Imagine stepping onto the field with Chase Gerbrick, the youngest college baseball coach in the country. This episode of Athlete 1 Podcast gives you that very experience, taking you behind the scenes of college baseball, sharing his journey, the highs and lows, his career-ending injury, and the influential role his family played in shaping him into the successful coach he is today. Chase's insights on the NCAA recruitment process, the importance of physical strength, and his experience at Indiana Wesleyan University will get you hooked.
Is Indiana Wesleyan University your dream field? We dig into why high school baseball players should consider this university as their prospective college. Chase enlightens us on the top-notch coaching tools, state-of-the-art facilities, and the cutting-edge Trackman system the university boasts. We talk about the unique culture of the program and how to find the perfect fit, both academically and spiritually. You're going to want to hear about the qualities of a good infielder - being twitchy, vocal, and passionate.
As we head into the final innings, we cover the absolute essentials of making a solid impression when reaching out to college coaches. Chase talks about his Gerbrick Performance program and the insights it offers to players. Ever wondered what the top three division one college baseball programs are according to Chase? Or his vision for the future? You'll hear all that and more. So put on your cleats, grab your mitt and join us for an exciting conversation with the youngest coach in the country.
Imagine stepping onto the field with Chase Gerbrick, the youngest college baseball coach in the country. This episode of Athlete 1 Podcast gives you that very experience, taking you behind the scenes of college baseball, sharing his journey, the highs and lows, his career-ending injury, and the influential role his family played in shaping him into the successful coach he is today. Chase's insights on the NCAA recruitment process, the importance of physical strength, and his experience at Indiana Wesleyan University will get you hooked.
Is Indiana Wesleyan University your dream field? We dig into why high school baseball players should consider this university as their prospective college. Chase enlightens us on the top-notch coaching tools, state-of-the-art facilities, and the cutting-edge Trackman system the university boasts. We talk about the unique culture of the program and how to find the perfect fit, both academically and spiritually. You're going to want to hear about the qualities of a good infielder - being twitchy, vocal, and passionate.
As we head into the final innings, we cover the absolute essentials of making a solid impression when reaching out to college coaches. Chase talks about his Gerbrick Performance program and the insights it offers to players. Ever wondered what the top three division one college baseball programs are according to Chase? Or his vision for the future? You'll hear all that and more. So put on your cleats, grab your mitt and join us for an exciting conversation with the youngest coach in the country.
Today on Athlete One Podcast the youngest college baseball coach in the country, chase Gerbrick.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the Athlete One Podcast. Veteran high school baseball coach Ken Carpenter takes you into life's classroom as experienced through sports. Go behind the scenes with athletes and coaches as they share great stories, life lessons and ways to impact others.
Speaker 1:This episode of the Athlete One Podcast is powered by the Netting Professionals, improving programs one facility at a time. The Netting Pros specialize in design, fabrication and installation of custom netting for baseball and softball. This includes backstops, batting cages, bp turtles, screens, ball carts and more. They also design and install digital graphic wall batting, windscreen, turf, turf protector, dugout benches and cubbies. The Netting Pros also work with football, soccer, lacrosse and golf courses. Contact them today at 844-620-2707. That's 844-620-2707. Visit them online at wwwnettingproscom or check out Netting Pros on Twitter, instagram, facebook and LinkedIn for all their latest products and projects. Hello and welcome to the Athlete One Podcast. I'm your host, ken Carpenter, and joining me today is Chase Gerberich, director of Player Development and Assistant Coach at Indiana Wesleyan University. Chase, welcome to the show.
Speaker 3:Thank you so much for having me on today, ken. I'm so pumped and I'm excited for this. You do such a tremendous job with these and I'm so fortunate to be a part of this, so I'm excited for it.
Speaker 1:Well I got to start off with I may be wrong here, but you're the youngest college coach in America. Yes, sir, tell me about that?
Speaker 3:Yeah, no, that's a great question. Number one I mean I always go back to my family. I mean since a young age they've had just a tremendous impact on me. I'm outside of baseball just with who I am as a person and what I strive to be off the field and without my parents, I mean they've made so many sacrifices for me and my brother the same thing, and I'm so fortunate for the impact they've had on me.
Speaker 3:But since a young age, baseball has been the game I fell in love with and I played numerous sports growing up but was fortunate enough to commit to Lipscomb University, which is a D1 school in Nashville, when I was a freshman in high school and I just had a tremendous opportunity there and had a great time. I met some lifelong friends there my freshman year and had the chance to start two games as a freshman one versus Mississippi State on the Road, which was fantastic. I mean, that's a moment I'll never forget and then versus Queens, which is another tough opponent there in the A-Sung Conference as well, and just had a tremendous time there and unfortunately suffered a career ending injury in my arm. So, looking at it, I was looking to continue to play baseball, but I knew it was going to be very challenging. But I loved the game so much and my dream since high school was to become the best historical Power Five high coach in the history of the game. So that's what I've shot for. And when I realized that my playing career was on the line, I was really bummed. I wasn't sure what was going to happen because my arm was bugging me a lot.
Speaker 3:I was told that there were going to be a lot of issues going forward if I continued to play, and two weeks before I had to make a decision, coach McDonald, who's the head coach here at Indian Wesleyan, called me up and said hey, chase, I've been seeing a lot of your content, talked with a lot of coaches throughout the industry. They think you'd be a great fit for us. I want you to come coach here, serve as our infield coach, help out in recruiting and get you on a hot start to your coaching journey. Get you familiarized with defense, get you working with trackmen, taking guys on visits, doing player development charts for your infielders and getting involved now so you can come out of college and be a force wherever you get hired.
Speaker 3:And so I think when I heard them say that it's been a dream of mine. I'm like, let's do it. I felt that I was more than qualified for the job and absolutely loving it. Coach McDonald, coach George, coach Friend, coach Gooden I appreciate them for believing in me and supporting me and having me on board. So it's been quite the journey and I'm so, so blessed to be here and I'm having time of my life right now, so it's fantastic.
Speaker 1:Well, that's definitely a great transition to a lot of guys. When they have injuries, you know they have to fight through it and then you know they get into just the real world. But you're getting a chance to start way earlier than most who want to chase that college dream of being a college coach. And that sounds exciting for you to get a chance to start at such a young age. And just for the listeners that don't know you, how old are you right now?
Speaker 3:19, currently 19. Wow, yes, sir.
Speaker 1:Well, I got to ask you know if a player has a goal to play college baseball? What's an area that young players struggle with when it comes to that whole recruiting process?
Speaker 3:Absolutely. You know that's a great question, ken. Number one just, you know, from my experience as a player and also my experience now as a coach, I've kind of seen the commonality of just not being strong enough. You know, especially in the age we're living in now, with COVID and guys being set back, you know it's a mature game now. You know we got 24, 25 year olds still playing the game of college baseball, which is great for them. You know they're rocking it. It's the age of the portal now. You know, older guys, more experienced guys, junior college guys, and it's really, really competitive and the thing that is setting, you know, the most guys apart from the other is just lack of strength.
Speaker 3:So I think if you're a young kid, especially in high school, it all starts in the weight room. You know I've seen kids who were 100 pounds bump up to, you know, 150, 180 to 200, and it's a whole new animal, right? I mean, you see kids and you know they're with the pack and they separate themselves. You know I think nutrition is super important. You know it's one thing to put on weight, but are you putting on the right weight, right? You know, are you eating chicken and rice quinoa, right, Some a complex card right. So are you putting on the right weight and are you hitting the weight room really, really hard.
Speaker 3:Another thing I tell you too, ken, is just putting yourself in uncomfortable situations and learning to be comfortable in those. Whether that's, you know, training with guys who are really really good in your area, whether it's going to showcases just learning how to navigate that and surrounding yourself with guys who are better than you, coaches who are just really, really advanced, it's only going to up your game a lot. I think a lot of kids settle, you know, further comfort zone. And just for me, you know, I've always been a guy that, hey, the more you can get out there and put yourself out there and put yourself in uncomfortable situations, the better off you're going to be. So I tell you, ken, just focusing on the weight room and getting stronger and surrounding yourself with coaches and players who are better than you, I think that's going to be the big takeaway for when players go into college.
Speaker 1:I noticed that it even can apply to the classroom, and if you get the right group of kids that you're hanging around with in high school and they're the ones that are they put a priority on being successful in the classroom and having good grades. That also can make a baseball player even better, or even just the average student makes them a better, because I've always been a big believer that Whoever you hang out with, you know you're gonna be the average of that group you're hanging out with.
Speaker 3:Yeah, no, absolutely, and that's a great point. It's just who you surround yourself with, and this doesn't even go for baseball, it goes for life. Whether you know you want to be a surgeon or a businessman or you know, whatever you aspire to be, you know, hang around people who are gonna push you to be better. Hang around people who are gonna hold you accountable. That's one thing that we do here really really well is, you know, our team is just a bunch of guys who are really really close-knitted and guys who push each other and hold each other accountable, you know, on and off the field. So I think, whether it's in baseball or in life, you know hanging around kids and players and parents who are just gonna mold you into a really good human being. I think that's so important.
Speaker 1:Well, out of high school, as you chose to play at Lipskine University. Talk about the importance of finding the right fit versus Chasing that, that, that Twitter or I it's X now, I guess, and I like to call it where you're blessed to be playing Whatever D1 school.
Speaker 3:Right, no, that's, that's a.
Speaker 3:That's a great point. It's so important, you know, finding the right fit. I think, especially now we're living in an age of social media, right, kids want to impress other kids and even parents sometimes want to, you know, show their kid off and you know it's crazy. Some of the things I see on social media and I'm seeing guys committing to schools that, you know, I know just from things I've seen, things I've heard, isn't gonna be a fit just because of the name, right, and sometimes I think kids rush to make a decision. I think it's a double a has done a fantastic job making that deadline longer. Not, kids can't commit till junior year August 1st, I believe. So I think that's great on their part, because I think a lot of kids are rushing a choice too early and it's something that's Gonna get at the end of the day. There is a life after baseball and players need to realize that, hey, I'm going here for baseball, but I also want to go here because it's a inspiring community. You know I can have a great relationship with my professors. I'm gonna, you know, be able to come out with a fantastic degree and if baseball doesn't work out, you know I'm gonna love it here at this school. It's gonna be a great fit for me. So, you know, I think finding the right fit it comes with doing your research or asking the right questions. You'll find that baseball is a very, very small world. And so doing your research, finding you know who's been around the block and asking those people, I think that's huge. But one big thing I tell you can, when you go on visit, is it'll click, obviously, for me.
Speaker 3:I was a young guy, I was talking with a lot of power, five schools, a lot of mid major schools and For me, you know, I told my parents and I was in middle school, you know, and I wasn't talking to anybody, middle school, but you know I knew in middle school my goal is to play at the D1 level and Throughout that time, before I even started talking to schools, I was telling them all the time I want to find the place that's gonna Develop me as a person and a player, a place that you know I can play baseball at a very, very high level. I'm a place that I can play at and develop that. I think that's so important making sure you're Playing and getting better, but also just being pushed spiritually and academically. And so Lipscomb came across and you know I had a lot of Great conversations with with some other schools but I just felt it click. You know you have to go where you click with the staff, where you click with the environment. Obviously, lipscomb's a very, very small school so you know you get to connect with all the other athletes, you get to connect with your professors and build relationships and it's just more than baseball.
Speaker 3:Obviously I can go on and on about the Lipscomb baseball program. It's fantastic, they do a lot of great things over there. But you know it was more than that and obviously you had Nashville side, which plenty of business opportunities, plenty of job opportunities if baseball didn't work out. So you know that was a big thing for me. And obviously now transitioning to Indian and Wesley and it was the exact same thing, obviously tremendous program, you know, coming off a final four NAI World Series run.
Speaker 3:You know I could talk about this program all day long with the facilities and how well funded it is and the coaching. But you know it's spiritually just just fits my standards and academically and just great people. And again, yeah, I'm a smaller school guy, so for others they might be a bigger school guy. So kind of you know, narrowing it down, trying to figure out your needs and once through a bucket list and going about it. That way also helps. But find the right fit. I think you're gonna be able to feel that click and then also looking for things outside of baseball that are gonna suit you as well well, I guess, and on a side note, down there in Nashville, the Peg Lake Parker, right there the barbecue place.
Speaker 3:Yeah, not to mention that the food down there is pretty good. So Warm weather, so that was. That was also a plus.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, staying on this topic, you know, with Indiana Wesley and making the NAI World Series, make the case for why a baseball player in high school should consider going to Indiana Wesley and University as a place to go play college baseball.
Speaker 3:That's such a great question. I'll start with. You know we have all the coaching tools. Coach McDonald has done a tremendous job bringing in every single positional coach. We have a catching coach, an outfield coach, a hitting coach, an infield coach. I've seen McDonald overseas pitching development and he is tremendous at what he does. I can't even put into words. We also have a pitching development coach, and so we're stacked and so we're able to divide and conquer all based on our strengths, and then we're also able to bounce ideas off on what guys need.
Speaker 3:We do a lot of screen testing. We value mobility, we value strength in the weight room. Our strength coach is big on legs and getting guys bigger and more physical, and that is a deficiency that most athletes come into college with For us. We put you on a meal plan and we get you in the weight room right away. Our facilities are our first class. It's nicer than a lot of schools at all levels D1, d2, d3, ducco throughout the country.
Speaker 3:We're just a tremendously well-funded program and we have all the tools to develop. We're one of a few NAI programs with a trackman, and we're big on data and developing guys For me, for my infielders. I'm big on film. We gather film all the time. We put together individual practice plans. We meet with our guys. We even have a classroom set up in our press box about development Before the season even started. We have practice plans for our positional breakdown set up with our guys, meetings with our guys and we're constantly communicating with our guys to make sure we're being player coaches. There's a lot of coaches who don't ask their players for insight and they run their practices almost like military based. For us, we're a players coach, we vouch for our guys, we value our guys. We're just a program who look to bring guys in who want to work, grow spiritually and grow academically. We have one of the nicest campuses in the Midwest. We're a very religious school and in terms of our baseball program, we love guys that get in and just love the game and love the work.
Speaker 3:I think when establishing a culture, there's not a better culture in the country than here. We have guys just right away. So welcoming as a young guy, that's what you want guys to take you under their wing right away. A lot of schools experience some backlash from that. The higher you get, just because it's more competitive gets you're bringing in guys from all over. But for us we're bringing in kids who are fits, not just good baseball players from who knows where, but players who are great people, great in the classroom, great on the field.
Speaker 3:For us it's more than baseball. Obviously, we're trying to build a winning culture here, which we've done very consistently in the past, and I can go on and on about that. But we're looking to develop you as a person first. I think a lot of programs don't do that. We value you as a person, not just an asset. For us we look to grow players as people first, and then obviously the student comes second and the student athlete and then the athlete. But for us we're just looking to bring in great people, and that's what we've been able to accomplish so far.
Speaker 1:Well, as a former infielder, what traits do you look for or notice when you're looking at the best infielders out there?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean a lot of infielders for me. I love guys who are twitchy, they can throw on the run, they can backhand, they know how to use their long hops I'm high IQ Guys who communicate, especially when we're looking at the shortstop position. We want leaders. Guys who are very, very vocal and that goes for all of our positions. Guys who can pick it, but we love guys who can also swing it too. So essentially, we're looking for the whole package. But guys who can bun, guys who can execute Obviously, the talent putting the talent aside we want guys who are hustling in between the lines.
Speaker 3:A big misconception is if you go watch a guy, they chuck their things. You automatically cross them off the list, but for me, it shows me that you care. Obviously, I don't want you doing that, but if we can borrow you up, if we can learn to borrow that up, I want guys who play with emotion, play with passion, who care about their performance and want to be better. That shows me that you want to be better. Guys who, when they hit an infield, fly or ground ball, they're sprinting from home to first. But for me, as the infield coach, just vocal leaders, guys who are looking to always learn. Guys who are twitchy, great with their feet, able to throw from multiple arm slots, throw in the run, use their long hop, know how to two-step versus four-step, have that internal clock, so a lot goes into it. Obviously, as an infield coach, I can go back and forth with you, but guys who are the full package can take care of it at the plate and can lead on the field as well.
Speaker 1:Yes, I definitely agree with that, because I was an infielder growing up and when I played it I looked back to where I showed up at college. I thought I was a pretty solid infielder and I took a couple ground balls coach go to left and I was starting second baseman. I was like all right, it makes sense yeah.
Speaker 3:Well, I mean now the game is constantly evolving. United spoke with Tucker Frawley the other day. He used to be at Yale and when he was there they led the country in feeling percentage. And my goal is to do that with our infielders this year lead to NAIA and feeling percentage. I think we have the talent to do so as well. But now Tucker Frawley is with the twins and he's doing a great job up there with them.
Speaker 3:But if you can't throw on the run in today's game, it's going to be a struggle to play at the next level. So we're just looking for a lot of athleticism, a lot of twitch, and I think the big thing is too can a lot of players will pride themselves on playing just one position. I think if you're a shortstop or second baseman, you need to learn how to play the whole infield, maybe exception of first and catcher, but learn how to play third. Learn how to play short, because it opens up more doors for you in college, because you're going from being a big fish in a little pond in high school being the best player to walking into college, and everybody was that guy. So now you have to compete and learn how to get on the field, and so I think that versatility is really, really important.
Speaker 1:Well, if a parent is going to spend money to help their son achieve that dream of playing at the college level, rank these areas as far as importance. Strength training camps, showcases, playing on an elite travel team and having your own personal pitching or hitting coach, whatever it may be when do you rank those? Or would you say, hey, that's where you need to put your money into, yeah.
Speaker 3:Ken, I would tell you the camps and showcases kind of needs to be a back burner until you're ready. So definitely last. Obviously that's really, really important. But actually going back, I shouldn't say last, because I guess if you're ready you need to get your name out there. But I also think there's a lot of opportunity for college coaches to see you and if you market yourself well and you do a good job of promoting yourself, college coaches are also going to come see you play in the summer in the high school.
Speaker 3:So I think weight training to have a good mentor at a young age is critical. You need to find somebody who can get you off to a good start. Now I don't know if some kids for me I wasn't a kid who needed a trainer to push me. I think if you want to play in college, you need to have the ability to push yourself and go lift on days that you don't want to go lift. You need to have that discipline to go do the things you don't want to do and do them well on those days. So I think it's important to invest in a strength trainer going into high school and whether that's from your high school. A lot of high schools have their own trainers right, but I do think that's important. Once you have established a good start, you don't need to continue that unless you really really want to and you're getting something out of it.
Speaker 3:I think finding a hitting coach, pitching coach, is crucial. There are a lot of coaches who are against that and just go play. But I think it starts with finding the right coach. I know there's a lot of coaches out there just looking to make money, not very knowledgeable, which is obviously very, very frustrating. Not what you want to see and that's why I actually started Goerk Performance was to kind of end all that eye-wash and kind of teach the right things. But I think you can find just a tremendous coach in your area who's knowledgeable, knows the game really really well, been around it, coached a long time. I think getting that one-on-one instruction so valuable, I mean for me.
Speaker 3:I was never the most talented kid in middle school but, like we just touched on Ken, I surrounded myself with players who were a lot better than me, sometimes players who were four or five years older than me. One of them is Zach Dezenzo. Played at Ohio State and now he's in AAAAA and he's moving up fast. And I was in eighth grade training with this guy and I mean it was light years but surrounding yourself and being invested in the process and finding a coach who's willing to do that with you. So I think that's so important. And then I think there was a fourth one on there. I'm missing. What was that fourth one? Travel team, travel team, gotcha. Yeah, I mean I would go travel team last.
Speaker 3:I think as coaches obviously that matters. You know your team getting out out and about matters, but I think if you're good enough, you know that'll kind of work itself out Obviously for us. I've recruited plenty of players and seen plenty of players who aren't on the team they're supposed to be on and they're studs and they're committed to you on schools. Why? Because I don't think coaches really care about the team you're on. They care about you know what you look like, your intangibles, you know what you're doing in the classroom, how you care yourself and are you competing at a very, very high level and is there a projectability factor in there? And so I've seen kids who are on not very good teams and then they go D1, boom, they go to a good travel team.
Speaker 3:So again, and sometimes it's a financial thing right. Sometimes parents can't get their kid on the best of teams or sometimes there's a bias factor in there. So you know, for me I don't really value that much. Obviously it is really really important to play against the best of the best competition, but there's a lot of variables that go into that. But you know camps and travel team. Obviously you want to do a lot of camps, you need to get your name out there, you want to play for a really really good travel team. But I think valuing that strength aspect and putting you know all your marbles into the process and getting better, I think that's critical. So I would put weightlifting and the personal development on the top there.
Speaker 1:But I read something where you know, for people that are trying to go viral on the internet with tweets and Instagram and TikTok and all those things, it all starts with a hook. Yeah, it's something that's going to get the attention of the people that are looking at it. Talk about emailing as a high school player, emailing college coaches, and the importance of that hook.
Speaker 3:So important. When I was a high schooler, I mean I was hungry, you know, I would probably say more hungry than every single player in the country to play at the next level. I mean I was emailing two or three times a week. Sometimes I even sent the same email because I wanted my name to stick, and that's a great point you brought up, ken is, you know, seeing it on the coaches side now too? Like we get tons of emails and I can't even imagine these Power Five schools who are getting hundreds a day. And so you know, when you get that much and obviously I'm a guy who looks at every single email I think you have to. I think if you want to be the best coach in college, you have to look at every single email you get. But a lot of schools don't do that. For that reason. I don't know why they don't look at it, but law schools don't.
Speaker 3:So you need to have an attractive subject line to stand out, whether that's you have a great GPA, you know. You have a really good fastball velocity. You have a good bite in your curveball. For me I was a switch hitter so I was able to throw that in there. So you know, just throwing, you know, I wouldn't say an eyeballing statistic, but throwing some sort of stat in there, some sort of strength that you know puts you right up to the top, is critical, because at the end of the day, no matter how good your film is, if they don't see it, it's no good right. So you need to have that attractive subject line to get your name to pop and then, once you click on that, then they can obviously see your footage and you can provide a little more detail behind those statistics. But again, I mean, I think that's a great point Whether it's Twitter and your bio, whether it's emailing, you need to list your strengths and list them really, really well to make yourself stand out.
Speaker 1:Tell me something about coaching, since you're into it now, that is, you didn't realize. As a player, you're like wow, I didn't realize that the coach is along the way that I've had. Now you're on that end of it and now you're like, oh my God, I never even thought about that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's actually a great question. Just being on the coaching side, I've seen so many things that already that I've misinterpreted as a player and as a player more sort of younger age. When I got in college and high school it wasn't so much, but when I played for a coach and they got on me I would just automatically think, oh, they don't like me, they don't like me and I would kind of play victim. And again, as I matured I realized that wasn't the case. But on the coaching side, the players that I tend to push the most are the ones that I see a lot of potential and guys, you can be great, it's just really, really good. And that, ken, it's kind of the biggest thing I've seen.
Speaker 3:And I think a lot of players maybe struggle with that in today's society because now I think and today it's just more of a softer generation, right kids who maybe want to be coddled, and there's a lot of kids who don't take constructive criticism the right way, and so I try to phrase it for our guys and push our guys to be great.
Speaker 3:And so it's so awesome to see when I have a lot of the infielders texting me during the week hey, can we go up Saturday and work on some infield, do some one-on-one.
Speaker 3:Absolutely let's do it, and I think that's awesome and I think the guys here really take that into account that when I push them, when I get on them a little bit, it's me saying, yeah, I know you can be great. And that's something that's just great about our program is we have kids who just want to be better and want to learn, and when I was a player growing up, I didn't really get that when coaches would get on me I would just think they don't like me, they're picking on me, but it's the opposite, and so I would tell kids in my shoes when I was in middle school, elementary school, whether it's your playing for your dad or a coach competitive travel team. Coaches want to see you succeed. So if they're getting on you, they know you can be great and they know you're destined for big things, and so that's kind of the big thing I've seen so far.
Speaker 1:I've heard people even say when they stop getting on you, that means that maybe they're moving on to the next game.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah exactly, yeah, and it just shows you like and if I'm pushing you, I know you're destined for big things, and so I want to see guys who are coachable too, who are taking that and applying it. And so I've heard that as well. Coaches would repetitively tell a guy to do something, and days go by, practices go by, and they don't want to do it For some reason. They're getting lazy, they don't remember it. Coach, you're going to move on to the next guy. So I think that's obviously a really good point as well.
Speaker 1:Well, you touched earlier on Gerberic performance and this really intrigues me. You have over 50,000 followers on Instagram and if you go on the Instagram and check it out, you provide a lot of great information there and talk a little bit and promote Gerberic performance, because maybe there might be some listeners out here that I just stumbled onto it and I'm really excited about.
Speaker 3:Absolutely no To start. I started it going into my senior year at high school. Obviously I love the game of baseball. I was around some really big names growing up. Frankie Lindor was actually one of my greatest mentors growing up, was able to pick his brain and would see him after the Cleveland Indians games at the time and see now they're the Guardians, but would go down there and pick his brain and then from there just kind of started snowballing, made connections with Alan J or Kanoa Correa, tucker, farrelly, just a lot of big names. And so growing up I loved playing but my goal was to never be the best professional baseball players.
Speaker 3:I wanna be the best coach historically in the game and so going to my senior year at high school, I had so much knowledge and I was given 15, 20 lessons a week with kids around my community college commits, youth players and I was like I just wanna spread my knowledge because I was seeing so many online coaches just posting just really weird content. Content that was just trying to get them noticed. But it wasn't correct and that was obviously very frustrating for me to see is because if you wanna be a coach, you need to teach the right things. I think that's important and for coaches who just don't have all the information and are teaching things. They're feeding kids the wrong information, who wanna get better and they're essentially hurting them. And so I wanted to get on there and I had no intention of it blowing up. But going to my senior year I think it was August 18th go to my senior year and I made shirts and I had such a supportive community in my hometown where kids would take the shirts and wear them around and I hit the 500 follower mark and it was starting to get a lot with training and I was posting two or three times a day and networking and emailing and doing all this crazy stuff, trying to be a student, trying to balance all this workload and I went back to I made shirts. These people were supporting me. I'm gonna continue to do this. Number one, because they're supporting me. But number two, I love this. Continue to do it. Took me about eight months to get to a thousand followers and then, right when I hit a thousand, I just exploded and for me it's never about the followers, but I just wanna reach the biggest audience I can and help the most people I can, and that's why I'm just so excited about where this has gone and I've been a student of the game for so long and this is what I love.
Speaker 3:I love diving in and making connections and coming on these podcasts and talking to shop as well and through that, just been able to connect with some extravagant people.
Speaker 3:And I've had people message me who are high up in the ranks at a division one school infield coach at D1 school or a big league infield coach to hey, been seeing you stuff for a long time. We've incorporated some of your progression, some of your teachings, into what we're doing with our team. I think that's fabulous and I've posted a few things throughout the past few days of what I've been doing with our team. And same thing, just had a few Power Five coaches that kind of stayed in contact with, text me and say, hey, I'm stealing this from you to use with our guys, and so that's always so rewarding when you get to hear that from guys who are doing it at a very, very high level. And my goal is just to impact as many people as I can, obviously on the field, but I also wanna be a person to inspire people to be great off the field, especially in the world we're living in now. So that's kind of my goal and so excited just to be able to spread that light throughout Instagram.
Speaker 1:Well, it sounds like you're doing that and much more. And, like you said, it's if you're putting out the right content and it's reaching the right people, that's all it matters and it just like anything. You're building your network and in the long run, that's gonna benefit you Absolutely, and that was how I ended up here at Indiana-Wesley.
Speaker 3:It was just funny how it worked. My brother played here, and if I wasn't marketing myself on how knowledgeable I am and what I know about coaching in the infield side, indiana-wesley probably wouldn't have brought me on, because it's not like I wouldn't have been a nobody. But it's essentially what has gotten me here and what has allowed me to establish relationships and improve myself in a very, very competitive industry, and so that's always something too, with just having these high aspirations to be a big time coach. I think that has really helped me build some respect within the industry as well.
Speaker 1:Well, I'd like to do a thing here. During the podcast it's rapid fire and I'm just gonna hit you with some quick questions and whatever comes to mind. You just tell me and let's see how this goes here. Let's do it. What fires you up more? A great defensive play or stretching a double into a triple, Stretching a?
Speaker 3:double into a triple. I gotta say extra bases is pretty cool and I'm big on that hustle aspect, so that fires me up.
Speaker 1:Okay, I like that. As a coach, you can only have one. I'm gonna give you two choices here A deep pitching staff with an average hitting team, or a lineup that just can flat out rake with an average pitching staff.
Speaker 3:Deep pitching staff. I think it all goes back to pitching and defense and you win games on pitching and defense, so I gotta go with that one.
Speaker 1:There you go. Who wins the World Series this year and why?
Speaker 3:And AI or MLB or what MLB? I'm sorry, I'm gonna be. I gotta go With my guardians If we can, if we can get up there and at the number one spot and get over the twins and get hot here. You know, I think we got in the bag, so but if I'm being serious, I Gotta go with the. I Don't know. I got to stick with the guardians. I can't go anybody else.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I wouldn't watch the Cleveland play the Braves this this summer and Well, that Braves lineup, yeah, head to toe every year. I mean, what blew me away on that was, I think, at the game I was that I was looking at the stats and they, they had a hundred more home runs than Cleveland did at that point in the season. She's, that's, yeah, that that is gonna help you win games.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, absolutely. I think the Rangers also very talented team this year. I see so a lot of good teams. But hopefully, hopefully the guardians can pull, it can pull and off for us okay if you were a top 25 player coming out.
Speaker 1:You graduate in the spring, you're coming out of high school. What do you think are the top three division one college baseball programs that you would say you got to go play there because the coach, the atmosphere, the Weather, whatever it may be.
Speaker 3:Yeah, well, to start to, to come to my head right away, vanderbilt in Tennessee. I know our coach Corbin really really well over there Vanderbilt, and I know coach might tell a little bit as well. So I think those two are just, I mean, tremendous coaches. I mean you're seeing what they're doing with the program and what doing you're seeing what they're doing with their programs. I mean it's pretty incredible what they're doing, obviously great coaches and great leaders. So Love both of them and what they're doing. So I think Vanderbilt, tennessee, obviously the top two, you know. I think USC I really like what USC is doing with coach dank woods. Obviously obviously that is the head coach, coach to other ten at the pitching staff there, coach Jenkins with the catchers and coach Jude as a heading coach. I mean I think that's just a powerhouse staff and they had a tremendous year with with year one, all them being new. So you know, I would go with Vanderbilt, tennessee and USC. I mean I think those are tremendous programs led by tremendous people.
Speaker 1:You're an MLB manager and you can trade for and sign these three players to your team. I'm gonna give you two groups. Tell me which group you would rather have. Group one Ronald Acuna, blake Snell, the pitcher for San Diego, and Freddie Freeman or Bryce Harper. Spencer Strider, the Braves pitcher and trade Turner from the Phillips.
Speaker 3:Since you threw in trade Turner. I gotta go with that group. He's one of my favorite players and I think Bryce Harper is a competitor. I love Bryce Harper and the strikers obviously a beast so I think you got to go with that group.
Speaker 1:Well, to finish up, ten years from now, where's Chase Garbrek?
Speaker 3:Absolutely no. That's a great question. I just, you know, right now I'm humbled. I'm in the moment when I focused here on on Given my offer for Indiana was in then, ten years, five years down the road, just hoping to be in a great spot where I'm able to lead players in the right direction and just help help People players grow on and off the field. So that's what I'm so excited for about this journey and looking forward to continually, continuously learning and making players better, and I'm so pumped for the opportunity I have now and just look forward to the future.
Speaker 1:Well, I guess I'm gonna put one more in there. How's Indiana wrestling gonna be next, next spring?
Speaker 3:really good. Yeah, really sharp, really really sharp. I think we've got just a tremendous lineup head to toe. We've got a lot of depth, just just great people, great players, and obviously got the right coaching staff in the building. So I'm fired up, we're fired up as a staff, as a collective whole, and I can't wait. I'm itching to get out there and start playing and start competing, and I think our guys are too. So be sure to keep an eye out for us, and we're ready to rock and roll for sure.
Speaker 1:Well, I had, early on into my Podcasting career I guess you could say I had my first NAIA guest on, and it was Jeremy sheeting her.
Speaker 3:They do it really really well over there. They're they're fantastic and great mentor of mine's, alan Jagger, and he's. He's always out there and just has so such speak so highly of that program and obviously you can see it every year. They do it well over there and we respect them very, very well on our end as well. So they're Very well respected all over the country and and I'm I love watching them. They're fun, to fun to play against and I hope we have that chance to play against them again this year. It's always a great game, very competitive game from two teams. You just love baseball and want to get after it. So nothing but respect for them. They're doing a great job Well, chase.
Speaker 1:I I'm excited to see what you do with your coaching career and you're definitely getting started a lot younger than just about anybody else that I could ever imagine but chase Garber, indiana Wesleyan University assistant coach and director of player development. Chase, wow, thanks. Thanks a ton for taking the time to. For the people that don't know when this podcast is going on, it is almost 11 o'clock. Should be athlete one podcast after dark, so no, that's fantastic.
Speaker 3:We're setting records already for the latest time, so that's great. I appreciate you having me on kitts always great talk on shop with you and so fortunate. You're doing a great job and you're killing it. I look forward to staying up with you as well.
Speaker 1:All right. Thank you, sir. If you enjoy the show, don't forget hit the subscribe button, rate the show and leave us a review. It helps us to grow the show. Also, don't forget to follow us on Twitter, instagram and Facebook at athlete one podcast. A Special shout out to our sponsor, the netting professionals. They're improving programs, one facility at a time. Contact them today at 844-620-2707 that's 844-620-2707. Or you can visit them online at wwwnettingproscom. And, as always, thanks for listening you.