North Carolina evened the super regional series with a 4-0 win over USC on Saturday behind Jason DeCaro’s complete game shutout. DeCaro, head coach Scott Forbes and catcher Colin Hynek spoke to the media following the win. Scroll down for excerpts and to watch the full press conference.
Scott Forbes
“How about this big guy (Jason DeCaro)? I’ve been saying forever, I’m going try not to cry, but Jason DeCaro, since the day he walked on campus, since the day he trusted us and gave up his high school senior year, he’s been nothing but phenomenal, and saved that biggest complete game for big, big moment. So I’m most excited for him, that was a big win.”
“Third base is a hard position to play. The ball’s on you quick, you have to learn to play lower. (Nicholson) embraced the heck out of it, man. He has made some unbelievable plays for us all season, to the point where if he doesn’t make a play….and that ball that was absolutely smoked at him, he didn’t make it, but that’s a tough play to make. But (the play to end the sixth) was a huge play right there. To get in there quick and make a good run through right there to make sure they didn’t get a freebie. You know this game, that guy bunts for a hit and the next guy hits a double and you are in trouble. But Coop’s been good for us all year.”
“I really trust my coaches. We trust each other. We’ll talk tonight. We’ll meet in the morning. Match-ups are important. We’re going to start either Caden Glauber or Folger Boaz – one of those two. Just need to watch a little bit more video, see the difference between right-handed and left-handed. When you get a big game like this, we’re going to have more than just Caden Glauber and Folger Boaz. other guys are going to need to pitch and other guys are going to need to pitch well. One of those guys that I have a good feeling is going to be out there and throw really well is Walker McDuffie. I’ll probably make that decision in the morning, after about four cups of coffee.”
Jason DeCaro
“(I was) just getting ahead early. We figured that we would get ahead, they’re an aggressive team. So just going right after guys. Before that ninth inning, Coach Gaines came up to me, and he was just saying ‘you’re in control, so pitch like it, just go after them’. So just trying to get ahead and trying to get some quick outs.”…