A Day In The Life Of A Vandy Baseball Commit COOPER HOLBROOK Class Of 2022 Outfielder

What's up? I'm Cooper Holbrook, class of 2022 outfielder at Porter Gowd, committed to Vanderbilt, and this is Day in the Life. So I got into baseball when I was, I think, four years old, but it was more of a, I was kind of pushed into it because my dad was a baseball coach at the time. He was the coach of UNC, assistant coach there. Then he became the assistant coach of South Carolina. Then he became the head coach of South Carolina, and now he's the head coach of College of Charleston. So I've always kind of had a baseball family, and it's kind of led me to be where I am today. I picked Vanderbilt because the main reason was Coach Corbin. I've always had a high affinity towards Coach Corbin and what he's built there ever since 2003, really turning the program around and becoming what it is now is a remarkable feat, and the way he molds young kids is just insane. And I knew I wanted to be a part of it once I saw the culture and what was built from it. It was something I really admired and felt like I had to be a part of. The whole recruiting process was a little different for me, actually. My brother, he committed to North Carolina when he was a freshman, so he was kind of off and running really early. For me, I was sophomore summer. I was still kind of not really getting any looks into like junior fall was when I started actually getting kind of looked at a little bit more. We played in some big tournaments at the end of the summer and the beginning of the fall that got the eyes of a few schools that I really thought I would have never heard of. And I was really fortunate to hear from coaches that I've always really wanted to hear from, and I never never really thought I would, and it all kind of culminated when in December, Vandy offered me, and I knew I always knew that if I had that opportunity, I would take it. And so two days later, I committed, and it's just kind of led me to where we are today and when I'm just eager on the edge of my seat to get up there. At the beginning, definitely. Right after I committed that, those first few games, I definitely felt the pressure, and it kind of became like a little bit much on me on the first few games. And then I realized that if I change who I was as a player, then I'm kind of throwing away what I've worked towards this entire time. So I kind of got over that after the first few weeks and really got into playing again. And now I really don't feel any pressure. That pressure's kind of turned into confidence and like in a type of I'm here, and I have the opportunity to do something and that's really, it's really been a form of motivation for me and a sort of kind of competitiveness in the box that I really like playing with. Strength would probably be just, I guess, baseball IQ, baseball knowledge. Growing up in a baseball family, that's kind of always been bred in me. My dad being a coach for 20 plus years, my brother playing all the time and being around a lot of really good players all the time. It's kind of just been ingrained in me, trying to learn the minute aspects of the games that are commonly overlooked. And that's what I feel like is kind of a strength for me. And then a weakness, ooh, where do we begin? Probably, like, I definitely need to work on my arm strength, defense. I want to become a better hitter. I want to become, so let's not list everything, but definitely, I think that the best, the biggest things were arm strength and defense for me. Okay, so it's got to be in no order Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, and Reese Hoskins. I've always kind of looked up to Trout in the way he plays the game defensive-wise, and and his knack for hitting. And then Harper, kind of same way. His approach stuff's really interested me. Reese Hoskins, growing up, I was kind of like, I felt like a little bit of a similar player to him. And I really loved the way he played, the way he carried himself, and and how he approached his at-bat. So probably those three. There's a few more that I just, that like, I mean A-Rod, Corey Seeger, Mookie Betts, but those three are probably the biggest ones. Definitely, actually, certainly, seeing my dad win the College World Series in 2010 and 2011 at South Carolina, and being in Omaha, seeing that, it's, ever since that moment, and seeing the excitement and the thrill and the joy of the players, I've just been fully, like, encompassed, like, with the goal of winning a national championship. It's always been, like, the biggest goal for me ever since I was 10 years old, and that memory has just been ingrained in my head ever since that age. Definitely take advantage of opportunities. Whenever you're at a big tournament, whenever you have eyes on you, like, don't come in there with pressure on you, like with a piano on your back, but definitely, definitely know, know, know your situation, know your pitcher, take, take advantage of your at-bats, and really work, work as, work as hard as you can, because especially, like, younger guys, middle schoolers, like, work as hard as you can now, because it's your time. Hit as much as you can, every opportunity you get, try to go to the field, try to scrape for at-bats and opportunities, and they will come, like, it just happens. It happens to those who work. It's given to you. What's up? So, starting off in the cage with some tee work and soft toss, coming out here, throwing and hitting some VP, and that's a day in the life.