Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest Baseball Quotes
5/30/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 30, 2002
Wake Forest head coach George Greer
On the team's progress this season and hosting the subregional: "I knew after the fall instructional period that we had a pretty good ball club. I just expected this team to get better and better as the year went on. I didn't expect them to come out of the gate the way they did, but I knew we'd be a contender to make a regional and our mission was to host it. We want to host it because the way Winston-Salem responded in '99, having as many fans as we did, we wanted to get college baseball back here and have an opportunity to showcase college baseball for Winston-Salem."
On the team's attitude: "This team will come out and play hard for 27 outs. The 27 outs that we have will be hard outs and we'll play as hard as any team you'll see."
On the team's approach: "We try to approach every game doing what we do best, and that's get on base, steal some bases, get our big hitters up in key situations and play good defense for our pitching staff and try to take the lead into the later innings. That's what we're going to try do and that's what we've tried to do all year."
Wake Forest sophomore third baseman Jamie D'Antona
On hosting the subregional: "We're very excited. It's always good to come back home and play in front of your own fans at a field that we're used to, so it'll be good for us to play here. Being here and hopefully filling this stadium should be a big advantage for us."
On George Washington: "They're a very good ballclub that made it into our regional and we're focused on playing them in the first game."
On the team's mindset: "We're joking around and having fun, not taking ourselves to seriously. It helps to not get too tight. But once we get out on the field, everything changes."
On the team's goals: "We don't think too much about the records we set. Our goal for the entire year has been to get to Omaha and if that doesn't come about, I think we'll feel like we let each other down."
Wake Forest sophomore pitcher Kyle Sleeth
On home field: "It's definitely a factor. We saw with Florida State at the ACC Tournament and especially last year with Tennesssee. This year we've had pretty good fan support and we look forward to continue that here. I've a lot of good things about a lot of fans coming out here and supporting us."
On starting the opening game: "I'm trying to take it like any other big, important game. We definitely need to win this first game. Last year, we lost the first game and it put us in a big hole, having to play five games in three days. This year we're going to do it one game at a time."
Wake Forest junior outfielder Adam Bourassa
On the team's attitude: "We're ready to play. We've actually been pretty loose this week, which is how we've been all year. Come tomorrow, we'll just get here, get ready to play and just go from there. We know how important it is to win that first game."
On the prospect of going to Omaha: "The day I found out I was going to have the opportunity to play here, I set the goal that day: Omaha. If we don't get there, I don't think any of us will be satisfied, especially for our seniors who have put so much into this program. We want to get there for them, and also for our fans."
Navy head coach Steve Whitmyer
On being in the NCAA Tournament: "We're really excited about being able to represent the Patriot League in the tournament. We have a really tough task ahead of us. A Patriot League representative has not won a game in the NCAA Tournament before, but we're excited because we feel like we've been playing pretty good baseball towards the end of the season. We were fortunate enough to kind of slip in the back door and host our tournament for the third straight year and we were lucky enough to come out on top this time. This bracket is extremely tough, starting with Wake Forest and I know Richmond and George Washington are very good as well, so it's going to be a monumental task for us."
On returning to coach against Wake Forest: "It's a great feeling. I have a great deal of respect for Coach Greer and the baseball program. The things have happened here over the past couple of years have been fantastic and they've been really second to none nationally. There's nothing I would want more than to face Wake in the finals and beat them, so I'm looking forward to the challenge."
On playing Richmond: "It's hard not to notice that Richmond has 49 wins. I've been watching or coaching against them since I was back at Wake Forest. I know Coach Atkins always puts out a very balanced team that does all things well. He always has two or three really good hitters and this year he has a very good pitching staff and I believe that for us to have a chance to keep ourselves in the game, our guys are going to having to walk out on the field and pitch very well, and we're going to have to field very well. We're trying to get ourselves ready for the first inning because we know that Richmond is an outstanding second-seed team."
Navy senior outfielder John Cocca
On the lack of games in recent weeks: "We've been very competitive at practice, scrimmaging and working hard. We've worked the hardest all season here in May. It's a shame we only had two games in May, but at the same point, we haven't this hard all season. I think we're playing our best baseball of the season right now and we're coming together as a team. Key players are coming back from injuries and we're ready to go."
Navy senior catcher Domini Nicolini
On the lack of games in May: "It gives us a chance to get in shape, maybe run a little more, hit the weight room a little more, get healthy. As far as getting competitive, and scrimmaging and things like that, we've had a lot of competitive practices, where guys have gone out there and treated it like a game situation."
Richmond head coach Ron Atkins
On his team's focus and mood: "This team doesn't let much bother them. We had great practice Monday and Tuesday and we had a great workout today. All we're thinking about is that we have a chance to do something that we've set a goal for all year long, so that's what we're going to go for. I told our team that we're not coming down here to win one or two games. I've been here many times before and I really want to win this thing."
On preparing for Navy: "We've got a lot of stuff on Navy. We're going to meet tonight to try and finalize everything and by two o'clock tomorrow, Tidball and McGirr will know everything about their hitters and we'll be ready to go. I don't think this team gets overconfident. We just have to come out and swing the bats. Last weekend, we didn't field the ball as well as we should have, but I think this team is ready to play some good defense. We just need to get timely hitting. That's the key to winning any series like this. You have to get runners and you gotta have some key hits. You do that, and the pitching the way it is, I think we can win."
Richmond junior pitcher Mike McGirr
On starting against Navy: "I feel good. If I can pitch my ballgame and put the pitches where Adam (sophomore catcher Adam Tidball) wants them, I think we'll do alright. Hopefully we'll play a good game and the team will come together and play good defense behind me. I'll try to throw some strikes and hopefully we'll get the W. Usually I've gone in game three, but this weekend I'm going in game one. I've done it before, I did it a lot last year and it's important to get that first game and I think we'll do that."
On the team's attitude: "The outlook on the bus was really good and everyone was really excited to come and play. We're ready to go."
Richmond sophomore catcher Adam Tidball
On bouncing back from a disappointing conference tournament: "You just have to block it out of your mind and take it one at-bat at a time, one pitch at a time."
On seeing Navy for the first time: "We have to watch them in BP, see what kind of swings they have, whether they crowd the plate or swing at breaking balls, whether they chase pitches. We just have to read it as the game goes along."
On lack of NCAA Tournament experience: "I've never experienced anything like this, so I really don't know what to expect, but I'm really excited to be here. We're going to try to have some fun this weekend and try to win."
George Washington head coach Tom Walter
On being in the tournament: "Obviously we're thrilled to be here. These guys have worked so hard this year and to see it come to fruition with a conference championship and now with an NCAA regional bid is great for our program and great for our guys to see their hard work pay off."
On playing Wake Forest: "We'd certainly rather be seeing someone other than Wake Forest and Kyle Sleeth on opening day, because they're a top-five or six program for a reason. Still, we're going to have to beat Wake Forest at some point to get out of this regional, so we might as well throw our number-one guy against their number-one guy and let the chips fall where they may."
On his team: "What I like best about our team is that they never quit. In a lot of games this year, we've been down late in the ballgame and the guys never give up. We're mentally tough, and that comes from having seniors and guys who have played here for four years. You obviously have four or five games over the course of the year that you think you might have won if you had played things a little differently, but I don't think I'd change anything about our team. I like the way things have played out so far."
George Washington junior outfielder Tony Dokoupil
On coming off the conference championship: "I feel like winning the conference championship was like getting the monkey off our backs, because we've had talented clubs the past few years and this year we definitely had as much talent or more and we knew this was the year to do it. So now it's about getting past that moment and letting things happen."
George Washington junior pitcher Greg Conden
On starting against Wake Forest: "We haven't looked at the scouting reports yet, but I know they're going to hit. They obviously have some powerful bats in their lineup, so I'm just going to try to make them hit my pitches and not necessarily try to play completely mistake-free ball, but to try and limit the number of mistakes."
George Washington senior outfielder Tony Brown
On the team's experience: "It helps us, to have been winning together, being around each other, growing together and living together has definitely made us a better ballclub. I think the group we have this year has a tight bond, and add that to the fact that you can't take anything away from the experience we have and that has definitely made us a stronger ballclub."
