May 24, 2006
ACC Baseball Championship
Coaches Quotes
May 24, 2006
Georgia Tech head coach Danny Hall
It was a great time. It was one that no team deserves to lose that game. It was very well pitched and well played. I am very proud of Blake Wood, he pitched tremendous for us and Mike Trapani obviously had a great hit for us to give us the lead and then we held on with two guys on and a 3-2 count in the ninth and it was a big strike out by Brad Rulon. I’m very proud of the team and happy we won and looking forward to playing tomorrow night.
On tomorrow’s game against Wake Forest or Clemson
I think there are eight great teams here and we did not play Wake Forest during the year but I know they battled everybody tough so I am kind of anxious to watch them play. I really don’t know a lot about them so I am anxious to see how they go about things. I think Clemson is a great club but I think Wake Forest is also and this is a great league with great players and coaches and that’s what makes this tournament great.
On Miami in the ACC Tournament
It is a great league and that is the bottom line. If they had got a clutch hit today they could have won the game easily. They played very well and didn’t do anything wrong to say they didn’t play well, they played well today. They will win their share, trust me, they will win their share.
Georgia Tech starting pitcher Blake Wood
I think coming into the game, things have been kind of up and down for me. This is post-season, it’s a new season and everything I have done thus far doesn’t really matter because now is when it really counts. I didn’t put a lot of pressure on myself like I had been in other outing by trying to be perfect. I just went out there and relaxed and tried to throw the ball in there as much as possible and let my defense work behind me and they did an outstanding job.
Georgia Tech second baseman Mike Trapani
On his homerun
I was trying to shoot the ball to right center, like I had in my first two at bats and he just left it middle-in and I got to it and the good Lord carried it out and there weren’t many carrying out today.
On Miami pitcher Scott Maine
He is a great pitcher and he was great against us last Thursday. He throws on both sides of the plate and changes speeds. He is what I would call a great pitcher. I don’t think he is going to throw 95 and blow it by you but there is not one pitch where you can go up and think it is going to be this pitch, this location. He did a good job of keeping us off balance.
Miami head coach Jim Morris
First of all, congratulate Georgia Tech on the win. (Georgia Tech starter Blake) Wood pitched a great game. It was probably a great game to watch. It was outstanding pitching and defense, if you’re a baseball person. (Miami starter) Scott Maine pitched an outstanding game against him. We had a chance there, a couple of chances, but not many, because Wood pitched outstanding and they played great defense along with our defense. Of course the one hit where Eddy (Rodriguez) was big was the home run, but we didn’t get it done there when we had the chance. They’ve got a good bullpen and Wood pitched good, and that’s the bottom line. We’ve got to be ready to play tomorrow. Tomorrow’s a very big game for us.
On the difference between this game and facing Georgia Tech and Wood in the last series of the season
We didn’t hit the ball hard (previously against Wood). We got a few runs off of him last week. The balls flew out of the ballpark at Georgia Tech and that’s a different ballpark, no question about it, playing in this ballpark. I like this kind of ballpark, and I’m sure our pitchers do, too. You’ve got to really hit it to get out of here, and I think as much as anything, that was the difference.
On whether Miami is now in a do-or-die situation in regards to hosting a regional
Absolutely. That’s what I talked to our team about after the game. To be honest, the most important game of the year is tomorrow and we’ve got to come out ready to play. No matter who we play, we’ve got to make sure that we’re ready to play, because it can make a big difference.
On whether pitching or the ballpark is to blame for the lack of Miami offense in the ACC Tournament through two seasons
It’s probably a combination of both. We faced some really good pitching last year, but it’s definitely a pitchers’ park. But we’ve got to score more runs than we’ve scored, no question about that. We’ve got to get on top and hit line drives and (Georgia Tech catcher Matt) Wieters did a great job. We tried to run a couple of times and he threw guys out. I can see big league written all over Wieters’ back, he’s a great catcher. Wood did a good job of holding us, but still, you’ve got to try to run in certain situations and they stopped us. We really didn’t put anything together offensively to really challenge them.
On Maine’s performance and facing the top-hitting team in the ACC
To be honest with you, coming into this game, I felt pretty good about the game. I felt great about the matchup because Scott pitched last week and I thought pitched good against them. I thought he matched up good against Tech, particularly with their left-handed hitters, and I thought we had a great opportunity coming in here against an outstanding club. I thought he pitched as well as you could ask him to pitch. You can’t ask him to pitch any better than he did today and we’ve just got to get a few key hits.
