WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: POOL C - COLOMBIA VS GREAT BRITAIN

March 13, 2023

Harry Ford

Graham Spraker

Chase Field

Team Great Britain

Postgame Press Conference

Great Britain - 7, Colombia - 5

Q. Harry, there's no age limit being up for knighthood, but how has it felt to be embraced the way you have by this Great Britain club and the fan base, to be embraced by this team and by the country?

HARRY FORD: (Indiscernible) it's incredible, we've just gone out there and played our game. And to be embraced by them and for them to love us so much -- the energy, maybe not a lot of people but the people that do come bring, it's been special.

Q. On that ball that got out, what were you looking for? Can you take us through that AB in terms of what you were sitting on or whatever?

HARRY FORD: No, I was just hitting. I was just hitting. I wasn't looking for nothing. He hung that curveball first pitch, and then he did it again when I had two strikes or one strike or something. And so it was just recognize this and put a swing on it, that's it.

Q. Harry, what do you think this does for you and your development as a player as you're coming up through the Mariners organization at this point?

HARRY FORD: I mean, it's been helpful, I'd say, just to play with a new group of guys and to be around everybody. And I mean all of us are on the biggest stage for the first time.

And so it's been a lot of learning for a lot of us. It's been a lot of figuring stuff out. And so I think all of us are going to take a big step forward after this.

Q. What do you think about having the first Great Britain win in the main tournament for the WBC?

GRAHAM SPRAKER: I think ever.

Q. You qualified, but this is the first one.

GRAHAM SPRAKER: I was glad that I was the guy that got the ball first. Just tried to make the most of my opportunity and throw as long as I could. All I can say to all the people in Great Britain, thanks for watching. If you weren't, I hope you are now.

Q. Are there any interactions you've had with Great Britain fans here that have kind of stood out to you over the time you've been here in Phoenix?

HARRY FORD: I'd say, honestly, mainly just the coaches. 100 percent. Like the fans, the fans, yeah, they've all brought energy. They care a lot. But seeing how much it means to the coaches who have been doing this for the last 20 years, been at the qualifiers a bunch of times, been playing in Europe and to be here and to have something to show for it, it really, really means the world to them.

GRAHAM SPRAKER: Yesterday in the bullpen I had kind of my validating moment. A player that played on team GB back in 2009, he told me his name was (indiscernible) Mercado -- leaned over the bullpen and told me a little bit about his story. So it's been a long time coming. Really happy that he could see this as well. He was here today.

Q. As you came into the game there and it totally turned, you took the lead, can you describe your mindset kind of taking the mound as it transitioned from a deficit to you guys being in control of it?

GRAHAM SPRAKER: I'd say my mindset was pretty much the same as any time I take the mound. There was definitely some trouble, and I didn't get out of that first at-bat. But luckily next two came through. And then after that, once I got a clean inning, I was out there to cruise, stay ahead, get as many guys out as I could. I knew we needed it, more than just an inning or two.

Q. Over the previous two games, you guys played the United States tough. You scored a lot of runs against Canada. Did you feel like a performance like today was starting to come together?

HARRY FORD: 100 percent, 100 percent. Before the game we could feel it. We could feel the energy was there, that we had a few games under our belt and we were getting used to being here. And that we could do it. And we were in both of those games, too. It wasn't like we thought we were way out of it. After the two were validated, okay, we were doing this, we got it.

Q. What did you guys do to kind of shore up some of those defensive troubles that you had in the first couple of games? Was that more a sense of just settling the nerves more than anything else, or was it more than just coordination between the team, a little talking through it?

HARRY FORD: Well, I'm sure it's a lot of factors. There's nerves. I mean, we're playing together for the first time. Don't really know -- we're not knowing what's happening out there. I mean, there's 30,000 people out there. A lot of us have never even played in front of nothing like that before. And so we're getting better. We're getting used to it. Errors are going down. Defense is getting better. We're going to keep cleaning it up.

Q. Graham, I imagine you would have seen Chavez Young a fair bit during your time in the Blue Jays system. How do you describe the confidence you're seeing with him here?

GRAHAM SPRAKER: It's the exact same Chavey I've seen the past five years. Same guy he brings energy. He loves being on the stage. And he's always going to be that Chavey.

Q. Can you talk about the scoop that Ward had in the ninth inning?

HARRY FORD: That was huge, huge. And for Ward that's a guy, normally he's a shortstop going over to first. For him to make the plays he's been making it's been great. And that was a really big one. And he came up. He did it.

Q. It seemed like it settled the team down once he did that. Is that what happened?

HARRY FORD: 100 percent. Once we got that first out we were ready to go. And it was calming. We knew we had our defense behind us.

Q. Harry, what's your lineage that brings you to play for Great Britain?

HARRY FORD: Both my parents were born in England. So I got in pretty easy. (Laughter).