Gary Powers Quotes (70 Quotes)

The game was won on defense today.

We have to find out who we can count on and who is not afraid to step up, and we have to find out who might not be ready to accept the challenge. We are going to be presented with a real challenge this week. Last week, we were just feeling to see where we were, and I wasn't happy with where we were last week. Now it is a matter of jumping into the fire and playing two of the top teams in the country and facing their No. 1 (pitchers). It is a great challenge for sure.

I think the whole pitching staff has done the job but I think the bullpen has really stepped up as of late.

Runs get scored when you walk guys. The defense gets back on their heels and things happen that you don't want to happen.

I believe in Steve Taylor. He is a competitor. He goes out there and competes hard. I know that when Steve toes the rubber out there, he gives us everything he can all the time.

He is the guy right now. He was the apprentice last year and he showed some signs of brilliance. He just needs to get consistent. He has quick hands and turns the double play better than everyone we have.

Last year, I helped out a little with volleyball at West, so they told me I couldn't wear anything green for Carla, ... But I put on a little green heart and wore it around. This year, I guess I'll have to be all blue.

Terry really did take over the game there. He had been biding his time this season as we mixed and matched guys in the lineup. We gave him a chance today and he responded.

We have little or no options at some of these positions. Guys have to step up and be accountable and figure out how to make plays.

I am proud of our guys because I really thought they maintained their focus for five straight days. Winning cures a lot of ills. It is lot easier to play when you're winning and you are swinging the bat and people feel good about themselves. Losing is a hard thing. I want it to not be fun when you lose.

It's early in the season and it is all about getting opportunities to get on the field and play games. Every game is important to get the experience we need. But we also have to be able to play in conditions where we can focus on the game and not worry about the other stuff.

Everything is still a work in progress right now. We are trying to get things put together. We, as a coaching staff, have a better idea of what each guy can contribute and what roles each guy might evolve into. But we still haven't played enough games. We might actually have a better idea of what certain guys can't do.

I've been here for 24 years and I've always said if a pitcher only gives up three runs through seven innings, I'll take those odds. Unfortunately, this is one of those years that you can't take those odds.

I don't know what to say. We came up short when we had opportunities, and they took advantage of every opportunity they had.

To his credit, he has kept working to prove himself. And he has worked hard on his game every single day since he came here. I have nothing but positive things to say about what he is all about. He hasn't second-guessed anything in the past. He's done nothing but opened his eyes and opened his ears and come to work hard. You can't ask any more out of a player than that.

Steve will get the start (today) and then we'll just see from there.

This team has to do things together more than any team in the past. We have to do the little things that make a difference. We have to move runners over and lay down bunts and make plays on defense. This team is more like that than any team here ever before.

We were lucky to get the two games in. Both teams played hard under the circumstances. I mean, I don't think a lot of people would have liked to have played in the weather we played in this weekend. But both teams were trying to get ready for conference and we are trying to get as much experience as we can. You just can't control certain things.

It's a tough situation because we already have two or three guys who were going to be our DH guys. Now we have two more who can only do that for the near future. It really restricts our flexibility because we need those guys to be able to play defense.

Unfortunately he had no command of any pitch tonight. It made it real difficult on him to have any consistency. He had trouble throwing his fastball where he needed to and so he had no way to set up anything else. He was just was out of synch today. Every pitcher is going to have those days.

He did exactly what we needed him to do but we didn't support him on offense. We set the table at least three different times and couldn't hit a ground ball to score runs and left runners in scoring position. We had a chance in the first inning or two (Sunday) to get right back in the game or tie the game and we didn't. The complexion of the game is different if it is tied.

It got too much of the plate. There are different locations to throw waste pitches. That one was supposed to be well off the plate away. It didn't get there.

It's been bothering him all year and he couldn't walk after that. I think he'll be out for a while.

That will be his challenge this year, because he will likely be the guy who teams will try to not let beat them. He has to develop some plate discipline so he can be an asset to our team. Teams will make mistakes and he'll get his share of hits and home r

He couldn't have done anything more for us than what he did. To his credit, he kept up his attitude and his competitive spirit and his focus. It takes a special guy to do that because what you saw (from the defense) was just ridiculous, utterly ridiculous.

Our bullpen came out and just got behind in the count from the get-go. And the errors behind them just made it snowball. Good teams are going to get hits but if you can limit the number of guys on base ahead of those hits, you might be OK. But we just set the table for them.

Steven was a wonderful student-athlete with a bright future. He will be deeply missed by everyone in the Wolf Pack baseball family. Our prayers and thoughts are with his family.

That's been happening on the other side of the fence. It's just nice to see us get that one opportunity to take advantage today.

He's done a good job the two or three times we have put him in that role and it's helped us win three games. That is the most important thing. If he can fit into that and do that and if that is what it takes for us to win games, then that's what we'll do.

I thought it should have been called because it was dangerous conditions.

Our defense is just pathetic right now. At this level, there is no excuses for what we have witnessed and what we are witnessing. That is a simple part of the game and it has nothing to do with inexperience. It is a focus thing and a concentration thing.

No question. He came in when Ryan was struggling. I thought Ryan battled for not having less than great stuff. He (Taylor) picked it up. Then Mason getting their best hitter ... that was big for this team.

I'm glad to see that we're starting to swing the bats as a team. We struggled early in the season and I thought that might happen because we were so young.

It was a close game and he needed to do his job like he did today to give us a chance to win. He did a great job going seven-plus inning and leaving with the lead. That is a quality start.

It's a good opportunity for him to kind of get things righted. We need a solid outing out of him.

Sometimes you just have to tip your hat to the guy who was pitching against us. But I also wasn't happy with our early-game approach at the plate. I thought we were passive and I thought we were lethargic and we made it easy on him.

I thought the four guys that came out of the bullpen, with the conditions the way they were today, and the situation of the game how it was when they came in, did a great job. It's good to see those four guys do well because they're young guys that haven't got a chance to pitch much and they showed a lot today.

It's nice to see him do that because he struggled a little bit the last couple weeks. He worked really hard all week to correct a couple things. We needed him. That is good senior leadership there, doing it by example.

I liked what I saw out of Matt Bowman in the fall because he has good range. As long as he stays healthy arm-wise he is going to be a good guy for that spot.

I'm proud of those three guys. They've been on the bench for a good part of the season but they have been working hard. And they are taking advantage of the opportunities they are getting.

When you feel like you gave the game away early and then came back at the end and then don't do the things you learned since you were a little kid to tie the game or go ahead, it's just disappointing.

I've got to tip my hat to Lacy because he definitely pitched well today. He is a guy they look to to give them a lot of quality innings, and he was really competitive today.

Nobody really talked about drafting (Mummy). It wasn't a surprise that he signed. It got down to the thought that, would he get drafted high enough to sign

Everyone was there and went through the drills we had and they did it with a lot of energy. The players are doing OK, as well as can be expected under the circumstances. We are not placing a lot of demands on them right now. It's hard on everyone. All of

We needed to get him a little bit of time, but not too much.

He got ahead in the count, and he located really well. We've always known he is a good pitcher. Sometimes you just need something to kick you in the tail a little bit. He responded today.

We just weren't in a position to play. At the time we had to make a decision, the field was still covered in snow. But the sun we got this afternoon will give us a chance to get it ready. If we don't get much more snow, then I think we'll be OK.

We have a lot of things that we have to face and a lot of things that we have to work on. And we don't have a lot of time to work on it.

I'm encouraged that we fought back and had a chance to win the game. (But) there were two simple plays that we didn't make earlier that hurt us.

Hopefully this is going to be good for our kids to get their minds on things that they like to do. They have a chance to compete and get back to baseball. We just have to continue to face the challenges we have always faced. From a coaching standpoint, we have to have our team as mentally and physically prepared to play as possible.