Speaker 1: It's Cajun's baseball infielder Lie Ameday about to come back
Speaker 1: for a fifth season. We'll discuss it here on Raging Rundown.
Speaker 1: What's good, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to another episode
Speaker 1: of Raging Rundown. All Cajuns all the time. I'm your guy,
Speaker 1: JaMarcus Fitzpatrick, but you know you can always call me fits.
Speaker 1: And in today's episode, we will be talking about the
Speaker 1: possibility of one of the more beloved players in the
Speaker 1: Louisiana baseball program potentially coming back, Lee Ameday announcing on
Speaker 1: social media, I'm back hashtag one thirteen. Now, this is
Speaker 1: something that has been speculated a lot because of the
Speaker 1: court rulings that have happened, and we're going to break
Speaker 1: all of this down to the best of my ability
Speaker 1: that I have, and we're going to talk all about
Speaker 1: it so candidly. In my day job at KGC, right,
Speaker 1: I saw that, you know, high school football was going
Speaker 1: on with scrimmages, and so I was prepared to go
Speaker 1: out and cover games tonight, which I still did end
Speaker 1: up going to some games. But I get on social
Speaker 1: and I see that Liamede has posted that he is
Speaker 1: coming back after all of these rulings that's happened in
Speaker 1: the courts, and so, as a as a journalist, I
Speaker 1: go and I started compiling the story. I put it
Speaker 1: together online at KGC dot com. You can go read
Speaker 1: more about that. And so I say, well, let's see
Speaker 1: if we can add to the story, because it's not
Speaker 1: just hey, let's just break the story in digital. What
Speaker 1: can we do for on air purposes? So I said,
Speaker 1: I wonder if I can reach out to Lee and
Speaker 1: see if would he'd be interested in doing a quick interview.
Speaker 1: And so I reached out to him and sure enough,
Speaker 1: he said, yeah, I'm in town. I said, can you
Speaker 1: meet me at the tigue. We meet up and next
Speaker 1: thing we know, we have about a five or ten
Speaker 1: minute conversation. I have about three sound bites that I'll
Speaker 1: play from that conversation that we had for you here
Speaker 1: on the show. The way all of this came to
Speaker 1: be about. And like I said, you can read more
Speaker 1: about this at KTC dot com in the article that
Speaker 1: I posted.
Speaker 2: Initially.
Speaker 1: I believe it was back in July, US District Judge
Speaker 1: Charlotte Sweeney in Denver ruled that all class of twenty
Speaker 1: twenty two high school athletes who used their fourth season
Speaker 1: of eligibility this spring would be able to play for
Speaker 1: its fifth season in twenty twenty six, twenty twenty seven.
Speaker 2: Now, as you remember, the NCAA came.
Speaker 1: Out with the five and five eligibility model, which is
Speaker 1: NOMA redshirts, none of this stuff like that, you enroll
Speaker 1: in the school, you had five seasons, You have five seasons. Initially,
Speaker 1: what they were saying was this would start in the
Speaker 1: twenty six twenty seven athletic calendar. This judge comes in
Speaker 1: after players filed suit and said no, if these plays
Speaker 1: have only gone have only used four years or used
Speaker 1: all four years of their eligibility and is deciding to
Speaker 1: want to be able to utilize that fifth year that
Speaker 1: they should be entitled to, they would be able to
Speaker 1: do that.
Speaker 2: And that's what they're ruling.
Speaker 1: Kind of started in the ESPN article or the Associated
Speaker 1: Press article on ESPN dot com, it said that it
Speaker 1: has also has the potential to wreak havoc on rosters
Speaker 1: across the country, for instance, opening the possibility that an
Speaker 1: undrafted player in an NFL training camp could try to
Speaker 1: head back to college for a fifth year. And that's
Speaker 1: how we get to this point where we are now.
Speaker 2: So if you are just a.
Speaker 1: Louisiana sports fan, then you know that former edge rusher
Speaker 1: Jack Pieburn also filed a suit along with several other players,
Speaker 1: saying that they should be able to be eligible for
Speaker 1: that fifth season despite the fact that they are currently
Speaker 1: competing four roster spots on NFL teams. Jack Pieburn is
Speaker 1: on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and overall, this entire thing
Speaker 1: is wild and crazy and I'm going to get back
Speaker 1: to Liamede in all of this in just a second.
Speaker 2: But once that.
Speaker 1: Suit was filed, a judge out of Baton Rouge, how
Speaker 1: ironic Will Jordan not only granted the players a fifth season,
Speaker 1: but also allowed them to enter a newly created week
Speaker 1: long transfer portal to find a new home. That's why
Speaker 1: you've seen some players across the country enter the transfer
Speaker 1: portal as of today, Thursday, August the twentieth. Now, with
Speaker 1: all that in mind, the question is how does this
Speaker 1: pertain back to Liamede? So initially, in July, after the
Speaker 1: season was over, Liamede was not drafted in the MLB Draft.
Speaker 1: He was not signed to an undrafted free agent deal. However,
Speaker 1: he did sign with the New York Bolters in the
Speaker 1: Frontier League. He played through that, but after I had
Speaker 1: my conversation with him, he told me that they did
Speaker 1: release him and he did pay back the funds that
Speaker 1: he needed to and that goes into the temporary restraining
Speaker 1: order that Judge William Jordan placed out. He said in
Speaker 1: that that the only way this would work is so
Speaker 1: if the players decided to come back to college, they
Speaker 1: would have to terminate their contract that they had with
Speaker 1: professional teams and return the money that they had received.
Speaker 1: Liamede has done that, so that allows him to be
Speaker 1: eligible in this instance.
Speaker 2: And so with all that in mind, this is not finalized.
Speaker 1: I'll say that again, this is not finalized, but the
Speaker 1: ball is rolling, and with the way things have been
Speaker 1: going with the NCAA and how they haven't truly been
Speaker 1: enforcing some of the rules that they have, I feel
Speaker 1: like this is going to be something where Lee will
Speaker 1: get an opportunity to go and play one more time
Speaker 1: in the Vermilion and White. So currently he is eligible
Speaker 1: to practice so he can be with the team, he
Speaker 1: can work out with the team, which he said he's
Speaker 1: already been doing that. He's going to come back and
Speaker 1: be available to work out on Monday when classes start
Speaker 1: officially on Monday, but he cannot play in the fall
Speaker 1: ball games, not until all of this is resolved because
Speaker 1: the NCAA is still trying to appeal the initial ruling
Speaker 1: from the judge in Denver. So when I talked with Lee,
Speaker 1: you know, sat down Will stood up there outside of
Speaker 1: Russo Park with him for some time, and you know,
Speaker 1: the first initial question that I asked him was, you know,
Speaker 1: you dropped a bomb on us out of nowhere with
Speaker 1: this one. But just how good did it feel to
Speaker 1: know that you have the potential to come back in
Speaker 1: the Vermilion in white for one more season?
Speaker 3: I mean, I'm really excited. I mean another place I'd
Speaker 3: rather be. I mean, got a chance to come back
Speaker 3: to this place, Like this place means everything to me.
Speaker 3: So it's like like why not, Like why not play
Speaker 3: another year here in front of these people, this team,
Speaker 3: Like just I mean, I'm honored play another year.
Speaker 2: An hundred to play another year.
Speaker 1: That's something that you absolutely love to hear from any
Speaker 1: player that you have in your program. But like I said,
Speaker 1: Lee is a phenomenal player, and we're going to get
Speaker 1: to how important he's going to be and what it
Speaker 1: can mean for you well with having him back in
Speaker 1: just a moment. The second thing that I talked to
Speaker 1: him about was just kind of the timeliness of everything
Speaker 1: that has happened. I mean, he goes to the Frontier
Speaker 1: League and he has the opportunity to work his way
Speaker 1: through there and play professional baseball and see what could
Speaker 1: come from that. But then out of nowhere, things that
Speaker 1: are not having anything to do with him ultimately results
Speaker 1: in him having the opportunity to come back and be
Speaker 1: in Cajun Country for one more season. So I asked him, like,
Speaker 1: how ironic is a lot of this that's happening for
Speaker 1: him to be able to be a part of something
Speaker 1: that he's been a part of for four years in
Speaker 1: a situation that truly has nothing to do with him initially,
Speaker 1: but now it has everything to do about him.
Speaker 2: And here's his answer.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, all the stuff is looking pretty good,
Speaker 3: like a lot of people are winning cases and whatnot,
Speaker 3: So I mean it's looking good for another year, but
Speaker 3: there's I mean, it's still there's really no guarantee, because
Speaker 3: there's still a small chance that they could like just
Speaker 3: say that we're not good. But I mean, as of now,
Speaker 3: like I'm I'll be here Monday, like I'll be practicing
Speaker 3: and stuff like normal and yeah, like as far as
Speaker 3: you said, like draft stock whatever and championships, like I'm
Speaker 3: coming Like there's no other like playing other than Omaha,
Speaker 3: like coming back to try to do something special, like
Speaker 3: so my childhood dream like go to omahall play in Omaha.
Speaker 3: Got another chance to do it. So it's like, I mean,
Speaker 3: I'm na take it.
Speaker 2: You know, why would you not?
Speaker 1: I mean, if they are going to allow the rules
Speaker 1: to be bent, why would you not. Am I overall
Speaker 1: okay with this as a whole for college athletics, No,
Speaker 1: not really, to be honest with you, because at some point,
Speaker 1: to Michael Desermo's point that he had earlier in the week,
Speaker 1: if you go to put rules into place, you have
Speaker 1: to enforce them. Now when it goes into the favor
Speaker 1: of the Cajuns and it makes an interesting storyline, I'm
Speaker 1: interested in seeing how this all plays out. I'm happy
Speaker 1: that Lee gets an opportunity to play again. I'm even
Speaker 1: more excited because of the momentum that the Cajuns have
Speaker 1: built over this off season with the funds that they've
Speaker 1: been raising, with the amount of players they've added in
Speaker 1: through the transfer portal and all of those things like
Speaker 1: that that truly makes Team one thirteen, the twenty twenty
Speaker 1: seven Raging Cagen's baseball program that's coming up next season.
Speaker 1: It makes it exciting to see what that's going to
Speaker 1: turn out to be. So with Liamede being back on
Speaker 1: the roster, what does this look like for the Cajuns.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna step aside for just a second, but when
Speaker 1: we come back, we're going to talk about what Leamede
Speaker 1: potentially being back at Louisiana could mean for this roster.
Speaker 1: We'll discuss it when we return here on Rage and Rundown.
Speaker 1: Hey guys, thank you so much for tuning in to
Speaker 1: another episode of Raging Rundown. We're gonna get back into
Speaker 1: the action in just a second, but before we do,
Speaker 1: if you're tuning into this episode on YouTube, thank you
Speaker 1: so much.
Speaker 2: Please do me a favor.
Speaker 1: Please like this video, share it, and leave a comment
Speaker 1: down below, But most importantly, make sure you subscribe to
Speaker 1: the channel. If you're listening, please follow the podcast feed,
Speaker 1: rate the show, and leave us a review, because that's
Speaker 1: going to help us get in front of more Raging
Speaker 1: Cajun fans just like yourself. So Leamedae is exercising his
Speaker 1: opportunity to get his fifth year of eligibility back because
Speaker 1: of everything that's going on in the court rulings. But
Speaker 1: what does having a player back like Leamede do for
Speaker 1: the Raging Cages? Last season, least started in sixty five
Speaker 1: of the sixty six games that you played. He played
Speaker 1: in all of them, but he started in sixty five
Speaker 1: of them. He had a three hundred batting average, forty
Speaker 1: seven runs, twelve doubles, four triples, seven home runs, and
Speaker 1: a team high fifty four RBI and he was also
Speaker 1: named to the Sunbeat Conference All Tournament Team. Overall, he's
Speaker 1: a phenomenal hitter. He is a great leader for what
Speaker 1: you have already and from a defensive standpoint, it solidifies
Speaker 1: your infield without question, like you know exactly what you
Speaker 1: have coming back because you think about it. Last season shortstop,
Speaker 1: you had Blaize Rodriguez. He's back at third. You had
Speaker 1: Drew Marko, he's back at first. You had Liamede. He's back.
Speaker 1: Now all you have to focus on is replacing your
Speaker 1: second second baseman. Who was you know, God my name
Speaker 1: is his name is slipping My mind just that quickly
Speaker 1: naming off these other names. I'm gonna go back to
Speaker 1: it so I can make sure that I get that correct.
Speaker 1: And I don't want to slight anyone. It's just a
Speaker 1: bunch of names. Ricoberto Hernandez shout out to him, right.
Speaker 1: Words are hard. Anyway, you have your your infield solidified,
Speaker 1: your your catcher, the one behind the d is solidified
Speaker 1: in Colt Brown. But you do have some pieces that
Speaker 1: you have brought in that could make things interesting and
Speaker 1: could give you options. For example, Manny Salez the Texas
Speaker 1: State transfer great bad.
Speaker 2: You gotta figure out the way to get him in
Speaker 2: the lineup.
Speaker 1: It may be a DH or maybe you cross train
Speaker 1: and try to slide Lee over to third and put
Speaker 1: Drew ad second, or you put Lee at second and
Speaker 1: put Manny at first. Like that's things that you're gonna
Speaker 1: have to think about. But overall, you're gaining backup player
Speaker 1: that has a ton of experience. You're getting back a
Speaker 1: guy that knows what your program is all about. He
Speaker 1: understands the culture, and he's been successful in the time
Speaker 1: that he's been here. So now what your roster is
Speaker 1: shaping out to be your returners in the bullpen. You
Speaker 1: have Ty Rowman, Garrett Carter, Parker Smith, Hayden Pierson, saw
Speaker 1: your crew it Chase Morgan, Gerald, Ti Lett land In Victoria,
Speaker 1: Bryce Wilson, returners infielders Drew markle Blaze, Rodriguez, Josh lim
Speaker 1: Liama Day outfielders Donovan Lasal, Mark Collins, Noah Lewis, Steven
Speaker 1: Spalita potentially could be moving to the outfield, but could
Speaker 1: also be a catcher for you. We will see once
Speaker 1: we get to fall ball. Your other catcher that's returning
Speaker 1: is Colt Brown. We know about all the transfers, but
Speaker 1: I will read them off to you once again. Trent
Speaker 1: Lape a pitcher. Pictures Trent Lape, Dagan Kubat, Matdix Sullivan,
Speaker 1: Charlie Cribbs, Blaine all Bright, Griffin Miller, Kendall, Dove Jackson Evers,
Speaker 1: Joey Irving. Other infielders that are transfers, Eric Fernandez, Jeremy Kuiper,
Speaker 1: Micah Kendrick, Many, Salaz, Tanner, Hornbeck. Your outfielders, Cal Pazzano
Speaker 1: is a transfer. Your other catcher that's a transfer, Jose Carmona.
Speaker 1: Your two freshmen. Evan Vincent is a pitcher. Miles Ledoux
Speaker 1: is an infielder, so that's what your roster is shaping
Speaker 1: up to be. One point that Lee made finally was
Speaker 1: you know how his discussion was with coach Day, which
Speaker 1: this news is coming out on his birthday, So happy birthday, coach.
Speaker 2: This is a great present for you.
Speaker 1: But there have been conversations head up until this point,
Speaker 1: so this was not just a random moment. This was
Speaker 1: something that they had known about for some time. So
Speaker 1: I asked him about kind of the timeline and how
Speaker 1: it all panned out, and like how excited Coach Diggs
Speaker 1: was and if some of his teammates knew about it
Speaker 1: lead enough to it.
Speaker 3: Yeah. I called him last week or two weeks ago
Speaker 3: maybe and told him I wanted to come back, and
Speaker 3: he was like, he was like, buddy, like, I'll take
Speaker 3: you back in New York minute, Like, so, I mean
Speaker 3: it was all good. Yeah, And luckily they had an
Speaker 3: open roster spot so nobody had to eat cut or
Speaker 3: anything like that, which would which made me feel great,
Speaker 3: like I didn't have to force anybody to get out
Speaker 3: of here or something like that. So it worked out
Speaker 3: really good.
Speaker 1: Honestly, it worked out, and like I said, overall, for
Speaker 1: the sport. This is a tough issue, but this is
Speaker 1: the Cajun's podcast, so they had a spot available. No harm,
Speaker 1: no foul, and when in Rome, do as the Romans do.
Speaker 1: If they're gonna allow the rules to be bent, and
Speaker 1: you have an opportunity to better your roster, to give
Speaker 1: you a better chance to go on a run to
Speaker 1: the College World Series, host a regional, host of super Regional,
Speaker 1: all of those great things that you want to do,
Speaker 1: have at it. So Leamade will potentially be back. Like
Speaker 1: I said, nothing is finalized. He will practice. He will
Speaker 1: be back on campus on Monday. I did not ask
Speaker 1: him about classes or anything like that because it was
Speaker 1: kind of an in and out moment because I was
Speaker 1: also getting ready to break the news on our five
Speaker 1: o'clock show, So the interview was fairly quick. But I'll
Speaker 1: reach out to him and kind of see what the
Speaker 1: plan is because he's already graduated, graduated, he has a
Speaker 1: degree from the University of Louisiana Lafayette. Now it's about
Speaker 1: making sure that he is going to be eligible so
Speaker 1: he can be available to play, and then getting him
Speaker 1: float into with the rest of the team that you
Speaker 1: have and continuing to figure out what Team Worth one
Speaker 1: thirteen is going to look like. So it's going to
Speaker 1: be exciting times and Cajun Country, especially when fall ball
Speaker 1: rolls around in October. So that's gonna wrap up this
Speaker 1: episode of Raging Rundown. If you've made it to this
Speaker 1: point in the episode, guys, thank you so much. I
Speaker 1: greatly appreciate each and every one of you, from subscribers
Speaker 1: to listeners. I thank each and every one of you.
Speaker 1: Let's keep this thing rolling. Let's get to five hundred
Speaker 1: subs on YouTube before the football season officially starts. So
Speaker 1: if you're on YouTube and you're watching this video and
Speaker 1: you're not subscribed, please like the video, share it, leave
Speaker 1: a comment down below tell me what you think. But
Speaker 1: most important to make sure you subscribe. If you're listening,
Speaker 1: please follow the podcast feed, rate the show, and leave
Speaker 1: us a review because that's gonna help us get in
Speaker 1: front of more Raging Cajun fans. Just like yourself. I'm
Speaker 1: your guy, jam Marcus Fitzpatrick. We'll see you guys next time.