Cougars Beat Podcast

Houston Athletics hosted a baseball media availability this week with head coach Todd Whitting, along with student-athletes Ryan Hernandez and Ian McMillan, to take questions from media members. Episode 37 of the podcast is a discussion of some answers given by these three individuals, along with a little discussion about the start of the upcoming 2022 season.

Host Steve Parkhurst talks with Tony Altobelli, the Sports Information Director (SID) for the Orange Coast College Pirates, and the younger brother of John Altobelli, aka Alto. John died two years ago in a tragic helicopter crash that also took his wife Keri and their daughter Alyssa, leaving behind a teenage daughter and an adult son, J.J., who is also a scout for the Boston Red Sox. Alto played for the Cougars from 1984-85 and was an assistant coach with the Cougars in 1987. Tony joined the podcast to talk about the event of this upcoming weekend where the Pirates are renaming their ballpark John Altobelli Park.

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Host Steve Parkhurst talks with Bubba Wagner, Cougars catcher from 1958-1960 before going on to three season in the minor leagues with the Milwaukee Braves organization. Bubba is from San Antonio, where he still lives, and he shares his story of going from Thomas Jefferson High School to the University of Houston to play baseball, when his high school did not have a baseball program. All this and more in this episode of Cougars Beat Podcast.

Host Steve Parkhurst sits down with former Cougars pitcher Rick Brewer. Brewer pitched for Lovette Hill's Cougars in 1966 and 1967. In the 1967 College World Series in Omaha, Rick went 2-0 on the mound, the last two victories for the Cougars program in Omaha. Rick grew up in Pasadena and attended San Jacinto College, when that program was new, before attending UH. Rick also has a connection of sorts with a Cougars freshman pitcher. All of this and more in episode 34.

Hosts Steve Parkhurst and Gerald Sanchez sat down in October of 2020 with Rayner Noble, former Houston Cougars player and Head Coach, and 2021 inductee into the University of Houston Hall of Honor. This wide-ranging conversation covers Noble's career from high school where he pitched on the same team as Roger Clemens, to his being recruited to UH by Rolan Walton, to his professional career, to his days as an assistant coach, to his tenure as Head Coach of the Cougars.

Cougars right-handed pitcher Ben Sears joins host Steve Parkhurst to discuss playing baseball for The Community College of Rhode Island, how he chose to attend UH, and how he pitched against the Longhorns. Ben also talks about his early baseball memories growing up in the northeast and how he developed into the type of pitcher he is now.

Houston Cougars slugger Tyler Bielamowicz talks with host Steve Parkhurst about the 2020 and 2021 baseball seasons, including what went into preparing for 2021 after the shortened 2020 season. The two discuss how the local Cy Ranch kid decided to stay in Houston. They also delve into the proper pronunciation of Tyler's last name.

Host Steve Parkhurst is joined by Steven Rivas, Houston Cougars outfielder. Steven talks about growing up around baseball in California, starting his college career at Long Beach State playing for the Dirtbags, then transferring to Southern Nevada. He also discusses how he landed at UH, along with his hitting approach and how it changed over the last year.

Host Steve Parkhurst talks with Devon Roedahl, former Houston Cougars pitcher, and current pitcher in the Boston Red Sox organization. Devon is about to begin his second spring training to prepare for his first full year of professional baseball. He talks about his draft day experience, what it was like getting to work after being drafted, and he reflects back on how he ended up at UH for the 2019 season.

Host Steve Parkhurst talks with Cougars pitcher and designated hitter, Derrick Cherry. Derrick is entering his third season at UH and is already in the 9th spot according to Perfect Game on their AAC MLB Draft Prospect list, along with being third-team Preseason All-American according to Collegiate Baseball. Derrick proved to be a worthy hitter in 2019 after coming back from injury, and he proved to be an amazing pitcher out of the bullpen in his shortened 2020 campaign.