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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIPMay 25, 2018Mike MartinCal RaleighDrew ParrishDurham, North Carolina Florida State - 5, NC State - 2 MIKE MARTIN: Well, you've done a real good job with the weather. Every time we come up here it seems like it rains, whether we're playing North Carolina State or North Carolina. For a guy from this state, I don't remember it raining this much when I lived up here. This was a night that really -- if you were there and you saw it, you know the value of these two men with our ballclub. Looking at the overall game, I thought that we played very good defense, turned a couple of double plays in crucial situation -- not crucial but important situations. Cal did just an excellent job of blocking the ball to get the guy out at first base. Those things some people overlook, but this is a guy that will go out there and give you everything he's got every pitch, and I just can't say enough about the way he enjoys the game of baseball. Something happened tonight that doesn't happen very much in my career. I usually have my mind made up of what we're going to do, and Drew came off in the eighth -- this is kind of funny. The trainer said something to the effect of he's tight, and Drew was right behind him, and he said, there's nothing wrong with me; I'm fine. I can pitch this inning. So he gets through the next inning, comes up to me in the dugout, and said, I want to finish this thing. And I said, okay, and turned around and walked off. That is the mark of a competitor. It's the kind of guy that you want. There are certain people that are very happy to punch out when they get 14 and say, okay, I've got my 12, let somebody else come back. No, uh-uh, he wanted to finish it. I wouldn't be surprised if somebody else had something to do with that, but at the same time, that's just the way we approach the game of baseball. He had five more pitches, and he was done, and fortunately it didn't get to that point. So he maxed out at 120. And it is June. Q. Cal, this ridiculous streak that you're on here, this finishing stretch, how do you account for this, and what's it feel like to be so locked in? It seems like every time you get up there, it's like no chance to get you out it feels like. CAL RALEIGH: Yeah, I'm feeling good right now. Coming down the home stretch of the past three years, I've learned a few things, and this is what we play for. This is the time of the year that's most important. I've got my body ready and been mentally ready. It's going well, and I think things are clicking really well. It's going good. Q. That at-bat, I guess, in the third that kind of changed the game a little bit, that home run, were you looking changeup there? CAL RALEIGH: I mean, yeah, I was. I mean, essentially. He threw me a fastball earlier, and I was -- I mean, I knew that -- we faced them less than a week ago, and he tried the same things, and I just had it in the back of my head. I was just trying to get a hit off him, but it worked out pretty well. Q. Drew, you guys are without Tyler Holton now. You've stepped forward, and a lot of us are talking about it's like you guys had two Friday night guys, you just didn't know it. Has that been something on your mind when you lost Tyler that you wanted to fill that void? DREW PARRISH: Yeah, losing such a key player this year to injury, I knew that I was going to have to step up and pick the team up and couldn't let it affect us, so I just gave it my best, and I'm just role playing. I'm letting everyone else do their job, and I'm just trying to do mine. Q. Cal, three years in college, and last year wasn't a perfect year, and maybe that's a great part of the experience. Was there one thing that you took from last year into this offseason that will be something as you continue to play baseball even after this year is a great lesson for you? CAL RALEIGH: Yeah, last year wasn't -- I mean, it was a great year team-wise, and I had one of the best times of my life, but in a way there were some things that I needed to work on, and in the offseason I definitely worked on them. It was some fundamental stuff and some mental stuff as far as that goes. Just looking at it, I started off a little tough. It was a little rough. But it's finally hit full stride, and I feel really good, and all that stuff has kind of paid off, and I've kind of trusted myself in the process. It's been going well. Q. Drew, it feels like over the course of the season you've -- correct me if I'm wrong on this, but it feels like you featured that changeup more often than you had in the past, but today it felt like you really had your best breaking ball. Did you feel that way, too? Has the changeup development been a key for you this year as a sophomore? DREW PARRISH: Oh, yeah. Last year I didn't throw the changeup as well as I have this year, and it really helps facing right-handed batters, giving them a third look, keeping them honest. But yeah, tonight my curveball was really working for me, and I felt a lot more comfortable throwing it for a strike or taking it in the dirt and allowing Cal to block it. Yeah, my curveball felt good tonight. Q. Coach, from your perspective, the way that Drew has taken a step forward from last year to this year when you had a desperate need atop the rotation, what's been the key to that for you, and how much has it meant for this team? MIKE MARTIN: I think it started last year when you can just see a guy competing on the mound. I mean, I can remember it -- Notre Dame, he was, of course, a freshman. It was getaway day. The weather was Notre Dame style weather, and he goes out there and really gets after it. We end up winning the ballgame, and you're flying back home, and you're thinking, man, that's what this type of game is about. You've got to have competitors. You can't have guys that are looking around for an excuse. It was cold. It was windy. I wished I was somewhere else. But he's out there battling and gets us a big win, and that's when I said, this guy is going to pitch a lot of baseball at Florida State. That's what I look for in athletes, and Drew Parrish is one of those. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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