Coaches Corner for July 29th: Bryce Dean, Madrid Baseball

With us on Coach's Corner, KWBG, going to wrap up Madrid baseball season. I really thought a very successful season, and I'd say it if he was on the phone with me or not. But Bryce Dean joining us, head coach for the Tigers. And Coach, I know we've talked about this a lot during our Coach's Corners. But it's one of those teams that I knew coming into this season, you had a bunch of youngsters. So it's like, OK, how are these kids going to gel? What's Bryce going to see this summer? But I'll tell you what, I know you guys wanted to keep playing. I know if you could have got by Ankeny Christian, this would have been a fun team just to see what if. But what a great summer, Bryce. You had to really have a lot of fun with these kids. So yeah, this is, I think, without a doubt, the most fun I've had with a group of guys just from not just on the field stuff. That is what it is. And with the off the field, the bus rides and kids being kids. And it goes all the way back to when we started pitching and catching stuff in the winter. They show up, they work hard, they enjoy being around each other. I think that's the biggest thing. I think any coach would say is if you have a group that enjoys coming to whether it's the gym or the field every single day and being around each other, that makes it a fun group to be around. And like we said, over and over, the fun part is they all come back next year, so. Well, and that's the thing too, Bryce. I was looking at your schedule last night before I knew we were going to get together and start talking today. And I was trying to look back, and I was trying to pinpoint, was there a game that really made me think, hey, this mad routine might pull off something crazy this year? I'm going to say there wasn't, and that's not a bad thing. I just think you guys started to play your brand of baseball. I think really against West Sioux, you started to put together some stuff, and I thought, man, this team might be able to do some post-season stuff. And then we obviously know the one-run lost to Anthony Christian proved that you guys did belong in 1A this year. Well, I think you hit a spot on. There wasn't a date and our calendar that we circled and said, yep, this was the turning point. I mean, you could say, I think back to that game down at Woodward Granger that we won. And it was like, wow, this is what we can do when we play well. And then we went up and we played a good West Sioux team up in Estherville and competed with them and scared Estherville that same day. And the second game was a double header. But I think you saw it in that first round game against Collins Maxwell. I think we made one error, and it didn't end up costing us. But you play clean, you throw strikes, you put the ball in play, and you're patient at the plate. That's, I think, when we were at our best. Those were the games that we proved that we could beat anybody who was in the other dugout. And one run away from Anthony Christian, who made it up to state tournament. And I think that put a lot of positive thoughts into our guys' minds of, oh, if we can play them a state tournament team to a one-run ball game, why can't we play with anybody? Well, and something else, too, is speaking of playing with anybody. I thought the batting this year, and I'm going to talk about pitching, too, because I was really impressed there. But I really thought your hitters did a real nice job at the plate. And I know Emerson Bridgewater, he gets a ton of accolades that he absolutely deserves. But I even think he took a step forward with his approach at the plate. I thought watching his walk total go up and the strikeout total go down showed me that he really matured this year as a hitter. I can't wait to see senior year. But I mean, I can throw Colby in there. I can throw McCoy in there, Cole in there. Eli Peterson, I think, is coming on as well. He has a chance to be really, really solid for you next year. I kind of feel like I'm cheating, because I could go through a huge amount of your roster. But I've got to tell you, coach, there's a bunch of kids here that just even, and this is going to sound funny, but even a little bit of work in the offseason, man, this could be a team that goes from 270 average, coach. I could see easily 285, maybe more next year. Yeah, no, I think we were kind of toting that 300 team batting average line for a while. And then we ran into Van Meter, Des Moines, Christian Pleasantville. And not many teams hit well against them. So our team average went down. But our goal coming in this year is to hit 300 as a team. We didn't hit that goal. But I think you alluded to it perfectly. Just like you, I could go through each one of those guys. I think the underlying thing is they took a jump maturity-wise, mentally and physically, where they grinded in the offseason in the weight room. But each one of them also had plenty of varsity playing experience. So they know I could cold epi and McCoy Cooley. I get they've played travel ball. Growing up, but varsity baseball is a little bit different in how pitchers work. He's a little bit different. So McCoy gets 20 hit-by-pitch. That's not a coincidence. His approach is, I'm going to be up on the plate and take away the inside corner. Cold epi hits the crap out of the baseball. I think Emerson's approach at the plate this year was phenomenal. He, I mean, like you said, wanted to get on base more because he knows that when he gets on base, good things happen. But it wasn't the, hey, I have to pull everything and hit everything hard. I was really impressed at how he let the ball travel and use the whole field to hit rather than just try to pull into the left center field gap. I think he probably had four or five doubles to right center field, including the one against Ankeny Christian that put us down by one in the seventh inning. And that, again, credit to him. He bought in early, early in the winter. And he saw what I, I can't wait to see what he does and what the rest of them do next year. But I know we only got so much time, but I could go on and on and talk about every single one of them and how proud I am of the work that all the guys put in. And then they saw the results of that this year. Well, and I got to give a little bit of credit to, and I say that with a wink, because I thought the pitching staff did such a nice job. And Levi Cochlear was somebody, I think we thought coming into this season, he's probably going to be that leader. And that's nothing against these other guys that I'm going to mention. But it kind of felt like Levi would be that guy that, when I said, hey, coach, I need to win a game. Who are you going with? I think Levi Cochlear is probably the kid you look over at. You point and you say, go warm up. Connor, Zach, and Emerson, I think have, boy, you want to talk about a ceiling when it comes to what these kids can do, hitting-wise, pitching to a little bit of time, a little bit of effort in the off-season. I think that could be a real solid four kids to throw. And let's be honest, Bryce, in 1A baseball, you usually need a couple. If I give you four, watch out. Yeah, I'm not going to take a whole lot of credit, because anyone who knows my pitching background knows it's a very, very short, very, very short list. Alex Foster, he came in this year. I kind of just gave him the reins after Coach Taylor left and said, hey, this is your throwing program. You do what you want with it. He taught me a lot this year. Obviously, he taught the kids a lot, too. But that was our main focus was pitching this year, because if we're giving up eight runs, it's hard for us to win a lot of baseball games. Emerson's been Emerson since he got here. But I think you look at the guys like Levi and Conor and Zach and the jumps that they made from. You know, they were guys who could go out and throw, but now they're guys that can go out and pitch. And like you said with Levi, he's a guy that I trust in every single game. I know he's going to throw a lot of strikes. I know he's going to compete. He doesn't let a lot rattle him. He wants a ball in his hand all the time. And I love that about him. And then Conor and Zach, Conor goes out for four and two-thirds of the district semi-final, allows one run to a state tournament team. And Zach, had we tied it up, taken the lead, Zach was our next arm. And I think that speaks a lot to the work that they put in, because if I can trust them out there to throw strikes and do their job, then I know this next year is going to be really fun in terms of those four. And then everyone else that we have through this year that's going to take another step. Well, Bryce, we just want to thank you so much for a fun summer. I always love talking baseball with you. I always feel like you and I probably talk way too much before we go on the air. And then I go, well, he's not kicking me off the phone, so I'm going to keep talking ball with him. But just thanks for a great summer. Look forward to seeing what this Tiger team can do next summer. And have a great off season. I know I'll see you around. Yeah, no, this is usually my least favorite one to do, because I mean, season's over. And I won't get to see it for probably till football season, so. That's true. That's true. That's true. I usually come down and watch you fire the big skin around a little bit. Yeah. Yeah, I know we appreciate you and the coverage you give us, Ryan, going back. I know you and I have had a good relationship since I was in high school. So you're one of the guys that I know that if you call, I know it'll be a 30-minute conversation, and just shooting the stuff. We do. We definitely do that for sure. Bryce, but have a great off season. We'll look forward to talking to you real soon. Thanks, Ryan. Appreciate you. You bet. Bryce Dean again joining us. Matt from Baseball here on Coaches Corner.