now. Um and and I again the direction that they're going, uh I'm very proud of their improvement. Um and and I think it's gonna only get better as we continue to go further, especially with the especially with the the the getting to getting more familiar and every time they they they pitch, right? Every time we have a game, I'm getting more familiar with our pitchers. You know, this to me is a a first year for me pitch calling, right? So, you know, I've on the travel side, I've always had had my wife, Annalisa Rosa, pitch call. Um, I've charted pitches with her, but actually try actually going through and and pitch calling and trying to, you know, take a look at different things, that's been an adjustment. We're figuring it out as we go go through.

SPEAKER_04 13:35

Couldn't get the misses on the staff.

SPEAKER_02 13:38

Yeah, no, she she said no. With uh with with one with uh uh soon-to-be three-year-old, and and then we have uh we have one on the way as well. So okay, there you go. Things are things are busy, but you know, it's um my assistant coaches, you know, Brian and and Ryan, um they they've been they've been phenomenal for me. Um it's been a tremendous supporting cast, and uh yeah, I couldn't ask for anything better. No, that's great.

SPEAKER_04 14:07

Uh take us around the field, just you know, uh while we're talking defense players, you know, let's start in the infield. You know, we talked about the pitchers. You got uh Abby Corbin is your uh number one catcher. You know, how good is she behind the plate? And and then just from there, let's go first, second, short, and third.

SPEAKER_02 14:24

Yeah, I think Abby was gonna get mad at me, especially because she's not here right now. Um the nickname I've kind of coined for her, um, she is she is the uh whisperer. Uh what I mean by that is um she just really knows how to connect with our pitchers, um, whether the relationship is, you know, a really long one or a really short one, right? So, you know, with two freshman pitchers here, um, her ability to connect, just just when she she can sense and see when things are you know not right from a mechanic standpoint, a uh body language standpoint, you know, she she's the one that calls timeout to go out and talk to them, you know, more so than what I do. Um so she's she's definitely one of our our major rocks behind the plate, and and she's really um one of our biggest reasons that we're having so much success from a pitching standpoint is you have a catcher that can calm them down, but you also have a catcher that can do what catchers do, right? She can block like nobody's business. Um she she frames and she doesn't give up a lot of strikes. So she does a really great job, and I'm really proud of her of where she has is at so far. Uh first base, primarily we've had um uh Maya Steiner. So um that girl is the picking queen, let me tell you. Um we we've had some balls from from shortstop and from third base come in, and and I I have that kind of that oh no. And then she just comes right through and picks it. And and you know, her presence on the field, and and I've known Maya for a number of years, uh, but her presence, her the vibe she brings, um I I couldn't have asked asked for anything better for a first baseman on our infield. Second base is um freshman Kylie Nass. Um I'll tell you, so I think it was our third game. I want to say it was our third game in. Um, and you know, anytime you have a a freshman coming in to be a starter on varsity, um, she earned that right. I believe it was our third game. She made a diving stop at second base. Um, and then what she's doing with the bat right now, um, as I mentioned in the beginning, it's hard to take somebody out of the lineup when they're doing that well. Uh, but the defensive perspective that she brings just as a freshman alone, I I couldn't be happier with where she's at. Uh moving over to shortstop. Um, so I've had the privilege of knowing Haley since she was 10 years old. Um so she she played for us back in the day with uh with Titans and um you know coming back as as a little bit of a reunion of sorts here on the high school side. Um there's just she's just a natural leader. I mean there's there's just no question about it. Um but she's also one that's never satisfied, right? So if she she can have one of the best games of her life, and you know, she'll be the first one to come in and go, why doesn't this feel right? Or why why is why am I doing this or why am I doing that? Or um so she that's that's that's the natural presence of a of a leader, you know. I couldn't have asked for anything more. Um on the third base side, we've we've fluctuated a little bit on our third base side, but most most recently we've gone to uh staff, uh Olivia Stafford. Um if you ever need a girl that needs to um bring life to a dugout or bring life to a team, that's the girl. Um she is hilarious. Um just just kind of and I I know I'm not being as formal, but um she just her presence and her vibe that she brings to our group is is unmatched. The stuff that she says, the one-liners that she does, some of the mechanic things that she does, especially when she goes to the outfield and she gives this little tap to her glove, and it's like an inside joke just before she catches the ball. Um, but she does a tremendous job for us. Um the first time that we moved her over to third base, her and Haley were on the left side as we were just doing some infield work, and um Liv actually started taking balls away from shortstop because she was just moving so well to her glove side, and it was like this little back and forth, and I I thought it was the greatest thing ever. Um so she's a wonderful asset to have um to round out our infield. Going into um going into our outfield, um so you've got left field right now. Um we had a fluctuation between you know Emma Kulak and then and then Lily, um, you know, between center and and and left. But you know, you look at Emma, right? You know, senior captain, she's committed to to U and H, you know, going into this year or going into next year. Um two natural leaders between Emma and Lily. Um, you know, I'm kind of bumming that they're seniors and they're they're leaving me and leaving the team. Um, but those are two guys that I definitely want to have in an outfield. Um, you know, I kind of wish this was early travel days so that I didn't have to worry about them aging or leaving. You know, I could just move up in age group with them. Um but their leadership, their, they're just their ability to track and and you know, Lily's ability just to make diving plays. You know, we we were in practice it's probably like two, two, three weeks ago, I want to say, and she made a diving play in practice, and you know, I I was like over the moon. Like I threw the bat in the air, and I was like, you know, you know, woo-hooing and all that. And and you know, you look, I looked at the rest of the team and they were just like, Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 19:58

That's what she does all the time.

SPEAKER_02 20:00

I'm like, guys, what are you talking about? I'm like, Did you see that? And they were just like, Yeah, she does that all the time. And I'm like, Jesus. Um, so just having two of those guys is is is amazing. And you know, right now we've we've got Bailey Atkins in um in right field, and you know, Bailey's an incoming freshman uh to us. Um this girl has an absolute cannon for an arm. You know, there's some things that we're working with her on from a mechanic standpoint, but I mean, honestly, that's that's a given when you look at an incoming freshman and when you look at such a critical critical position for an outfielder. Um, she's doing a really great job and you know, coming into the batting order and you know, playing in and against some of the teams that we've been playing against because when we came into the year, she wasn't a starter. And she's earned her way into that starting rotation, and um, you know, she's been doing a really nice job for us and um couldn't couldn't be happier. So that that really essentially rounds out our our infield and our outfield for the most part.

SPEAKER_03 21:00

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SPEAKER_04 21:44

I'm gonna just take a minute to tell you a a story that I've never gotten to tell a rookie coach, but back when I first got into coaching when I was back in Maine, I was a JV basketball coach helping at the the school I went to high school at. And I remember at the end of the season, you know, as a JV coach. Coach or also a varsity assistant. I I remember when the seniors their last game and all that, and you lose the seniors, and it hurts. You're like, you know, your first your first senior class, and it's like, man, I'm never gonna coach these kids again. And I was talking to the varsity coach about that, who was also happened to be my cross-country coach back in the day. And he goes, You know, John, the thing is that yeah, every year you lose that group of seniors and you say goodbye to them, and it does hurt at first, but then you turn around and you see these new freshmen coming in saying, Hey, let's play ball, and you realize, Oh wow, I got these kids for the next four years, and then you get to know them a little bit. And while it doesn't ease the pain or ease the loss, and you never forget the kids you have, you realize that you know that excitement of oh wow, I got this new group for four years, and it's it's it gets easier, I guess, because you realize you have a whole new group coming in. So uh, but Lily, let me let me jump over to you as a senior. You know, you're coming into your last year with with Emma, and uh uh there's one other senior that I don't want to leave out, Isabella Rossak, I believe it is. Uh what was it like when you learned the other coach was leaving and you had a new staff coming in? And I'm not sure if you knew Coach Linsky at all, you know, uh from his because he is a uh well-known travel guy. Are you guys still the Titans? You are, right?

SPEAKER_02 23:15

Yeah, yeah. At least at least until the end of July.

SPEAKER_04 23:19

Oh, that's right too. Yeah, so uh that that's another that's for another podcast, though. Yeah, uh what was that like for you, Lily, to to, you know, were you nervous about a new staff coming in? And and how do you think it's all worked out 11 games in?

SPEAKER_01 23:32

Um, yeah, so like when we found out that all three of our coaches were leaving, it was kind of like a shock. And in me, I was thinking like, this is my last year, like I wanted to end on a good note, you know, like I didn't know what was gonna happen. But um our three new coaches came in, and they're great. And I don't know, they they work really well with us, and obviously we're doing well, and I just could not ask for a better coaching staff. They're really great.

SPEAKER_04 24:10

And you're 10 and 1 your senior year, too. That helps as well, I'm sure. Uh you know, Rob, Jeff and I go way back back when we were both travel coaches, and and I can't remember if you were uh on for that part of the conversation that I had with the girls, but uh Jeff, why make the jump to high school at this point in your life? You know, like you said, you get the the three-year-old, you get the baby on the way. Why now? And uh and was high school always something that you wanted to try to have your own program to see what you could do, or um, not even close.

SPEAKER_02 24:41

Um I you know, and I'm and I'm still in travel now, um, you know, with with really no end in sight. So it's really just an addition here with with adding in our high school program. Um you know, high school was never on my radar, um, but I always did have I always did have this issue when I was on the travel side. So the biggest issue that I always faced was, you know, when when kids broke to high school, you always had a split group when you were having your conversations. You had uh you had half of the team on your travel team was was pumped and ready to go for high school because they had coaches that were bought in, they understood how to coach, they understand the culture, the vibe, everything. But then you had another um another half of the team that was just miserable, right? Like, you know, they didn't want to go to their high school team, they didn't want to leave the the the culture of of their travel program, they didn't want to leave the coaching, they didn't want to leave that. And and you know, we're finding right now that, you know, some of the high school coaches in in the state of Connecticut, and this is just across the board, right? We just have this fluctuation between, you know, coaches that understand and have the background to be an adequate coach from an X's and O's perspective. But then you also have coaches where within certain school districts where they're kind of just looking for, you know, a mentor, right? Just so that they can keep a program going. But they unfortunately don't have the X's and O's background. I think one of the things that for me I Bristol Central was always good, right? Like, you know, I I've had and when Annalise was coaching, my wife, you know, I was her assistant coach, and even she had players from from Central, you know, or Eastern. Um and both programs were always good. Like they were always very competitive, they always had positive things to say about the coaching staff. Um, but then when you know, when their word came that the central um head coach, you know, uh Monica was was not going to be there. Um, and then unfortunately the the the next assistant coaches also decided not to come back. I don't know. I I I can't really pinpoint what it was that made me go, yep, I'm gonna do this. I did have a lot of parents come up to me um and say, hey, you should check it out, you should check it out. And I think it was probably like after the sixth parent that I, you know, and and all the other ones before, I said, no, no, no, no, no. But finally I just said, you know what? I'm gonna find out and see what's going on. And I I came home, I had a conversation with with Annalise that said, you know, what do you think? And um, I said, I'm just gonna check it out, you know, dip the dip the toe in the water. Well, unfortunately, I didn't really know anybody. I didn't know the AD, I didn't know the principal staff, I didn't, you know, I didn't know anything. And the only way that you can really at the time, or at least from what I knew, to check things out was to apply for the position. Once I applied for it and then I started re-researching a little bit more about the school, about the program, about you know how invested they are in their sports programs, um I got really giddy about it. And honestly, the rest is history. Um you know, there there wasn't one specific thing that made me want to go and do it, but I could tell you, you know, I'm I'm so thankful that I did. And you know, my my ultimate goal, my ultimate goal one day is to be a college coach. Um, I've said that for years and years and years. And I think just having the experience, not just on the travel perspective, but having it from an educational background and within high school, I think is also going to be something that's going to help. But it's also going to just add another tool to the toolbox because travel is insanely different than high school. You know, yes, you have majority of your players are travel and they understand all that and everything else, but there's a lot of other aspects that go into being a high school coach and preaching the fact of making sure that they're getting good grades, making sure that, you know, they're being a leader in the community, being a leader within their school system. Um, you know, and those are all things that we instilled on the Titan side, but now I get to bring them to fruition on the high school side. So super happy about it. But yeah, the rest is really history and how this came to fruition.

SPEAKER_04 29:16

Haley and Lily, let me jump to you real quick. We only have about eight minutes left. But one thing that I'm always curious about is I love rivalries. And you guys have an automatic, well, you have three high schools, right, in Bristol. Uh you got Bristol Central, Bristol Eastern, and then St. Paul Catholic up the road. But I don't I don't think you guys play St. Paul, but what's that Bristol Eastern versus Bristol Central rivalry like? I'm sure, like, you know, that both I'm sure many Titans have come from both high schools. And and Lily, we'll start with you. Just is that a game you truly enjoy playing every year because it is that inner city rivalry?

SPEAKER_01 29:52

Um, yeah, I do enjoy it. And I mean, I might not be the best person to ask for this because I kind of just view it as any other game. But um for since my freshman year, going into before we played them this season, our record against them was three and three. So Emma and I were like, oh, we really want to win this year, and you know, kind of get the tiebreaker, and we did. It was a great game. And yeah, it it is fun because everyone just gets like really hyped up for it.

SPEAKER_04 30:29

And of course, Bristol Eastern, they you know, you guys play that one more time on May 19th at Bristol Eastern, so they could tie it up, so it could end up being an even split, right? Yeah, let's not hope. What about you, Haley? What are your thoughts about playing your your crosstown rivals?

SPEAKER_00 30:43

Um, a lot of the girls that are on Eastern and Central, um, I've played with for a very long time, starting back in Little League with BGLLS. So I think when we all match up again, it's kind of fun and you kind of get to like reminisce on those moments where you guys play together. And it's just a really fun competition. We're all having fun. Like we all we all love each other and support each other. And at least for me, when we play YouTube, you kind of get that like feeling in your gut, like you're just like excited and you kind of have those butterflies and that anxiousness. But it's a really fun game, and I know the majority, a lot of our team really look forward to that game. So it's really fun.

SPEAKER_04 31:24

That's why we love rivalries right there. Uh coach, again, we're wrapping up here shortly in about five minutes. Um, you know, again, 10 and 1 midway through the season. Have your hopes and goals, or I should say, have your goals that you maybe had set to open the season, have they changed at this point? And are you hoping for a little more from this group?

SPEAKER_02 31:45

Um, no, no, I I don't think so. Um, you know, our our we had three goals coming into the year, right? So, you know, last year we were 8 and 13, and um I I don't believe we had made the CCC tournament, and I think they had gotten knocked out first round of states. So that was last year. This year our goals were um to be over 500, uh, make it to the CCC tournament, and then um get past the first round of states. And quite honestly, um, to me, I don't really envision us changing any of those goals. You know, I think right now, um some some of the teams like and I kind of like this too. I feel like we're a little bit of the sleeper, if you will. Um, and I'm okay being being and having that image. Um and and quite honestly, you know, Lily summed it up and her and I kind of we we are the same in this aspect where um regardless of who we play, and we you know we've got some good teams coming up here, especially this coming weekend next. Um, but it's just another game, right? Like they still have to pitch this, they still have to pitch to us, they gotta field the balls that we're gonna put in play, you know, and and uh it's just I don't get too wrapped up on who's on the other side of the field. Um, you know, I mean, don't get me wrong, there's some phenomenal players in this in this state, but um I have a lot of confidence in this group, and as long as we continue to operate the way that we've been and the way that we know how and the way that we've been talking about operating, um I would love to play anybody. I really would.

SPEAKER_03 33:26

And John, they're a team that's gonna be coming down to our neck of the woods this Friday with a trip to Ridgefield. That'll be uh that'll be a game worth checking out. The Tigers having a good season in the FSIAC, so a good out-of-conference matchup for both squads. I I think that's a good one.

SPEAKER_04 33:42

And they get our friends at Avon uh that we did the podcast off a few weeks ago. That's right. Uh that after that. So that's gonna be a good back-to-back test for them right there. So it'll be it'll be interesting. You got challenges, challenges are coming, Coach.

SPEAKER_02 33:54

Yeah, and I I think if I remember right, I think Simsbury, and we played Simsbury this week, and I think Simsbury knocked off Avon Friday. So that ended their undefeated streak, I I believe. So um, yeah, we've got we've got some really good teams, and and you know what? This is the second half, and and it's it's it's better to the conference tournament and the state tournament, and and that's where you really figure out who's who's who's the real deal and who's not. So um we're we're ready to go.

SPEAKER_03 34:30

Well, we're looking forward to watching this whole season and how it plays out, and we wish you all the best throughout the balance of this season. Best of luck. Thank you guys, and appreciate you inviting us on here.

SPEAKER_00 34:42

Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_03 34:44

Lily Coach Haley, that'll do it for this edition of the Inside Corner as we visit with Bristol Central, along with John Nash. I'm Rob Adams. We'll talk to you on our next edition. So long, everyone.