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Katie Krall is just the second woman coach in the history of the Red Sox organization. The club hired her to serve as the player development coach at Double-A Portland, and she works with the Red Sox players on improving their game. Katie enjoys her work, but says sexism is still a real problem in the game. She joins Dan Guttenplan to talk about her experience breaking barriers with the Sox.

We have two guests from Nor’Easters Baseball in studio for our podcast – Nor’Easters founder Tim Daneau and Operations Coordinator Matt Feld. Matt also covers all of the biggest games in Massachusetts high school baseball for the Boston Herald, and he’ll size up the top teams and players heading into the MIAA state tournament. 

Austin Prep Head Coach Jonathan Pollard joins the podcast to talk about what makes his program special, and how he helps students find the right match. Pollard has a unique approach that combines the students’ skills with their personalities. Find out more in this edition of The Base Path.

Our guest is the coach of the number three ranked junior college (JuCo) team in the nation, Northern Essex Community College’s Jeff Mejia. He arrived at Northern Essex as the Knights’ head coach in the 2013 season. Since then, the team has been crowned New England regional champions six times, district champions five times and earned five bids to the NJCAA World Series.

Want to add speed to your fastball? How about adding velocity to your swing? Winning Pitchers Academy in Framingham, Mass. claims to have the recipe — and it is proving it. We talk with Winning Pitchers Academy trainers John Miller and Jamie Aldoupolis about how they get their students to give their all.

The Massachusetts high school baseball season is underway, and our guest is a Hall of Fame coach whose team played for a state championship last season. Hopkinton High School Coach Steve Simoes was inducted to the Massachusetts Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame earlier this year. Last spring, he led Hopkinton to the D2 state championship game, and he also has experience coaching Legion and college baseball. Enjoy his thoughts on the state of the game after a legendary career.

Baseball season is underway in New England! Most high school, prep and Little League teams kicked off the season in the last week. Today, we preview the prep season with the coach of the top-ranked team in New England. Phillips Andover coach Kevin Graber will be joining us. Under Graber, Andover has won four league championships. This is the fourth season in which the Big Blue have started the season as the number one ranked prep program in New England.

A special! We’re out of the studio and into the field! We visited UConn in Storrs, Conn., to talk with Coach Jim Penders, leading prospect Reggie Crawford who is recovering from Tommy John surgery and slugging pitcher Erik Stock who transferred to UConn from Old Dominion. Enjoy this report from UConn’s baseball field, recorded during batting practice.

Thayer Academy's AD and Varsity Baseball Coach Rick Foresteire has been leading prep sports since the 1990s. Having coached at Buckingham, Browne and Nichols and Thayer, Foresteire has decided it's time to move on from the game and seek new adventures. In this podcast, he explains to Dan Guttenplan why he chose to make the move, and what he has seen change in the game throughout his career.

Bentley University’s Bob DeFelice, the longest tenured coach across all levels of college baseball, is entering his final season in 2022. In this podcast, Coach DeFelice tells us what he has learned across 54 years of Division II coaching, his life as Bentley’s only baseball coach, and how he almost became a career football coach instead.

Ryan Leahy’s baseball journey is as complex as any you’ve heard of. He started as a player, making his way to the L.A. Angels, when he was diagnosed with recurring thyroid cancer. Not letting the illness define him, Leahy won the Angels’ 2008 Courage Award and was friends with BU’s Pete Frates, whose ALS diagnosis brought New Englanders together. Leahy has gone on to scout for MLB and found Recruiting Edge, a consultancy for students looking to get an honest assessment and the best match for their baseball careers. 

In this edition, we’re joined by Vanderbilt Commodores Head Coach Tim Corbin. A native of Wolfeboro, N.H., helped lift Vanderbilt to national championships in 2014 and 2019. Over his 20-year career at Vanderbilt, Corbin has led his teams to a record of 802-377-1 – good for a winning percentage of .680. His message boils down to not “over-coaching” and “letting the kids play.”

Milton High Baseball’s Head Coach Brendan Morrissey has established one of the top ten programs in New England. Not only is the club successful, but it also has 10 players on its roster on track to play college ball. Here, he and Dan talk about running about a great program and dealing with Covid.

John Stuper, the winningest head coach in the history of baseball at Yale, will be retiring after this season, marking 30 years with the Bulldogs. Stuper won a crucial World Series game for the St. Louis Cardinals game in 1982 as a pitcher. Here, he passes along stories, his thoughts about MLB today, and his wisdom about the game in this entertaining podcast

No one in the Boston area has made a bigger impact on Black and Latino youth baseball players than today’s guest Robert Lewis Jr. In 2013, Robert founded The BASE, an organization that leverages the power and passion of baseball to help student athletes find pathways to success both on and off the field. Since 2013, the organization has helped student-athletes earn $45 million in scholarships and financial aid. Robert will share how he and his athletes have faced instances of racism and continued to strive toward their goals.

We’re joined in this podcast by Ray Fagnant, Northeast Regional Scouting Supervisor for the Boston Red Sox. Ray shares his insight into the scouting process and what kind of player the Red Sox are looking to add. A veteran of the scouting process, Ray shares his stories of life on the road, hunting for great ballplayers,

Rhode Island’s Ryan Westmoreland was all set to play for the Red Sox, when tragedy struck. The 2010 draft pick was struck down by two brain bleeds that brought his nascent career to an untimely end. But that hasn’t stopped Ryan from being involved in the game. Listen to his fascinating, inspiring story in this podcast.

University of Maine Black Bears’ Head Coach Nick Derba joins us via Zoom in this edition of the podcast. Nick has the Black Bears on an upward trajectory toward contending for an America East Conference title. Last year, Maine opened the America East baseball playoffs with a win over top-seeded Stony Brook before eventually falling in the conference semifinals. Nick talks about his pitch to potential players who he’d like to see on the Black Bears.

No two young athletes are alike, and no two strength training programs should be alike. Greg Robins, co-owner and head of athlete development at The Strength House in Worcester, joins us to discuss how he assesses young athletes and helps them develop with a smart training program.

Our guest is a strength trainer and pitching coach for the top high school prospect in New England.  Logan Carman is the East Coast Evo Director of Player Performance and Winnacunnet High School pitching coach. Carman has helped Winnicunnet's Joe Allen become the top high school pitching prospect in New England by putting together a training program that helped the pitcher boost his maximum velocity from 89 mph to 95 mph. Allen showcased his new skill set this summer for USA Baseball’s National Team as well as at the Area Code Games and East Coast Pro Showcase.