Post Game Quotes
5/26/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 26, 2005
2005 ACC Baseball Championship
Thursday, May 26, 2005
Game 9: #5 North Carolina Tar Heels vs. #8 Wake Forest Demon Deacons
Opening Statement from North Carolina Head Coach Mike Fox:
Two and out is always tough. We've got to regroup here for next week. We just can't find a way to win. We finally start pitching well, which we haven't done in a while, and then we just stop swinging the bat and finally start playing good defense. Wake Forest pitched well against us. They made some great pitches; got some big outs when they needed to and we just didn't get it done.
On what happened:
We were waiting for something bad to happen on their end. I sensed it in the dugout. We were just waiting on it: a wild pitch, ball in the dirt, a drop. I don't know how you get that feeling. I've been coaching for 22-23 years, it's the hardest part of coaching because it's all about what's between our ears and then putting pressure on yourself at the plate, knowing we have to get a big hit. Really it's a game where you can't play like that. It's much more mental than it is physical. I'm not taking anything away from Wake Forest, they deserved to win.
On whether Seth Williams' double play from right field was a boost for the team:
You're thinking we need something to spark us, just something to spark us. Then we get a big hit. Chase Younts really played well down there, a senior guy. He hit almost every time up, we got first and third. I was going to squeeze the first pitch and I talked myself out of it. I said I was going to let Brian (Johnson) see one pitch, maybe it will be a ball or he might be a little nervous. Get a 1-0 count then we'll squeeze. But he didn't give me a chance. That's the way it goes. What if, could of, should of, done this, could of, done that. I thought about bunting Matt Ellington there; he never takes pitches, he swings at almost everything. Why he took a fast ball right down the middle when I took the bunt sign off, I don't know. You've got to think, you're up there as a hitter and you don't bunt, and coach puts the bunt sign on and then you take it off, you're thinking ... I'm going to get a hit here, hit a double, put first and third and then you don't swing, that is where I know it's between their ears.
Opening Statement from Wake Forest Head Coach Rick Rembielak:
Kyle (Young) has been a reliever for us all year and this is a little different situation for him to end up going a little bit longer than what he is used to. I give him credit because he has to get into a different mind set as a starter. I also credit Coach (Chris) Sinacori, our pitching coach, for keeping these guys like Kyle in condition. We have not played in conditions like this with the heat, it's a little bit warmer than what we are used to and our pitchers have been in really good condition to end up enduring the warmer weather.
There were opportunities on both sides of the field today to score runs. Unfortunately, it comes down to a bad break. Both pitchers pitched extremely well. I thought both guys did a tremendous job on the mound.
On the play of his team and bouncing back from last night's game vs. Georgia Tech:
At this point in the season, you can't let anything like that affect you as tough as it is, you just have to recover. We didn't say a word to them (the team) as a staff, I didn't think we needed to, it was pretty evident the situation we were in. You have to come out and if you really want to be here as a player. You work all fall, all winter, in the weight room and do all that just to give up? I don't think so. From my stand point, I didn't feel like I had to say anything to our players. If you want to continue playing, you have to come out and go against the odds. It was a tough night. It took a lot out of us both physically and mentally.
On the confidence of the players a day after being one inning away from defeating the top-seeded team in the tournament:
It was pretty obvious to our players, we were in a great situation, we opened the door a little bit and the game got blown wide open. I felt good about the way our team played, we had one bad inning in the fifth and it got away from us. But to end up facing a team that has one of the most potent offenses in the league, maybe one of the most potent offenses I have seen in a few years as a coach, one through nine, you can not let up with an offense like that, so that made the situation even more of an accomplishment for Brian Bach last night.
Pitcher Kyle Young on his pitching performance against North Carolina:
I felt pretty good. I was maybe a little fatigued mentally but physically, I felt fresh. Coach Sinacori does a great job of keeping us well conditioned. As a pitching staff, we take on the responsibilities of doing whatever role is needed from us game in and game out.
On when he out found he would be taking the mound this afternoon:
Last night after the Georgia Tech game was over. He (Rembielak) told me so I could prepare mentally. Like Coach Rembielak said, there is no room for feeling tired or feeling down, this is the end of the line. You have to come out with the same intensity, same aggression that you came out with the night before, regardless of the outcome, regardless of how you feel. That's the key in this game is to come out everyday with that same mentality.