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Ryan Tousley is the guy at practice who tells his teammates where to be and what to do. At the same time he is also the guy telling the joke all the other 30 players want to hear. On the field, Tousley is a 6'2 225 lb. intimidating presence who hits clean up. While team leading 10 home runs and 44 RBI are reason enough to be cocky, he remains modest and low key. Along with his power numbers, he hits for average as well. His .304 batting average is 5th on the team. The big guy has even swiped five bases. Tousley is a guy all Pirate fans can get behind. He's a good guy on the field, great guy off it. Tousley sat down with Pirate Radio to talk baseball, Italian pasta, and Halle Barry.

Pirate Radio: How old were you when you knew you wanted to play Division I college baseball?

Ryan Tousley: I think about 9 or 10 when we started playing select baseball and traveling around the country. You know, you watch the College World Series on TV every year and it kind of clicked in that that's something you want to do and it was a dream a mine so I'm just happy it came true.

Pirate Radio: What teams did you watch growing up?

Tousley: That's kind of tough. We didn't really have any teams in Iowa that were good so I followed Cal State Fullerton, Texas, Nebraska. Those kind of teams.

Pirate Radio: Anyone in the majors?

Tousley: I'm a big Braves guy. TBS is the channel that's on my TV every night.

Pirate Radio: You can compare them this year to you guys. You are guys are out here joking around and having fun. It looks like the type of team they have this year.

Tousley: Yeah, you watch them on TV, the New York Mets are kind of the same way. They go out there and have fun and stay loose and that's what it's all about. And that's kind of what we like to do out here, stay loose and have fun. It keeps us on our toes.

Pirate Radio: If you switched places with (Pirate pitcher) Mike Flye what are your numbers looking like?

Tousley: I'm probably the Saturday starter. I'm probably right now 6-0 with a 1.70 ERA.

Pirate Radio: How many K's you getting per game?

Tousley: 9 or 10. I came in as a pitcher too so you know, every day I'm asking coach to get another shot so I'm just waiting for the call to the bullpen. I'll be ready.

Pirate Radio: What are you watching on TV at night?

Tousley: If the Braves are on the Braves, if not, then probably playing some Playstation 3.

Pirate Radio: Who is the best Madden player on the team?

Tousley: (Ryan) Wood and (Josh) Ruhlman think it's them, but it's definitely me.

Pirate Radio: Who is the guy in the locker room that's cracking up everybody and keeping it loose in there?

Tousley: Dale Mollenhauer is up there. He's a big guy. Me and him kind of feed off of each other. So if I'm not talking it's him, if he's not talking it's me. So we kind of go together. I think everybody would say that.

Pirate Radio: Any good PG-13 stories you can tell or is everything kind of behind closed doors there?

Tousley: I could tell stories about nights but.

Pirate Radio: Save it for next time?

Tousley: Yeah

Pirate Radio: Any new movies you've seen that you like?

Tousley: A couple of us went and saw "Perfect Stranger" down at Marshall. It was pretty good. Halle Barry. Can't go wrong with her.

Pirate Radio: Favorite baseball movie?

Tousley: "The Natural"

Pirate Radio: Man, nobody is saying "Major League."

Tousley: I'm a big "Major League 2" guy. "Major League 2" is defiantly up there. It's a classic.

Pirate Radio: I know you want to win them all. But who is the one team you play you really want to beat?

Tousley: The two years I've been here we've played a west coast team every year. They are kind of all about running their mouth and that kind of thing. So we look forward to playing west coast teams and showing them the guys out here can play just as good as them. Beating up Fullerton three times, I'd like to get a rematch with UCLA. And beating Pepperdine was big.

Pirate Radio: You are taking three guys to dinner tonight, past, present, whoever you want. Who are you taking to dinner and what are you eating?

Tousley: I'm taking Ted Williams, Michael Jordan, and Andruw Jones and we are eating Italian pasta.

Pirate Radio: Nice. I think Jordan, Andruw, and Ted, that would be a fun crowd.

Tousley: Yeah Andruw is my guy now. He's coming no matter what.

Pirate Radio: What the heck are you going to do after dinner? Those guys have been known to live it up a little bit.

Tousley: We'll probably first start out. We'll come to the field. I'll give them some hitting lessons for a little bit. Then we'll probably go out, catch a movie. Keep it low key. It's in season.

Pirate Radio: Good answer. What's the best thing about being an East Carolina Pirate Ryan?

Tousley: Just the teammates. Everybody out here is good friends. A lot of good chemistry. Just coming to the field everyday and knowing you are playing with a group 30 good guys. Great to be out here with the fan support. It's unbelievable. You can't beat it around the country. So just being around this atmosphere day in and out is indescribable.