The topic is spring volleyball, in which the Shockers are doing their typical experimenting and polishing. Associate head coach Sean Carter updates the goal of growing into the best defensive team in the American Athletic Conference, Brylee Kelly’s work as a six-rotation player and Natalie Foster’s changing roles. We talk about the chemistry that helped last season’s success and the mindset that coaches want to see from the Shockers in the fall. On Aprll 9, the Shockers play at Koch Arena with Air Force, Missouri State, Oklahoma and Tulsa scheduled to participate.
Wichita State softball coach Kristi Bredbenner joins us after win No. 300 brings her within 11 wins of passing Jim Maynard as the program’s winningest coach. We get nostalgic over the 2014 team that won the team’s first MVC title, weird injuries and first baseman Cacy Williams’ influence on those early years. Bredbenner tells us how former Wichita State senior associate athletic director Becky Endicott sent a secret emissary to gauge her interest in the job in 2011. We also talk about how advice from her father helped during tough times and detail her biggest wins and two regrets.
Vlad Bondarchuk (Bonder-chook) is in his second year as student manager for the Wichita State volleyball team. He grew up in Smila, a Ukranian city of around 66,000 in the Central region of the country. Vlad joins the podcast to talk about the Russian invasion, how he is handling this difficult time with friends and family in peril and how people can help refugees. You can donate by contacting Vlad at vlad.bon21@gmail.com.
Junior infielder Sawyre Thornhill joins the podcast to talk about how the Shockers stayed together and rallied after a tough start to the season. He talks about his one superstition during a hitting streak, how COVID-19 changed his college plans and how he ended up starting in left field. He discusses his love for deer hunting, which Shocker teammate is the best basketball player and why shortstop Carlos Correa is his favorite baseball player.
Brad Pittman, tournament manager for the NCAA Tournament women’s basketball regional rounds coming to Intrust Bank Arena on March 25-28, joins the podcast to discuss preparations. Pittman talks about ticket sales, hoped-for schools assigned to the bracket and the timeline for getting the arena ready for visitors and fans. We get into why the arena has been a success for luring NCAA events and how upgrades to the airport and hotels are also part of the competition. Pittman wraps it up with his memories of organizing the 2006 Rolling Stones concert at Cessna Stadium, which started with a phone call that was hard to believe.
Wichita State competes in the American Athletic Conference Indoor Championships this weekend in Birmingham, Ala. John Wise, assistant director of track and field and cross country, talks about Wichita State’s Destiny Masters (pentathlon), Adam Moore (mile), Michael Bryan (weight throw) and Amanda Kakoulias (shot put) and how they stack up in the conference meet. We discuss the best opportunities for the Shockers to grab unexpected points and the quirky habits of throwers. Also on the schedule is a look at how the American’s changing membership affects track and field recruiting and a look at Wise’s YouTube series “Travel with a Wise Guy,” highlighted by a discussion of Joyland’s place in Wichita pop culture.
Wichita State pitchers Spencer Hynes and Connor Holden talk about upcoming season with topics ranging from uniform choices to Major League role models to advice for their freshmen selves. Hynes discusses his love for rodeo and Holden talks about his time as a middle blocker in volleyball. They reveal some of the newcomers fans should watch as the Shockers get started this weekend and their thoughts on pitcher Jace Kaminska following up his strong freshman season.
First baseman Neleigh Herring and infielder Madyson Espinosa join the podcast to talk about the start of softball season, pets and candy. We discuss their roles in team chemistry, what they learned from fall scrimmages and newcomers to watch. We also dive into Espinosa’s “Shocks” tattoo and her affection for the team, how Hank the guinea pig helped win an important series last season and the whys of shortstop Sydney McKinney’s talents. And, of course, we talk about Hi-Chew candy and Espinosa’s role in that part of Shocker softball.
Brent Kemnitz is one of the inductees into the Pizza Hut Shocker Sports Hall of Fame. We talk about his 38-year career as pitching coach, starting with a detailed response from Gene Stephenson that directed him away from a career teaching history and driver’s education in high school to college baseball. Kemnitz details his “Brain” and “Flow” meetings, two essential parts of his work with pitchers. He talks about best wins, toughest defeats and chooses one Shocker to get a crucial strikeout. He discusses selling Shocker football tickets for former AD Ted Bredehoft, low-maintenance pitchers such as Kennie Steenstra, Jordan Cooper and Aaron Shafer and the highest of all high-maintenance pitching stars of the 1989 NCAA champions.
The 1982 Shockers finished second in the College World Series with a blend of powerful hitting and a fearsome pitching staff. Shortstop Dave Lucas, a late addition to the team before that season, quietly played a vital role with his solid defense and hitting. Lucas, coach Gene Stephenson said, was the perfect fit for that team. Lucas talks about his journey to Wichita State, which started in Alaska, and almost detoured to Southern Cal. He discusses the rough start to the season, how the Shockers bounced back and what it was like going to Omaha just as ESPN coverage began highlighting college baseball.
