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NCAA MEN'S COLLEGE WORLD SERIESJune 21, 2013Cody RegisJohn SavageGrant WatsonKevin WilliamsOMAHA, NEBRASKA UCLA – 4 COACH SAVAGE: Coach John Savage. THE MODERATOR: John, give us an overview. COACH SAVAGE: First off, I'd like to congratulate North Carolina. Remarkable year, almost 60 wins. They ran through probably every team in America all season long. Whenever you win that many games, you don't lose a lot. So to Coach Fox and his staff, we certainly congratulate them on a terrific season. It was our style of baseball. What can you say? It was pitching, solid defense, opportunistic, offense. I thought we had better at‑bats tonight. I really did. We had a few more walks. 0‑2 to walk. We used the middle of the field better, and I think that we're capable offensively. I've said that all along. We've got good offensive players. They're just as good as any part of our game. And we do feel that way. I know that if you look at the scores, you probably won't write it up that way, but there's a lot of faith and trust in our players. And so it was a great evening for us because our style of game. Grant Watson, 19 days without pitching, stayed in shape. Simulated games, bullpens, flat work, long toss, you name it, and stayed sharp. And there's a credit to him as well for being disciplined enough to remain ready. Anybody that saw him throw against San Diego, he probably was just as good against San Diego in the regional final. So I'm very proud of our team. We've still not accomplished what we came to do. But it's on the next round. And I can't be happy enough and proud enough of our team. THE MODERATOR: Questions? Q. Coach, obviously you had I guess an opportunity if you wanted to bring back Cody back on four days of rest, but talk about the faith you had with Grant. And Grant, if you could talk about what was working for you today. COACH SAVAGE: I mean, we have faith in anybody that we run out there. And we prepare a lot of the same guys for their role. And we felt that the days were too short. Sunday to Friday. We just weren't‑‑ we weren't comfortable with it. And I thought about‑‑ I thought about it for less than five seconds. We know how good Grant is. He's been a big reason why we're here. And he was ready to pitch. And I think he showed the whole country that he could pitch in a big stage. GRANT WATSON: As far as like the strikes go, I was trying to go pitch to pitch, concentrating on hitting location since I know North Carolina has a bunch of great hitters. I knew I wasn't going to throw it by them at all. So I worried about locating and making speeds. Q. Coach, what's the difference between this year and, what was it, 2010 when you kind of had to go to that extra game against TCU? What do you feel is different about this team and the way it sets up for the championship series as opposed to that season? COACH SAVAGE: We're set up in ten. We had Garrett Cole pitching game one. We had to throw Bower on that Saturday, which Trevor never had a shot at South Carolina. This way, Adam and Nick and I assume Grant would be the third game starter. So we have confidence in all of our guys. We have Cody Poteet, who is as good as any freshman in the country, and he hasn't pitched in several weeks. James Kaprielian, Zack Weiss, and Ryan Deeter, we have a lot of guys, and we have our four starters, and we feel that we are in good position, but so is Mississippi State. They're on a roll just like we are. I mean, to beat Oregon State, we know how good Oregon State is. They're good. And to do what they did against them twice, you know, it goes to show you that they're a little better than them. So we're going to respect the game. We're going to respect the opponent. We're going to respect the next two days in terms of preparation, getting ourselves ready and do what we do. And we're a good practice team. And so we'll get after practice tomorrow and Sunday and prepare for the national championship series again, pretty much like we did in '10, but the pitching is lined up a little better than it was, as you mentioned, than a couple of years ago. Q. Cody, you were on that team in '10, and a lot has changed since then for you and the way the team has structured. And how do you compare that experience with this experience and the way this thing has come together for you guys? CODY REGIS: Aside from obviously me being a freshman and that being my first experience as a college game, I think it's not too much different, I think. We were playing well, both that year, this year, I think. We're hot at the right time. We're playing as a team. We're coming together and going pitch to pitch. That's about it. Q. John, initial thoughts on Mississippi State? Looks like as far as the pitching staff, there's some similarities that you rely heavily on. COACH SAVAGE: Their bullpen is as good as anybody's. And clutch offense. They got the stud in Wright and Renfroe. First baseman's a great player. They've got a lot of mojo. They've got good offense and their pitching is very impressive. They have some arms out of the bullpen that are great numbers. So it looks to be similar teams. I guess you could say that on paper, they would be more offensive. But we take care of the baseball defensively, and we pitch and we know ourselves. So right now, we're certainly going to respect Mississippi State in the job they've done. But at this stage, it's really what you're doing as a team and how you're preparing and making sure you have a right mindset, right attitude in terms of what's coming up. Q. Kevin, your at‑bat that got‑‑ I guess the game‑winning run, it was an 0‑2 count. You kind of stuck your bat out there. Take us through that. Were you just trying to fight it off? KEVIN WILLIAMS: Well, got two strikes on me, and I knew he had a slider, sweeps kinda across the plate. So kept that in the back of my mind. Kinda left it up there a little bit. I was able to stay inside of it and put the bat at it. Two strikes kind of fight it off or put it in play. Do something with it, and luckily it got through. Q. Coach, the last couple of weeks have been a little adventurous for David back there. I know he's had some base runners in the Super Regional and then out here, too, but he hasn't really cracked. What have you seen from him in these situations? I mean, have you been tested a little bit more or pushed a little bit more than he was earlier in the season? COACH SAVAGE: I would say he's been pushed. But come on, I mean, you get ran out there as much as he does, I mean, you're not going to go 1, 2, 3; 1, 2, 3. Things are going to happen. They're loaded with left‑handed bats. Stubbs hit a 2‑2 breaking ball. The next hitter, Bolt, had a two strike base hit. They did a good job against them. Then they had the walk with Russell. Then you've got bases loaded, nobody out. And you still gotta go through Zolk and Jordan Parks and Frank. So, hey, he's our guy. That's who we're going to go to. He's one of the major reasons why we're here. And he can screw up every now and then. It's okay. I mean, we give him a little opportunity to get out of trouble. And he had bases loaded nobody out, and he did a great job pitching of out of it. And he only got one run. So some closers are like that. Yeah, he's had a lot of clean innings, and tonight, it wasn't a clean inning. Q. John and Anthony, the players have an opinion on it, Mississippi State Head Coach John Cohen talked about the West Coast style of baseball and maybe it was ahead of the times with the new bats. Did you see that as well and how that kind of differs from maybe the southeastern conference play? COACH SAVAGE: It's so hard to say. We're so used to playing these types of games. The West Coast plays like we play. And you just get familiar with it. And they shut down the running game and they handle the short game and they play, catch and there's a lot of skilled players in the Pac‑12 in the Big West and the West Coast Conference and the Mountain West and the WAC. So are we ahead of everybody in regards to the bat? I have no idea. I just know that we've had to adjust. And we've had to adapt in terms of recruiting and what type of players and where the skill is up the middle of the field. And so I think if you pitch and play defense, I don't care where you're at in the country, you're going to have a chance. Especially now in the college game, you have to be so detailed. 90feet. We talk about it all the time. It's so precious. And teams that walk people, teams that make errors, teams that just give away free bases are going to lose. So I don't know if we're ahead of it or not. But we just know that that's our style, and the bat and the ballpark and a lot of things I think go into our mix. KEVIN WILLIAMS: Well, it's about taking advantage of your opportunities and not giving them any opportunities. Just making sure all the little details are taken care of and if there's something to be taken, take it, and don't give 'em a chance to take advantage of anything. Everything matters. And every little thing is magnified. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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