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NCAA MEN'S COLLEGE WORLD SERIESJune 21, 2012Justin GonzalezMike MartinJames RamseyOMAHA, NEBRASKA Arizona – 10 THE MODERATOR: Congratulations again on a great season. Mike, give us an overview. COACH MARTIN: Thank you. Well, about the easiest way to sum it up is say we got taken to the woodshed today. It was just a tremendous job by U of A and the way they played the game. They were very difficult outs all day long. They battled extremely well, offensively, and certainly made a couple of great plays on the defensive side. And Jayce Boyd hits the ball that had base hit written all over it. I think that would have been his third of the day. And the third baseman just made a ‑‑ Mejias‑Brean made a great play on the ball. It's just one of those situations where you tip your hat to the other club. It's nothing that anybody can say but we got whipped. And the main thing that I would like to say is how proud I am of our ballclub throughout the year to accomplish what they did and to get to the hallowed ground, be able to compete in this tremendous tournament. It's just‑‑ it's a dream come true for players and coaches to bring a team out here. And it's a real credit to the city of Omaha and others like Dennis Poppe and the NCAA and the College World Series, Inc., and the great people here in Omaha. Our goal right now is to try to get back out here in 2013. Q. Coach, you played such a great game against Stony Brook; same thing against UCLA. Seemingly did nothing wrong. Two games against Arizona, you seemingly did nothing right. Was that deja vu all over again? COACH MARTIN: It was obviously disappointing. But it's the game. Sometimes you are the dog; sometimes you're the fire hydrant. It's just one of those situations. Q. James and Justin, could you talk about the season. Coach talked about it, and just when you came in there wasn't huge expectations outside the program, but what you guys accomplished so far this year? JAMES RAMSEY: First of all, very thankful, the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ bringing us here. You know what, we're all very undeserving. And I hate to sound cliche, but I personally feel like one of the luckiest guys in college athletics to have an opportunity to play with 26 other guys in the dugout; that they just went about their business in a great way. Like you said, there wasn't a whole lot of expectations, but inside the clubhouse, you know, there were a lot of guys that fought for each other on and off the field. They did a lot of service in the community. They did a lot with the platform they have. And I don't regret anything. It's been a great year. I feel extremely blessed for every opportunity. And I'm not really that upset the season's over, from that standpoint; that knowing that the guys that played with me fought to the very last out. I just tried to be the guy with the bull's eye on his back and take some of that pressure off of him at times. JUSTIN GONZALEZ: Pretty much reiterating what he said. Even though a lot of people outside the clubhouse didn't believe in us at the beginning, with the leadership we had with Ramsey and the coaches, we knew we had a special group, a lot of team chemistry. Work was worked on over the fall, grounding out every practice, knowing we had the ability to come here and play in Omaha. And even though our goal wasn't reached, and that was to win the national championship, it's just been such a blessing to play with a guy like Ramsey and the seniors that we had, Sherman, Hunter, Bush, Mack. It's been a great ride. And, unfortunately, with baseball, it's an interesting game. It's a round ball that comes in a square box. It's not one of those things where‑‑ you can't hang your head. I know all these guys came out here today and played their hardest, and that's all you can ask for. Q. Coach, talk about Arizona's level of play. Just seems like they're making every single play and every single hit. Talk about their level of play and they don't give you guys or any other team room to breathe out there. COACH MARTIN: That's a good analysis. That's exactly what they did. They did not give us any room to breathe. It's a credit to Andy and his staff. They're very aggressive but yet they're very picky at the plate. Defensively, very impressive. Their fielding percentage is outstanding. Heyer and the young man that will pitch the first game of the National Championship Series, two outstanding right‑handed pitchers. I've only seen those two, so‑‑ a couple of relievers, so it's hard for me to comment any farther. But I'll tell you one thing: That Heyer is a bulldog. He was at 122 we had him at, and he would have stayed out there and finished it if he had been needed. Q. James, when you get a chance to look back at this run and your time at Florida State, what do you think you'll remember most? JAMES RAMSEY: Obviously you start at the top. Coach Martin has been a man that's meant a lot to me and my family. He's one of the main reasons I came to Florida State. He's a man of God. He's a man that does things that people don't see behind the scenes for his players. And he definitely has his hand on this program, I think the assistant coaches, I go down the list and talk about all of them, all the teammates. Just that I try to be a good steward to the university. Very thankful of the opportunity they've given me and just trying to leave it a better place than when I found it. But there have been so many people that have gone out of their way for me. And so I will always be thankful for my days in garnet and gold. Q. James, just to sort of piggyback on that. You're a first‑round pick with first‑round money waiting for you at the Cardinals organization, but we know you love putting on that garnet and gold uniform. If you had the chance, would you come back and do it again? JAMES RAMSEY: Yeah, I just feel really grateful. This past year was a whirlwind. I was sitting, trying‑‑ a lot of time praying and reflecting whether I could come back and play again if I could afford to turn down money. But obviously money has never driven me and never will. Fame success, all that kind of things have never driven me. It's been knowing that you have a chance to go out and do a lot for the university that your parents both went to, and you've got a lot of guys that put in a lot of hard work. So just knowing that I believed in every single one of these guys when I came back to school, they believed in me just as much to come back and lead them. Q. James or Justin, just talk about the mood in the dugout after that first inning, deflated? Still a lot of fight in the team? JUSTIN GONZALEZ: Definitely wasn't defeated. We've been in situations like that all year. I can remember one off the top of my head second game at Georgia Tech. We were down what was it like five, seven runs, something like that. And we came back, fought, and pitching a defense‑‑ we were in there and we ended up winning the game. So the way the coaches, especially 11, the way they run the program, is we're going to fight you for 27. Until the last out's made, you're going to feel us. So definitely not defeated. Not down. Everyone was doing their part and, if I remember, we were scratching until the very end. It just didn't go our way today. Q. Coach, obviously it didn't come down to one play, but you get the comebacker to the mound and things don't turn out like you wanted. Do you feel kind of like Job? COACH MARTIN: Not at all. I'll tell you exactly how I feel. It's Christmastime. You get to come to Omaha, Nebraska, and experience the week of Christmas with great people. You'll have memories that you'll cherish for the rest of your life. How many guys get to be in the position I'm in right now with these outstanding athletes? Year in and year out has been a blessing. And sure I'm disappointed. But you gotta look at the total picture. And I'm so proud to be a part of Florida State baseball that, no, I don't feel like Job. I feel like King David, because I am on top of the world with people that will fight ya for 27 outs in a game in which in the Major Leagues, if you win 65percent of your games, you're usually going to win a pennant. Well, this club did a pretty doggone good job this year in getting where they are. And things just didn't go right. They outplayed us. They deserved to win. It's over with. You roll on to the next year. Q. James and Justin, and Coach, obviously Florida State is a program that's already had pretty good success in the past but this year seems like you guys have grown really, really close as a program. And just experienced a lot as a team that's grown and will leave an impact on the program. Can you touch on that and what do you think the program's going to look like because of how close you guys have grown this year? JAMES RAMSEY: I think it all started with in the fall, we decided to make more sacrifices than we had in the past. Guys were asked to make smarter decisions off the field. Just the things that eating, drinking, workouts. But the thing it comes down to at the end of the day is the team started a bible study. We started hanging out more off the field, started having the relationships deeply invested and we have brothers in Christ in the dugout, you're going to sacrifice a lot more for them. I could go on and on about our faith lives together. I know you guys don't like to put a whole lot of it in the press, but that's the difference and that's really all I can point to. There's not some machine that we hit with, there's not some workout plan. It really was the relationships we have. JUSTIN GONZALEZ: He nailed it. That's pretty much what I would have said I couldn't say it any better but one thing I will say the leadership, everybody bought into it. Everybody looked to a guy like Ramsey and saw that he wanted to be with us and he wanted to help us get to where we were today and everybody just bought into it. And everybody had that same goal. Everybody put in their work and made smart decisions on and off the field, and that's pretty much all. I guarantee you this will carry on, because everybody's seen the result of it. COACH MARTIN: I think you all can just see what kind of experience I've had this year with these young men. And I look forward to next year. But I want to close this up by saying something, and I mean this: Thanks to you folks for publicizing college baseball and making this such an event. 23‑, 24‑, 25,000 people coming out to this great facility and you people doing such a wonderful job of providing great information and insights. And I appreciate you. And I mean it. And, God willing, I'll see you next year. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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