University of North Carolina Athletics
Maine vs. James Madison Quotes
June 5, 2011 | Baseball
June 5, 2011
James Madison 5, Maine 2
Chapel Hill Regional ● Game 5
James Madison Post-Game Quotes
Head Coach Spanky McFarland
Opening Statement
"First of all, I'd like to commend Maine. They have a nice team, and a lot of lesser teams would have given up a lot more runs today. We had a lot of hits and a lot of baserunners. They worked their way out of a lot of jams. That's the sign of a good team and a well-coached team. Obviously, Evan Scott pitched a great game. He's had a rough go of it with the surgery a couple of years ago and has been a little bit on and off, but he picked a good time to come up big for us. That was a big part of it. Then we had the big inning. I thought the tack-on run late in the game that Jake [Lowery] hit in was a very important run as well. Then Alex Valadja came in and got a couple of lefties out which I'm sure makes him feel good after last night. Then D.J. [Brown] finished it up. It's a nice win for us and we are happy to still be playing."
On the importance of the quality performance of starter Evan Scott:
"If we are going to have a chance at all at this thing, we had to get a good start from Evan. We didn't necessarily tell him that but he probably knew it in his mind. Obviously, we are playing a great team tonight on their field in front of their fans so it's a daunting task already. But we had no chance if we didn't get six or seven innings from our pitcher which gives us a little respite in the bullpen to have some quality arms for tonight's game.
Junior Starting Pitcher Evan Scott
On his pitching performance:
"I was just in there trying to throw strikes and letting my defense work behind me. They played great defense all day. It worked out and I was able to last long enough to save some pitching for the next game.
Junior Catcher Jake Lowery
On looking ahead to James Madison's next game versus UNC:
"We are just trying to play day by day and this is our next game. We are not really caring who the opponent is. Obviously, it is a very, very good team, and we're just going to go out there and play our best baseball."
On the importance of scoring some runs after being shut out the night before:
"It was definitely a huge burst for our offense to go out there after we gave up that one run in the first inning. But we came back and got four and that proved to be the runs that won the game. So going out there and doing what we've been doing all year is scoring runs. "
Maine Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Steve Trimper Opening Statement
Well, I think we came out today and played very hard as a team and we gave it a run. I don't want to take any credit away from James Madison and their starter, Evan Scott, did a tremendous job throwing strikes. We got down a couple early, and we were just trying to claw back in, and we just couldn't get back in that one at the end. Our guys - not for lack of effort or trying - we went out there and we were grinding. It was kind of like the whole season for us. We just never got ourselves too high, never got ourselves too low. We just fell a little bit short today, but it doesn't take anything away from this entire team and what they've accomplished this season, particularly coming off a tough start to the season on the road for so much. We just grinded back through some weather - we all do it in the Northeast, not just in Maine - really turning it around and staying positive and just working every single day to get better. It really paid off for us to get some valuable experience in regional play with a tremendous core of players coming back. We know it's not going to be easy, we know everybody's good at this level, and we really certainly want to get back here. But it gave us a taste of what we want to do and accomplish and we really truly believe, whether people think we're blowing smoke or not, we really think we can get in these things and win them.
Right Fielder Joey Martin
On JMU pitcher Evan Scott...
He came right after us with fastballs. After a time through the order, we knew what he was trying to do. Personally, I tried to get my load in a little earlier. I think the trouble I had was he had a high release point right over the top and it was tough for me to see if it was going to be a high or a low fastball. He pitched a good game.
On the impact of this experience moving forward...
The team's definitely going to take this experience as a positive, winning a regional game. We got a lot of young kids coming back; not me personally but it's a great experience for the team, for the young guys. Next year they'll come back knowing what it takes to win, knowing what it takes to come back.
Shortstop Michael Fransoso
On if he thought the Black Bears would eventually break out...
You have to give him (Scott) credit. He obviously threw really well. We just didn't string some things together. We didn't get somebody on, get him over, and get a two-out hit. It never kind of just came together for us. Maybe at the end, when we had those two guys on (eighth inning), we could have made some damage, but it just didn't work out.
On if it was frustrating playing from behind like in the loss to UNC...
You always want to get a lead early, especially for your pitcher. This year especially, when we got them a lead, they worked really well with it and kept it for us. But in Friday's game and this game, we let up those four runs early and that's difficult, especially on the pitcher when he's trying to keep us in the game. And as hitters, we want to fight back and not try to get all four at once, try to chip away. But we just didn't to do that.
