ball5podcast/Aggie 3rd Baseman Nico Partida

Listen in as Scott visits with freshman sensation Nico Partida and how the 3rd baseman focuses on team goals, plays to win and strives to enjoy the game as well as all the player's willingness to listen and learn from each other and hold themselves accountable. Nico also talks about the work ethic instilled in him by his father and mentions others that helped him along the way. Enjoy!!

Transcript

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SPEAKER_01 0:16

Hey everybody, thanks for joining the Block Five Podcast. I'm your host, Scott Livingstone, and I'm excited today to bring to you my interview with the outstanding Aggie third baseman, Nico Partida. Enjoy. I appreciate you coming on the podcast. I really, really do, man. Appreciate you taking the time to come on. I know you guys. I know you guys are busy. So um, so Manville or Parland?

SPEAKER_00 0:44

Uh my neighborhood's like half and half Paralyn and Manville. Like I'm on the edge, and I thought my house was honestly in Parland until I showed up here and they said it was on Manville. But um, yeah, I mean, I went to Parlay and I grew up my first house, it was Paraland until I moved in like second or third grade. So I mean, I I always say Parland.

SPEAKER_01 1:02

Okay, well, the reason I bring it up because a buddy of mine used to be the uh high school football coach in Manville.

SPEAKER_00 1:08

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:09

And I think they had a real good football team, or they might still, and they came here to uh and and played at uh the Cowboys Stadium, I think, like not too long ago.

SPEAKER_00 1:19

Wasn't too long ago, but yeah, Manville, Manville tends to have a pretty good team for football, at least.

SPEAKER_01 1:25

Yeah, well, he had said the same thing when I asked him about you, and he goes, Paraland, he goes, they got a great baseball program. So, but uh I actually played with a guy from Paraland that came to AM, so uh I know they're good. So I I know you guys want to kind of put it on the back burner and stuff like this, but you know, I I have to at least ask, you know, how crazy was the Texas series.

SPEAKER_00 1:46

It was unbelievable. I mean, it's whenever I'm telling everyone I came here for the 12th man, it's like it's games like that. But I mean, it it was unbelievable. I mean, even everything was amplified. Whenever I got a walk, it felt like I just hit a double. But but no, it was great, and I was so happy to have everyone there.

SPEAKER_01 2:06

Yeah, I was telling somebody the other day, and I I I may have said it on I might have said it, forgot where I said it, maybe text ags, but I was like, man, I I you know you can hear they're piping the the the the sportscaster that over the the video, I mean the uh speaker in the bathroom. Yeah, you know, yeah, no. Like I go to the I go to the bathroom, and I I mean I've never been excited so excited to go to the bathroom because it's you know they're those guys make it sound so exciting, right?

SPEAKER_00 2:31

Oh yeah, no, you can you can tell what's going on when you're not even watching.

SPEAKER_01 2:34

Yeah, no, it is so for me, I I've been in that series uh four times, played two at home and two away at Dish Fox. But uh it's just it's just different. And I know you know you're new, you know, freshmen that hadn't been through it, and then we have transfer portal guys and people that come in, but it it means a lot to the fans, you know, because we're we're just big Aggie sports fans, right? Football, basketball, baseball, whatever. So that was exciting. I probably wouldn't have asked you about it if we had lost. Oh, yeah, but we would have just we would have brushed right over that. But uh so I uh you you had said something about you know coming here for the 12th man and it's for days, you know, nights like that or weekends like that. So what what else kind of brought you to AM? Because I'm sure you were highly recruited, you know, you had a very successful high school career and stuff. So just kind of curious, uh, maybe what was the separator? Because I know there was I'm sure those guys in Austin were after you as well.

SPEAKER_00 3:32

Yeah, um, I mean, I always try like follow and just trust my gut. And um early on, whenever I was getting recruited, I kind of my gut didn't tell me AM. And then this past summer, ironically, when Schloss, this is what I don't really say often, but whenever Schloss left, my gut was like, ooh, you should go to AM. So I mean I'm glad I trusted it early on because that coach wouldn't have been there. And but I mean I showed up on campus, my mom was an Aggies, so I kind of had the ideas of the tradition and just how awesome it was. And you know, fell in love with the campus. I mean, loved the coaches, I knew those were coaches that could get me to the next level, and you know, just a team that's had success, and you know, that combined with the 12 man, plus, you know, guys like Gavin coming in, guys like Sorrell that are still there, you know. I was like being around those guys for a couple years, like sky's the limit.

SPEAKER_01 4:31

Yeah, you know, it's it's interesting that you say about you know, your gut told you, or you know, you followed your gut. It was kind of the same thing in my recruiting piece when I was I was trying to decide between A and M or Texas, and it ended up really following my gut. And I didn't really realize how great of a you know decision it was until I actually got to campus and experienced all of it. Because you can't really experience all of it on a you know a day trip or two trips or whatever whatever it is, but I think once you get thrown into everything, you know, it's just it's just different.

SPEAKER_00 5:07

Oh, yeah, for sure. For sure.

SPEAKER_01 5:09

So um, so what other schools were after you?

SPEAKER_00 5:14

Um I mean it it got down to five. It was gonna be here, Arkansas, LSU, Tennessee, or Oklahoma. And, you know, I this is the first visit I can actually came on two here, and you know, I didn't I didn't go on another visit. I was like, I mean, I'm not gonna I'm gonna try to be as mature and respectful as I can, but I'm not gonna try to waste other schools' time and resources knowing that I'm my guts telling me to come to AM. And so um took my official visit on a Friday or yeah, Friday through like a Saturday, and then got home and I was in the H E B parking lot when I called early. Well, because I texted my I texted my parents, so I called my dad and mom. I was like, hey, like I don't think I can wait. Like I I need to commit to this school. And you know, I called early, I was like, hey, like, I want to be an Aggie, I'm making my decision, and here we are.

SPEAKER_01 6:10

Well, we're glad you're here for one.

SPEAKER_00 6:13

Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_01 6:14

So did so did you have to put up with the I mean you had to put up with the draft a little bit too, right?

SPEAKER_00 6:19

Yeah, a little bit, a little bit with that. Um, I had a tough decision to make this summer, and you know, a little after the first round win, I was like, of course, like you you can't turn down a good amount at some point for your career, you kind of gotta go. And I was on the verge of like go and not go. I was like, well, I have a chance to really do something at Texas AM, and I have a chance to, you know, kind of raise my draft stock. But for me, it wasn't really about raising my draft stock, but I kind of wanted to be an Aggie as well. And that's like following my gut, like kind of choosing AM. Um, my gut was telling me that college was where I needed to be, and you know, I just chose that and kind of like what I said, here we are.

SPEAKER_01 7:02

Yeah, yeah, that's awesome. So, how far how far is Paraland?

SPEAKER_00 7:06

Uh it's hour 40. It's not bad.

SPEAKER_01 7:09

So parents are here every weekend.

SPEAKER_00 7:12

Well, my parents actually just sold our Paraland house because I mean I have a sibling, we had a two-story house, and it was too big for just the two of them, so they sold the house. And they actually had it got an Airbnb here for the season, and you know, God works in miraculous ways where they sold the house quicker than I thought, and now they have an Airbnb to live throughout the whole season, and they're gonna close in on a house kind of a little west side of Houston and just stay here for the rest of the season, and then once the season's over, they're just gonna go there.

SPEAKER_01 7:45

Wow, that's so great, man. Yeah, it worked, it worked out perfectly. Do you uh take your laundry over there?

SPEAKER_00 7:52

Uh no, I do my own laundry. I try to prepare myself for the real world a little bit, but um no, I go eat dinner. I I'm actually eating dinner with them tonight. So I mean I'm I make sure to stay involved with them as much as I can.

SPEAKER_01 8:03

Yeah, for sure, man. That's awesome. And when I talked to uh Boston earlier, he said that you guys all maybe did you meet during the summer before this before school, or y'all kind of hung out together for a little bit and and he really enjoyed getting to know you, is what he said.

SPEAKER_00 8:18

Yeah, well, I met him on his visit because I came for a game with a couple of my buddies because we got to go to football games after we committed and stuff like that. And I met him there, nice kid, but he hadn't committed yet, so I didn't know if he was coming here. And then the summer we moved in end of June, beginning of July, and yeah, no, we we hit all the time together. That's kind of where we built our friendship, working out early and stuff like that. But no, it was good to get to know him, and now left side of the infield and nothing beats it.

SPEAKER_01 8:51

Yeah, I know that's awesome. Uh so who who would you think's kind of had your biggest impact on you as far as like your your baseball? And is there a mentor or somebody you looked up to, you know, your parents, another player, or somebody like that?

SPEAKER_00 9:06

Uh I have two as of now. Of course, my dad. I mean, it's kind of a cliche answer everyone says they're dad, but I mean it's so true because I mean they're the ones that raised you, they're the ones that kind of put me into sport.

SPEAKER_01 9:15

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 9:15

And he kind of just taught me what hard work was because of what he had to go through when he was younger. Like he worked, went to school, then went back to work with his dad. So I mean, he knows the value of hard work, and that's kind of what he put on me. And you know, he never forced baseball on me. He said, if you want to play at the next level, I'll give you the resources, I'll give you what it takes, but you're gonna have to be the one that puts the work in. I'm not gonna have to tell you to go hit, but if I'll encourage you if that's what you want to do, but I can't be the one telling you to. And then I had a coach that I worked with since I was like seven years old named Brian Biggers, who I mean he taught me mechanics, taught me baseball, but he kind of taught me maturity as well, like, you know, body language type of stuff. It's like seeing baseball, like he was having me when I was eight years old working out with high school and college guys on the field to see how they practiced and stuff. So I mean, from an early age, I kind of had the mental side of a college athlete. So I mean, I give all props to him for that stuff.

SPEAKER_01 10:15

I I I think that's huge, man, because I sit here, you know, and I think back when I was a freshman, and I mean, you're mature beyond your years, you're way ahead of where I was at that time. And it's just it's just, you know, I look back and I look at myself and I'm like, golly, man, I was not as mature as these guys, or being able to speak as well as these guys do. And, you know, when you talk about the struggles and stuff like that, and and you know, your mental you know, capacity and stuff, I don't even think we ever ever really talked about mental, you know, mentality and stuff like that back when we played. But so do you have a favorite player or team growing up?

SPEAKER_00 10:52

Um yeah, I was always Astros. Yeah, I figured growing up there. I mean, of course, like whenever the Cubs won the World Series, I was a Cubs fan for that month or something, kind of like everyone hopping on the bandwagon in fourth grade. But it was always Astros. I was always the biggest Carlos Correa fan. That's why I started wearing number one. I loved Bregman. It was always those two guys I was always rooted for. But yeah, at some point I tried to mimic my swing and my throwing after Correa. And I mean, for a little bit I actually looked and me and Korea had like the same swing.

SPEAKER_01 11:24

Oh, nice.

SPEAKER_00 11:25

Um yeah, yeah. But no, I mean, those two guys were always my favorite.

SPEAKER_01 11:32

Yeah, that's awesome. Well, I just thought it was I thought it was interesting. I was listening listening to you with Bronny the other day, and you were talking about kind of struggling and bouncing back and stuff like that. And that's another thing that I was talking about being mature beyond your years, is like, I wish I would have had that because I struggled with when I made outs, I was it it hung with me for a long time, maybe the whole game. And some of my ex-former teammates could probably speak to like, yeah, it did, you know. But how do you how do you bounce back? What's your frame of mind? What do you think? And when you have those struggles, right? Because, you know, it's it's baseball, right? And like Dewar said, it's a failure sport, right? It's it's tough. So how how do you kind of set yourself up to handle those types of situations?

SPEAKER_00 12:19

Well, I had a conversation with Coach Early before the year, and he said, Hey, you're you're gonna play this year, you know, you're gonna go do your thing, but you're gonna fail more than you ever have. And so he kind of instilled kind of put that on me early on that I mean it's not gonna be easy, like it's gonna be a tough college season in the SEC because SEC is a gauntlet. So understanding that, I kind of had to go into the year already more mature than I ever have been. But um, yeah, no, there's some series, there's some defensive moments where I wish I could get back. And, you know, it was kind of just legit having to flush it. Like after a couple games, like early on in the season where I struggled, like, I didn't do too god good of a job flushing it, and it reflected the next day. And then a couple weeks in, you know, I just I kind of just flipped the switch. I showed up the next day with a smile on my face. I was like, you can't the biggest thing is whenever you're struggling, you can't be that guy that is bringing other people down. Because, you know, there's always I mean, there's no one on the team that does that. I'm glad I'm around a bunch of mature guys, but you know, in the past there was always guys that, you know, whenever they're struggling, they're making sure other people know they're struggling and they're bringing those guys down. And whenever I realized I can't be that guy, that's kind of when it flipped the switch. And you know, I was talking with um my dad earlier as well. I was like, whenever I stopped playing for hits and started playing to win, I started hitting better. And it was like even this past game, the home run I hit, like I was trying to get a pitch, I could put the ball on the air in the outfield to score that run. I wasn't trying to hit a home run, nothing like that, and got a pitch up and I poked it out to the center, and I was like, okay, got the job done, and then it went over and I was like, okay. But um, yeah, it was just realizing it's not about me, and whenever it's not about me, you're never really struggling.

SPEAKER_01 14:15

Yeah, you know what? I think that that's a great way to put it, man. I I can really appreciate that because, like I said, when I look back, I was kind of like, you know, I had I struggle with that type of stuff. And did you kind of come into the program? I mean, feeling good about yourself and like, hey, I got a chance, or it it did it, did you acclimate? Did the guys make it easier for you to just come in and play early on? You know, because back in my day, if you were a freshman, they let you know you were a freshman.

SPEAKER_00 14:43

Yeah, no, um, I was pretty confident I had a chance to come in and play, but at the same time, I knew like nothing's ever handed to you. Like, and the biggest thing is whenever you show up on campus, you're not a freshman, you're not a sophomore, you're not a junior, you're a baseball player on this team. And you know, of course, freshmen, we have duties. We gotta take out the trash sometimes, we gotta unload the bus sometimes. You know, that's just how it is. But like on a baseball standpoint, like whenever we're practicing on a field, like you don't we don't get treated as freshmen, like we're treated as players on this team, and everything's earned and not given. And we had a me, Jorian, and Boston had a conversation with Penny and against Andy. He said, Hey, y'all aren't freshmen anymore. I know grade-wise y'all are, but on this baseball field, like y'all are you know on this team for a reason, and we hold each other to a high standard, and you know, that's kind of what we do, everyone.

SPEAKER_01 15:33

I think it's great, man. It's so fun to watch you guys and just see the maturity that you have already. I mean, it's really cool, and it makes it easy to pull for you guys. It really, I mean, it really, really does. And so, you know, you mentioned about the left side of the infield with you in Boston. I mean, uh, when I played as a freshman over there, I had a senior at short. So it was kind of like I had kind of that guy that was telling me, hey, you know, here comes a breaking ball, be ready. He might hit it down your throat, you know. You know, just you know, just kind of giving you that type of stuff. I mean, how do you feel like you guys have been working together? Because from the outside looking in, it looks like it's it's great.

SPEAKER_00 16:11

Yeah, yeah. No, we don't say too much to each other besides kind of what's needed, like, hey, I'm shifted over a little bit. Hey, I'll be at second base if you need me, stuff like that. And then, you know, in tough situations, it's like, hey, like, foot on the gas, especially especially the hardest part is whenever you're winning by a lot and staying focused. And that's what we kind of keep each other in. Be like, hey, lead means nothing, stay good. Like kind of subtle reminders like that. Like, you know, he's hit two ground balls over here, ready for a third, like stuff like that, you know, just keeping us locked into the game rather than locked in on what's like the scoreboard saying. So, I mean, we I feel like we do a good job on staying focused all nine innings, and I mean that's kind of what we're there to keep each other accountable for.

SPEAKER_01 16:52

Yeah, that's that's great. So, because you were a shortstop, right? Were you shortstop coming up?

SPEAKER_00 16:57

Yeah, yeah. No, I'd always played short. I mean, I played third, second base on the circuit sum, but no, I was mostly a shortstop.

SPEAKER_01 17:05

Well, it seems like do you feel like you've acclimated yourself pretty good to third base? I mean, looks good to me.

SPEAKER_00 17:11

Yeah, no, uh, I feel like Pennington has done a great job on just like building me into a third baseman because short and third might be on the same side of the field, but they're pretty different of a spot. I mean, I had to get used to a you're not gonna field every ball with two hands. You're just close enough, just field the ball and then worry about the throw. And then also they hit the ball 130. It's a the hot corner for a reason. So you gotta be able to move your feet quick. But um, no, I feel like I've worked hard enough to get pretty good at third. And you know, whenever we're shifted and I need to be on the short or like up the middle, like I'm always comfortable over there.

SPEAKER_01 17:46

Yeah, I know that ball's coming at you a lot harder than it did in my day. So kudos kudos to you for knocking those balls down. You know, these metal bats got a little juice. Yeah, I'd say so. And the guys are a little bigger and stronger too. Uh, so uh can you dance? Because I think I heard something about you felt like playing shortstop was like dancing. Is that what I heard?

SPEAKER_00 18:06

Yeah, yeah, yeah. No. Um I'm not too I'm actually not too good at dancing at all. At all. No, I haven't really done too much of that. But um, yeah, shortstop uh has always just felt like kind of a flow to me.

SPEAKER_01 18:18

Well, do you do you miss uh pitching at all?

SPEAKER_00 18:22

Uh I mean, I enjoy pitching. I mean, it's something that honestly when I got here, I started enjoying more than I did in the past. But um, I mean, in situations where they will need me or would need me, I'll always be ready for it. But um right now, mostly third base, and you know, just whatever the team needs on there.

SPEAKER_01 18:40

Well, I I I think Gavin's doing pretty good over there at first base, you know. Uh he looks like he's you know third baseman to first base, you know?

SPEAKER_00 18:48

Yeah, yeah, no, for sure. He's he's doing unbelievable over there, like nothing's getting by him. And then especially like the most unnoticed thing right now is probably him picking everyone. Like he is getting everything, and he's like not even making it look hard.

SPEAKER_01 19:01

So what's what's your uh what's what's the schoolwork look like? I know some guys do online and stuff like that. Are you going to campus? Are you online? What do you what's your major?

SPEAKER_00 19:12

Uh yeah, I'm a business major and in the fall is more of a workload. I had a couple in-person classes, a couple online classes, and then um I had uh online class in the during winter break, and then right now I'm in four classes, got an in-person one, but usually in the spring we try to limit our workload because of just how much we're traveling. So yeah, I have in-person class a couple days of the week, and then mostly online just to make sure I have time for everything.

SPEAKER_01 19:41

Yeah, it probably helps being online too. Like maybe you're able to do something while you're on the road.

SPEAKER_00 19:46

If you oh, yeah, no, for sure. I remember our Arlington trip. Me and Sawyer Farr were in the same class, or still are in the same class. And uh it was either Thursday or Friday, we're just in our room knocking out some schoolwork for that class, so we didn't have to worry about it the rest of the weekend.

SPEAKER_01 20:01

Nice, nice. Uh, what about roommates? Who's your roommate?

SPEAKER_00 20:05

Uh I got Luke Billings, Cooper Fulbright, and Hunter Vincent. And I like to say we're probably the best house in the barracks right now.

SPEAKER_01 20:12

But wait, you got you got three pitchers?

SPEAKER_00 20:15

Uh yeah, yeah, yeah. So um, I've actually known Cooper forever. Like we grew up playing together since we're like nine, eight years old. So uh, and then Luke, I've known for a while, and then Hunter went to the same school as Luke, so I kind of got to know him through that. But yeah, no, we we have really good chemistry, like we're all really good friends.

SPEAKER_01 20:33

Yeah, you know, you can't escape anything that you ever say on tech sags or anything, but I think you said something about you don't like to give pitchers credit or something like that.

SPEAKER_00 20:40

But yeah, no, no, as a as a hitter, like I wouldn't every once in a while, like I'll give credit on whenever I'm on their team, I'll give credit. But like if I'm facing a pitcher, it's it's really hard to give credit because that kind of just boosts me down.

SPEAKER_01 20:57

Uh we're a lot alike, man. I'm telling you, we're a lot alike. I don't have any many left-handed pitchers on this because I was a left-handed hitter and I just don't like them. I just don't like them, right?

SPEAKER_00 21:07

Those those are the worst. Those are the worst.

SPEAKER_01 21:10

Well, where so where did you kind of get your your your your hitting technique in the stuff? Have you worked with somebody like your dad, a hitting instructor, and stuff that maybe you mentioned earlier, but um those because I like seeing you, you know, like the other day against Texas, hit the line drive out. You stayed on a, I think it was a split. I think it was a split finger.

SPEAKER_00 21:32

Yeah, it was a splitter.

SPEAKER_01 21:33

And then, you know, you had the grand slam that early on, opposite field, then center field. So being able to hit it all over the park with power, I mean, that's that's pretty impressive, man.

SPEAKER_00 21:44

Yes, sir. So um kind of like I said the Brian Biggers earlier kind of got me swinging early on, this the small things. And then in high school, right before my junior year, uh I started working with a guy named Cam Johnson, uh a kid at LSU. Omar Cerna uh asked me if I wanted to go with him one day because me and him are good friends, and he kind of took out like helped me in ways I can't imagine with hitting. Like he upped my power a bunch. I was I was really handsy at the time, but a little too handsy. Like I wasn't using my legs, I was drifting too much. So like the power could be there, but it just wasn't. And then I mean within three weeks, I was hitting balls way out the ballpark. Like he switched my approach a little bit. And it's like not too much mechanics, but just like a little more using legs and stuff like that. But you know, I worked with him for two years. You know, whenever I'm down in Paralleland, I still stop by his place to get a hitting session in. I worked with him this this past summer to get me right, but he's he's helped me beyond imaginable. Like he's he's the real deal.

SPEAKER_01 22:52

That's awesome. That's awesome. So I I I won't keep you much longer, but so where do you where do you think you can improve or what would you like to improve on for you know as you move forward, like you know, baseball-wise?

SPEAKER_00 23:05

Uh I feel like legit everything. Like, I mean, third base, like nothing can get by me over there, like nothing should get by me over there, so that it needs to stay that way. I had a couple of miscues against Bandy that I'm really glad these past three, four games, I've gotten the same ball multiple times and I was able to make the play. So stuff like that. And then I mean, swinging at strikes and balls can is always a big thing. Like that's one of our main focuses. Like, I mean, last night I lined out my last that bat, but I could have been on first base with a wall because I swung at a 3-1 ball a little up. And you know, kind of things I look at that, like it's it's not kind of like what I said earlier, it's not about getting hits, it's about getting on base for the guy behind me. So it's just being really disciplined at the plate and you know, finding my pitch early on and not missing it.

SPEAKER_01 23:54

Well, dude, do not beat yourself up about third base because that's a very hard place to play. And you know, when I came in, I actually didn't like to dive. And so my coach was Mark Johnson, and he would get at the pitcher's mound and hit line drive ground balls at me and force me to dive. And then I ended up starting loving it, you know. But it's just a hard position, it's it's hard. So you know, don't beat yourself up. We always think we need to make every play, but it's still, you know, it's it's hard. It's a hard sport in general, anyway.

SPEAKER_00 24:26

So yeah, for sure. For sure. I know I before the Texas series, I had Pennington and um Claunch just get one of those drop 10 bats, and I was at third base, and they're tossing it up and just smoking it at me. Because I mean, that's what this corner is in the SEC. I mean, there's guys that are gonna smoke the ball over there, and I'm the guy that has to make that play.

SPEAKER_01 24:49

Yeah, I was gonna, you know, I was thinking about hitting the ball so hard to at third base, you know, uh, have you seen this type of pitching before? I mean, just like the guys that you're facing, it just seems like everybody throws 95, 96, 98. I mean, is it just crazy the arms that come out of these bullpins? And I mean, I'm assuming you eventually get used to it, kind of, or can you?

SPEAKER_00 25:10

Yeah, so I mean, on the summer circuit, like before my senior year, I had like two-ish weeks of like seeing some high-level arms, but the difference is like there's high-level arms in Summer Ball, and then there's high-level arms in the SEC, in which they have more than just two pitches. It's like, I mean, Ruger Rojas had four different pitches he could throw for strikes, and that's what makes him good. He has VLO and he has pitches that he can throw for strikes. And so, um, yeah, we have machines in the cages that, you know, we we shoot some gas out of there to you know practice the ride, practice the run, practice the off-speed. But um, I've gotten more used to it as the years gone by, and I mean, at this point in the season, you can't you can't be behind. So, you know, I'm working in the cages every day, and you know, I'm just taking in information off every pitcher I see.

SPEAKER_01 26:04

Yeah, yeah, that's great. Uh I'm glad I'm not playing now. That's all that that stuff's hard, man.

SPEAKER_00 26:11

Oh, yeah, no. Nake Nakwin was with us and off the machine, like we were hitting off the machine, and then he hopped in and one. He's like, Man, like I don't know how y'all do this. I mean, I played in the big leagues, and this is this is different.

SPEAKER_01 26:24

Yeah, well, he he had the guts to hop in. I probably wouldn't I probably wouldn't have hopped in. All right, last last thing, big guy. What what what what would you say is like the best piece of advice that somebody's given you to like, you know, throughout your baseball career or something you could tell somebody or you know, a younger kid or somebody coming up, what what would you what would you advise them? How would you advise them?

SPEAKER_00 26:51

Yeah, no, so I'd probably kind of like two, I'd probably have two things I'd say. Um, I mean, the first one is enjoy it, because we're halfway through this season and it was a blink of an eye when I moved in. And so, like, things like this, you're never gonna get these times back. Like, I'm never gonna get, you know, hanging out with the teammates after Sunday wins, just chilling at the house, you know, playing games and playing pool with each other. I'm not gonna get that back after this. Like, enjoy it. You're playing a game you've been playing since you're eight years old. And you know, I play best when I have a smile on my face on the field. Like, you know, I'm locked in having a good time when I'm on the field smiling after making a play or smiling after getting a hit. Like, never so straight face, serious, because that's when I'm tensed up. And I feel like that's a lot of people. Whenever I'm smiling, having a good time, you know, pumped up for the team, that's when I'm on go. And then also something like kind of what I said earlier, like don't play for yourself, play to play to win. And whenever you play to win, and I've said this before, accolades come in, like you play to win and you do good, of course you're gonna win stuff. If you're trying, if you go try to win stuff, you're you're not gonna like win awards, things like that. So um I mean, don't play for hits, play to win, play to get a job done. And you know, it's not about yourself, it's about the team, and just enjoy those guys. Also, probably probably one thing, one more thing, is you can't be too hostile to have someone tell you something, you just not take it in. Like, you have to be willing to learn, and that's what I made sure I did at the beginning of the year, is I was around guys that I could learn stuff from. Like, I was around Gavin a lot, I was around Hokopian a lot because I knew they could make me better.

SPEAKER_01 28:44

You know, that's a good point because I'm thinking back to when I talked to Gavin kind of before everything got started going this season, and he talked about you guys, and that's what he had said. He goes, Man, these guys are talented, they're good, they're gonna be great for the program. And he goes, but they're still willing to learn, they're still willing to listen.

SPEAKER_00 29:02

And that's that's like that that's like the biggest thing. You can't kind of brush off what someone's trying to say to you because they're trying to help you. And so, I mean, that's something I feel like a lot of us could have struggled in the past because all of us had big egos. We don't we didn't want anyone telling us, we didn't want anyone telling us what to do because we always thought we were better. But then you you know, you get to a point in baseball where you have to sit back and you know understand it, trying to help you and just learn from it.

SPEAKER_01 29:27

Dude, I tell you, with with that mindset and your ability, you got a bright future, man. So I I am gonna I'm gonna sit back and enjoy watching you these next two years. I don't know if you're sophomore eligible next year, but junior.

SPEAKER_00 29:41

You got three years.

SPEAKER_01 29:42

Junior year. You got three. So we get you for three. It's good.

SPEAKER_00 29:45

Boston's only two. Boston, that's sad. Oh, really? Yeah, Boston's next year.

SPEAKER_01 29:50

Ah, okay. All right. Well, uh, you're doing great, man. It's a lot of fun to watch, and I wish you nothing but continued success. And hopefully we can uh visit again down the road.

SPEAKER_00 30:01

Yes, sir, for sure. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 30:03

All right, thanks, man. I appreciate you coming on.

SPEAKER_00 30:05

Yes, sir, of course. Thank you. You have a good one.

SPEAKER_01 30:07

All right. Okay. How awesome was that? I really enjoyed my visit with Nico and I mean his outlook on how to handle failure within the game. Things that he thinks about, you know, play to win, not for hits. Have the willingness to learn and to listen because somebody's trying to help you. And you know, one thing about the struggles, he said, when it's not about me, you're never really struggling. And enjoy the moments. I mean, you're not gonna get this time back. I mean, the locker room, the field, hanging with the guys, you just gotta enjoy it because it ain't coming back. Man, what a solid young man with a bright future. Okay, folks, that's it. Thanks for listening. Be sure to check out Ball Five Clubhouse YouTube channel and hit that subscribe button. Thanks again. Until next time.