After the South Carolina Gamecocks’ 9-7 loss to Georgia on Sunday, interim head coach Monte Lee addressed the media, reflecting on key moments in the game and the team’s overall performance. Here’s what he had to say:
On the Tough Situation for Jake
“I feel terrible for Jake. I mean, I really do. We made the decision to put him out there to try to put our best nine guys on the field and in the lineup at one time. Wanted to give [Will] Craddock a break.
He’s been struggling a little bit at the plate, and I just wanted him to focus on his at-bats. So I put [Logan] Sutter in the lineup with the lefty [Georgia’s Kenny Ishikawa] starting today and left Pat [Evans] at third.”
“We wouldn’t have been in the position that we were in to potentially win the game if it’s not for Jake. Jake has just been giving us such good at-bats, and I felt super bad for him. Look, I know he feels terrible.
I would have loved for him to make those plays; I know he would, too. But we’re not in a position to be competitive today offensively if it’s not for Jake. So I certainly don’t blame him.”
On Defensive and Offensive Challenges
“His wasn’t the only one. We had a couple plays that we should have made. Earlier in the game, right there in the first inning, you had a swinging bunt right there in front of the plate; we don’t make a play. That ground ball to third where we didn’t make a play, it led to a couple runs. So it wasn’t just that.”
“But all in all, offensively, we needed to swing the bats, and we certainly did that. We hit the ball really well today. We have some clutch hits, hit with two strikes a little bit better.”
On Pitching Decisions
“I thought Brandon [Stone] kept us in the game. The biggest decision was, ‘When do we go to Alex [Valentin]? He wanted the ball. Tried to keep him in there as long as we could, but he ran into some trouble.”
“And then, at the end of the day, we just needed to be better in the back half of the game on pretty much all sides of the ball. I thought the guys competed hard today, and we just got to be able to put all three of them together at one time. I know that’s the key.”
On Team Adjustments and Offensive Improvements
“We pulled the position players together when we got off the bus after yesterday’s game. Met with them and really just had a conversation about what I’m seeing and how I’m feeling and wanted them to give some input, as well.
We came up with a little bit of a different plan for today with the guys — not necessarily that it was all that different than what we were doing in the past, but just trying to create more of a clear identity that we want out of the offense.”
“I thought the guys did a great job of it today, and we just got to carry it forward. And I got to make sure when it comes to the decisions that we make — as far as on the pitching side of things, on the defensive side of things, on all of it — to continue to try to make the adjustments as the head coach now and find ways to put our team in a position to be successful.”
On Pitching Performance
“Certainly hurting for the kids today. It’s been a wild week, but there’s been a lot of highlights in there. I mean, we’ve had some games where we’ve thrown the ball really well. I’m really glad that we swung the bats well today.
Hopefully, we can carry some good offensive momentum into next week. We’re going to continue to praise the kids for the positive things that they’re doing and just keep working hard to find ways to make us better.”
“I’m pleased with how we pitched; I really am. I know things didn’t go great for us today. We had some tough luck again in the back half of the game. Look, Brandon Stone’s not going to be dominant every time.
He pitches to contact. He gave up some hits. But heck, [Alex] Philpott threw the ball, I felt like, really, really well. Was incredibly competitive in the strike zone. I know they gave up some hits but threw the ball really well. So I saw a lot of bright spots on the pitching side.”
On Offensive Highlights
“We just got to find a way to help them. It feels like a little bit… We swung the bats well today. We didn’t play great defensively. Was hoping we would have made some of those plays behind them, but we didn’t.
If we can put all three of them together, we have a chance to be competitive. So you just got to keep working with the kids and keep finding the right recipes in terms of the nine guys and the offensive approaches at the plate.”
“But the pitching staff, all in all, I felt like they did a good job all weekend.”
On Notable Player Performances
“Yeah, especially early in the ball game, when they brought in [Georgia’s Caden] Aoki. We knew that Aoki was going to spin. And I’ll tell you something: We had some base hits on some spin today. KJ Scobey had two hits.
Came up with a two-strike hit: a double on a breaking ball. That’s a huge win for Scobey. That’s been an area that he’s wanted to continue to improve on.”
“I saw some good things out of the hitters today. Pat Evans had a great day today. Beau Hollins is starting to show some life, starting to put together some good at-bats from both sides of the plate. Get Will going back in the right direction, and I feel like we have a chance to do some things.”
“[Luke] Yuhasz has been good for us. Randolph’s been really good for us. Talmadge [LeCroy] is always going to be competitive. And it was good to see [Tyler] Bak get a hit there at the end. Bak’s been scuffling a little bit this weekend, so hopefully he can build on that a little bit.”
On a Tough Play
“That was a really tough-luck play right there because it just nicked his glove. Had a chance to potentially catch it. That ball was hit pretty hard. I don’t know exactly where the ball was when it when it hit him, but obviously it was in fair territory. If he didn’t get a glove on it, would it have stayed fair? Who knows.”
On Pitch Clock Controversy
“So he stepped off [the mound], which should have been a reset on the pitch clock. They didn’t reset the clock, so they initially awarded the batter a ball, which would have been ball four.
But then when the umpires got together, they said, ‘Hey, look, he stepped off. That’s a reset, so it’s not a pitch. That’s what he was arguing: that he stepped off.”
“I didn’t know what he was saying, so I just came out to say, ‘Hey, what is going on? So more than anything, just trying to calm him down and actually talk to the umpires to find out what was going on. But they got together and got the call right, and we were able to move on from there.”
