The Gaucho9 Podcast

For our 2025 mid season report we bring on Gaucho Alum and fellow podcaster, Jason Willow, from the Oppo Taco Podcast.  Just past the half way point of the season the Gauchos are 21-10 (7-8 BigWest) and have 15 conference games remaining to make the push towards the BigWest Tournament.  This week we unpack a variety of things in the sporting/life space as well as a break down of how the Gaucho season has gone and where the team is going as they hit the stretch run. The Gaucho9 Podcast is presented by Kyle's Kitchen & the Yardi Youth Pass.  

Gauchos return home after a tough trip to Hawaii where they dropped their first series of the season to go to 15-4 (4-2 BigWest) and get set to take on UC Irvine in a pivotal home conference matchup this weekend at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium.  On this week's episode we recount the weekend interviews with LHP Donovann Jackson and 3b/SS Xavier Esquer, and then your host attempts a solo recap of the Hawaii series plus a preview for the upcoming series with the Anteaters. The Gaucho9 Podcast is proudly presented by Kyle's Kitchen and Yardi. 

When I consider some of the best moments in the history of Gaucho Baseball there are instantly a few that come to mind; Sam Cohen's walk off grand slam to send UCSB to the CWS in 2016, Joey Epperson's walk off homer against UC Irvine in 2013 & Chris Malec's homer off of Jered Weaver returning from cancer in 2005.  Now insert LeTrey McCollum's walk off 2-run home run to complete the cycle on Sunday v CSUN into that list, the first cycle for UCSB since Michael Young's in 1997. McCollum joins us this week on the podcast to talk about he thrilling moment, as well as UCSB Analytics to break down the previous 8 games which saw the Gauchos go 7-1 and improve to 14-2 (3-0 BW).  UCSB now ranks as high as 15 amongst the various polls and has been between 90-100 in the RPI after week 4. Gauchos fly to Honolulu to resume BigWest play v Hawaii beginning at 935pst on Friday night, audio only will be available for all of the games on UCSBGauchos.com.

This weeks episode features interviews with 1b Jack Holman & Asst. Coach Kyle Hunt, plus a highlight of the week & a recap of the weeks action with David Tillotson and Jake Underwood. UCSB Baseball is off to a strong 7-1 start after sweeping the weekend at the Tony Gwynn Legacy and winning 13-2 on Tuesday on the road at Pepperdine.  The Gauchos sit tied for first in the BigWest with Hawaii and move up in the polls after a 4-0 week.  Jack Holman & Donovann Jackson continue to impress and we witnessed a number of notable firsts including LeTrey McCollum's 1st career HR.  The Gaucho9 Podcast is presented by Kyle's Kitchen & the Yardi Youth Pass!

UCSB Analytics joins us this week for the first players of the week draft of 2025!  The Gauchos completed the sweep vs Campbell on opening weekend, outscoring the Camels 27-7, posting a 36/2 k/bb ratio, and slugging 6 home runs.  Tuesday saw the Gauchos' 29 game home regular season winning streak snapped by St. Mary's 5-1.  UCSB enters the week 2 road trip to the Tony Gwynn Legacy with a 3-1 record and will kick things off on Friday against Seattle University.   All games will carry the audio only feed on ucsbgauchos.com, Saturday v SDSU will be the only game with a video stream via the Mountain West Network & SDSU Athletics, game time 6p.

Another season of UCSB Baseball begins this weekend as the Gauchos play host to the Campbell Fighting Camels, the return leg of last years opening series with the foes from Buies Creek.  Bob Brontsema joins us to preview the upcoming season as we recap the thrilling Alumni Game, discuss the Gauchos 53 game schedule, the new BigWest Conference Tournament, the vaunted UCSB pitching staff led by aces Tyler Bremner, Jackson Flora & Cole Tryba, as well as the collection of talented position players who will take the field this weekend. Gaucho9 is sponsored by Kyle's Kitchen & Yardi, who will introduce the new Yardi Youth Pass this season allowing all youth 6th grade or younger free entry to all Baseball & Softball games. 

Head Coach Andrew Checketts sits down to recap the 2024 Season which saw the Gauchos go 26-0 at home, win the BigWest, win 40+ games & host a Regional at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium for the 1st time.  We follow that up with discussing the recent Fall season, new additions to the staff, and a revamped and talented roster.  Plus, Coach reveals some exciting news regarding a transformative gift for the future of the program.

We kick off the New Year with a pair of 4th year Student Managers, Justin Han and Isaac Shinbrot who have been integral in the everyday operation and success of the Gaucho Baseball program the last few years.  We talk about the love of the game, pursuing pro ball, the path towards being a sports agent, and the experience of living and breathing baseball on a daily basis.

On today's episode we reintroduce David Tillotson, welcome back Devon Kost and introduce Jake Underwood to the Gaucho9 Podcast as we break down a variety of developmental functions within the program.  We start with discussing the various tech pieces that we use on a daily basis from portable Trackman & Hittrax and finish the pod with the top performers and numbers from the Fall '24 season.

We kick off a collection of holiday podcasts with a pro ball recap featuring 2024 BigWest Champs Aaron Parker, Brendan Durfee, Jesse Brown & Zander Darby as they take a look back at their 1st years in professional baseball.  

It's the 2024 Draft & Summer Ball Extravaganza Pod!  We visit with 5 Gauchos to discuss their summer seasons starting with two players who will be signing professional contracts, Brendan Durfee (Padres 14th Round, 7:20) & Jessada Brown (Marlins FA, 20:37).  Then 3 players who are in the midst of outstanding seasons in their respective summer leagues, Reiss Calvin (Northwoods, Rochester Honkers, 31:47), Nic Peterson (West Coast, Bellingham Bells, 43:25) & Jonah Sebring (California Collegiate, Santa Barbara Foresters, 51:28).  At the conclusion of the 2024 Draft UCSB Baseball had the 5th most players selected from Division I, the most in the BigWest Conference and the most in the state of California with 6.  Justin Trimble (Astros) & Brown signing free agent deals makes 8 Gauchos going on to play affiliated ball in 2024.

The 2024 UCSB Baseball season has come to a close and what a year it was.  Our guest for today's recap is former Gaucho utility man Jason Willow (OppoTaco Podcast) as we break down everything from regional games, individual performances, leadership, and other regional/super regional games.  UCSB hosted an NCAA Regional at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium for the 1st time in school history, won the Big West Championship for the 3rd time in the last 5 seasons & went undefeated at home during the regular season (25-0) for the first time in school history.  WHAT A YEAR!

UCSB Baseball is hosting an NCAA Regional at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium this weekend, that's it, that's the podcast.

A long overdue guest for this particular media format, Bill Mahoney spent 38 years working in the UCSB Athletic Department, many of them as the Director of Communications, and joins us today to simply talk sports.  Bill got his start working for the showtime Lakers and California Angels before moving to UCSB where he witnessed many of the glory years of Gaucho Hoops and Baseball (even Football).  We talk about the '24 Gauchos as well as memorable moments at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium and finish with sharing our All-Time Gaucho lineups.

The Pod is back after a 4 week hiatus, I start with a brief recap of what we missed, Gianni Bloom joins us to talk about his transition to coaching in pro ball with the Miami Marlins Org, and then we round up the recent homestand with Gaucho Analytics and Aaron Parker. UCSB sits tied for 3rd in the BigWest (8-4) and in the top 20 of the RPI (18) and is 22-10 overall heading into this crucial road matchup with UC Davis.

The Gauchos record back to back sweeps to open their home slate (finally back at Caesar!) vs Connecticut and Long Beach St.  Tacking on the Villanova win, the Gauchos have won 7 games in a row to sit at 12-5 (3-0 BW).  This week we sit down with Bob Brontsema to discuss the previous 2 weeks and the importance of finishing the sweep.  We finish the pod with the Roundup, featuring Aaron Parker.

UCSB goes up to Eugene and takes 2 of 3 games from the Ducks, the loss Sunday snapped a 7-game winning streak vs Oregon after winning the first 2 games of the series.  The Gauchos followed up the big series with with a 10-1 win over Villanova in LA on Tuesday night to move to 6-5 on the season.  This week we spoke with Junior OF Jessada Brown about his breakout performance and draft our best players of the week with Gaucho Analytics and Aaron Parker.

Gauchos continue to be road warriors splitting their 4 games with Sacramento St and Pepperdine to go to 3-4 on the young season.  The offense is beginning to show its teeth and we welcomed Ryan Gallagher back to the mound over the weekend in his 1st appearance since the 2022 Stanford Regional.  We have pregame interviews with Brendan Durfee and Jackson Flora from Sacramento and then Aaron Parker guest stars in the Weekend Roundup with Dev and Isaiah.  UCSB heads to Eugene, OR this weekend for 3 games against the Ducks beginning Friday at 4p.

UCSB returns to California following a Week 1 dual with a quality opponent in Campbell having lost 2 of 3.  The Gauchos did make a big splash on Opening Day however, posting a 20-8 win and belting 3 home runs.  The weekend games were entertaining back and forth affairs that fell in favor of the home side.  This week we start out with game highlights, followed by our pregame interview from Saturday with Jr C Aaron Parker and we finish the pod with our Week 1 roundup with UCSB Analytics.

The 2024 College Baseball Season is finally upon us as the Gauchos travel to North Carolina to take on the Campbell Fighting Camels to kick off the year on Friday.  We begin with Head Coach Andrew Checketts breaking down the construction at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium as well as the '24 schedule and depth chart.  Next (45:45) we run it back with the Junior Trio of Zander Darby, LeTrey McCollum & Justin Trimble who first appeared on this podcast in 2022 as the Freshman Trio.  Then we finish the pod with preseason player of the year picks with the Analytics Crew & Gianni Bloom.  We are looking forward to another great season of podcasting and Gaucho Baseball.

To celebrate the upcoming 2024 UCSB Baseball Alumni Weekend we brought in 3 personalities to discuss the famous Hammerheads.  Coach Al Ferrer, All-American Bill Geivett, and Hammerhead Leader Casey Gorman join the pod to reminisce and tell the stories.  The Hammerheads were a student run group of super fans who began attending Gaucho Baseball games down the stretch of the 1983 Conference Championship season.  Led by Gaucho Men's Volleyball Captain, Casey Gorman, the group brought a unique and tangible energy to games which made opponents fear playing on the road in Santa Barbara.  During their heyday, the Hammerheads helped root on the talented loaded teams who won 172 games between '83 & '86 and 2 conference titles under Coach Ferrer.  The spirit of the Hammerheads was rekindled in 2012 by Gorman and have dedicated their efforts to fundraising scholarship funds for the Gauchos while having fun on the side.

On today's episode we introduce 3 new Gauchos; 4th year transfer C/1b Brendan Durfee, Fr. OF/1b Rex Deangelis, and Fr. RHP Jackson Flora.  The trio, who are coincidentally roommates, have been displaying their talent on the diamond this Fall and were excited to sit down and showcase their personalities for this episode.  Durfee comes to UCSB after 3 years and 2 regional appearances for Cal Lutheran (DIII), is a strong left handed bat who should get some innings behind the plate and at 1b in 2024.  Rex Deangelis, from Canby, OR, has been a top performer in his class this Fall both offensively and defensively and may crack the starting lineup in his first season as a Gaucho.  Jackson Flora, Pleasanton, CA, joins an already talented pitching staff and will compete with the veterans for innings this year.

Twins minor leaguer and former Gaucho standout RHP Cory Lewis joins the podcast this week carrying some impressive hardware after an outstanding 1st year of pro ball.  Lewis was named the Twins Minor League Pitcher of the Year after helping to lead the Cedar Rapids Kernels to a Midwest League Championship in 2023.  Our conversation revolves around his success this summer, the 5 pitch arsenal, and how he got his famous nickname 'The General' - special guest appearances by Assistant Coach Dylan Jones and Gianni Bloom.

Marcos Castanon just finished up his 2nd full year of pro ball playing in the San Diego Padres organization.  Marcos was one of the Gauchos best hitters in his time at UCSB and this year hammered 39 doubles between High A and AA which was 4th among all Minor League players in 2023.  Castanon helped the Lake Elsinore Storm win the 2022 California League Title and hit in the middle of the order for the AA San Antonio Missions' playoff run in '23.  A first time guest on the podcast, Castanon shares his enthusiasm for hitting and improving his skills on the infield.

Former 1st Round Pick Michael McGreevy hops on the podcast this week to talk about his summer pitching in AA Springfield and AAA Memphis.  McGreevy has been quickly climbing the ranks within the St. Louis Cardinals organization and has become one of their top prospects.  After setting multiple career bests this summer, McGreevy enters a critical off-season with hopes of making the big club out of Spring Training in 2024.

This week we break down the phenomenon of digital influence with Red Sox minor leaguer Christopher Troye.  Troye spent the majority of the summer in AA with the Portland Sea Dogs and was selected to represent the Sox on the Glendale Desert Dogs in the Arizona Fall League.  The right hander has turned up the heat across his social media pages (Instagram @christophertroye and X @christophtroye) and has caught the attention of some popular Boston sports podcasters (shoutout Jared Carrabis and the Name Redacted Podcast)

The Gaucho9 Pod is back celebrating our 100th episode!  And kicking off the fall slate with a big pod featuring the return of Associate Head Coach Matt Fonteno as well as a very candid interview (32:54) with 2 stars of the summer in Jr RHP Matt Ager and Jr 3b Zander Darby.  Coach Fonteno returns to the Gaucho coaching staff after spending the last 2 years at USC and Cal Poly, we talk recruiting strategy and catch up on some Bay Area sports chatter.  Matt Ager spent the summer with the USA Collegiate National Team in Cary, North Carolina while Zander Darby held down the hot corner for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox in the Cape Cod League.

It's your Gaucho9 Podcast Summer Special featuring MLB All-Star, World Series Champ & Cy Young award winner, Barry Zito!  Barry recalls his time at UCSB playing with Coach Brontsema and breaks down some marquis moments in his MLB career and even gives a shoutout to fellow Gaucho Jim Rome.  Plus we finally conclude the players of the week draft season with UCSB Analytics, it was a close race to the finish!

The final week of the regular season is upon us as the Gauchos head to the Islands for a 3 game set with Hawaii.  The BigWest title is up in the air and UCSB continues to push for a postseason bid so we brought in former Gaucho HC Bob Brontsema to try and read the tea leaves for the upcoming week and share some memories about the 1983 Regional Team, the Hammerheads, and Gauchos on Fire.  Check out Mark Patton's article about the 1983 Gauchos on Noozhawk.  We finish up with the Week 14 Draft with Gaucho Analytics and Gianni Bloom.  Broc Mortensen ties the all-time career home run record on Saturday with a solo shot to right field.

It was a busy week for the Gauchos who went 3-2 vs LMU, Long Beach St and Cal Baptist, Corey Nunez capped off the week with walk off single in the 10th inning on Monday night against the Lancers.  On this week's episode we ask a number of players about their favorite animated movies, we sit down with Pitching Coach Dylan Jones and the players say hi to their Mom's on Mother's Day.  We finish the pod with our player of the week draft with UCSB Analytics and Gianni Bloom.  Through 49 games UCSB is 33-16 (16-8 BigWest) 42 RPI.

Gauchos split the week 2-2 against Cal Baptist and UC Riverside, move to 30-14 (15-6 BigWest) with 3 weeks to play in the regular season.  UCSB sits 2 games behind 1at place Cal State Fullerton with 9 conference games remaining.  Jonah Sebring earned BigWest Player of the Week after an outstanding week hitting .444 with 2HR 9RBI 4SB, Matt Ager and JD Callahan each set career highs in K's, and Broc Mortensen hit his 41st career home run and is now 1 away from tying the school record.  Today we have Matt Ager interviewing the host (apologies for the faulty audio), a report on current Gauchos in the Pros, and our week 12 draft with Gaucho Analytics and Gianni Bloom.

The Gauchos sweep UC Davis at home over the weekend to move into sole possession of 2nd place in the BigWest at 13-5, 28-12 overall.  Friday's walkoff win was the 400th career victory at UCSB for Head Coach Andrew Checketts.  Gauchos RPI sits at 32 as they get ready for 4 road games this week at Cal Baptist and UC Riverside.  This week is a road pod production as we talked to resurgent starter JD Callahan about his starting role and draft our players of the week with Gianni Bloom and Gaucho Analytics.

The Gauchos complete the sweep against UCSD over the weekend to jump back in the BigWest title race, now 25-12 (10-5).  This week Gaucho Analytics and Gianni Bloom share their experience of Jared Sundstrom's home run that struck a moving trolley beyond the left field fence, plus we draft our players of the week.  We also have game highlights, an interview with LeTrey McCollum, and I asked the players who their favorite players are. Hudson Barrett's 0.72 ERA ranks #1 in NCAA D1 Broc Mortensen hits career homer #40, 3 away from breaking Matt Wilkerson's school record of 42

This week we have 3 separate interviews with some outstanding Gauchos, 5th year Senior OF Christian Kirtley who earned Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's National Player of the Week honors, Matt Ager who took home BigWest Pitcher of the Week honors last week after his performance against Cal State Fullerton, and Michael Marsh who's dominating the 1st base coaching box as well as the Jiu Jitsu competition.

Gauchos go 3-2 over the long weekend against Cal St Fullerton and San Jose St to move to 21-9 (6-3 BigWest) on the season.  This week I asked a variety of players one question; what did you buy at the grocery store for the road trip? Gianni Bloom and UCSB Analytics also stop by for an in-person version of our players of the week draft.  Go vote on twitter @SBBaseballData.

UCSB has an off week going 1-3 on the weekend v Fresno St and Santa Clara but still sit in great position at 18-7 (5-1) as we approach the half way mark of the season.  This week we have interviews with Freshman SS Corey Nunez and Soph OF Josh Williams plus our week 7 players of the week draft with Gianni Bloom and Gaucho Analytics.  UCSB travels to Fullerton to resume BigWest play this weekend Thursday/Friday 6p and Saturday at 1p before returning home for 2 midweeks Monday/Tuesday v San Jose St.  Follow UCSB Analytics on Twitter @SBBaseballData

Gauchos take 2 of 3 from CSUN at home over the weekend to improve to 5-1 in the BigWest Conference, 17-4 overall.  This week UCSB enters the Top 25 in the Coaches Poll for the first time checking in at #24.  Gianni Bloom joins the podcast along with Gaucho Analytics to draft our players of the week and chat about the weekend as a whole.  Schedule update: game at St Mary's on March 28 has been cancelled, reminder of a new game at home vs Santa Clara on Monday April 3rd.

Gerry Fall makes his annual appearance on the pod to talk about the Gaucho's sweep of Bakersfield.  We also cover the impressive start by the UCSB pitching staff, Light Tower Power, and Fall Productions.  Then we draft our week 5 players of the week with Gaucho Analytics; current standings: Isaiah 9, Kevin 8, Devon 7.  Go vote on the analytics Twitter page @SBBaseballData.

Gauchos sweep the week against Pepperdine, Seton Hall, Cal Poly, and LMU going 5-0 to improve to 12-3 on the season.  Today we talk about the strong start to the season for the pitching staff with Coach Dylan Jones; then draft our players of the week with UCSB Analytics, plus a bit with Isaiah Ochoa who went to the World Baseball Classic in Phoenix over the weekend.

Gauchos win their first home series with 2 wins over the weekend vs Xavier to move to 7-3 on the young season.  The sophomore class continues to flex its muscle so we brought on Associate Head Coach Donegal Fergus to talk about their transformation, the weekend and the first few weeks in general.  We round out the pod with Gaucho Analytics and the week 3 players of the week draft, go vote on twitter, @SBBaseballData

Gauchos go to Oregon and sweep the Ducks in convincing fashion to move to 5-2 and pick up 3 valuable road wins.  We have game highlights plus pre/between game interviews with Gianni Bloom, Zander Darby, Jared Sundstrom, and Alex Schrier.  Then our host and UCSB Analytics draft their players and moments of the week, be sure to go on twitter to SBBaseballData and vote for the draft winner!

Emergency Pod!  Updating info relayed in Ep84, UCSB is not traveling back to Arizona this weekend.  It has been a challenging 24 hours for Gaucho Ops and DBO Justin Jacome, but this weekends games vs Oregon have been moved to Eugene.  4p first pitch Friday and double header starting at 11a on Saturday from PK Park.

Gauchos return home after a 2-2 weekend at the Sanderson Ford College Baseball Classic in Surprise, Arizona.  We start out with game highlights followed by pregame interviews with Associate Head Coach Donegal Fergus, 2b Nick Oakley, and Athletic Trainer Jake Saavedra.  Then Gaucho Analytics joins the podcast to introduce Devon Kost and Isaiah Ochoa, touch on some new tech, and make our picks for players of the week!

This is the 2023 Gaucho Baseball season preview podcast!  We are joined by Head Coach Andrew Checketts to go over the schedule, talk recruiting landscape, and preview who will be in starting roles come February 17.  Then pitcher's Carter Benbrook and Alex Schrier stop by to discuss surgery rehab, haircuts and the upcoming season.  Games in Arizona will be streamed on flobaseball.tv and your host Kevin Cannon will have the radio play-by-play on ucsbgauchos.com, just hit the headphone link on the schedule page.

We're 16 days away from Opening Day so here is some good old fashion baseball banter with some of your favorite Gauchos; Nick Oakley, Aaron Parker and Spencer Erdman.

We're one month away from Opening Day and the Gaucho9 Podcast has returned from a 6 month hiatus!  Our host Kevin Cannon shares his thoughts on the adventure that brought him back to Santa Barbara and Head Coach Andrew Checketts joins us to recap the Fall season for UCSB Baseball and check in on the status of the players (and Caesar Uyesaka Stadium) as they return from break.  

We are joined by Head Coach Andrew Checketts to recap another historical season for UCSB Baseball.  We discuss how the Gauchos arrived at their 2nd BigWest Championship in the last 3 seasons.  UCSB won 40+ games for the 3rd season in a row, broke the single season team home run and saves records, and set a program record with 14 All-Conference selections.  Another outstanding season of Gaucho baseball is in the books, thank you for all of your support!

In part 1 of our 2022 season recap we talk to Coach Checketts about the Stanford Regional, top Gaucho performances, and the emotional finish to the season.  UCSB went 1-2 in the regional, losing to Texas St. in the opener, eliminating Binghamton, then being eliminated by Stanford on Sunday. Nick Vogt was named to the All-Regional Team after batting .308 and belting 2 homers while making outstanding plays in CF.  Part 2 will be released next week!

UCSB is heading to Palo Alto and the Stanford Regional and will face Texas St. on Friday night.  We have playoff fever so we have a LOADED podcast this week starting with Bakersfield highlights and weekend interviews with Mason Eng, the 'closers', and Gaucho Analytics.  We talk to former Gaucho player and head coach Bob Brontsema (35:01) about the UCSB regionals in the 80's, 90's, and 00's plus some 2022 bracket predictions.  Then we wrap up with Associate Head Coach Donegal Fergus (1:14:04) discussing the mold of the 2022 team and a Stanford Regional preview.

The Gauchos clinch the 2022 BigWest title on Saturday and earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.  We are joined by Head Coach Andrew Checketts and the voice of the Gauchos Gerry Fall who both reflect on the exciting weekend and season as a whole.  UCSB walks-off on Friday, clinches the title Saturday, and enjoyed a fun Senior Day on Sunday.  One more week to go in the regular season before the selection show on Monday at 9a on ESPNU.

UCSB comes away with another series win on the road as they take 2 of 3 from UC Irvine and their magic number to win the BigWest sits at 2.  This week's podcast features a pregame interview with Friday's hero, Fr. Aaron Parker as well as a visit from Volunteer Asst. Coach Spencer Erdman who breaks down so big moments from the weekend and dives into the many elements of coaching college infielders.