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NCAA MEN'S COLLEGE WORLD SERIESJune 25, 2014Tim CorbinCarson FulmerJohn NorwoodAdam RavenelleDansby SwansonOMAHA, NEBRASKA Vanderbilt – 3 THE MODERATOR: Representing Vanderbilt, our 2014 national champion head coach Tim Corbin, starting pitcher Carson Fulmer, outfielder, John Norwood, reliever, Adam Ravenelle, and second baseman, Dansby Swanson. Coach, if you'd begin with an opening statement. COACH CORBIN: First of all, thanks for your patience in allowing the kids to celebrate. First off, it was a heck of a college baseball game, number one, for two teams to play at that level in the final game with premium pitching, premium plays, premium offense. It was just a lot of fun to watch. I don't say that just because we won. Win or lose, it was a great game. I congratulate Virginia, and Brian, and Kevin, and Karl. It's a heck of a baseball team. We talked about them a lot during the course of the week, so we had to play very, very well in order to beat them. But I just credit our kids, our ability to come back and be resilient. There is a toughness team character trait that grew within this team, and it took a while to grow. But I think they realize that if it did, they could be in a situation like this. It's just still a little bit weird to think of because I don't want anyone to stop the dream. But I'm just happy for the kids and the university. Q. John, how does it feel to know that your name is going to be there beside Warren Morris and all the great names that have played here and had historic moments in Omaha, and you're going to be next on that list? JOHN NORWOOD: It's an amazing feeling, but it's not just myself. You don't get there without the rest of your team, and that is the biggest thing. Home run is awesome, but like I said, we don't get there if Carson doesn't throw or Dansby doesn't play great D and hit. It's just everybody. Everyone's picking each other up no matter what. Q. Tim and Dansby, I guess when John off the bat in that home run by him, what was going through your head right off the bat, and talk about it as well from your standpoint? COACH CORBIN: I just was opening that it didn't have enough top spin that it would hit the fence. They had seen two already, Dansby's and Rhett, and they were six inches away from being home runs. But Johnny's strength and bat speed with the velocity of Howard, that doesn't happen to that kid. A 97 mile an hour fastball and someone to turn it around like that takes a great amount of ability. I'm just happy for Johnny. I mean, he contained himself. The kid has grown so much so as a person and as a player, even in the last four weeks. You can talk to the players about his approach at the plate, his calmness, and just his overall offensive productivity, so just a big moment. DANSBY SWANSON: When he hit it, like Coach said, I was just hoping it didn't have too much top spin and he was able to get out. But he put a heck of a swing on an elevated fastball, and he hit it and knew it was gone. So I had a little trust in him that it would get out. Q. Carson, I noticed in the press box during the interview that you got kind of emotional during the ESPN interview. Just talk about the job going out there and giving your team a quality start. Obviously, this is a little extra special for you? CARSON FULMER: Absolutely. Going out there, I just had to throw strikes and let the defense work. I mean, you get out 1 and it's a whole different ballgame. And Virginia, if you make a mistake, they're going to make you pay. I got emotional, I did, during that interview, because I just can't describe the love and respect that I have for every one of my teammates. You know, my first day here I looked back last year my first day here, and I knew that I got into something very, very special. I look at all my teammates as my brothers. I look at Coach, our pitching coach, I look at them as father figures. Words can't describe this experience. This is definitely a day that I'll never forget, and I just can't thank enough for everyone being there to pick each other up. It is something that we've always dreamed of doing as a team, and we finally accomplished it. Q. Dansby, three hour and 44‑minute game. One second, beginning of the game, base hit. Then there is the pop fly, tag up situation. Talk about how important both those things were? A lot of things happened along the way, but just to start the game, the tone of the game? DANSBY SWANSON: We came in knowing we needed to be the aggressors and set the tone from the very beginning, and that was just my job to try to make something happen, be aggressive at the plate, on the bases and make Virginia feel like our presence was there. It ended up working out for me, and we were able to put together some good things from being aggressive. When you put pressure on people, it's hard to handle us. Q. Adam, over the course of the season it seems like you've just developed so much confidence from where you were a year or two ago to where you are now, closing out the College World Series. I think was it your third save in Omaha? I don't know if that's right, but tell me about that progression, and how did you get from there to here? ADAM RAVENELLE: Yeah, I think it was just something that was a whole year kind of thing. It started with Coach Brown in the fall, and then just working with him throughout the year. Every performance was a new situation, and coming into the College World Series, I couldn't tell you that I was going to be closing games out here. But it's just an opportunity, and I was just trying to take it pitch by pitch, and let my defense work and I've trusted these guys all year. These guys are the best defense in the country. So that's all I was trying to do. Q. Coach, your answer may be a quick answer, but one of the first things you do getting ready for a game is making your lineup card and batting order. Looked like you mixed things up a little today, including Johnny Norwood hitting clean‑up for the first time all season. Wiseman hadn't hit too much two hole either. Take us inside your thinking there. And John, if you could speak to whether it made any difference to you? The guy goes three for three, hits a home run, walks, scores two runs. I guess you kind of look like a genius, but tell us what went into that? COACH CORBIN: Well, that is the thinking of a coaching staff. That's Travis Jewett, Drew Hedman, and myself getting together at lunch. Travis had a couple of lineups, and he said, how do you think these feel? He said I've got a knee buckle lineup, and I've got a more conventional lineup. The knee buckle one was different. Obviously, you never know what's going to happen because we had some guys positioned differently. We really wanted to get Johnny up there closer to the top to where he would see a series of at‑bats. You could see the way he was taking pitches today, that he was seeing the ball really well. His heartbeat was right, his emotions were right, and it does make you look good when kids produce, but the kids have to produce. But we just felt like to get another lefty up there, figured their bullpen was a little bit less left‑handed than right‑handed especially today. We knew that whether it was Lewicki or Howard, we were going to see V low, and we wanted those guys at the top to try to produce some runs. THE MODERATOR: John, do you have anything to add? JOHN NORWOOD: For me, you're only in the four hole the first time you come up, and that's just the beginning of the game. You hit regardless where you are in the lineup, so it doesn't bother me. But they had trust enough to put me there, and fortunately I was blessed enough to do something cool, and it was nice. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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