Speaker 1: Raging Cagence baseball and basketball continues to build out their
Speaker 1: roster towards the future. Let's discuss it here on Raging Rundowns.
Speaker 1: What's good, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to another episode
Speaker 1: of Rage and Rundown, the show where you will know
Speaker 1: all things ul sports. I'm your guy, ja Marcustas Patrick,
Speaker 1: but you know you can always call me Fits. And
Speaker 1: in today's episode, we will be talking about the latest
Speaker 1: editions for Raging Cagens baseball and basketball, two different ways
Speaker 1: that they got it done. But they're ultimately trying to
Speaker 1: build for a win now type of team and that's
Speaker 1: what it looks like they are shaping up to do.
Speaker 1: So we'll start off with baseball. We'll lead off with
Speaker 1: baseball as the Raging Cagents add a transfer catcher, Jose Carmona,
Speaker 1: the Loyola marry Mount transfer past season. He did not
Speaker 1: play with the Lions as he had a medical red
Speaker 1: shirt season, so he has two years of eligibility. He
Speaker 1: will be able to enter your program with some experience.
Speaker 1: Prior to him being at Loyola mary Mount, he was
Speaker 1: at Odessa College, where he spent two seasons there. In
Speaker 1: that time, he had a three to fourteen batting average.
Speaker 1: He had thirty two RBI in forty five games where
Speaker 1: he played.
Speaker 2: There.
Speaker 1: Adding a player of this caliber, you're obviously going to
Speaker 1: be trying to figure out if he's going to be
Speaker 1: able to jail and can understand what you want, if
Speaker 1: the level of talent is going to translate going up
Speaker 1: to a higher level. But it's important to add depth
Speaker 1: to your room of catchers. Right Initially, I was thinking
Speaker 1: that it was going to be three catchers that you
Speaker 1: would have and Steven Spileda, Colt Brown, and now Jose Carmona.
Speaker 1: But I was told that Steven Spileta will potentially be
Speaker 1: moving to the outfield and now Carmona will be assuming
Speaker 1: that role as the backup catcher as cold Brown is
Speaker 1: coming in to be the heir apparent starter or the
Speaker 1: returning starter coming in for the next season. So obviously
Speaker 1: we know that that catching is very important towards the
Speaker 1: game of baseball, calling the game itself from a defensive perspective,
Speaker 1: making sure that the pitching staff is in sync, being
Speaker 1: able to calm those guys down in high stake situations.
Speaker 2: And it's important to have.
Speaker 1: That because sometimes the success of your bullpen is directly
Speaker 1: correlated with how good of a catcher you can have.
Speaker 1: That's why we saw last season the pitching staff be
Speaker 1: extremely well because Cole Brown was able to come in
Speaker 1: and despite being a freshman, played extremely well. That's how
Speaker 1: we saw Jose Torres come in and assume that role
Speaker 1: in the previous season, and so now being able to
Speaker 1: get that is huge. As you add a depth piece
Speaker 1: in Jose Carmona, the main thing is going to be
Speaker 1: how does he fit into your program, how does he
Speaker 1: fit into the culture of what you're building, and being
Speaker 1: able to add that level of stability to the catching room. Obviously,
Speaker 1: we know that co Brown is young and he has
Speaker 1: young knees, and that is great right now. But being
Speaker 1: able to get him a breather, whether that is on
Speaker 1: a midweek game or in a moment or even for
Speaker 1: a game in a series, that's always going to be
Speaker 1: important to do that and not to mention it gives
Speaker 1: you an option with another bat and a pinch hitting moment.
Speaker 1: If you're able to say, Jose, can you come in
Speaker 1: and come up big four us. He's proven that he
Speaker 1: can be able to do that with a type of
Speaker 1: batting average that he had while he was at Odessa College.
Speaker 1: Now it's going to be important to see how he
Speaker 1: can develop into your culture and be able to understand
Speaker 1: things and grow. It's not going to be about having
Speaker 1: competition at the position, because again I think that Coch
Speaker 1: Brown will be your starter. But it does push him
Speaker 1: because now you can't just say, well, it's my job
Speaker 1: and no one's going to push me forward or anything. No,
Speaker 1: You're going to still go out and compete, and I'm
Speaker 1: sure that's exactly what he's going to do. But you
Speaker 1: do bring that little bit of competition to be able
Speaker 1: to push him and also be able to develop him.
Speaker 1: And it also gives an extra eye, a different way
Speaker 1: to see it, so to speak. As you're ultimately trying
Speaker 1: to push toward your main goal, which is to win
Speaker 1: a championship, and that's what you're.
Speaker 2: Trying to do.
Speaker 1: This is again about stability, and it's a depth move
Speaker 1: with upside depending on how his bat develops further at
Speaker 1: this level, because he is going to see different type
Speaker 1: of pictures. He's going to see a game elevated at
Speaker 1: a different rate. And now we see that the Sun
Speaker 1: Belt is not a mid major college conference. We've seen
Speaker 1: now Coastal Carolina go to the College World Series. We've
Speaker 1: seen Troy do it. We've seen Southern Miss host regionals
Speaker 1: year after year. Louisiana has been a consistently good program
Speaker 1: in these past few seasons, and so now he's going
Speaker 1: to enter into a league where the competition is going
Speaker 1: to be very steep, and we know coach Diggs is
Speaker 1: going to set up a really strong non conference slate
Speaker 1: as well to be able to prepare those guys for
Speaker 1: when they get into league play as well. And we
Speaker 1: talked about in the last also from a big picture perspective,
Speaker 1: the strategy appears to be that they are trying to
Speaker 1: go and get older guys. They're trying to bring them in,
Speaker 1: and they're trying to win. Right now. This is not
Speaker 1: about having young players. This is not about waiting their turn,
Speaker 1: This is not about developing. This is about getting guys
Speaker 1: that already understand how college baseball works, bringing them in,
Speaker 1: showing them the plan of what they want, and going
Speaker 1: out and trying to win a championship. And as it looks,
Speaker 1: that's how this roster is shaping up to be. You're
Speaker 1: now up to thirty four guys in total. You have
Speaker 1: fourteen transfers.
Speaker 2: And you're bullpen. You have eight transfer pictures.
Speaker 1: You have four transfer infielders, a transfer outfielder, and now
Speaker 1: a catcher, so it's Jose Carmona, a catcher, Kill Pizano
Speaker 1: and outfield. Your infield is Eric Fernandez, Jeremy Kuiper, Michael Kendrick,
Speaker 1: Manny Salez. And then your pitchers are Trent lape, Theyking Coubat,
Speaker 1: Madix Sullivan, Charlie Krabs, Blaine Albright, Griffin Miller, Kendall Dove
Speaker 1: and Jackson Evers. Those are all your transfers. So again
Speaker 1: you only have two freshmen and Miles Lidou and Evan Vinson,
Speaker 1: and you have all your returners coming back. So this
Speaker 1: is going to be an experienced team. This is going
Speaker 1: to be a team with expectations out of their ears
Speaker 1: now because it's not long. It's no longer about have
Speaker 1: you played the game of baseball at this level anymore?
Speaker 1: It's going to be more about how can you step
Speaker 1: up and compete when the lights are the brightest against
Speaker 1: some of the programs and the caliber of teams that
Speaker 1: they are going to face in twenty twenty seven, So
Speaker 1: it should be really, really excited to see how things
Speaker 1: will shape up for this roster, and I'll be definitely
Speaker 1: trying to see or pick the brand of coach Diggs
Speaker 1: as time gets a little bit closer to fall ball,
Speaker 1: because obviously now they have the off season where they'll
Speaker 1: be working out and then you'll inch closer to fall
Speaker 1: ball where we'll actually get to see how they look
Speaker 1: when they step out on the diamond. Cagenes Baseball also
Speaker 1: picking up in addition to their roster as well, and
Speaker 1: it came in in a different type of way, and
Speaker 1: we're gonna discuss how different.
Speaker 2: It was when we come back here on Raging Rundown. Hey, guys,
Speaker 2: thank you.
Speaker 1: So much for tuning into another episode of Raging Rundown.
Speaker 1: We're going to get back to the action in just
Speaker 1: a second, but before we do, 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 it's
Speaker 1: going to help us get in front of more Raging
Speaker 1: Cajun fans.
Speaker 2: Just like yourself.
Speaker 1: Before we went to break, I also forgot to mention
Speaker 1: that Cagen's baseball also added to their coaching staff as
Speaker 1: Zach Laflord departed your once recruiting coordinator to go and
Speaker 1: become the head coach of his alma mater there at
Speaker 1: Turling's Catholic, and now you replace him with former LSU
Speaker 1: star Ryan Patterson. He will also serve as the hitting coach.
Speaker 1: In his career as a Tiger, he was an All American.
Speaker 1: He had a three point fifty three batting average. During
Speaker 1: his three season tenure, he had sixty six doubles, five triples,
Speaker 1: fifty homers, and one hundred and seventy four RBI. So
Speaker 1: being able to add someone to your coaching staff that's
Speaker 1: literally been in your position, that can say, if you
Speaker 1: want to be able to do it well enough, here's
Speaker 1: what you need to do. This is another great example
Speaker 1: of being able to have that, similar to what you
Speaker 1: did with going and getting Taylor Sanderford and adding him
Speaker 1: to your coaching staff as well. So things are shaping
Speaker 1: up really really well for baseball.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: Pivoting over to the hardwood, Raging Cage's basketball. I thought
Speaker 1: their roster was solidified and then I get a notification
Speaker 1: that they signed another player. Bear with me, as I'm
Speaker 1: trying to learn the pronunciation of it, and I've looked
Speaker 1: at different versions of it, but it's Mikhail Dolke, a
Speaker 1: rushing forward from Zenneth Saints Petersburg's pro basketball system, is
Speaker 1: entering your program, and you've now made an addition with
Speaker 1: him coming along the way. He played with Zenni two
Speaker 1: and appeared with the senior club in VTB United League,
Speaker 1: a professional basketball league at the international level. And I
Speaker 1: know the first thing that a lot of people will
Speaker 1: say is how can a pro basketball player play at
Speaker 1: the collegiate level, And that was one of the questions
Speaker 1: that I had as well, so I.
Speaker 2: Kind of looked into it.
Speaker 1: As long as they have not signed an NBA contract
Speaker 1: right and they're able to be eligible as a basketball player,
Speaker 1: then they are are good to go. This is kind
Speaker 1: of similar to what Will Wade has been doing with
Speaker 1: LSU's roster as of late, so Quanas White kind of
Speaker 1: picking out of that handbook as well. But we've seen
Speaker 1: other coaches do it across the country for several years before,
Speaker 1: so this is just another example of that. Will Wade
Speaker 1: just kind of being one that is as of recent.
Speaker 1: So Mikael is six foot nine. This season that he
Speaker 1: is coming out of, he averaged seven and a half
Speaker 1: point it's five point one rebounds and a still per game.
Speaker 1: In the youth league that he was playing in, he
Speaker 1: averaged fourteen point seven points per game. I looked at
Speaker 1: some of his highlights and he is a three level scorer.
Speaker 1: He can shoot the three really really well. But he
Speaker 1: can attack the basket and rock the rim, throwing down
Speaker 1: some slam dunks, some crazy dunks that I saw on
Speaker 1: a couple of the highlights for sure. Now, he is
Speaker 1: coming off of a fractured right arm that he suffered
Speaker 1: in March, which ended his season before he decided to
Speaker 1: move at to the collegiate level. But in the article
Speaker 1: that I was reading, and I am going to reach
Speaker 1: out and have a conversation with him as well. In
Speaker 1: the article I was reading and said his rehab would
Speaker 1: take about two to three months, so he should be
Speaker 1: healthy according to Based on that article, I'll ask him
Speaker 1: how healthy he is and how his rehab has been going.
Speaker 1: So getting a player that's played at the professional level
Speaker 1: is a completely different skill set that you're adding to
Speaker 1: your ball club now, because you're seeing a player, a
Speaker 1: twenty year old player that you're adding to your team.
Speaker 1: That's been against guys that are grown men that have
Speaker 1: bumped around and they've taken their lumps and bruises, and
Speaker 1: now they're coming here to the collegiate level and they
Speaker 1: can be able to come in and pick up on
Speaker 1: your system really well because they've done it at the
Speaker 1: professional level. Now, the pro development system started at a
Speaker 1: young age for him, and then he was able to
Speaker 1: come up through the ranks as a young star and
Speaker 1: get some opportunities there.
Speaker 2: At the pro level. So in his time also he
Speaker 2: won a couple.
Speaker 1: Of youth league championships and I believe in MVP level
Speaker 1: as well. He has a great rebounding skill, which is
Speaker 1: something that you weren't able to have a ton of
Speaker 1: last season because of the hype difference that you had
Speaker 1: and a lot of instances. But he has a winning background,
Speaker 1: he has ability to be flexible in the roles that
Speaker 1: he can play, and the developmental upside that he will
Speaker 1: have is great. So he comes in they listed him
Speaker 1: as a junior, so that would mean that he would
Speaker 1: have two seasons of eligibility, So things are going to
Speaker 1: look really really good adding him into your program, and
Speaker 1: so we talked in past episodes how things are shaping
Speaker 1: up for the roster, but I'll be able to read
Speaker 1: it all for you. As it stands, you have eight
Speaker 1: total guards and you have nine total forwards, so seventeen
Speaker 1: guys that you have on your roster. Your transfer portal
Speaker 1: class includes Dion Ware, Trent Middleton, Makai Cooper, Michael dol K,
Speaker 1: Danny Pounds, Jojo Harris, and Bam Florence came from a
Speaker 1: prep school, so I guess technically he's not considered a transfer.
Speaker 1: He would be considered a high school guy, but he's
Speaker 1: coming in as a newcomer into your program. Jayson Salona,
Speaker 1: Tishawn Duncan, and Isaiah Wilkes are all your freshmen. And
Speaker 1: then your returners, Debion Laverne, Jamiron Keller, who's coming off
Speaker 1: of an injury but it's healthy, Christian Landry, Logan Myers,
Speaker 1: Jeremiah Evans, Todd Jones, and Ramen Elijah want. That is
Speaker 1: how your roster is shaping up. And now that you've
Speaker 1: made this addition, you've added more length to your lineup.
Speaker 2: For sure.
Speaker 1: You've added someone that can go and score the basketball,
Speaker 1: and that has proven that he can go and do
Speaker 1: it at a very high level, so it should be
Speaker 1: exciting to see how that's gonna shape up. The guys
Speaker 1: have started summer workouts, they have started practicing together. I
Speaker 1: may try to go over and try to take a
Speaker 1: little peak to see what the roster is looking like
Speaker 1: and how those guys are shaping up to be together.
Speaker 1: So it's absolutely exciting to see how that's gonna shape up.
Speaker 1: So Baseball as a catcher to their program in Jose Carmona,
Speaker 1: and basketball ads an international player from Russia in Dokay,
Speaker 1: in mister Michel Dokay. That's gonna take me a minute
Speaker 1: to get used to obviously, once I meet him and
Speaker 1: interact with him, it'll become like second nature for sure.
Speaker 1: So we will see how things shape up for both
Speaker 1: of those programs. But that's gonna wrap up yet another
Speaker 1: episode of Rage and Rundown. Ladies and gentlemen, If you've
Speaker 1: made to this point in the video, thank you so much.
Speaker 1: Please do me a favor. Please like it, share it,
Speaker 1: and leave a comment down below, but most importantly, make
Speaker 1: sure you subscribe to the channel. If you're listening, please
Speaker 1: follow the podcast feed, rate the show, and leave us
Speaker 1: a review. Because that's going to help us get in
Speaker 1: front of more raching Cajun fans. Just like yourself, I'm
Speaker 1: your guy, Ja Marcus Fitzpatrick. We'll see you guys next time.