|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
NCAA WOMEN'S COLLEGE WORLD SERIESJune 1, 2019Allie ArnesonCarlie BrandtMaddie HoulihanSidney SmithJamie TrachselOklahoma City, Oklahomaa Washington-5, Minnesota-3 THE MODERATOR: We are joined by the Minnesota Gophers. Maddie, in the last inning, you were down 5-1. You pushed across a couple runs, eventually brought the winning run to the plate. What does it say about your team and the season you have put together? MADDIE HOULIHAN: I think it just shows the resiliency and the toughness that this team has. I don't think there's ever a moment we will ever give up. We're going to give you hell until you find a way to beat us. I think the seventh inning proved that. Obviously, it shows if we clean up some stuff earlier in the game, it's a different ballgame. I was proud of the fight the team showed. It started from the middle of the lineup, all the way down. What a game for Carlie in the nine-hole. Shows the toughness we have one through nine. That's been our team this entire year, is finding a way to win. It's cool to see different people step up in different games. Obviously, we didn't win today, but just the fight and the resiliency throughout the entire lineup was pretty cool to see. THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student-athletes. Q. Allie, describe your emotions. Came here three years ago, a fantastic move. Describe how you feel right now. ALLIE ARNESON: I'm sad. I'm very sad. It's bittersweet. Softball has taught me a lot. I hate to kind of give it up right now. I'm just embracing everything right now. It's really cool I made it to the College World Series. That was my goal since I was eight years old. Not everyone can say that. I'm very blessed with the special team coming here. Q. Y'all want to answer that question? MADDIE HOULIHAN: Obviously there's a lot of emotions running. You're here for four years. People always tell you that it goes fast. You never really believe them until you're in your last game. Holy crap, that went fast. I'm just so proud. I think 'proud' is the only word I have that comes to mind right now. I'm proud to be a Gopher. Proud to finish my career alongside some pretty amazing people. With the staff we had this year, it just was an unbelievable year, unbelievable way to end a career. SYDNEY SMITH: I think she said it all. But you can't ask for a better way to end your season than on this stage, wearing this uniform. It's been awesome. I think Allie could agree with me, coming to this university, transferring, being at Minnesota has changed the way we look at life, the way we do things, the way we speak to people, the way we hold each other to a different standard. Minnesota is really producing quality people. Everyone on this team could agree with that, that you look at all 20 of these girls, left and right, they're good people. That's what we like at Minnesota is quality, good people. There's no better way to spend your college career than at Minnesota with some good people. CARLIE BRANDT: I'm not a senior, but just looking at these guys next to me, I can just say I'm proud and humbled to be sitting next to them because they've laid such a great foundation for this program. They made history, helped build every one of us up from the bottom. I think it's just great to leave this season knowing Minnesota is a place where you can chase your dreams. There's more to come from Minnesota. These guys did an awesome job starting that. Q. Sydney, you mentioned transferring back home. What does it say about the state of softball in Minnesota? SYDNEY SMITH: I mean, Minnesota softball is changing. We're competitive. We can compete with anyone in the country. We've proved that this year. We're ending our season as the No. 7 team in the country. Not many programs can say that. Minnesota, like Carlie said, is somewhere you can chase your dreams. I truly 100% believe that. This speaks to itself. We're here. A lot of other teams are not. Why not Minnesota? Why not us? Why not come and be different, change the history? We made history this year. Not a lot of people can say that. Minnesota is really somewhere that it's going to continue to get better. They're only on the up from here. Q. (No microphone.) MADDIE HOULIHAN: We played mini golf in our dugout. We just kind of talked as a team, told some funny stories. Kind of just like to keep loose, have some fun. Kind of a fun last game, I guess. We got an extra couple hours together. We really just like to have fun and tell stories. People keep the energy light, try to not get too tired. Allie took a little power nap, but she came out ready. We just had fun, yeah. Q. Maddie, Carlie talked about the foundation you helped lay. Looking at the future, how do you feel like you're leaving it? MADDIE HOULIHAN: I think in very good hands. I think the staff did an unbelievable job of just working their butt off to get us where we needed to be. The team did a great job of buying into the process, with just trusting each other, trusting the training. I think this program is only going to get better. Everyone knows how to work hard and everyone knows how to compete together. I really truly believe the future is still very bright for Minnesota. Q. Carlie, you come up clutch in the ninth inning [sic] with a double. Two hits on the day. What did it feel like to go out in your last game and make an impact offensively? CARLIE BRANDT: What I was thinking when I went up to the plate, what we kept telling each other, I'm going to pass the bat, do it for the person behind me. That's exactly what I was doing in my at-bats. I was fighting, trying to find a way, like Maddie said, produce in any way possible to help this team win. Q. This season, including post-season, you had 16 home games. How hard is it to only play 16 home games yet still end your season in Oklahoma City? CARLIE BRANDT: I think it's special. I think having only a few games at home, you just get to take it all in. We felt the energy from our crowd the entire time we were home. They're very special. I think coming here to this huge stage where obviously softball just shines, it's exciting to see how it compares to this ginormous stage in Oklahoma City. It's very exciting. I think it's a lot of fun. ALLIE ARNESON: Kind of off what Carlie said. A special fan base that follows us around everywhere. Playing at home, it's super special. We had a huge crowd there. They all came here, it just is super special. SYDNEY SMITH: I mean, they both said it all. I think that's what makes this team so special, is we put in the time and travel to go play good competition. We spend a lot of time together. We get to know each other. I think that's what makes this team so good, is we're a family. I know everyone says that, it's cliché. We really are. I think that's one of the reasons, we spend quality time together, we get to know each other on and off the field. It just makes us better teammates and better players. MADDIE HOULIHAN: Obviously it's hard when you're only playing a couple games at home. I think then coming to places on the road, it almost feels comfortable to us to kind of be away from home. We're used to the pressure, used to the big crowds cheering against us. I think you get used to it when you're a northern state, knowing your first six weeks are going to be on the road. I think that makes coming home that much more special. We had some pretty amazing weekends at home this year that I think some of us will never forget. THE MODERATOR: Ladies, thank you. We'll continue with questions for coach. Q. This is the exact same position you were in, losing to Washington. The ninth inning [sic], did you have hope when Carlie drove in the runs you could force it into extra innings? JAMIE TRACHSEL: We're a little farther this year than the last time we faced Washington, so it still feels a little different. I mean, we had belief before that point. We always talk about still having outs on the board, we still have a chance. We're going to force someone to make all 21 outs against us, to beat us. We're not going to try to beat ourselves. We're going to continue to fight while we have opportunities. We did that. We put ourselves in a position to tying that game or going up in it in the seventh inning. You can't ask your kids for more than that, to compete like that in the seventh inning, give ourselves a chance to win the game. Q. Some uncharacteristic errors at points throughout this weekend. Do you feel like the moment got the best of the girls, the big stage, first time here? JAMIE TRACHSEL: I don't know. It hurts because I feel like our defense has been so consistent (tearing up). Our pitching has been outstanding all year. Our defense, we kind of take a lot of pride in being secret service. Our job is to serve, protect and defend the president. We didn't do it this weekend. We gave up scoring position with extending the innings. Against this caliber of teams, you can't do it. They make you pay. It cost us several runs, probably the difference in the games of both of them. Our left side has been so strong all year, regionals, super regionals. So it's disappointing not because you're disappointing in them, because that's not who we've been all year. Maybe it was the emotions. I'm not sure about that. Just sometimes you make plays and sometimes you don't. It's a pretty big stage when you do make a mistake or have an error. We're always hoping our kids can rebound and respond and be resilient. I think they continued to fight offensively. We just gave up too many runs to too many good teams. That's hard to overcome. Q. One of the quickest mound visits ever, that was not to talk to Fiser as much as the whole infield right off the bat. JAMIE TRACHSEL: In the first inning? Q. Yes. JAMIE TRACHSEL: Just to try to slow them down a little bit. Just keep it a game of execution. You can't do anything about what has happened. Keep it simple. Everything matters. We know that because every run is important in the game. Try to just let go of what was. We always talk about big plays in big moments, what the next opportunity is. Just to try to let them take a deep breath, slow the game down a little bit, keep it simple, try to get out of that inning without more damage being done. Q. Do you think people ever saw you’re a-game in this tournament? JAMIE TRACHSEL: No. Sometimes this environment stage does that to teams. We prepared the best that we could, with the experiences and lessons learned from this entire season, to come out on this stage and be prepared. We didn't play our best. We're not going to make excuses about it. We certainly won't have any regrets about it. It just didn't go our way. There's so many special weekends we get to share together, we're not going to let one weekend define or change anything we've been able to accomplish together. Q. Tell me what Allie meant to your program and what she meant as a senior. JAMIE TRACHSEL: Little Turbo is her nickname. She's a thousand miles an hour. She's pure entertainment, doesn't matter on the field or off the field. It's been cool to see her grow over her years here at Minnesota. People that have seen her would say the same thing, on and off the field. This year, I've said this a couple times, she's the one kid, probably 20 times, Jamie, we're going to the World Series. She is a kid who has a lot on her plate, but she showed up for us every day, every day. There's nothing more that kid could have given to her teammates or this program. She's one of the biggest reasons we're playing at the Women's College World Series. Her defense was outstanding this entire season. I know that's her specialty, certainly her passion. She was clutch, her and Maddie especially. She was clutch the last couple weekends with some big hits, RBIs to get us to this point. She is a special kid that has made a big impact on all of us. We're excited to see where life takes her one step at a time. Q. What will this do for your recruiting? JAMIE TRACHSEL: Well, I think the biggest thing, like we've mentioned, is this is a place that you can chase your dreams. Minnesota is a national brand. It just takes the right players and the right people and the right positions at the right time to do something special. That's the truth of it. People build programs in anything you're talking about. It doesn't matter where you live or where you have them. You can do something special. I think hopefully it lit a fire for a lot of the players. Our assistant coach Katie talked about this, that this is a reality. Before it might have been a dream. It is a dream to get here. Now we know this is a reality. For all the kids that are coming back next year, that will be joining our program, looking for the right fit for them in their collegiate experience, this is a place they can come and have the best of everything. They have to be willing to work for it. Q. Throughout this tournament there's been a lot of questions about softball in southern California, in the southeast. Your roster is heavily loaded with homegrown talent. What does that say about softball in the state of Minnesota? How are you going to make sure you keep growing the sport, that it stays competitive in the state of Minnesota? JAMIE TRACHSEL: I think it's on its way. Minnesota, that's our state. You take a lot of pride in representing our home state, the players, the programs, all the places, all the colleges in it. I think to be a good program or a great program, you have to try to own your local recruiting. That's anywhere you go. For us, it's kind of a badge of honor when you're a northern team, you get this little chip on your shoulder, prove-it mentality, like mindedness. When you have enough of the people that want the same things, are willing to work for it, you can do some special things. For us, it's always to make sure we take care of home. We try to own our local recruiting in the state of Minnesota and surrounding states. How cool is it that they can stay at home and play in front of sellout crowds, electric environments, host regionals, still get to the World Series, and their families can see them every step of the way. That's I think what is special about what we've been able to do. Our local kids got to share this experience and journeys with their family who have been with them every step of the way. Q. Will you walk us through your thought when you're trying to give Sydney the ball. JAMIE TRACHSEL: Yeah, we actually were talking about it maybe even a couple hitters prior to that. She has been ready for a long time. Fiser has just done such a good job. The opportunities she's had. Even coming into this tournament, there was no reservation at putting Syd at any point against anyone we were playing. Just the timing of it. Fiser can get out of situations with her strike-out and change-up. We like the slapper, then the righty. Bates ended up getting a hit, we got the next out. We put Syd in based on that matchup. We were talking about it. We thought we had a good matchup with Fiser and Bates, the righty. Then Syd was going to come in. When she came in, she did a good job. She gave us a chance to win the game. Had we not made that error in the seventh inning, we wouldn't have given up those runs. You never know what could have happened. For a senior to come in and do that job, especially not being able to get the ball for so many weeks, she's been ready, productive in her bullpens and workouts. She helped give us a chance to win this game. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. 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
|