Saturday and Sunday in Montgomery

[RaginScotsman]

Good stuff.

We had some friends over on Sunday that showed up right in the 8th inning. I had been on my feet since the 2nd inning and pacing around the house. I didn't react when GSouthern scored to take the lead. I started to get excited when we took the lead and really let out my first yell when we got the first strike out in the 9th. Then the final out.....

Our visitors made fun of me a little bit for celebrating (they are all alum, but love to poke fun at me for how excited I get,) but my wife understood it. This was such a treat and an achievement for this team. After the last out, the baseball game stuff was done and this Championship was about so many more things.

[ULvictory]

Great post, Jay.

After the dogpile, Coach Robe was the first person that came to mind. We have seen this type of effort from his teams in the past to grind after being down and coming out on top in the end. But the credit on Sunday for this particular effort goes to Coach Deggs. He has built a mental toughness in this team that we have not seen in quite a long time. Even after being down 5-0 to a Top 25 team looking to host a regional, they still found a way to slowly fight back and win it all. Average teams don't do that. And even though I'll sometimes scratch my head at some of the coaching decisions, it was obviously good enough to put us in a regional. And for that, kudos to Matt Deggs and this team for finding a way to go through the best of our conference and have the opportunity to play baseball in June.

[wcd35]

My first thought after Schultz's performance was thinking back to watching Oz vs that loaded Rice team in person in Austin. All time gutsy performances

[John Cocktolstoy]

Great post Jay. Talking about Deggs style of coaching. I was telling a friend just the other day that Deggs changed the way he manages the game somewhat from the beginning of the year to the end. Early on he never bunted and moved runners with no outs. Many times left them on first and 2nd or hit week ground ball outs. Later in the year he appeared to start using the small ball game more in moving runners. So could it be fair to say that even Coach himself saw a need to change what he was doing early in the year?

[CajunPride]

Thanks again Jay for taking us to the ballpark and behind the scenes into the broadcast booth and your heart.
I was so excited and nervous this weekend it was unbelievable what I was seeing. Not only was the team, coaches, and broadcasters grinding, most diehard fans were humping and grinding right along with them. We all felt Coach Robes presence on the mound and Coach Deggs energy and desire in the dugout and on the field. So happy for all of us who have been waiting through this difficult transition for a return to Regionals.

[JayWalker]

Great post Jay. Talking about Deggs style of coaching. I was telling a friend just the other day that Deggs changed the way he manages the game somewhat from the beginning of the year to the end. Early on he never bunted and moved runners with no outs. Many times left them on first and 2nd or hit week ground ball outs. Later in the year he appeared to start using the small ball game more in moving runners. So could it be fair to say that even Coach himself saw a need to change what he was doing early in the year?

Not necessarily. The guy at the dish kind of dictates that. In some cases he bunted because he had a really good bunter up there. In others he hit away.

[John Cocktolstoy]

Not necessarily. The guy at the dish kind of dictates that. In some cases he bunted because he had a really good bunter up there. In others he hit away.

I am at every weekend series and most week nights. As are you. I know I have seen more small ball down the stretch than I did early. And I am not talking about speedy guys like Max and TR who will at times bunt to get on base.

[Lafitte the Pirate]

Let’s talk about what champions are made of. 1st 28 games - 14-14. Last 29 games - 22-7. Tournament time- kick the crap of your #1 baseball rival 9-1. Beat a ranked team who crapped all over you in San Marcos. Thank you Jacob Shultz for pitching the game of your life. Finally you beat a team who was going to host and beat you last year in the tournament. Finally, the emotions from Jay and Colleen texting just adds to the way we’re became champs. If I left some thinks out please forgive me. The UL legacy lives on!!

[KajunKrazy]

When you're the four seed in a tournament and the three above you are locks for the NCAA tournament, you have to do some things you haven't done before.

Saturday the Cajuns defeated Texas State 3-2. It was the FIRST time all year the Cajuns won a game when scoring fewer than five runs. Jacob Schultz gave a performance for the ages, and, at the end, I gave him a standing ovation on the air. It's only the second time I've done that (Zach Osborne vs. Rice 2010).

Sunday the Cajuns won over Georgia Southern 7-6. It was the FIRST time this year they won a game when trailing after eight innings.

I started to get emotional when the dogpile began. But I swallowed hard and did my own version of "grinding." We knew a win Sunday would be #36. Tim Perrin (Austin's dad) started crying after the Saturday game. None of these kids have experienced a championship and Austin has been there the longest (he and Schultz are the only two that played for Robe). He said we had to win for 36. He wore a shirt Sunday covered in 36's. (and he's about a 4X) That's alot of 36's. He was still on the verge of tears Sunday morning.

Brad went down to interview Coach Deggs. I got a text from Colleen Robichaux. The last out was at 4:36pm. I got choked up during the break. Thankfully the awards ceremony was next and it gave me a chance to get my act together. Then during the interview, Brad mentioned the text (he got it too) and he and Coach Deggs both broke down in tears. We took a break and I was finally ok. Or so I thought.

During the close I mentioned our next broadcast would be in the NCAA regionals and my voice broke. That has NEVER happened during a game broadcast. Brad was back upstairs by that time. I finished up (barely) and signed off. I got up and hugged him.

And proceeded to ugly cry. I mean body racking, loud, sobbing, ugly cry.

I cried because I missed Robe. But I felt his spirit in Montgomery.

I cried because Tim and Lisa Perrin, Brandon and Donna Talley, Dustin and Kelly Brandon, Karen and Joe Kimple, Rob and Jennifer Schultz, Sandy and Mark Wilson and Danny and Vivian Brock (and their sons) were going to have another week of Ragin' Cajuns baseball. (I've gotten to know Danny and Vivian well. I think they're the only parents ever to have me as a guest in their home. They made most road trips and were in for every home weekend this year. Vivian is first generation Colombian and they are just outstanding, loving people. Julian is draft eligible and this could be it for them). These parents have made a bunch of trips over the years (even the Kimples, who have been around the last three weeks and will be in College Station...which is quite a ways away from Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin.) Those relationships have been special to me. I'm so happy for them. (And, Brian Robertson, too, who gave me a bottle of Blanton's to celebrate after the game. TR is probably gone to the draft. Brian didn't make a lot of trips, but I knew he was a great guy before he gave me that gift.)

And I cried because all of you now understand there's more than one way to coach baseball. That's not a knock on you. If you're under age 40, Robe is pretty much all you knew. And, over the last two years, you've gotten on Matt pretty good because he didn't do things the way Robe did them. That was unfair, but I get it. I was so happy for Coach Deggs. I love that man.

Matt Deggs won a championship HIS way with HIS system and HIS players.

If it comes to an end this weekend, so be it.

I'm just so freaking happy right now.

If Julian gets drafted curious to see what Deggs does at catcher next year? The only other one I see on the current roster is a grad transfer. Looks like he signed one out of high school in 2022, but you can’t really count on that being your every day guy next year. Is there someone that’s already here that can catch that I’m missing?

[Cantstandza]

If Julian gets drafted curious to see what Deggs does at catcher next year? The only other one I see on the current roster is a grad transfer. Looks like he signed one out of high school in 2022, but you can’t really count on that being your every day guy next year. Is there someone that’s already here that can catch that I’m missing?

Willis was recruited to LSU as a catcher

[sportsfanatic21]

Willis was recruited to LSU as a catcher

I’m sure there will be some in the transfer portal that would jump at the chance to come in and start at a program like this one.

[raginbeef]

Good stuff Jay. Any chance the post game interview will be available for listen?

M$M, you can catch Brad’s post-game interview, along with Jay’s call on the final out in the first few minutes of today’s Great Scott Show (5/31) on Spotify. https://open.spotify.com/episode/02n...dQhOgt2yYz5qub