University of North Carolina Athletics
NCAA Baseball Regional Quotes
June 1, 2007 | Baseball
June 1, 2007
Chapel Hill Regional Game 1
Postgame Quotes
East Carolina Head Coach Billy Godwin
Opening Statement:
"Certainly very pleased with our effort. Great come-from-behind win. I don't know how many of you guys have followed Pirate baseball this year, but that was about standard. Really proud of our effort to stick in there, our guys didn't quit. Just excited this time of the year you win and you move on."
On sticking with Jamie Ray and letting him work through a slump:
"All of these guys have struggled at different times in the year. Corey [Kemp] is one of them. Jamie started early for us and didn't play for a stretch and now he's back swinging the bat well. One thing that I noticed that is a common denominator between all three of those guys [Ray, Kemp, and Tousley] is everyone time we opened the cage and got extra work, those guys were there working. It's interesting that this time of the year that pays off. That probably worked as hard on hitting and becoming good hitters than anybody on our club. Every time a coach was available they wanted to be in there hitting."
On T.J. Hose's struggles on the mound during the day:
"That happens. He didn't have his good stuff today and he couldn't spot his fastball that we tried to get in. Western is a very good hitting club first of all. I don't want to take anything away from them- those guys can hit. The thing about T.J. is he's such a great competitor. He'll bounce back. One thing not throwing many pitches, he may bounce back this tournament."
East Carolina Outfielder Jamie Ray
On his game-winning 2-run single in the 8th inning:
"The bases were loaded, I was trying to get something up that I could possibly hit on the ground. I took the first-pitch curveball for a strike. I was just lucky enough to get a good, hittable fastball and I took advantage of it and I didn't let it go."
East Carolina Catcher Corey Kemp
On his 3-run home run in the 6th inning:
"I was just excited and ready to go into the game. I had been in the pen the last couple of innings and Coach Godwin came and said get ready to hit. I saw a fastball in the dirt and then another fastball in. My coaches had been on me for weeks just to swing the bat because I'm usually a selective guy. That's a pretty good pitch to hit. I just took advantage of it and didn't let it go."
On keeping focus to pinch-hit:
"It's a pretty tough thing, but you got to do things to keep yourself in the game. Coaches are always on you, `stay in the game, you might come in a big situation and get a hit'. So you really got to keep your focus and your mindset right and ready to go at any time."
East Carolina Outfielder Ryan Tousley
On hitting a home run for the first time in awhile:
"It felt good. It was a big time. It felt like every time we were scoring they were answering too. Down two at the time, it put us down one, so it was pretty fun."
On the mood in the dugout after being down for most of the game:
"We were upbeat the whole time. Coach never lets us hang our heads and we don't let each other hang our heads. If somebody does bad, somebody's there to pick us up."
Western Carolina Head Coach Todd Raleigh
Opening statement:
"Anytime you lose a one run a game, there is a lot more second guessing and it seems to hurt more. We had the lead with our closer in the game and I think that's all you can ask for. It's a tough tough loss.
On the momentum shift of the 3-run homer:
"I thought we had all the momentum back, the home run surprised me a bit. I thought we had a good match-up. That was the play that swung the game around."
On the pitching change in the sixth inning:
"Believe it or not he was already at 100 pitches, so we made the decision to change him. I though it was the right thing to do and would make the same decision again."
On the team's attitude before the home run:
"I felt real good about our chances. The game had a lot of momentum shifts, but like I said you have to give them credit."
On being in the loser's bracket
"Well it's do or die at this point, we are not going to save any pitching. We've been in this position before and we have made it to the Championship game a couple years ago. This is a tournament and it's tough, there are no bad teams at this point. We just have to refocus and forget about this one."
On pitching situation tomorrow
"We'll go with Drew Saberhagen, he has been outstanding all year for us. We expect him to go deep in the game and we need him to. We have plenty of pitching left and this is a team that is mentally tough. Not having Barrett in centerfield is hurting us, but we will come out and play hard tomorrow."
Western Carolina DH Barrett Shaft
On attitude throughout the game:
"It seemed like we were on our game today, especially with the sticks. We just caught the short end of the stick today."
Western Carolina Second Baseman Kenny Smith
On a three-hit performance with a hurt leg:
"Just battling and trying to put the barrel on the ball. I'm ok hitting, it's just running the bases."
