Feb. 17, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Head coach Robin Petrini and senior pitcher Kimi Wong (Goleta, Calif.) sat down with the local media on Wednesday to discuss the 2010 season with reporters. The entire transcript can be found below.
Head Coach Robin Petrini
How was your trip to New Mexico?
It was good. We got to get on dirt, although their dirt was a little bit like playing on asphalt because it was the new material so the field was very fast. They had very thin air. 52 home runs in a weekend. I've never been in a tournament where there's been that many. We benefitted from that ourselves, so we'll take it. It was exciting to get the season started and to see where we are and the thing we need to work on.
Looking forward to the weekend, you guys are talking on No. 1 Washington. Is this the ultimate measuring stick for starting the season?
No. Every time you play you measure your team. Alabama just got run-ruled by Missouri so what teams did last year, they did last year. This is a new year and teams have to get back out there and do it again. Playing Washington we know that Danielle Lawrie is back, she's a great pitcher and they've lost some kids. I'm sure they're trying to find their way as well. It's just one of 56 games we have on our schedule.
You talked about Danielle Lawrie. How do you approach a pitcher like that?
You try and hit her. There's no approach. She's very effective and you try to put that ball in play and force their defense to make mistakes. We're not guaranteed to face her. Last year we didn't know whether they'd pitch her against us or not. It's not like when you go out and play basketball and they have a starting five. You have a staff of pitchers so who knows if we'll face her.
You talked about last year when you guys lost by one. How painful was that loss when you were up by six?
Every loss is a painful loss and if it's not painful then you're in the wrong place. It was a painful loss but we also scored 13 runs off of them. They had one more at bat then we did and were able to make something out of it. We weren't able to stop them. That's the sign of a champion and that was a championship team. It was painful, but we did a lot of good things in that game but that championship team won that game.
Overall how was your pitching in New Mexico?
We struggled a little big with pitching. I think the altitude was a significant factor as well. The New Mexico State game I've kind of thrown out because they are a really good hitting team and they live and die by the long ball and that's how they won that game. Jackie Hill settled down and did pretty well. Lisa Akamine struggled a little bit. Kimi Wong had a relatively good outing, but struggled a little bit. She got a couple of good innings under her belt so we are going to build on that. With pitching, they have room to improve. Obviously our hitting was the best thing we did this past weekend. Defensive pitching is what we need to get up to par with our hitting. You have to do hitting every weekend, so this weekend we have to produce that offense again and shore up our defense in pitching.
How was it going from inside, under 12 feet of snow to outside?
It was actually really nice. We broke in our cleats and just being on the dirt and grass, that's what we've played on all our lives. It was nice to just be out there and to be able to see real fly balls and to play off the dirt. It felt good. I think everyone was really excited so that that was good too.
What's the status now with Ellen McNair and the concussion?
Beats me. Your question is as good as my question. I have no idea. She was tested again last night and I haven't heard anything back yet.
How much does it concern you just having one catcher?
It is a concern that we have one catcher. We've been working a couple other kids in. I'm sure when Ellen gets released, it won't be to full go. We imagine after her release it will still be a couple of weeks until we'll be able to put her on the field. The other kids we've asked to step in and catch have done a really nice job. I supposed if Danee Collett were to go down and we were put into a position where one of them would have to catch in a game, we would struggle. They've done a nice job handling our pitchers in the bullpen. We've thrown them in at practice. They've caught live with batters throwing live. They've actually handled that really well. We haven't put them into the full game-ready rigors, but we've progressed them along and they've done a nice job.
Who are some of the kids who have filled in?
We've primarily gone with Shannon Hutchinson, who is a freshman and Danielle Noll who is a senior. They've stepped in for primary on field catching during practice. Ashley Todd and Lauren Rossi have been very effective in the bullpen getting our pitchers ready.
How impressed were you with Danee's Collett hitting performance this past weekend?
It was fantastic. Last night at practice she continued on her pace that she had over the weekend. She's seeing the ball very well and is very disciplined late. There are very few glitches in her swing. She'll have a bad swing and she knows what she needs to do immediately to correct it. So Danee is swinging like she is feeling pretty good.
How are the two Centre County kids doing?
Danielle Noll hit a homerun. The kids came up to me afterwards and said that they almost cried for her when she did that. Mary Ostman who is a lefty slapper for us hit a homerun as well so the team was pretty excited. They're doing well. Learning things and coming along. I think Danielle Noll is going to get some pretty good opportunities for us this year and we'll see what she does with them. Rachel Myers is the new kid on the block, filling in for us where we need her. I don't know how many opportunities she's going to get but she's been very helpful with our practices
What's your status with your [plans for a new] field these days?
Board of directors and trustees approval in March and they'll break ground the next week. As far as I know, pending that vote, we'll be a go.
How excited are you about Beard Field?
I'm very excited. I haven't shown any of the blueprints to the younger kids. I've shown them to a couple of the seniors because it's not a facility that they are going to play in. It's been a two-year process of this is in, this is out, this is a go or not. It's been such an up and down rollercoaster that I didn't want to put them through it before I knew exactly what it was that we are going to build. What is going forward, I have. When it gets approved I will break it to the team. It's very exciting. I've been in on all the meetings. We've even met with the woman who does that furniture. She's coming back next week to nailed down everything we picked out to make sure all the colors, carpets, furniture is what we want. It's been really exciting. It's going to be a nice place.
Would it be a place where you would consider hosting statewide events?
PIAA has already contacted Penn State about moving things here, baseball, softball, and track and field. We knew that would be part of the process. So yes, absolutely. We've made it such that they don't have to go into our locker rooms.
How well do these early season tournaments out west prepare you for Big Ten play?
All pre-season tournaments give you an indicator of where you are. It gives you a chance to play kids and who are going to be your starters before you get into the thick of your season. It's good to give kids lots of different experiences. One of the things that didn't come up in any of the release is that we put in Lauren Rossi in a clutch situation when we were down by one against Colorado State. We asked her to just move a runner over and she executed what is called a push bunt and pushed it past the pitcher and first baseman. They second baseman breaks to first base, so the ball goes to the middle of the infield and our runner scored from second to tie the ball game. It was a simply execution of a play by a freshman. She put us back in the ball game, which we went on the win. Lots of people are getting lots of different experiences. That's what pre-season gives you.
Is it more important this year because you have seven freshmen?
Every year is a new group. You have a new chemistry with each team. Every year that team has to figure out how to bond. It's not a matter of the freshmen, sophomores, juniors, or seniors. It's a team thing so the team has to find out what they're about and that's what preseason trips do for you. You find out what you're about.
How exciting is it to see freshman pick that up in situations like that?
That was really big. I knew that she would get the bunt down, that's why I called on her to do it. It took the pressure off of everybody else because we tied it up right there. It put us right where we needed to be. When we came back up the next inning, we were at the top of the order in a tiebreaker [format]. Desi ripped a shot that would have been a double if the game had been played.
Kimi Wong, Sr. Pitcher (Goleta, Calif.)
Kimi, what has it been like working with somebody different as a catcher?
We're lucky because all of the girls on the team are so bubbly and willing to do whatever they need to do for the team. A lot of the girls have been thrown into different position throughout the year. They're all smiles saying "Ok! Let's go!" They're really fun to be in the bullpen with and it keeps us relaxed and ready to go.
Going back to Washington who has a lot of ways of winning. How do you approach a deep team like that as a pitcher?
We just pitch right at them. As pitchers we just pitch at every team like they are a national championship team. Our motto is just going hard at everybody and every game. If they hit our good pitches, then they hit our good pitches but we're going to try and beat them with what we have.
You pitched in last year's close game. What was it like pitching against a team that goes on to win the national championship?
It was disappointing. They were a good team and we fought all the way through. It's one of those games that we look to learn something from and then move on. It was good to see that we competed with them.
Obviously they have a target on their back with a lot of pressure. Do you think it's good being able to play with less pressure?
They have everything to lose. Every game is just like playing a national championship. We just going out to play one game at a time to get one win at a time. To us it's just like any other team. We're excited to play them just like anybody else.