Beaver Tales

Taylor Wentworth (formerly Studzinksi) learned a lot of life lessons at OSU during her career as an outside hitter. Even her position was an area of upheaval (she was thrown into the fire as as a setter her senior year in 2006). And through the chaos of post-OSU life -- moving around the country, getting married, having three kids and still holding a high-level position at Target -- she seems to be excelling in her career and family life. She now lives in West Linn with her husband, former OSU men's rower Norman Wentworth, and is a District Senior Director with Target.

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Check out Children's Garden and support this impactful organization here: https://childrensgarden.ph/

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The Beaver Tales Documentary project is coming soon! I'm producing this podcast series on the 2018 Beaver Baseball team. Check it out: https://the-beaver-tales-podcast-documentaries.mailchimpsites.com/ 

Megan Miller (women's soccer, 2009-2012) was an All-American and First-Team All-Conference midfielder at Oregon State. She now lives in Japan with Angus Brandt, a fellow former OSU student-athlete. The two started dating at OSU and have traveled around the world since then, including Lithuania, New Zealand, Australia, Italy, and Wuhan, China. I talked with Megan about following Angus' basketball career all over the world, not to mention her own soccer career overseas, physical training, and her recovery from COVID-19.

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The Benton Community Foundation helps people in need right here in Corvallis. Learn more & donate here: https://www.bcfgives.org/

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The Beaver Tales Documentary project comes out soon. See what I've been working on (along with this podcast, of course): https://the-beaver-tales-podcast-documentaries.mailchimpsites.com/

Max Gordon was told he would never play baseball again after a 2008 car crash put him in a coma for 10 days. Four months later, he won a state championship at Ashland High School, went on to play centerfield at Oregon State and made the College World Series his senior year in 2013. The story is more complex than that, though, including a bout of depression and a non-linear recovery.

Max also tells a tremendous story about how a duck carcass was involved in the 2013 series versus Oregon. Listen & find out why Max Gordon was, by his own admission, "the grossest human being in college baseball... by a lot."

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The Beaver Tales Documentaries tells the story of the 2018 OSU baseball national championship; whether you were in Omaha like Max Gordon, watched on TV or didn't even care who won, you'll still enjoy the podcast series. Find out more: https://the-beaver-tales-podcast-documentaries.mailchimpsites.com/

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The Boy's & Girl's Club of Corvallis is hoping to make up for fundraising events they can't hold during the pandemic like normal. Help out a local nonprofit here: http://www.bgccorvallis.org/

Laura-Ann Chong (Gymnastics, 2007-2010) was the 2010 Pac-10 Champion on balance beam, an All-American on bars & beam, and a 2004 Olympic reserve for Canada. After college, the Coquitlam, BC native became an acrobat with Cirque Du Soliel and has traveled to 38 countries. She also became passionate about mental health, helping start Project Lumiére, which you can find here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/892025527957776

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The Beaver Tales Podcast gives free advertising to charities, including Convoy of Hope. Learn more here: https://www.convoyofhope.org/

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Have feedback for the podcast? Find me on Twitter @BrightTies, and also subscribe to the email list and you can respond with a message, plus learn more about the 2018 Beaver Baseball documentary here: https://the-beaver-tales-podcast-documentaries.mailchimpsites.com/

Brett Casey played OSU baseball for his father, Pat Casey, lettering from 2007-2009, and also played Oregon State basketball in the 2005-2006 season. He's got an inside look at Pat Casey's development as a coach, plus a hilarious story about being in Omaha in 2018 and walking away from TD Ameritrade Park during the College World Series.

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To check out Convoy of Hope, today's featured nonprofit, please visit: https://www.convoyofhope.org/

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Join the email list for this podcast and get a monthly update on the Beaver Tales Documentaries: https://the-beaver-tales-podcast-documentaries.mailchimpsites.com/ 

BONUS EPISODE: Collin Henderson wasn't an Oregon State student-athlete, so consider this a bonus episode, but I initially connected with Collin because of his work with former OSU baseball player Kyle Nobach.

Collin Henderson played two sports (baseball & football) at Washington State. He now is an industry leader in mental conditioning, regularly contributing to Russell Wilson's company Limitless Minds, as well as providing trainings used by Nike, Microsoft, Alaska Airlines, the Los Angeles Dodgers, Oregon State University, and more.

Check out Collin's website & learn more about the resources he offers: https://www.thecollinhenderson.com/

Joy Peterson (formerly Joy Selig) had so many accolades at Oregon State (three national championships, seven All-American selections, the 1991 American Award as the nation's top gymnast) that a statue was made in her honor on campus at OSU. We had a fun conversation about her time in Corvallis, her personal growth during that time, plus funny stories like a post-college gymnastics gig in a German circus!

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A new featured charity is the Benton Community Foundation, which supports food banks, youth programs, adult care & more. Learn more & donate here: https://www.bcfgives.org/

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The Beaver Tales Documentaries are coming soon! Learn more about the 2018 Beaver Baseball team & hear a podcast documentary made about that season here: https://the-beaver-tales-podcast-documentaries.mailchimpsites.com/

Jack Riley spent 22 years (1973-1994) as the baseball head coach before passing off the reigns to Pat Casey and watching the program he kept alive end up winning three NCAA Championships. I talked with the OSU Athletics Hall of Fame inductee about seeing his baseball program get cut twice (then stay alive), inspiration from fellow OSU coaching legend Ralph Miller, and some parallels between him and Pat Casey.

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Check out today's featured charity, Food for the Hungry: https://www.fh.org/

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The Beaver Tales Documentary is a podcast series chronicling the 2018 Beaver Baseball team. Learn more here! https://the-beaver-tales-podcast-documentaries.mailchimpsites.com/

Pam Arey's roots run deep in Oregon State history. Her father, Jack Riley, is an OSU Hall of Fame inductee and a 22-year head coach of the baseball program. Pam played tennis for the Beavers in the 1980s, married an OSU golfer (Sean Arey) and it's fair to say if it wasn't for the Riley family, OSU athletics would have looked a lot different over the past few decades, at least in baseball. To hear why, take a listen both to today's episode with Pam as well as Monday's episode featuring her father Jack!

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Convoy of Hope is a great charity to support- find them at https://www.convoyofhope.org/

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To give me any feedback, suggest a guest or hear more about the Beaver Tales Documentaries, click here and put your email down: https://the-beaver-tales-podcast-documentaries.mailchimpsites.com/

Ben Wetzler (OSU baseball, 2011-2014) is six years into a professional career and the 29-year-old says he's in the best shape of his life right now. His velocity is higher than it's ever been, he's mentally sharp... so what's happening? And how similar is it to his transformation at OSU?

Ben had a "soft mindset" (his words) as a freshman, but by the end of his career was a First-Team All-American and broke the school's ERA record at 0.78. I talked with Ben about how Pat Casey & Nate Yeskie challenged him, how a counselor helped rework his mental outlook, and how OSU teammate Logan Ice is retooling Ben's game through GOATA. That's all on episode 61!

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At the end of the episode I talk about Kingdom Home- check out the website at: https://kingdomhome.org/

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Ben has some great stories about Pat Casey and even what the 2018 team meant to him - to hear the full story on what made that team so special, you'll want to hear the Beaver Tales Documentaries. Learn more here: https://the-beaver-tales-podcast-documentaries.mailchimpsites.com/