Ben Clemens

But they rallied off like 21 and 7 to go ahead and not only win the conference, but win the conference tournament to allow them to get a automatic bid to the NCAA regional tournament.

for being hot and playing so well, they got rewarded by playing the number two team in the country, which happens here in just about an hour and 13 minutes.

They will play Georgia Tech, but I'm excited to get a chance to see my school in action.

It's the first time I will be able to see them in regional action.

All the fans up in Canada, you may not be a fan of Georgia Tech or UIC, but today I need you to come on to the UIC side.

We need it.

We got to stay hot.

We got to keep pushing it, just like the Blue Jays were able to turn it around and get themselves to the World Series.

Hopefully the UIC Flames can turn it around, stay hot, and this will be hopefully the first victory on the path to the College World Series.

It's been huge because Chicago and a combination of the people, the city, the schools all helped shape and mold me to the individual I am today.

And without them, I wouldn't be here sitting here having this conversation with you.

And now I'm in a position where I can hopefully help out individuals that are coming up, trying to accomplish their goals and dreams.

And for a lot of them, it may not

a professional baseball player, but they can be pros in so many different ways.

And there is a lot of overlap.

My alma mater, the UIC Flames, we were able to take the baseball stadium there and provide opportunities through CBEA, the Chicago Baseball Educational Academy.

where we get 6,000 kids on a college campus, most of them for the first time ever.

They're practicing baseball and softball.

They're learning umpire training.

They're getting social emotional learning.