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WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: 1ST ROUND POOL DMarch 9, 2017John AndreoliChris ColabelloMarco MazzieriZapopan, Jalisco, México Italy - 10, México - 9. Q. We talked Spanish earlier, and you were talking about an important triumph in the last -- is this now the most important victory? MARCO MAZZIERI: I don't know if you can say it like that because I think when we beat México, that was important, of course. It was more important because we hope that with this game there might be people in Italy that get up and see that these are very important steps in Jalisco. Q. Do you think this win is like a surprise, like you are going to be the team that surprises us? MARCO MAZZIERI: Well, for some reason, any time Italy wins, it's a big surprise. It's been like that for eight years now. The only ones that are not surprised, it's these guys, because they're playing to win. They're playing to win every pitch. And sometimes we're able to make it, sometimes we don't make it. But they play to win, and they showed it tonight. Q. And how do you think you feel like the confidence is to play against Venezuela on Saturday? MARCO MAZZIERI: When you win a game like this it makes you feel good with yourselves. But even though this game wasn't going to be the way it went, I think we battled, we fought, and we were going to have the same attitude going into Venezuela in two days. Q. I'm sure having played here, there's been some hype about the Pan-American games. The plan you had to face México, was there something special about it? MARCO MAZZIERI: I was given that question before, and no. There was no special plan. When pitchers pitch a little bit harder, good hitters are going to hit hard, and that's what happened today. Q. What is the key to the next game where the players don't know each other, especially four years ago you played together and played good in a team with players where you don't coexist too much with them? CHRIS COLABELLO: A lot of us have known each other already. We have played in Double-A, Major Leagues, things like that. We know a lot, one about the other, and we have followed each other's careers. We wear different uniforms, but we have a passion to play for that team, and also I think that it helps us a little bit, also, that everybody thinks that we cannot win. I think in México five years ago nobody knew that I could play well. That's why we have that confidence, and we saw it in the last tournament how we have to play together from the first to last pitch. Q. The pitching was uphill. When you were losing by four runs, the atmosphere was phenomenal against you. Was there something that you told your team before the ninth inning? MARCO MAZZIERI: I told everybody we have to play each pitch in order to win. They're going to throw the pitch, but we have special players and special people. It's a credit that we have proven today, we proved it four years ago, and it's a perfect example of the courage and determination and passion and energy that these guys have. Q. Sitting in the dugout going into the inning -- JOHN ANDREOLI: Tonight obviously we were down to the home team there with that crowd. It was a big mountain to climb, but we just took it one pitch at a time, and with the quality of guys that we had, we knew we could grind out a couple at-bats and get something going, I think the momentum totally shifted toward us. It was just like I said, pitch by pitch. CHRIS COLABELLO: I think coming from two Massachusetts guys, we play until the last out. No, I think it's something we talked about from long before the tournament started, like any of the guys we contacted one another. One of the things we have to do is we have to grind. We might not be as talented as other teams, but I think it's really important that we play every pitch, we play every inning, we play every out, and I think no matter what the scoreboard says, it's our responsibility to go out every day and give our best at-bats. I think to come off the bench and to have a performance like that against one of the best closers in baseball, that's a grind right there. That embodies what we hope to be every day. That's the way we want to play the game. Obviously some guys that are in their first tournament, Nimmo getting the two-strike hit against Perez and (indiscernible), Alex Liddi fighting off a couple tough sliders, that's just the way we have to play. We're going to play every pitch, and we're going to look up at the end and see what the score shows. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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