2004 NCAA ATLANTA SUPER REGIONAL
Game One: Georgia 5, Georgia Tech 3
Post Game Quotes
Georgia Tech head coach Danny Hall
“Obviously a disappointing loss for us. We don’t feel like we played like we’ve been playing, particuarly during the stretch, and that’s part of it. You have to play good to advance.”
“I thought Sean Ruthvan was magnificent when you consider the pressure of the game, I thought he pitched beautifully. Startup just figures out a way to get in the game and get the ball in his hands. I credit Georgia a lot. They played good, made the plays when they had to and got hits when they had to. As it usually happens, somebody that you least expect comes up big for them and Wyatt was great for them today and give him credit on his huge homerun.”
Did you think you guys came out tight or nervous with some of those plays on the field: “I don’t what it was to be quite honest. We did things today that were uncharacteristic of our team this year. Heading into the weekend, this was the highest fielding percentage a team at Tech had ever had during a season, but we certainly didn’t look like it this weekend.”
After talking to them in the first inning “I was telling our guys to settle down, but mainly I was telling our hitters to make him get the ball up because I felt like we didn’t have any good swings at him in the first inning.”
“I give Andrew Kown a lot of credit. He battled out there. We put him in some tough spots and he pitched great as well, and even not playing our best, we still had a chance to win the game.
“I’m very proud of my guys. Even though we are disappointed I’m very proud of this team to come from where we were at one point during the season is great and it says a lot about our team…..I think it was a great season. I learned a lot from a coaching standpoint from our team this year and things didn’t go our way early, but to our team’s credit, they believed in themselves and I think in turn I and my staff believed in them. I thought it was a great year. I honestly believed at 20-17 we could have gone totally south, but we didn’t. We ended up having a great run through the Atlantic Coast Conference, which is a great conference, won an NCAA Regional, which is a major accomplishment in any sport and battled hard here for two games, even though we lost. We are disappointed in that, but this is a great team with great people and we’re very proud of them.”
Georgia Tech pitcher Brian Burks
“I made a mistake and he took advantage of it. It was a fastball up. He (umpire) didn’t call a low strike the pitch before so i tried to get it up a little bit.”
Georgia Tech third baseman Mike Trapani “I thought the momentum (after his double) would change. It did, but we didn’t take advantage of it.
On his error in the 7th inning
“I tripped on the bag, but that’s no excuse. I made a bad throw and I should have taken my time.”
Were you nervous or tight on defense today?
“Errors happen. If we had made mental errors, I would have been worried. I didn’t try to mess up. Things just happen and that’s the way it is.”
Georgia head coach David Perno
“It was a collective effort on these guys. I want to let them do all the talking today. I want to give credit to our assistant coaches. What a tremendous job they’ve done all year, holding in there. Especially those ninth and 10th innings against Clemson in Athens. That was huge. So I’ll let these guys do the talking — they made it happen.”
On putting Jonathan Wyatt in the lineup
“It was an easy decision. He’s been tinkering in and out of the lineup. We went on our best run when he was in the lineup — we won about 12 games in a row, swept Mississippi State down there. He was in there making things happen. We started him in the final game of the regional against Clemson, and he got a hit and drew a walk, so he’s always a spark. It’s good to have that ace in the hole.”
“I saw this team was special. There’s a great group of leaders and a eager group of young guys. It’s a unique blend because those young guys want to be led, and we’ve got the leaders who can lead them. It’s just a matter of getting the right people to step up at the right time. This team is all about timing and they had some special timing today.”
Georgia centerfielder Jonathan Wyatt
“To start off the game, they were throwing me a lot of fastballs. The last at-bat, I was looking for a fastball in, and I got it.”
Georgia shortstop Justin Holmes
“I wasn’t really as nervous as maybe I would have been. I had a feeling something was going to happen, but I didn’t know how. I knew Jonathan was going to get a fastball and I was thinking ‘don’t overswing and don’t do too much with it’. He did a great job with it, he didn’t overswing. I dream big — if you can’t see it happen, it’s not going to happen. That’s the motto of this team — we see oursleves winning and it comes true.”
Georgia pitcher Sean Ruthven
“I thought Georgia Tech did a great job of hanging in there. I know I only threw seven but I felt like I threw 10 or 11. I struggled with command a little bit but I was able to get out of that jam in the fourth. In the fifth they got a hit on a fastball up. It ate at me a little bit, especially with it being the first hit and that clutch of a hit, but I collected myself and said, ‘no matter what happens, we’re going to win this game.’ I just went out there and tried to get the next guy.”
