June 5, 2010
ELON COACH MIKE KENNEDY
Opening Statement:
“I’m just proud of our club. We came to the same region last year probably with a much more talented club. We lost six starters from that club. So this [making the NCAA Tournament] says a lot about where our program is and the effort our kids put in. We’re not nearly as talented as last year, but we competed and battled all year and gutted out 38 wins. There are a lot of teams watching at home that would love to be here, but we’re trying to get to the point where we’re not just satisfied making a regional, but winning one. The way we played the last two days leaves a bad taste in our mouths for the summer. Hopefully, it’ll motivate us to work hard this summer and be ready to get back and go.”
NEAL PRITCHARD, Jr., INF
On the Team’s Play Against Mercer:
“The motivation didn’t seem to be there and toward the end we didn’t get a few calls that didn’t go our way. I thought a few people started getting fired up and somewhat aggravated and we started to show signs of life. For nine innings I would have liked to have seen that.”
On Elon’s Play Coming Into the Regional:
“During the [Southern Conference] tournament we didn’t play like ourselves and I think it carried over. The last couple games we played here in the regional wasn’t Elon ball. It’s a little disappointing coming in here and being two and done, but we’re going to have to capitalize on getting better.”
NIKO FRASER, Fr., OF
On Trying to Fight Back In The Game:
“It’s baseball and there are always ways to comeback. I’ve read stories where teams cameback with 10 runs in the bottom of the ninth with two outs. We should never give up. We should always keep fighting.”
On Making It Back To NCAA Play Next Year:
“Obviously this is my freshman year, I didn’t have a taste like this (playing in the NCAA Tournament) before this year. This is the greatest thing in my baseball career. Frankly, I didn’t want to come down here and get embarrassed. For the next three years, I want to take the mentality like Coach Kennedy said and we want to come down and win this thing.”
