May 27, 2006
ACC Baseball Championship
Coaches Quotes
May 26, 2006
Georgia Tech head coach Danny Hall
I am glad I don't have to play Miami for a while now. We've played them a lot the last couple of weeks and they've battled us hard every game. I'm very proud of my guys, I felt like we gave them some runs early by making some mistakes defensively but the bottom line we held them. We were able to build our lead going into the later innings. We made some great defensive plays, Steven Blackwood made a couple nice catches, Wally Crancer threw a guy out at the plate and Michael Fischer on the last play of the game made a backhand dive and threw him out. I am very proud we get a chance to play Clemson tomorrow.
On having to play Clemson twice to advance to the championship
It is not an easy task but it certainly can be done. They have an excellent team that has a lot of pitching and they are rested, but baseball is a crazy game and you never know what's going to happen with it. All we can do is play that first game and hope you play well and win to force it to a second game.
On Georgia Tech's offense
We faced some awfully good pitchers in our first two games, so I give them a lot of credit. The ballpark plays pretty deep, so you have a chance to have some low scoring games because of the ballpark. My guys executed and got some runs in when we needed it and I am very happy.
Miami coach Jim Morris
General feelings on the loss
I thought our guys did a good job tonight. They fought hard, they fought back after we got down. Georgia Tech's an outstanding club, no question. We had a chance there in the ninth and Jon Jay crushed it and Danny Valencia crushed it. So we hit the balls really hard there at the end. You've got to give our guys credit, they fought back, and I thought we got better. I think we might surprise some people next week.
On Georgia Tech not giving Miami much
Well, they gave us one early, but we left some guys on base. Even at the end, the last inning, we left some guys on base. So we left some guys on base when we had chances there. This game's a game where you've got to get hits with guys on base. You're not going to hit home runs in this ball park as a general rule. Jon Jay probably hit that ball as hard as he could hit it to center field when two guys were on base. You've got to hit line drives, you've got to run, and you've got to hit when guys are on base.
On Miami's Dennis Raben being thrown out at the plate in the bottom of the sixth inning
It's big because momentum's there, no question about that. But with two outs you've got to try to run right there. You've got to run. You've got to try to put pressure on them on defense and make them make a play.
On chances to host an NCAA regional
I don't know. I think we're in the tournament, and I think we've got a chance to host, but I really don't know right now. I think it depends on who wins in different places, but we're on the bubble to host, no question about it. So hopefully we'll get it.
Miami junior 3B Danny Valencia
On where the loss leaves Miami in terms of hosting a regional
It's up in the air. I mean, I really don't know. The NCAA Committee will decide that. It'd be nice to, obviously. To be playing at home is always a huge advantage for us. If not, we've got to go on the road. We've played relatively well on the road this year, so either way we should just focus on playing well, which we've been doing. I think we had a good tournament. We just had a few bad breaks. I think we'll be alright.
On the team being unable to come up with the big hit when it needed it
He (Michael Fisher) made a good play and I hit that ball hard. I hit a ball hard to center today and (Steven) Blackwood dove and caught it. They played good defense. They're a good team. Give them credit. They played really well, they pitched pretty well. They got it done and we didn't.
Miami freshman 2B Jemile Weeks
On having a big day at the plate (4-for-5, 2B, run, RBI) and Miami not getting the win
I had a good day at the plate. We wanted to come out with the win. That was the main objective. That was the main goal. I had a good day, but it just wasn't enough to get the win. We've got to learn from these things, and hopefully the team will come together and be big in the regionals.
On Miami's Dennis Raben being thrown out at the plate in the bottom of the sixth inning
I actually thought that was a big play in the game. In the situation it came in, it was 5-4, it would have tied the game up. It's a new momentum. When you have momentum like that, with this type of crowd and this type of atmosphere, good things can happen after that.
