Troy University Athletics
Johnson's Journal - From Omaha to the Offseason: Skylar Meade’s Blueprint for Troy Baseball
9/17/2026 9:25:00 AM | Baseball
There was no resting on their laurels for members of the Troy baseball team.
After their historic run to the College World Series this past season, 21 Trojans played in various summer leagues before returning to campus this fall.
The extra work is something Troy baseball head coach Skylar Meade believes is needed for players to elevate their game for the college season ahead and raise their stock for a future chance in pro baseball.
"It's not that it's an absolute for everybody, but I think every college player at some point has to go play summer baseball," Meade said. "If they don't, they're missing the entire experience.
"You also want to set guys up for some form of success, but you also want to make sure that you challenge them.
"Like, some guys may not be ready to go play in the top (summer) league in the country, even though that's where you're trying to get them to be. There's a little strategy in terms of where guys go based on their progression of their career."
Making the contacts
The summer leagues are designed to help current college players continue developing skills while also being seen by professional baseball scouts. The schedule normally runs from June to early August.
College coaches regularly reach out to clubs in trying to place their players on a roster, and at other times it's the team contacting a college coach in hopes of landing a player.
"Some guys are known commodities and people say, 'I want so-and-so,'" Meade explains. "If we've had a guy go somewhere and have success, then they will say, 'Hey, who would be the next guy (from Troy) for us to take?'"
Meade said it gives players a hint of what it would be like if they are drafted by a Major League Baseball team at some point, which would likely involve them being placed in an unfamiliar setting to begin their professional career.
"Sometimes our job as coaches is pushing them to do something that isn't going to be total comfortability," Meade said. "You at some point better learn how to be comfortable being uncomfortable.
"If you do not do that, you won't survive. You can have all the talent in the world, but you will absolutely crash out eventually. It's just the reality of the mobility of baseball."
Keeping up with stats
While Trojans are away playing summer baseball, Meade and his staff keep a close track of each one of them.
"It's one of the funniest things to watch when guys realize we're tracking every day, every single thing," Meade said. "We check every morning. We will check the websites, box scores, live stats.
"A lot of these leagues now are (video streamed) on ESPN+, so we might be watching them. We definitely keep a stranglehold on what they're doing. Nothing excites me more than when these guys go out and do well, and garner confidence from it."
Meade may also find a future Trojan by checking on his own players.
"Sometimes you follow guys that are in the (transfer) portal that may play with your guys, or in leagues you're following," Meade said. "Sometimes going and producing in a summer league can be part of how a guy ends up here, too. That's another aspect of it."
Of course, there is also the risk of injuries by having players compete in the summer.
Troy star catcher Jimmy Janicki was invited to Team USA's Collegiate National Training Camp, but was hit on an arm by a pitch and suffered a deep bone bruise in the first scrimmage and was unable to play any further during the summer. He's fine now and going full speed during Troy's fall training.
"It's always a little bit of a fear with the injury," Meade said. "It is a necessary evil. In our sport, things can happen.
"You've got to kind of rid yourself the best you can of the fear. As long as they are doing things intelligently, you've got to be OK with the results."
Meade says the Trojans competed well overall in the various leagues.
"I thought for the most part pretty good," Meade said. "Even for some guys that maybe numerically it wasn't all-star worthy … some of them were working on specific things that I've seen them bring back.
"Maybe those changes didn't parlay into immediate success, but they stuck with the changes and now they're getting into the mode of change can equal struggle, but then struggle can suddenly become success.
"Some guys that didn't have good summer leagues, we can use that as a coaching piece."
A challenging fall slate
Troy has taken full advantage of a new NCAA rule allowing teams to play up to four exhibition games in the fall instead of two.
The Trojans will play three on the road against powerhouse SEC teams Tennessee, Florida and LSU, along with hosting in-state foe Samford.
The Trojans will begin the fall schedule by traveling to Nashville to play Tennessee on Sunday, Oct. 11, at First Horizon Park, which is the home of the Triple-A Nashville Sounds.
"There's huge crowds at these games - it's a big environment," Meade said. "We played Tennessee after they won the national championship (2024) in Jackson, Tennessee, and there were 9,000 people at the game. What a great experience for our guys.
"I love that we're going to play Tennessee in Nashville. I think there will be a big crowd."
On Saturday, Oct.17, the Trojans will host Samford at Riddle-Pace Field starting at noon.
"We have our one home game against Samford, which I want to be a huge deal," Meade said. "I'm not asking for 7,000 people to come - if they want to they can - but I want it to be a big deal, you know?"
The Trojans go back on the road to Pensacola, Fla., on Saturday, Oct. 24, to take on Florida in a rematch of the NCAA Gainesville Regional finals won by Troy last spring. The game will take place at Blue Wahoos Stadium, home of the Miami Marlins' Double A affiliate.
"They're promoting the heck out of it," Meade said. "We play Florida again. That will be a lot of fun to see us again against those guys."
The final fall game will be at LSU on Sunday, Nov. 8, at Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge, La.
"If you play college baseball, you want to go down to the Box (Alex Box Stadium)," Meade said.
The Troy coach knows the games should provide a strong barometer of how his team stacks up with some of the best in the nation.
"We're playing real teams, real arms, real bats," Meade said. "So if guys aren't up to snuff yet at the time and get exposed, that's OK. We'll learn from it.
"You want to see guys in that environment and whose skillset rises up … competes against the best in the country. The nice part for us is we know we have the best in the country, too. I look at it as a great opportunity for us to know what it's going to be like when you play at the highest level."
Building team chemistry is also sought by Meade during the trips.
"We're on the bus a lot during those times," Meade said. "There's no better way for team camaraderie to build and fester.
"That's a big piece of this puzzle. That part is going to be as important and impactful to future success as anything that we do on the field."
Life after the CWS
Meade knows Troy baseball is viewed in a new light after the Trojans made it to and won a game in the College World Series in Omaha, Neb., this past June.
"It's different," Meade said. "If anybody tells you differently, they're not being sincere. You get recognized wherever you go. We told the players when we got back, and it is really true, 'Your life has changed.'"
But Meade hasn't witnessed his players becoming overconfident or any less hungry to succeed since attaining their celebrity status of sorts.
"I've been so proud of our guys," Meade said. "There's no egos. Our guys have just used it as confidence.
"I'm happy that millions of people saw us. I'm happy that people recognize us. I'm happy that people ask to take pictures with us and many of our players all the time. How great is that?
"You're just doing something that you love to do and people respond to that."
Meade believes the success has elevated his program on all levels - from recruiting to attracting a larger fan following.
"I do feel like it's a game-changer," Meade said. "I think how our fans and community bonded and all did their thing during the Super Regional (at Troy), in particular, has to be an eye-opener for anybody ever thinking about dabbling in Troy baseball fandom."
