THE INCREASE: Laughter is the Best Medicine - Steven Souza

Baseball The Increase

THE INCREASE: Laughter is the Best Medicine – Steven Souza

By The Increase Jan 25, 2021

Steven Souza, right. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

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Baseball Coaches

Coach Scott Forbes leads UNC back to CWS ‘through my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ’

By Kevin Mercer Jun 9, 2026

UNC head coach Scott Forbes, June 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben McKeown)

The 2026 North Carolina Tar Heels and head coach Scott Forbes are hoping the baseballs bounce their way in the program’s 13th trip to the College World Series (CWS). North Carolina has fallen short in its previous 12 appearances in Omaha, Nebraska, the second-most appearances on college baseball’s biggest stage without a national title.

Now, with the perennial powerhouse Tar Heels back in familiar territory, Forbes believes this is the team that can finally break through and bring a national championship trophy back to Chapel Hill.

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“I’m happy for them, because they get to go. I’ve been to Omaha before,” Forbes said in his postgame press conference Sunday after ousting USC in the super regionals. “I get to see the joy on these guys’ faces of coming back in here tomorrow and preparing to win UNC Baseball’s first national championship.”

North Carolina proved to be one of the best teams in the country all season, earning the No. 5 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. But after sweeping through the Chapel Hill Regional in three games, the Heels dropped the opening contest of their super regional with the Trojans. They staved off elimination with a 4-0 victory Saturday, but in Sunday’s winner-take-all Game 3, they found themselves trailing 3-1 with only four outs left to mount a comeback.

Two clutch doubles in the bottom of the eighth inning drew them to within one. Then a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth tied the game, setting up the heroics from junior outfielder Owen Hull.

𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐍 𝐇𝐔𝐋𝐋 𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐒 𝐔𝐒 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐎 𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐇𝐀

Carolina walks it off!! 🤯🤯 pic.twitter.com/021OXn7CKS

— Carolina Baseball (@DiamondHeels) June 7, 2026

Hull’s walk-off double sent the Tar Heels back to Omaha for the second time under Forbes and the second time in the past three years, the only program in the country to accomplish that feat. The win also marked North Carolina’s 50th win of the season and Forbes’ 250th career win. The longtime UNC assistant was named to the head coaching position ahead of the 2021 season after the retirement of legendary coach Mike Fox.

Since being elevated to head coach, Forbes hasn’t been shy about mentioning his faith in Jesus. He did it once again in Sunday’s press conference.

“I’d written a Bible verse on my card today, that no matter what — everything that I do — just make sure I do it like I’m supposed to do it through my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I’m just thankful that He gave me the opportunity to be here and be around these guys. I’m the one that gets blessed by their presence,” Forbes said.

Moments after North Carolina punched its ticket to the 2024 College World Series, Forbes’ first as head coach, he made sure to deflect all praise that was sure to come his way.

“It’s not them getting me to Omaha, it’s me hoping to get them. That’s been my prayer all year,” Forbes said in an on-field interview with Raleigh’s CBS 17 News. “I changed the thought process of how I coached in 2022 and I made a decision that, if I’m a Christian believer, I’ve gotta coach through that avenue.”

“If I’m a Christian believer I need to coach through that avenue.

UNC baseball coach @CoachForbes_UNC after his team punched their ticket to Omaha for the 2024 College World Series. pic.twitter.com/WrDyxPLNad

— Sports Spectrum (@Sports_Spectrum) June 9, 2024

In that year of Forbes’ paradigm shift as a coach, he was featured in the Heart of a Coach Q&A in the Spring 2022 edition of Sports Spectrum Magazine. There, he spoke about how his faith affects his approach to his job.

“My faith in Christ impacts everything I do as a coach,” he said. “I try my best to make every decision through Him and coach so that others will hopefully see Him in me daily.”

He continued later, “Keeping perspective as to why I coach, I am challenged the most in making sure I remind myself daily that you win in many more ways than just the final score.”

Today and every day we honor and remember the brave men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

God Bless our troops and God Bless the United States of America 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/XYRHJJWFAZ

— Scott Forbes (@CoachForbes_UNC) May 25, 2026

North Carolina begins its CWS journey on Friday evening in a matchup with Ole Miss (41-21), which advanced past No. 4 Auburn to get to Omaha. In 2022, the last time the Rebels made it to the CWS, they left with a national championship.

First pitch is set for 7 p.m. ET.

>> Do you know Christ personally? Learn how you can commit your life to Him. <<

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Baseball

Former Auburn baseball player, current chaplain Mason Maners pointing Tigers to Jesus

By Cole Claybourn Jun 3, 2026

Auburn baseball chaplain Mason Maners prays with the team. (Photo courtesy of Mason Maners)

Auburn (42-20), the No. 4 national seed in the college baseball NCAA Tournament, is preparing to host fellow SEC foe Ole Miss (39-21) in the best-of-three super regionals this weekend for a chance to advance to the College World Series (CWS). It would be the seventh time in program history the Tigers reached college baseball’s biggest stage.

And while head coach Butch Thompson guides the Tigers toward the CWS on the diamond, it’s former star player and current chaplain Mason Maners guiding the Tigers toward a deeper relationship with Jesus during their postseason run.

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As a child, Mason was given the nickname “Mustard Seed” by his parents — a reference to Matthew 17:20 and a reminder to never lose faith, even when hope is bleak. After enduring multiple failed rounds of in vitro fertilization, Martin and Allison Maners continued to hope that God would bring them a child.

Mason was already a miracle child at birth, yet Martin and Allison didn’t realize just how true that moniker would end up being. He was inches away from his athletic career — and life — being permanently altered when a football injury during his freshman year of high school nearly left him paralyzed.

It’s a story he tells in a video produced by Auburn while he was still playing.

Growing up in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, near Birmingham, he was inundated by Auburn Athletics from an early age. Martin took a young Mason to a Tigers football game, where he had the chance to stand on the sidelines.

“I think that just blew his mind and enamored him with it,” Martin said in the video. “So football became a real exciting part of his growing up. Baseball as well.”

Martin was a football star himself at Vestavia Hills High School in the 1980s, and Mason spent his Friday nights at the stadium watching the high school team play. He envisioned himself on that field one day.

He didn’t have to wait long for that chance, earning a spot on the field as a freshman, but that chance was soon snatched away.

He remembers it well — the last day of spring practice his freshman year. The team was playing a live scrimmage. One of the last plays of the day. Playing the outside linebacker position, Mason heard a coach bark that the play was coming to him.

“As soon as I made the tackle, I felt a tingling, burning sensation go throughout my whole entire body,” Mason said. “I lost feeling in my feet and my hands.”

Coaches did their best to stabilize him until paramedics arrived. When they did, they loaded him on a stretcher and secured his head and neck. When he arrived at the hospital, he was able to walk over to another room to get X-rays, and the doctor reassured him it was likely nothing too serious.

“Really, what I was thinking was that the new ‘Captain America’ was coming out that night and I had tickets,” Mason said in the video. “I hope we can hurry this up.”

But the appointment was beginning to take longer expected.

“Once the X-rays came back, we had the ER doctor tell us the neurosurgeon would be in here in a moment to speak to us, and that kind of rocked our world,” Martin said.

The doctor said Mason’s X-rays showed that his injury resulted in broken C-1 and C-2 vertebrae, what’s known as the “Hangman’s break.”

“Really by God’s grace and mercy, I didn’t look down or turn my head a certain way, because any minor movement or any of that could’ve caused me to be paralyzed or dead,” Mason said. “God’s hand was just over it the whole entire time.

“Apart from Him, I don’t believe that I’d be sitting here today wearing an Auburn uniform or even walking or being alive.”

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A post shared by Mason Maners (@mason_maners)

After his injury, Mason found himself in neck braces for weeks on end in an attempt to heal. And it worked.

“I went back to get X-rays and the doctor was just astonished to see that the bones healed perfectly back and everything looked almost better than it did before,” he said.

Though his bones healed, doctors wouldn’t sign off for him to play football again. But baseball was still in the cards, so he joined the baseball team the following season.

“But we never imagined after that,” Martin said, “that Division-I baseball, let alone Power-5 baseball, would be in his future.”

Mason began his collegiate career at Jacksonville State in 2021 and excelled for three seasons before transferring to Auburn for the 2024 campaign. As a senior, he ranked third on the team with a .296 batting average and added seven home runs and 17 RBIs. He was also a perfect 7-for-7 on stolen base attempts.

How awesome is this!

Former @AuburnBaseball player @MasonManers now serves as the Team Chaplain. His players @FarberRyne and @C_Chatterton2 shared Mason's impact on this week's What's Up podcast.

Listen to our full conversation now! https://t.co/FI2Jjq9Sbh pic.twitter.com/SGnTNXBLoX

— Sports Spectrum (@Sports_Spectrum) May 6, 2026

Now that his eligibility is exhausted, Mason is the chaplain for a Tigers team that has its sight set on a CWS appearance. Current players rave about his spiritual impact in his new role.

“Mason does an unbelievable job,” sophomore pitcher Christian Chatterton said on Sports Spectrum’s “What’s Up” podcast last month. “It’s kind of crazy because three years ago, he was playing for Auburn, and he was also really good here. He’s done a great job. He’s somebody that we can all go to talk about faith and other stuff.

“I think this team is also special in the way that a lot of our guys on our team are just all-in for Jesus. I think a lot of that credit has to go to Mason, for sure.”

Junior infielder Ryne Farber agreed.

“Outside of team Bible studies, [Mason will] just come up and talk to you. He wants to know how you’re doing. He wants to know how your walk is going,” Farber said. “I think community is so important, and to have people that are all wanting to be great baseball players, but more importantly, be great people and grow toward the Lord is awesome.”

Last June, Mason posted on Instagram about how grateful he is for this role in leading young athletes in their faith.

“Glory and praise to the Lord for this incredible year!” he wrote. “Serving as Chaplain for this team has been one of the greatest privileges and deepest joys. I’ve been continually overwhelmed by the goodness and grace of the One who is faithful in every season. He is truly worthy of everything. Grateful for all He’s done—excited to be back in August!”

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A post shared by Mason Maners (@mason_maners)

Game 1 between Auburn and Ole Miss is set for Friday at 8 p.m. ET.

>> Do you know Christ personally? Learn how you can commit your life to Him. <<

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Baseball

DeAmez Ross helps lead UCF back to NCAA Tournament, leans on ‘my love for the Lord’

By Cole Claybourn May 28, 2026

Central Florida's DeAmez Ross, Feb. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

Central Florida Baseball is back in the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three years, and a big reason why is center fielder DeAmez Ross. The senior is batting .281 with three home runs and 34 RBIs, but perhaps his most important asset is his speed. He leads the team with 16 stolen bases in 18 attempts.

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The Knights (31-21) earned an at-large bid and the No. 2 seed in the Auburn Regional, and face North Carolina State on Friday. Ross played his freshman and sophomore seasons at Florida State, where he started 36 total games and hit .287 with 41 hits, two home runs and 17 RBIs. He ended his freshman season with a 12-game hitting streak.

DeAmez Ross goes back-to-back with a solo homer 💥 pic.twitter.com/4pbtcGTYuZ

— UCF Baseball (@UCF_Baseball) April 25, 2026

But he also missed 18 games due to an injury one season. That has since become a major part of who he is as a player, as well as his personal testimony.

“I just felt so lost,” he said in March on Sports Spectrum’s “What’s Up” podcast. “I didn’t know who I was. I wasn’t happy.”

Rather than turn inward, he turned outward. And upward. That season helped him become less focused on himself and instead learn how to be a better teammate. If his teammate needed a glove, he’d get it for him. When someone struck out, he was the first one there to keep their spirits up.

“I realized that it opened my eyes to understanding that this game of baseball can be taken away just like that, so be grateful for every moment that you put your cleats on, for every moment you get to be in the lineup,” he said on the podcast. “That truly changed my heart and the way I thought about baseball from my freshman year to now.”

He also started attending Fellowship of Christian Athletes meetings regularly, where he was encouraged to get back in the Word consistently.

“It was a process. It took a week, and I grew deeper in my faith and my love for the Lord, just understanding that through this adversity, through these trials, that I was going to grow in my faith and learn something about myself, which was not to put my identity in baseball,” he said on the podcast. “I’m so glad that happened to me because I wouldn’t change it for the world. I became a better teammate, a better person.”

“I grew deeper in my faith and my love for the Lord.”

Listen to our full conversation with DeAmez Ross from @UCF_Baseball now!https://t.co/HfhwCcAGzc pic.twitter.com/7FqMA7i51W

— Sports Spectrum (@Sports_Spectrum) March 17, 2026

Now at UCF, he’s experiencing a more mature faith and he’s also seen as one of the leaders on the field. With the Knights in the postseason, he said he and the team have adopted an “attitude of gratitude” and they are playing for one another.

“We’re just grateful to put on this jersey and play with each other again,” he said while speaking with media after the NCAA Tournament selections. “We say that we have so much fun at practice, so we’re going to keep playing as long as we can because we just love each other. We’re brothers for life.”

And he’s continued being involved with FCA while at UCF.

“FCA at UCF is amazing,” he said on the podcast. “It’s something that is so much fun, and being athletes — especially baseball — we play Friday, Saturday, Sunday, so Sundays are literally filled with baseball. We don’t have time to go to church in the morning or do these things, so FCA on Monday really allows everyone to get the Word in and be in that community.”

He recently spoke at an FCA event on campus, where he shared his journey and encouraged athletes that their identity is in Christ, not their sport.

“Your sport is not who you are. Your sport doesn’t define you,” he said from the stage. “Your sport fills your journey, but God is what builds your everlasting — your character, the friendships you make.”

>> Do you know Christ personally? Learn how you can commit your life to Him. <<

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Baseball

Cleveland Guardians closer Cade Smith knows ‘who I am in Jesus’ as he leads MLB in saves

By Kevin Mercer May 26, 2026

Cleveland Guardians closer Cade Smith, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Baseball takes center stage as the calendar ticks toward summer, and the early returns are in for MLB teams with dreams of playing deep into the fall. The Cleveland Guardians are one of those teams passing with flying colors.

Behind one of the stronger pitching rotations in the majors, the Guardians sit at 32-24 and have opened up a 3.5-game lead in the American League Central through the first third of the season. A key cog in that staff has been the play of closer Cade Smith.

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Smith is leading all of MLB with 18 saves so far in 2026, which is already a career high. The 27-year-old Canadian has finished 23 of his 25 appearances on the season, allowing only one home run and five walks in 25.2 innings pitched.

His most recent appearance on Sunday against the Phillies in Philadelphia ended with a strikeout to close out the 3-1 victory.

Cade Smith, Vicious 88mph Splitter. 😤 pic.twitter.com/X4aOIa5Lfl

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 24, 2026

In his third year in the majors, Smith has been dominant in his role as full-time closer with the Guardians. It’s a role he took over part of the way through last season after the team lost Emmanuel Clase, and Smith performed so well (converting 13 of 17 save opportunities with a 2.79 ERA) that Cleveland stuck with him in 2026.

Smith, who contemplated a career as an eye surgeon after majoring in biology at the University of Hawaii, has earned the trust of the Guardians’ coaching staff.

“The dude’s not afraid to operate on someone’s eye,” manager Stephen Vogt told MLB.com in March. “He’s probably not going to be afraid of getting three outs at the end of a game.”

Despite now being entrenched in his role, Smith said he recognizes the gift it is to be called a MLB closer.

“I’m not taking it for granted that I’m solidified on the team,” Smith told MLB.com. “… I’m happy to step up and happy to go out and perform, knowing that the work that I’ve done has prepared me for that, and also understanding that it’s an honor to actually be asked to pitch in those situations.”

Smith’s steady demeanor is the perfect temperament for a closer who is frequently asked to perform in high-pressure situations. That steadiness, he said, is rooted in his firm foundation of faith in Christ.

“The first and most important thing is that I’m confident and certain that my identity is not based in baseball,” he said in an interview with Guardians TV last year. “My identity is based in my faith, and that’s something that can’t be taken from me and it can’t be shaped by the highs and lows of this game, whether I go out and perform or whether I fail, because I am going to fail.”

Each time he takes the field, Smith carries a piece of God’s Word with him. Last season while signing autographs for fans before a game at Progressive Field in Cleveland, he asked them about the Bible verse inscribed on his glove, 1 Corinthians 6:11.

“Does anyone know this verse off the top of their head?” Smith asked. “This is one of my favorite verses, because basically (verses) nine and 10 are a statement of universal condemnation. … It means everyone sins. No one’s good enough. You’re not getting to Heaven on your own. Verse 11 starts, ‘and that’s what you guys were, but you were washed, justified and sanctified by the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.’

“Regardless of how any outing goes — up or down, if I succeed or I struggle or I do really bad — I know that I’m not actually a pitcher. I’m washed. I’m justified. I’m sanctified. And those are things that no one can take from me.”

“Does anyone know this verse?”
Love this from Guardians pitcher Cade Smith sharing his faith with fans.

1 Cor 6:11

(📲 Nobles Darby/IG) pic.twitter.com/NsEx2uaAl1

— Sports Spectrum (@Sports_Spectrum) August 16, 2025

Smith reiterated the message of 1 Corinthians 6:11 during an on-field interview following a game later in the season.

“The absolute biggest thing for me is my faith,” he said, “because I know who I am in Jesus Christ. I know my relationship with Him. I’m justified, washed and sanctified, and so what I do on the baseball field doesn’t affect that.”

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A post shared by Sports Spectrum (@sports_spectrum)

Smith may be embracing and thriving in his new role as Guardians closer, but he wants everyone to know it’s a role he plays and not an identity he carries. His identity is and always will be as a beloved child in the eyes of his Heavenly Father.

With his identity secure in Christ, Smith will seek to continue to perform at an All-Star level for his teammates when they need him most. The Guardians’ next contest comes against the Washington Nationals (28-27) at home on Tuesday. First pitch is set for 6:10 p.m. ET.

>> Do you know Christ personally? Learn how you can commit your life to Him. <<