Berkeley Super Regional Post-Game Press Conference Quotes
May 27, 2012 | Softball
May 27, 2012
May 27, 2012
UW Head Coach Heather Tarr
Opening Statement:
"Well, I think the worst part about this is that the season is over. The season is over for four great seniors, but I am excited because our team has a lot of youth and for us to actually have two pitchers emerge out of this season, that is exciting for our future. For us to come down here, we kind of put ourselves in the hole, being the 16 seed and having to come down here to play Cal. It is what it is, it is not the ideal setting, but we were ready to compete and today was a great day for us. It is a game of inches and a couple things didn't fall for us, but we competed and that's all we can ask."
On how small the margin of error is in a game like this:
"I think the best thing about the end is that we are not that far from where we want to be and for our young players to have the perspective that it is a game of inches - the ball that Shawna Wright hits down the line gets through and by the diving outfielder. I mean that is a great play, but she is diving down the line with the bases loaded. It shows our team that you can't take things for granted, and it starts with conditioning and your mental training and that are where the inches lie."
On how she thinks Cal will do in the World Series:
"Well, they better win it all. Hopefully, we fought them hard and made them go through some stuff to beat us and that makes them better and allows them the opportunity to go win it."
On whether UW let Cal off the hook, leaving runners on base when P Jolene Henderson was struggling early:
"I mean they have great pitching, and you have to attack them early and you have to keep going and once you kind of let go of the rope and she grabs on, it becomes a tug of war and usually the great pitcher has a way to win those games. She is a great pitcher and we tip our cap."
On hitting today compared to yesterday:
"We were ready to hit today. We were seeing the ball and hitting it better."
Kimi Pohlman, CF
On the ups and downs of the season after starting 32-1:
"Like Coach Tarr said, we have a really young team and I thought it was good for us. I mean it didn't put us in a situation where we wanted to be, but it taught our young girls a lot, and I think down the road, it will make this program stronger. If we can leave that with our lower classman, then that is what is best for the program. It is tough, but this team and this program is going to do amazing things in the future. This season really is a foundation for that."
On summing up her career:
"It is sad that it is over and I am a baby so of course I balled after the game was over. It has been a roller coaster, a lot of ups and a lot of downs, a lot of wins and a lot of losses. It has been an honor to put on this uniform everyday and get to play with great people and it is sad that it is over."
On facing Cheyenne Cordes when she hit the home run:
"Cordes might not be one of Cal's home run hitters, however, Cal is a Pac-12 school with a stacked lineup one through nine, so something can come from anyone;. Knowing that and playing through the Pac-12 and learning all of those lessons of the strength of the entire lineup helped me. My approach to Cheyenne was that she is going to be a good hitter, she might not put up power numbers, but she has a lot of power. She makes adjustments with each at-bat. So when I was approaching her during that at-bat, I made a mistake and put it over the plate. Like coach said, with it being a game of inches, I was a couple inches off and she hit it out. If I were to put that ball a couple inches away, she doesn't hit it out and it could be a completely different game."
On being in the game until the very end:
"We had a lot of opportunities to score and come back. If I would have put the ball in a different spot, I would have, but even with that pitch, we had a fighting chance throughout the game. They only scored two runs and we were on base consistently throughout the game, so we definitely had the opportunity to come back."
On what the seniors have left the underclassmen:
"Our senior class in 2009 did a great thing in winning a national championship. And this year I have learned so much from all of our seniors. I have to learn how to compete as hard as they have day in and day out. Playing with theses seniors for the past two years has been an awesome experience, and I wouldn't trade a day of it. Just as much as we learn from the game, we learn from our seniors."
