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NCAA BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: BLOOMINGTON REGIONALMay 31, 2014Mike FitzgeraldMitch HannahsKurt KudreckiTyler WamplerBLOOMINGTON, INDIANA INDIANA STATE – 2 MITCH HANNAHS: Obviously we've got a club over there that's extremely disappointed. Great group of young men who have battled for us all year. A group of young men that were picked at the bottom of our league that just basically came out every day and gave us every ounce of everything they had. I felt like the last couple of weeks, we may not have played as well as we were capable of playing, but in terms of a team playing to its potential most of the year, I've been really pleased with these guys. We didn't execute some things that we normally do. David Staff wasn't as good as he normally is on the mound. But bottom line is, we didn't play well enough to win. We accept that. But it doesn't diminish the year that these young men have had and the work and the effort that they have put in. Q. You guys were able to get base hits but you weren't able to string them together. How frustrating was that offensively today? TYLER WAMPLER: It was extremely frustrating. I feel like that's how the last couple weeks has been for us. We haven't been able to string hits together and get the double when we needed it. But I'm proud of all these guys. We gave it everything we had. Q. Mike and Kurt, it was a good season, but how hard is it to fight off the feeling that it didn't finish the way you guys wanted it to? KURT KUDRECKI: I mean, something you have to deal with and something you have to sit there and think about, we had a great year and let that just help us through the way it ended. Just remember how it was when we were going up the ladder instead of down the ladder. MIKE FITZGERALD: Yeah, it's tough. But the main thing, it just helps the guys that are not graduating and are not done playing baseball. It kind of gives them that motivation to come back in next fall. They are going to be something to be reckoned with, and this program is only going up and I'm extremely blessed to be a part of it. Q. How were Youngstown's batters attacking your starting pitcher and what was your vantage point on that? MIKE FITZGERALD: They swung the bat very well against fastballs. They were attacking every fastball that David Staff threw. He missed his spots a couple times, but for the most part, they had a plan and they stuck with it and they got him out in the fourth or fifth inning. So I thought they did a pretty good job of it. Q. Coach mentioned that you guys were picked seventh in the conference and no one thought you guys would even be playing in the NCAA Tournament, and certainly didn't end the way you wanted it to, but how satisfying was this to you? TYLER WAMPLER: It was super satisfying. That's what we've been saying all year that nobody thought we would even finish in the top seven in our league; and we finished second and had a tremendous year. We have nothing to hang our hats on. We weren't supposed to be here, and we made it, and it is what it is. Q. This is Coach Hannahs' first year, how much has he brought to the program? And can you talk about the fact that you were not supposed to finish that high, but his leadership, what's that meant to the team? TYLER WAMPLER: Obviously it's shown great things that he's what we needed here, and we are all super blessed for this to be his first year and we know that he's going to be good down the road, and this program's turning. Q. I don't know how it looked from the dugout, but from up top, looked like David was able to hit the outside of the strike zone pretty well but was having a little trouble throwing inside. What did you see from the dugout? MITCH HANNAHS: Yeah, I kind of thought the same thing. I thought he was getting around some of his pitches, inability to command that inner half. And I think the other thing is, you guys can see that velocity on the board, as well. If he's throwing his fastball 87 and his breaking ball, 81, 82, obviously he's really over‑throwing the breaking ball. I just thought it was his inability to settle in and relax and throw the secondary pitches. He just seemed to overthrow those. And again, not to‑‑ the kid's a battler. He's a battler. He would be the first to tell you, he wasn't as good as he normally is, but he still competed and he didn't go down without a fight. Q. The guys talked about how they had a great week of practice leading up to the NCAA Tournament. What were they not able to bring from practice to the games the last two days? MITCH HANNAHS: You know, I think the toughest thing for us the last month of the season, this can be a tough game and it can really be a tough game if you play from behind. And I just feel like there are a lot of teams out there that change when they get down 3‑1 or 4‑1 or 5‑2 or whatever it might be. And I thought there were spurts in the year that we did have to play from behind some, but it seemed like the last month, we were working uphill every game. And I think after a while, that takes a toll on you. And I think the other big thing, as you get later in the season and you play better clubs or teams are playing better, you don't get any of those gifts. And I think in any comeback, if you look at a lot of our games down the stretch, a lot of the ones we did come back in, there was a couple base on balls; there was a hit batsman; there was an error; there were some things that contributed to us putting some hits together. And we were just not able to string hits together; and I shouldn't say hits. I felt like at times we didn't even string together very quality at‑bats, approaches. Q. Now that your first year is concluded, how would you assess it? Was it something that you're pleased with? Did you expect this? And what does the future hold? MITCH HANNAHS: Well, I think in our world, you step back for the players' sake and to give them some gratification, you reflect on the season. From a coach's standpoint, it's what have you done for me lately. It's going to be one of those things that for the players, I feel like they had a good year and they busted their tail, but from a coaching standpoint, we have to play better in the post‑season. So we have got to do some things a little better, and I take responsibility for that. Q. I know it's soon after, but elaborate on that; where do you put that and what did you learn about the post‑season experience? MITCH HANNAHS: Well, I think there's an expectation level in any program, and I think some teams expect to be in these regionals and they expect to win these regionals, and some teams are happy to get in these regionals. And I think if we are going to elevate our program, we are going to do the things that we want to do in the future; a regional has to be an afterthought. You have to be in the top tier of your league every year, and you have to have the talent level to walk into these and have a legitimate chance. And that's why I'm not going to bang on our guys. I felt like they over‑achieved all year. I felt like it would have been a tough task for them to come in here and win this regional at this stage and talent level we are at. But I think as we move into the future, I think the one thing that you have to expect is to come into these regionals every year, and I talked about that the beginning of the season; the teams that expect to be here, and the teams that expect to be in Omaha, are the teams that come into these and play extremely well and they are not in awe of the situation. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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