June 3, 2009
Fullerton, Calif. -
Coach Dave Serrano:
"We felt this was a possibility if we stayed together and played good baseball. We're excited about how we are playing baseball. We exhibited very good offense, tremendous defense and very good pitching in the Regional. We're playing well at the right time. Louisville is a formidable opponent and we are excited to be hosting this Super Regional. From what we gather, we think pitching is Louisville's strength, too. Both teams have good offenses. It's a pretty well balanced Super Regional with two good teams playing well at the same time.
On his young starting pitchers:
"I feel like we have a 1, a 1A and a 1B. I feel confident with whomever we hand the ball to.
"They do have "it"... they are all competitors... all good athletes. I saw a little early jitters last weekend in Noe. It's been a big growth process... We started him in a midweek game at Texas A&M and that allowed him to grow up in a hurry.
"Daniel is an emotional guy... very competitive... He wasn't on his game last week. I think Tyler benefitted most because he got to sit and watch the other two perform. Watching them educated him on his approach to Sunday's game. Tyler has been to a lot of these games, watching his brother (Brett) who played here, so he's seen it from the stands and knows what to expect."
On team's strong finish:
"It's going to take someone playing pretty good baseball to knock us off.
"I think the way we finished our schedule really benefited us. Every weekend starting with Santa Barbara was a big series and that prepared us going into the regionals. We were fighting for second place... and each series was against an opponent also fighting for a 2nd or 3rd place spot. We played tremendous baseball vs. Long Beach and they are one of our rivals and we performed at a high level and carried it over to the regionals."
On Louisville:
"We rely on scouting reports... it's difficult to get those. It's good to see what they do, but the bottom line and philosophy of this coaching staff is we will play our game and won't adjust to anyone. If we are playing our game to our highest ability, we will have nothing to be ashamed of. It will come down to what the Titans do best. We don't want to get caught up in what they do. It looks like they have really good pitching, hitters in the middle of the order who are very scary and they do a lot of things. I think it's going to be a real good regional."
More on Noe Ramirez:
"Noe is one of our freshman phenoms. If it wasn't for those three guys (Noe and Nick Ramirez and Tyler Pill) we might be in a little more trouble as a team. They've done a fabulous job as freshmen. Noe's a tough kid from East L.A.... a winner his whole life... and it's going to be a joy to see him grow as a pitcher and a player and play in the major leagues."
On Christian Colon:
"Christian is a superior shortstop. He's played every inning for us for two years until we gave him the Sunday game against Long Beach off. He has solidified our defense. He makes the routine plays and the spectacular plays. At the leadoff position, he has set the tone for this team."
On impact of catcher Dustin Garneau:
"I would love to take full credit for what this young pitching staff has done... it was a huge question mark coming in... the leadership day in and day out that Dustin has brought behind the plate has made it easier for these kids to grasp onto Div. I baseball. He's done a fabulous job from day one. He has kept it simple and allowed them to grow up under this system."
On losing Super Regional last year to Stanford:
"We learned a lot. It's something we've talked about as a team from day one and our meeting in late August. That feeling we had on the field and to see our seniors take uniforms off for the last time, it's been kind of a rallying call. We remember how it felt to not get back to Omaha. We've been doing everything within our power to prevent that from happening again. We want to be the last team to take them off in Omaha."
Freshman Pitcher Noe Ramirez:
On Louisville:
"I will go about it like I've been going about it the whole season.. with the same mindset."
On his first start at Texas A&M:
"That was a pretty big deal for me. At the time they were ranked pretty high and recognized as one of the best teams in the country. The fans are kind of wild there. It helped me grow a lot. and boosted my confidence for starts after that."
On the impact of catcher Dustin Garneau:
"Huge impact. He knows what he's doing back there. He understands and knows every pitcher. His leadership is amazing. He tells us what we are doing wrong and nails it every time."
Sophomore Shortstop Christian Colon:
On Stanford loss in last year's SR:
"That was something we don't want to go through again. To see our teammates take their uniforms off. We said `we're not going to let this happen again. Let's just hold each other accountable for that'."
On playing behind Noe:
"He's a special pitcher. He gets ahead of hitters and his tempo is good. One of main things coach talks about, is have a good tempo. Throw strike one. He does a great job with that. He helps keep us on our toes. He gets a lot of ground balls."