The Team Behind the Team is Critical to Rebels' Success

Hours before and after every practice or game, a crew of nine are preparing for the next. Setting up the field, warming up pitchers and catchers, and laundering uniforms are just a few of their responsibilities.

For senior sports management major Carter Newman, it is an unforgettable experience.

"It's an experience that I'm super grateful and super blessed to have," the Oxford native said.

The former Lafayette High School and Hinds Community College catcher is no stranger to hard work. He brings his work ethic with him as part of helping Ole Miss baseball.

"We bullpen catchers work with the pitchers and catchers hand-in-hand, including something that we call spin work," Newman said.

Besides assisting the pitching staff, the group is also responsible for the team's laundry.

"We do laundry, which is not necessarily the funnest job of them all, but it's important, too," he said. "Sometimes there are games where we stay until 3 o'clock in the morning because we're having to take the white pants that we just wore and have them ready for the next day."

Even after hundreds of hours, Newman does not have a magic trick for getting white baseball pants clean. It takes simple elbow grease, he said.

"Honestly, it's just repetitive: scrub, scrub, scrub, scrub, scrub, throw it in the washer," he said. "Scrub, scrub, scrub."

Another task this crew handles is preparing the baseballs for a game.

"A lot of people don't really know, is that we rub up the baseballs because the baseball comes slick like a white pearl," he said. "So, we take this mud and we rub it on the ball to not necessarily make the ball darker, but it's to take the slick out of it.

"For a weekend series, we rub about 20 to 25 dozen baseballs."

Student managers help set up the field for practices and games. They also pack for road games, including the manager van, a job that will be critical for the College World Series.

"We put gear into it that we couldn't take on a plane or the bus," Newman said. "For Omaha we packed it with tons of extra pants, jerseys, and anything you can think of all the way from a baseball to cleats to bats and helmets and gloves and anything you could ever need in baseball, down to a Sharpie marker, especially when we're hopefully there for 14 or 15 days."

All this and more are done to help the team achieve its goals.

"Our main focus, at least in my eyes, is we try to make sure that all the players have to do is just show up," he said. "All their gear's out there, like we hang their loops back up in their locker. Towels are folded. Baseballs are ready.

"Like all they have to do is show up, put their uniform on and go play."

Of course, when it comes to baseball, there are superstitions.

Some players wear certain socks or eat a certain meal before games. For the bullpen catchers, it is a specifically-timed hydration drink.

"We have this special hydration packet that's liquid, and right before the national anthem, all four bullpen catchers get together, open it and then take it," he said. "That has become our superstition."

But before Newman was a superstitious Rebel, he cheered for Mississippi State. He admits it was difficult the first time the Rebels played State after he joined the team.

"I always want us to win, never want us to lose," he said. "But when we played Mississippi State, it was definitely a little hard because I never grew up coming to Ole Miss baseball games."

But now, he is part of the Ole Miss squad.

"Of course, I want us to win because if we win, I get the pride and the joy and I get to look back in 20 years and say, 'Yeah, I was a part of that team,'" he said.

Even though the job often requires long hours, Newman says the effort is worth it.

"The connections you make with the people, the friendships you make, they last a lifetime," he said.

Newman is also looking forward to soaking up the experience in Omaha.

"Coach B talks about all the time, enjoying the time that you have with each other and enjoying the experience and making memories," he said. "So I'm excited to be able to be a part of it and make memories."

Looking back, he never thought he would be where he is today.

"I'm blessed to have this opportunity," he said. "Growing up a State fan, I would have never thought, and I told people all the time I would never play at Ole Miss. Now, I never want to leave being a part of the Ole Miss program because Coach Bianco really cares about us, along with all the other players and coaches.

"It's like we're one big family. That's what it truly feels like."

Top: Michael King (left), Ben Corley, Carter Newman, Cooper Marquette and Eli Sparks are part of the Ole Miss baseball student managers and bullpen catchers team. They often put in long hours behind the scenes to help ensure the success of the baseball team and are proud to do so at the College World Series. Submitted photo