BASEBALL COACHES UNPLUGGED
What if you could discover the secrets of the most successful coaches and athletes and become the best in the game. What separates the best coaches and players from the rest? Become the player coaches dream of having on their team. Step inside the dugout with the Baseball Coaches Unplugged, where every episode is a journey of triumph, resilience, and inspiration. Hosted by Ken Carpenter, a 27 year veteran high school baseball coach with a passion for unlocking the secrets of athletic greatness.
Picture this: you're behind the scenes with top athletes and coaches, taking in their stories of victory and defeat, and uncovering the invaluable life lessons hidden within. From heart-pounding game moments to the quiet struggles of training, each episode offers invaluable of wisdom that resonates with baseball coaches, players, devoted parents and fans alike.
Join us weekly as we explore the highs and lows of the sports world, dissecting success strategies and sharing practical takeaways that you can implement on and off the field. Whether you're seeking to refine your coaching techniques, elevate your game, or simply bask in the camaraderie of fellow sports enthusiasts, the Baseball Coaches Unplugged podcast is your playbook for success.
Subscribe now and join our community of champions!
BASEBALL COACHES UNPLUGGED
Competitive Maturity and Belief Leads To Baseball State Championship
Ever wondered what it takes to build a state championship-winning high school baseball team? Today, we're sitting down with Max Newill, the head coach at Bridgewater-Raritan High School in New Jersey, who will share the secrets behind his team's success. From setting sky-high standards and scheduling tough games to emphasizing consistent practice, Max reveals the blueprint for creating winners on and off the field. But it’s not all about baseball; Max also opens up about his family's passion for horse racing and his memorable summer trips to Saratoga and Phillies games.
In this engaging episode, we dive deep into the essence of competitive maturity and the importance of facing tough opponents to build a resilient team. Max explains his coaching philosophy, which balances intense practice sessions with the joy of celebrating big wins and fostering a positive team environment. He recounts personal anecdotes from his semi-pro baseball days, shedding light on the unpredictable and humorous moments that come with the game. Whether you're a coach, a player, or a sports enthusiast, this conversation is packed with insights on maintaining confidence without arrogance and ensuring every player understands their role in the team's success. Tune in for a unique blend of strategy, passion, and personal stories that make this episode a home run.
X - @brbaseball
IG - brhs_baseball
- Follow: Twitter | Instagram @Athlete1Podcast
- https://www.athlete1.net
- Sponsor: The Netting Professionals
- https://www.nettingpros.com
You're locked in to Athlete One, a podcast for baseball coaches and players. Each and every show shares the keys to performance success by diving into the secrets of players and coaches who have played and or coached at the high school, college or professional level. In today's podcast, I sit down with 2024 state champion head baseball coach at Bridgewater, raritan, max Newell. We discuss what it takes to be a state champion setting aside standards, playing a tough schedule and focusing on reps, and so much more. Next, on the Athlete One Podcast.
Speaker 1:This episode of the Athlete One Podcast is powered by the netting professionals, improving programs one facility at a time. The netting professionals specialize in the design, fabrication and installation of custom netting for baseball and softball. This includes backstops, batting cages, bp turtles screens, ball carts and more batting cages, bp turtles screens, ball carts and more. They also design and install digital graphic wall padding, windscreen, turf, turf protectors, dugout benches and cubbies. The Netting Pros also work with football teams, soccer, lacrosse and golf courses. The Netting Pros continue to provide quality products and services to many recreational, high school, college and professional fields and facilities throughout the country. Contact them today at 844-620-2707. That's 844-620-2707. Or visit them online at wwwnettingproscom. Them online at wwwnettingproscom. Check out Netting Pros on Twitter, instagram, facebook and LinkedIn for all the latest products and projects.
Speaker 2:You're locked in to Athlete One, a podcast for athletes and coaches coming to you from Dublin, ohio, here to bring you expert advice, insightful conversations and powerful stories from guests who play or coach sports. Now veteran high school baseball coach and someone who has jumped out of perfectly good airplanes your host, ken Carpenter.
Speaker 1:Hello and welcome to the Athlete One Podcast. I'm your host, ken Carpenter. Joining me today is New Jersey State Champion at Bridgewater-Raritan High School in New Jersey. Max Newell Coach, thanks for taking the time to be on the Athlete One Podcast. Ken, thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it. Well, I looked at your ex-profile some still call it Twitter and you have a horse running on a track.
Speaker 3:Tell me about that. My family is a big horse racing family, so that's a picture from Saratoga. I don't use my personal Twitter all that often from Saratoga. I don't use my personal Twitter all that often. All I do is retweet the stuff from our high school program, so I think it's private. There's nothing on there except retweets from the high school baseball team, so you know it is what it is. But yeah, my family's into horse racing. I go to Saratoga every summer with my dad. It's just something that I've grown up with and really enjoy, and Saratoga is an awesome spot. If you haven't gone, it's a great place to go.
Speaker 1:Well, I've had over 100 guests on the show and I've yet to come across somebody that was into the horses. So that's great to hear. I like that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we're more fans than gamblers, We'll put down a better two. But you know, we we enjoy the history and following, like, okay, this horse ran this many years ago and now his son's running and you know, just following it. You know the sport of Kings, but, uh, now, uh, If you didn't grow up in it, these days, staying aging, don't really know anything other than, really, the Kentucky Derby.
Speaker 3:But you know, it's a lot of fun, Something I share with my dad Well was summer break a little more enjoyable for you after winning the state championship there in New Jersey. Yeah, it's been a great summer so far. You know, I went to Saratoga. Like I said, I went out west with my dad to see the Phillies play. We're Phillies fans, so I got to see them play in LA and Phoenix and just doing the things that go along with state championship getting our ring order here finished up and getting a championship year and all that stuff. So there's been some extra things, but they've all been enjoyable. And yeah, it's been a lot of stuff. So there's been some extra things, but they've all been enjoyable. And yeah, it's been a lot of fun. But we start school back in two weeks here, so it's starting to get ready for the 2025 season now.
Speaker 1:Now, was that your first title as a high school coach.
Speaker 3:First state title. Yeah, we've won New Jersey. They call it a sectional, so New Jersey some people probably are not familiar with how we set it up, but there's there's four groups for public schools, group four being the largest and that's what we are. And then in the state there's four sections. So there's North one, which is the North North North two, which we're in, which is like the Southern part of North Jersey, central Jersey and South Jersey. So the state tournament set up. There's, uh, central Jersey and South Jersey. So the state tournament's set up. There's 20-some teams in each section, 16 teams qualifying at single elimination, and then it's kind of like the old NCAA basketball tournament 64 teams, single elimination. You win your section, that's considered a championship, that gets you to the Final Four, and then you play it out to the championship. So we'd won the section before we got into the Final Four before, but this is the first time we went all the way and won the overall state championship.
Speaker 1:Well, congratulations on that Cause, that's uh. Anytime a coach wins a state title, that's uh, that's impressive.
Speaker 3:Oh, thank you. Yeah, I mean I'm so. I was so happy for the kids. We had a great group this year and they, they played extraordinarily well. I you know, from just their attitudes to their effort, to the results on the field, it was pretty much a dream season. You know a few losses in there, but you know it's hard to go undefeated in a high school baseball season.
Speaker 1:Well, I know it's August and school's starting back up. Since you're in your classroom setting up for the school year, how quickly did your attention move to the 2025 season after winning that state title?
Speaker 3:Almost immediately. You know we I guess that's just the way I'm wired. You know you're always looking for the next best thing. But you know we definitely enjoyed this one. Like I said, it was a special group and we didn't want it to end. It was that. That was the cool thing, like no one wanted it to end. And we did stuff after the state championship, like we had a day we went out on the field and took pictures with the trophies that we won this year. Several parents had barbecues, we had our banquet. You know we're gonna have a ring ceremony this winter when the rings come in. So it's like one of those things where you want to turn the page but you don't want to let go of this season as well, because it was a dream season.
Speaker 1:Well, let me ask you this A lot of coaches talk about having their great season winning the state title. Was there any point during that run where you're like, wow, things are going our way, Is there a bad hop? Or something like that?
Speaker 3:Not so much one moment where it was like, okay, that shouldn't have happened and it did but for us. So we play a county tournament too, which is separate from the state. A county tournament is just the teams near county and it's big, small, public, private, and for years we've been knocking on the door of that tournament. Get to the semifinals, get to the semifinals and just getting stuck at that game Just a bad hop here, a bad call there, a kid had a bad day. It was good all year. Anything that could go wrong did go wrong.
Speaker 3:And then this year in the semifinals we got through that game. It was a very competitive game. We got through that and I had a sense that once we got through that game we were going to be fine. We were playing really well, up to it. But it was just like that game has always been kind of a tripping point for us. And this year you know a couple of things did go wrong, but you know a lot of things went right and we fought through it. That's kind of what happened all year, like anything that did go wrong didn't really matter. Our guys were just experienced enough and confident enough to overcome it. And we got through that game. And once we got through that game, I just had a feeling that you know we were going to make a run. It was going to be very tough to beat us.
Speaker 1:Well, coaches' jobs are you guys. As a coach, you wear many hats. I mean, you evaluate, plan, strategy, motivation, fundraiser, you name it. It goes on and on. Do you sit down after a season like this and evaluate your performance and your staff, and if so, what is something? Even though you've had a phenomenal season, what is something you think you guys need to work on?
Speaker 3:You know there's always things to work on. You know, for us when we got in trouble this year, at least offensively, it was just lack of plate discipline. So to me that wasill it even further next year. But a lot of it depends on who you have back. Seeing, what are our strengths going to be, what are our weaknesses going to be? Because every group is going to be different with their strengths and weaknesses and it's trying to find a way to maximize those strengths and minimize those weaknesses. But just from the guys that I know that we have coming back to me, a big emphasis next year is going to be plate discipline on the offensive side.
Speaker 1:Well, you need to have players with talent to win 30 games in a season and win the state title, but talk about how you lay down standards and how players need to take ownership once you lay those standards down the head coach in 2008,.
Speaker 3:It's like, okay, you're new and you got to lay down, kind of like how you envision your program going, like how it's going to be day in and day out. And we have, you know, back then 2008,. I guess I would call them like rules back then, like these are our three rules and there's there's no getting around them. Like number one you're going to do the right thing in school. We are going to you know the right thing in school. You're going to pay attention in class. You're not going to cause trouble for your teachers. You're going to take care of your grades. That's non-negotiable. Number two is you're going to be on time. That's non-negotiable. You're going to be on time. That's respect for your teammates, the coaching staff, and just get there on time. That's two. And number three is we're going to hustle, we're going to play hard. There's no excuse not to play hard. We only play 30 some games, so we're going to play hard. Those three things are non-negotiable.
Speaker 3:And at first you know you're constantly reminding the guys like, hey, this is the rules now, this is how it's going to be. But in time, as your program grows and you get kids in your program, for several years they evolved more from rules and to okay, maybe these are our expectations. And now we're at the point where these are the standards. The kids know that this is what this program is about and as long as we maintain these standards we're going to be fine. I'm going to let them do what they need to do and as long as they stay within the standards, we have these standards and then, within the standards, we let the kids kind of have some freedom and figure out what they want to do within that. So that's kind of how we've grown as a program, I guess.
Speaker 1:Talk about. You know you're in New Jersey but you do have a connection to Ohio and from your playing days. Does that kind of affect how you are as a coach?
Speaker 3:I mean, I played for some great coaches throughout my career, from, you know, little League all the way through high school and summer ball and into college. So, yeah, I went to Baltimore. I was a very undersized high school player, you know five, nothing, a hundred, nothing. And you know I I did well and and things but I wasn't, uh, highly sought after recruit to my lack of size. And, uh, I went and visited BW and they treated me really well, uh, coach Fisher, who was there for a long, long time, and coach Butler, uh, who took me on my tour he's not, I think, at Pitt bradford the athletic director they were just awesome to me and it just felt, you know, like home and I was very comfortable there and ended up going there and really, you know, developing and growing a little bit and I was fortunate I had a really good career there.
Speaker 3:Um, coach pelko was an assistant coach. Um, you know I learned a lot from him and you know I wouldn't trade my playing days at Baldwin Wallace for anything. Coach Harrison, who took over from Coach Fisher, is doing an incredible job there. I just can't say enough good things about that school and just the academics, the opportunities out, you know, for professional development and, uh, I I was very, very lucky with where I, where I ended up there and and, um, you know, from there I played a little indie ball and then ended up at Ohio university and was a grad assistant coach Carbone.
Speaker 3:So I got to learn from a lot of coaches who were did it for a long time and were very, very successful. There's always going to be some things that you like and don't like and you get the cherry pick. When you start your own program, you're like, okay, I like this from here, I like this from here, and you try to put it together and see if it works. Then, as the years go on, you get older and wiser and make adjustments as you go. I've been incredibly fortunate with my baseball career.
Speaker 1:Well, the target's going to be a lot bigger next season. Have you given much thought to how you could use that as motivation this offseason to get your team ready?
Speaker 3:I'm a big proponent of playing a difficult schedule. Even when we've had years that we've struggled, our record hasn't been as good as we've wanted. We've always competed and we've always never ducked games and we'll go, we'll play. This year we played several teams in South Jersey, and New Jersey is kind of divided into North Jersey and South Jersey. North Jersey is based on New York, South Jersey's based on Philadelphia and there's not a whole lot of crossing over until you maybe get to the state tournament. But you know, if someone wants to play, we'll get on a bus and play, and I've developed relationships we play are from South Jersey and it's just.
Speaker 3:I think you really get a feel of how competitive your team is going to be when you challenge them. And I don't mind losing as long as you get something out of it. You know I'd rather go lose a game against a really good team and compete against them than beat up somebody that you know you're not going to get anything out of. So, yeah, as far as a target on our back, yeah, they're going to be okay, the defending state champions. But the level of competition that we face, uh, we face for years and years. So, um, we just got to be ready for the challenge that our schedule presents. So always looking forward to that.
Speaker 1:Well, I read an article in my research and you told a reporter that your team was going to be good or better than the year before. And then this is the team that ends up winning a state title. You knew it and obviously your players knew that you were going to be good. How did you get your team to stay humble and and and stay focused on the uh, the task at hand?
Speaker 3:maybe simplify things for them. Like we had a lot of guys back with a lot of big game experience and this team had what I call a competitive maturity. Um, they knew they were good but at the same time, they weren't satisfied. They worked and they knew what had to be done, like when we set up for batting practice and we got to get the turtle cage out and the screens out and everything that you need out set up a good batting practice.
Speaker 3:It wasn't like I had to tell them and remind them. They went and did it and they understood that, hey, we're playing a tough schedule, but we are confident enough in ourselves. And it wasn't a cockiness, it wasn't, you know, fake, it was real. They just had beliefs in themselves and they had belief in each other. So, like, if I had to, like I said, put it into as simple as words as I could, it was they had a competitive maturity and you could just tell from the start, like you go on your first couple of practices and you go over your, your cutoffs, your trail cuts, your bunk coverages, your first and thirds, and sometimes like it's a disaster and you're out there a lot longer than you want to be.
Speaker 3:But our guys were like, okay, we remember these boom, boom, boom, let's go, let of any wannabe. But our guys were like, okay, we remember these boom boom, boom, let's go, let's get through this and do what we really want to do, which is hit and field and do the fun things. But you know, it was. You just had a sense from this group that they were in it together. They weren't worried about their individual stats. They knew they had a special group and and and they, they went at it right from the start and it continued the whole year. It wasn't like we went on some kind of hot streak, it was like we were good the entire year.
Speaker 1:You know baseball has coaches have a lot of different ways of doing things. Do you have a particular drill that you really you're like? Every year we got to do this drill and the players seem to really enjoy it and get and improve from it.
Speaker 3:It's not so much drills. I'm a big believer in reps and reps and reps and getting as many live game reps as you can get. So we're very fortunate here we don't have a turf field, but we have a couple turf football soccer fields that we can get out on. We have a very large gym where we can set up basically a full infield. We have some really good equipment. We have a fungo staff that's willing to spend a lot of time. So we break our guys up into smaller groups so the kids aren't here more than a couple hours but the coaches are here for a longer amount of time and we just rep, rep, rep, rep, rep and I, I you know there's, you know things that we look for small things, but with we only have them for three months. So there's not a whole lot of teaching as far as swings or mechanics. It's more like cleaning a few things up but just getting them, the reps, where they're ready to go.
Speaker 3:We're able to play 24 regular season games here in New Jersey, so I schedule a full schedule. If things get rained out, we do our best to make it up. I want them playing as much as they can and just you know, practice what you do the most, you hit the most, you feel ground balls the most. Now, obviously, like I said, we do the first and thirds and the uh, the trail cuts and all that kind of stuff. But when it comes down to it, do the things in practice and do it with an intensity that you're ready to go when the games come around.
Speaker 1:Hate losing or love winning.
Speaker 3:I've listened to a couple of your podcasts and I've heard you ask this question to other guys. I do hate losing. For me, as a player, I hated losing, but as a coach, I hated losing. But as a coach, especially this year, when the kids win big games and you can just sit back and watch them celebrate and just enjoy the moments with their friends Like that is what it's all about to me.
Speaker 3:Like we had opportunity for three dog piles this year and my coaching staff and I you know, we just when they won, we, we just made sure that we took it all in. We stood there together and just watched them celebrate and we, you know, fortunately had a couple of guys taking photos and videos for us this year and I've gone back and watched them. And the thing that I like to do is and even on our game changer, when you have a wider screen is I've gone back and watched like every dog cloud. I've stopped and I've watched every single player around the field and how they reacted and prior to this year, I probably would have said I hated losing, but now, with the technology, we're able to see these kids celebrating and what it means to them. I think this year winning. I loved winning more than I hated losing, just because it meant so much to those kids. It was very cool to see.
Speaker 1:If you didn't coach baseball and you could have one job anywhere in the world, guaranteed job, what would it be?
Speaker 3:Wow, if I didn't coach baseball.
Speaker 3:Baseball's been such a part of my life so I have to like completely get rid of it that's. That's a hard thing. I love golf. I'm a big golfer. Uh, I golf with a great group of guys in the weekend. Um, they're really good players. You got to play well or get run over um, and they've been very supportive there, a lot of our games. So, uh, I'd probably do something, uh, in the golf industry, just because I'm competitive and and and need a competitive outlet somewhere.
Speaker 3:From my playing days, um, well it it. I wasn't playing in the game, but I played semi-pro ball forever. Um, played with a bunch of great guys and we're we're playing this one game and our starting pitcher walked the first three guys and so it. It was like all right, you know four hitters, that's the first inning of the game and he's. He was a very good pitcher and out left field is where everybody parked and his car was out in pretty much left center field way back like a 400 foot shot and he laid a first pitch fastball into the four hitter who was a former pro ball guy and the guy destroyed the baseball and he had one of these, one of the scions. I don't know if you remember that car. It was like an offshoot of Toyota, but they had, like the roof, that was like a full glass roof, and this ball flew out and landed on the top of his scion and completely shattered his entire glass roof. So when he finally did throw a strike, his poor car got destroyed.
Speaker 3:But, um, I just remember the whole. All right, just just lay one in, just lay one in. And he laid one in and this kid did not miss it, and not only did he give up a grand slam in the first inning, he still got nobody out. His car was completely destroyed, at least the roof of his car. So we were just like, uh, we didn't know what to say after that point.
Speaker 3:But, um, you know, there's I. I just remember that distinctly because you know the whole thing with coaches just throw a strike, just throw a strike, just throw a strike. Okay, I threw a strike and this is what happened. But I played semi-pro ball for so many years and semi-pro ball was a riot. I just played with so many good dudes who were doing it just for the love of the game, and it was fun too, because as a coach sometimes you forget how hard the game is and when you're still playing into your 30s and 40s, uh, you know it keeps you in check and you remember how hard it is. And the other, these are teenagers trying to do it and uh, you've had years of experience and it's still hard for you.
Speaker 1:So what is something that your opponent opposing coaches. If they were to describe the type of coach you are in your program, how would they describe it?
Speaker 3:We're always going to compete, no matter our talent level. Even in our. We had a couple of years where, you know, we were down for a couple of years but we still competed. Was there a couple of times we got our butts kicked because we just didn't have the talent on the field? Yes, but the one year we really struggled, we went to the state tournament.
Speaker 3:I think we were the last team to qualify and we went in the one seed who was one of the best teams in the state, and we battled them to the last thing, ended up losing by a run, but talent-wise we had no business being on the field with them. But at the same time our kids competed. So you know, when you play us, you're going to have to play well. You can't just roll out whoever you want and just go through the motions. I'd like to think that my team will take advantage of that. If you don't bring your A game. I'd like to think that coaches is saying that our team is well-prepared and they're going to have to play well and play hard to beat us.
Speaker 1:If you were to guess who's going to win the World Series this year, who's it going to be?
Speaker 3:I'm a Phillies fan. They've been on a little struggle lately because a couple of their starting pitchers went down. I think if the Phillies lineup gets hot and their pitching stays healthy, I think they're as good as anybody. As always, it comes down to pitching depth. These days, modern baseball is a lot different. You're going to have one or two horses that might be able to get you through an entire game, but that bullpen is very strong and rested and ready to go.
Speaker 1:Final question Funniest memory as a coach.
Speaker 3:You put me on the spot here. This is a tough one. Sometimes you forget. You're so wrapped up in the game that you kind of forget the the funny things that happen. But, um, I don't know, just I don't know if this is funny, but you know, I I think afterwards it was funny.
Speaker 3:Just this year, um, we're taking batting practice and it's during the state tournament and it's right before the state final, uh, or the state semi-final, and on the way that we did it was on games that we didn't play. We had our machine, uh, throwing the vp, and on games that we did play I went out there through the vp. So we had live arm on game days and machine on non-game days. So it's a non-game day and we're out there. And I have one of my former players is my volunteer student assistant or volunteer assistant. This year he came back. Great kid wants to get into coaching, so he's working with us and our field is drying out.
Speaker 3:It's like late, late May, early, early June, and our sprinkler system wasn't working that great. So I got the hose out and I'm like all right, you're going to be my protection as I watered down the field and our best hitter's up and I'm in front of third base, I'm kind of sideways and he hits a ball that's hooking and my assistant assistant coach misses it and it drills me like right on the net and I go down and everyone's like oh my God, oh my God, oh my God. And I get up and I walk it off and you know, at first it was scary and then I got up and I was fine and you know, everything resumed and then it was just like everyone giving him crap for almost getting the. You know the head coach killed right before the state final. Like jake, like you know, I know you you want to get promoted, you move up the ranks, but it's not the way that dude is not to get that coach killed right before the the state final.
Speaker 3:So that just happened this year. But you know it's fortunately I was fine. But it's like moments like that, small moments throughout, that you look back on and you can laugh about and um, it's, it's what makes baseball awesome, it's, it's the. The moments that you have that aren't even in the games that kids are going to remember, like you know, they're going to. We remember winning the state final forever, but when you get back they're going to think about all the small things that happened during the year, and that's what makes it special.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's the one thing about this podcast that I found is the stories that coaches share that the average person has no idea about, and those are the memories that both you, as a coach, and the players will look back on, and just that's what they remember.
Speaker 3:it seems like yeah, I mean it's and it's the good stuff, it's the bad stuff. It's like, uh, you know we remembered when you chewed us out because you know we lost and we didn't clean up the dugout after the game. You're like, and that's like one game out of like, and they remember me, you know losing it because, like, I wasn't mad that we lost, but I'm mad that we lost and you didn't, you know, clean the dog out. You know that's like you need to do that and you know. But you know, as long as they know that you care for them and that you're you're, everything you do is the way I see it is in their best interest. They might not see it at that that way then, but hopefully, down the road, they know that you're just looking out for the best interest and knowing what the best for them, and that's what makes coaching and teaching so rewarding.
Speaker 1:Well, it's Max Newell, head baseball coach at state champion Bridgewater Raritan in New Jersey. Coach, thanks again for taking the time to be on the Athlete One podcast.
Speaker 3:Ken, thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it.
Speaker 2:You've been listening to the Athlete One podcast. Be sure to subscribe on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts, to get new, fresh, weekly episodes. For more, please follow us on Instagram, x and Facebook, or visit our website at wwwathlete1.net. That's athlete the number one dot net.
