|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIPMay 25, 2016Jim MorrisZack CollinsJesse LeporeDurham, North Carolina Miami - 4, Georgia Tech - 0 JIM MORRIS: It was a good game for both teams. I felt like pitching-wise, our guy came in and did a great job. Hit his spots, pitched away a lot, particularly on our left-handers, really spotted the ball well, changed speeds. We didn't hit the ball very hard but that first inning was a big inning. We got an opportunity there and Lopez came through with another game-winning hit, which he's been doing a lot of lately. They have been walking my man right here next to me some and giving him a chance to get game-winning hits and he's done a great job. You've got to have that in those opportunities. Both teams played very good defense. Lepore pitched outstanding. Bartow came in and did a great job after two innings and Garcia came in and did his typical Garcia-closing type thing, put a couple guys on base to make it interesting before he gets the last out. So that's a -- closer seems to do that. Big win for us and every win at this stage is big. Q. Jesse, your first ACC game. Can you talk about that and talk a little about your shoulder, your arm, what's the situation? JESSE LEPORE: Definitely very excited coming into this game. I felt like I had a lot to prove, not only to everyone else but to myself, as well. I had a good year during the regular season and it was good to keep it going throughout the post-season, as well. And no worries. Just a little fatigue and we're good. Working towards the next start. Q. Sorry if this sounds like a dumb question but I wasn't the only one in the press box that didn't think Zack's homer was going out and it kept going and going. Can you talk about that ball or maybe in general how he hits the ball? JIM MORRIS: Well, he's worked a lot on going the other way since he's been at Miami. They were pitching him away, away, away and the ball jumps off his bat. To hit a ball opposite way, you've got to have some pop, and particularly with the bats today, much different than they were back in the 90s. He's got outstanding power to both fields, and that's what makes him really a great threat as a hitter. Not only is he selective; you've to pitch to him, but when you do, sometimes you're going to pay the price. He saw everything away today. I don't know if he saw anything inside or not but I don't think so. Q. Zack, what was your approach in that home run at-bat and were you aiming for the bull up there on the wall? ZACK COLLINS: I'd like to win a steak. I wasn't aiming for it. It was just a two-strike approach, trying to stay back. I hit the ball the other way and I got the right pitch to do that and just put the barrel on it. Q. Not exactly a gamble going with a mid-week starter who is 8-0 on the year, but could you walk us through your strategy on setting up your pitching for the tournament? JIM MORRIS: First of all, the week before, the weekend before, we played on Thursday, Friday, Saturday. And then the tournament starts on Tuesday or Wednesday, depending which team you're playing. And the week before that, we happened to be the Monday night game, so we played Saturday, Sunday, Monday. So it kind of changed our pitching rotation a little bit. We had confidence in Jesse. He pitched well all year in those mid-week games, and we felt like we wanted to rest our pitching to make sure they had proper rest going into this weekend, and every weekend from here on is bigger and bigger. You know, that whether it's this weekend; or the next weekend is even bigger with the NCAA super regional and of course the World Series. You want to make sure your pitchers are rested and you want to make sure you don't over-pitch guys. That was Jesse's last inning whether he knew it or not, but the fact he said he was a little tight, it made the decision a little easier to get him out there. Q. From your perspective what was Jesse doing today that made him so effective? ZACK COLLINS: Just pounding the strike zone. I think he got a head of a lot of guys and they were swinging the bat early and fortunately popping out or we were playing great defense. Edgar made a great play, Johnny made a great play, great plays in the outfield. I think he was just pitching knowing that he has good defense behind him, and that's what happens. Q. Can you comment on this post-season with the draft coming up; is it any different for you to keep your focus on the team and that type of thing? JIM MORRIS: I don't think it's any different. I haven't won a ring here at Miami, so that's the first thing I'm worried about right now is winning this ring on Sunday. We've got to continue to win this week and just play it game by game. Q. You guys have scored a lot of runs recently, and you get a shutout today, but your defense is not talked about a lot. Can you talk about, you had a diving play at third, you had a diving catch in the outfield, you're one of the better defensive teams in the nation; can you talk about defense as you move forward into the post-season? JIM MORRIS: Sure. I mean, our defense has been very, very solid all year. It kept us in games. Our pitchers have pitched, if we didn't hit, our pitchers and our defense kept us in the game. We turned a lot of double plays. We made I don't know how many diving plays but we've been very, very consistent. We made one error today which shouldn't have been made on a tough play and Johnny Ruiz has played as good as anybody I've had at second base, very solid. Just didn't get in front of the ball. Laid back on the ball, got caught there. Our defense has been outstanding all year and we really have good infielders that have good hands. Chris Barr at first base doesn't get enough credit. Edgar made the great diving play, but if it wasn't for Chris and his footwork and being a natural first baseman, left-handed and going back across the base and making a play; and then our outfield has made great diving plays all year just like Chester made. We made so many, I don't even know how many. It's more than ten; I don't know how many. So it's been really a combination of everybody playing good and keeping us in games. Q. In your mind, with young pitchers, did Jesse take another step in your mind towards getting the ball again in a key spot? JIM MORRIS: Well, definitely. There's no question about that, and he'll pitch next weekend. We haven't set our rotation or anything because we don't know who we're playing. We match up against different people. But he will be starting one of the games next weekend. He really stepped up a notch today. I'm very excited for him; the fact he won his first ACC game against a team that can really swing the bats very aggressive; big, strong guys that can hit. Q. Coaches talk about teams pitching around you and walking a lot. Is that something that gets frustrating at all for you at the plate, and do you maybe let out some frustration with a big swing like that today? ZACK COLLINS: No, because I've walked a lot in my first two years, also, and throughout high school. Kind of gotten used to it. But I'm the type of guy where if I get that strike that I'm going to try to swing at it. I don't know if it's off the plate, I'm not going to swing. JIM MORRIS: One time I've got to tell you, I've gotten frustrated watching, he may not have, but I have. One time it was a 3-0 count and there wasn't a guy in scoring position, there wasn't two outs, there's not a time he was swinging and I let him swing. And he goes, "What are you doing?" (Laughter.) "Why are you having me swing in this situation?" I said, "I'm getting tired of walking you." But he's better at it than I am. (Laughter.) FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|