Coming off a conference three-peat and the program’s first NCAA Tournament win, the 2023 SIAC Coach of the Year and Spring Hill College baseball head coach, Walker Bullington, previewed the 2024 season.
How are preseason preparations going?
“It’s been really good. We have a lot of guys that work really, really hard. I think culture and environment have been a huge change from year one to year two, just in terms of guys having a year and a half under their belt, up to this point. You know, knowing what we do for practice, knowing how we practice, knowing how we lift, knowing how we operate. We have a really good returning group. We returned eight guys that started last year and we returned three guys that started on the mound last year. So, those 11 have been really, really big for us just in terms of the day-to-day and operating the way we operate. The young guys coming in here that have really taken to that. Leadership across the board, but you know, when you have somebody to mimic and do the things that they do and operate the way that they operate, it’s been pretty smooth.
Who on the team has stepped up in those leadership roles?
“I mean, number one, it’s really hard to replace a Gage Ragona. That kid just did everything the right way. We returned eight starters, but the one we lost was Gage Ragona. So, you’re not just talking about outfield production, production at the plate, production on the base pads, but just who he was in the locker room – how he handled himself, how he carried himself. He’s still a part of the program. We talked about Logan Clark. Same thing, you know, he had been here for years and was just a calming presence and went about things the right way. Guys like Jackson Short, who’s now around helping us as a volunteer assistant – it’s tough to replace those guys – but I think the first guy you point to is Nick Hunter. I think everybody on our team would agree with that. [He] just does everything the right way and is a great leader for us. Then you talk about; Kai St. Germaine, Evan Langston, Michael Racobaldo, Bryce Anderson, Parker Serio behind the dish, who is kind of our catalyst. I mean, I’m going to leave some names out here, but those 11 that we mentioned earlier that we return, every single one of them, it’s been leadership by committee. Our team captains come out and do what they’re supposed to do every day, but Serio, Hunter, Kai, Racobaldo, there’s different types of leadership, but that group as a whole just completely bought in, understand what we’re trying to do and have done a really good job.”
What’s the goal for the team this season coming off the first NCAA Regional win?
“The goal is to get there again. I have talked about it before with the SIAC. We’re not going to get the benefit of the doubt if you don’t come out of that conference tournament with a championship. So, number one is to take care of business during the season. We’ve got a really, really challenging first month. We’re going against a lot of top-25 programs, some good programs. You’ve got to get through that conference slate, which can be grueling at times, you know, 33 games. There’s a lot of travel in our league. You know, we can’t have any off days. We can’t drop games we shouldn’t drop. We’ve got to win games that we shouldn’t win on paper. So, it’s kind of that entire year just, just staying focused, staying even keel and having no off days, especially on a game day. Got to go try to win a conference championship and we want to continue to build off that regional win. Obviously, we were excited to do what we did last year and get that first regional win under our belt. I thought game three with Tampa was competitive. Kind of came up on the short end on the mound there a little bit, something we’ve tried to address, but our guys believe and I think that’s the biggest part now. There’s no question – there’s a target on our back – teams are going to give us their best shot every single day. So, we can’t have any missteps, can’t have any off days. I think that’s something that this team thrives on. I don’t think we feel that pressure. I think the outside noise doesn’t matter as much as what we’re trying to do here as a group internally. The biggest thing is just trying to stay focused every day because college baseball has a lot of games in a short amount of time and anything can happen in between the lines every single day. Just trying to go win another conference championship, you know, have a good regular season and try to get back to that regional and see what happens.”
What’s your mindset going into the first slate of non-conference games to start the season?
“Lace them up. See where we’re at. It’s three with Florida Tech in the road in the opener. Then it’s immediately Montevallo. Then it’s three at home with Delta State. Then it’s Auburn University of Montgomery, new head coach, got a lot of talent coming in there. Then the conference opener is away on the road at Edward Waters, the team we saw in the first round of the SIAC tournament. [In] Jacksonville talented, Coach Johnson does a really good job, then we turn around and play West Florida. So, when you talk about those first 12, they’re losable, they’re winnable, they’re going to be challenging, right? That’s by design. We are trying to see where we’re at. We want to go play the best. We wanted to kind of beef up our schedule a little bit. We also want to prepare ourselves for conference tournament play and regional play, if we’re lucky enough to get there. So, I don’t think it’s a secret, our regional last year, it’s Tampa, Rollins, Valdosta State. You look at the other side, it’s West Florida, Barry. I mean, it’s very high-end Division II baseball and if we’re going to be able to compete, win and sustain winning at that level, we have to go out and play. So, our first 12 by design are ‘here you go boys, let’s go.’ So we’re looking forward to the challenge.
What does it mean to be able to play in a historic venue like Sims-Galle Field?
“I think our guys are starting to realize like how cool our ballpark is. I know we’ve got some assistant coaches that will mention every day if you’re standing in center field, you’re looking at the backdrop, you’ve got the ivy wall, you’ve got Quinlan Hall, you’ve got the history, the steps that are still there from the 1830s, you know, the first baseball game that was played here was 1889. People like Babe Ruth, Satchel Page, all those people have been on our field. So, it’s a really cool venue, I think it’s one of the most unique venues in the country at any level. We’re trying to do what we can facility-wise to upgrade it, get it ready in between the lines. Continuing to, to just work on the field, add some things and show the field the respect that it deserves. It’s an awesome venue and we really want that home field advantage. I think it’s a tough place to play for opponents. I’m going to be the crazy guy going around in the classrooms asking who’s coming to game tonight, trying to get the Ivy wall kind of loaded up with students. When we have it rolling here and it’s a good series and there’s people in the crowd, it’s a pretty cool spot to play college baseball game.”
What is that home-field advantage like on The Hill?
“When we get the students up here and they’re loaded up on that ivy wall, it’s pretty cool. I think the unique part about it is they’re behind us on top of our dugout, behind our dugout and the opponent’s kind of in the third base dugout all on their own. They’re kind of sitting there looking up and there’s people lined up all the way down [the ivy wall]. So, I was really proud, I think our guys were excited by the amount of people that were here at our Purple vs. White series. There’s four or five hundred people out here on a weekend. Alumni, people that the program means something to them coming out supporting guys. When you show up for a fall inter-squad and there’s 400, 500 people up there. It’s pretty exciting. If we can sort of mimic that throughout the year with some of these series like Delta State coming, always a really good GSC team, they’ve had a lot of post season success. We want to pack the crowd here and have a home field advantage because our style of play. The way we operate, if there’s a crowd there, we’re rolling a little bit and our style of play comes together, I think it can build something where this is a pretty tough place to play.”
On receiving votes in the NCBWA South Region Preseason Poll
“Well, it’s something that we’ve talked about. It’s obviously a good thing to be receiving votes, but preseason validation is invalid, if that makes sense. I treat it like a mock draft, the preseason rankings. If you go look at college football, college basketball, power rankings in the NFL, who’s going to win the division in the American League East, all those things, they’re never the same at the end of the year as they were at the start. So, I think that we kind of prove to ourselves what we can do and where we’re at by winning that first regional game. Being competitive in game three, getting to that point, making some changes. We’ve grown, but we’re worried about the postseason rankings. At the end of the day, we know our, you talked about our first 12. Those rankings are going to go one way or the other real quick. So, at the end of the day, I think it’s nice to be mentioned with some of those teams, but at the end of the day, it’s not something we can focus on. We have to focus on game by game, who’s in front of us and get ready to go for Florida Tech. Once you get to this point in your career, you know, last year, we had a preseason ranking, all those things. I think we’re a much better ball club than we were this year. We probably won’t get a preseason ranking. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. I do know, however, what our guys believe. Belief and preseason rankings and other people’s votes at the end of the day don’t mean anything until we go out and perform. Our whole thing is, we talk about it every day – fast, free, comfortable. When you start thinking about rankings, statistics, my numbers, this, that, and the other, that’s one of those things that, you know, now you’re not fast, free, comfortable anymore. Stay out of your mind, stay on your feet, go play the game.”
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