Game Quotes - Navigators vs. Sanford 6/15

Head Coach Jason Falcon:

On the two runs allowed by reliever Chris Kowalski in the ninth...

“Chris [Kowalski] was out for a long break, I think that is why [Sanford] jumped on him there in the ninth inning, but all in all, we’ll take a win.”

On sweeping the last three meetings with Sanford...

“We have played this team three times now in, what, less than five days? Beating anybody three times in five days…that is pretty tough.”

On the Navs' aggressive baserunning, particularly that of Sean McNaughton...

“Speed definitely forces a defense to make plays. Sean has got a lot of speed.”

On the importance of defense...

“Good defense wins ballgames. We’ve made about an error a game, but the teams we have been playing have made more than that and I think that has been a little bit of a difference.”

On taking our starting pitcher Wayde Kitchens after five innings of work...

“We are not going to let these pitchers’ pitch counts get too high, they have got to get back to school. We have got enough guys in the bullpen to get through a game like this, and, you know, they proved me right.”

On the Navs' eight-inning explosion vs. Sanford compared to the first-inning rally vs. Team USA...

“I normally like to put pressure on every inning, but, you know, I think this is a team where we are still trying to find out where our order is and I think [the fact that] I am juggling guys back and forth every inning has something to do with it. I think, one through nine—or actually one through thirteen, I am comfortable with anybody going up there to the plate. Everybody has said, you know, ‘you guys come out there and swing the bat,’ the USA guys said, ‘you guys were aggressive against us…no one has been aggressive against us.’ That is the way it has got to be.”

On agressive baserunnning, again...

“A lot of the guys we have running have the speed to be aggressive. Justin Little is here to steal a lot of bases. Mike Provencher can run. Obviously, Sean McNaughton as well. I think we got into favorable counts, and we have got guys at the plate who knows what they are doing. Running is going to be a huge part of our game the whole year.”

On his evaluation of the pitching staff after the first week of games...

“We have got a long way to go. A lot of these pitchers hadn’t thrown since their season finished. Now they have got their feet wet, they have gotten their innings in, now we can start to determine who are going to be our starters and who are going to be our relief guys.”

Starting Pitcher Wayde Kitchens...

On his five-inning outing...

“I felt good. I was in a different mood today, it was weird. I do not know. I was not how I usually am before starts. But my fastball and curveball were working really well, so, I felt good.”

On escaping a couple jams with minimal damage...

“I just know when I need a strikeout and I know when I need a groundout, and I just do my best not to elevate the ball in the zone, to prevent sacrifice flies or anything like that. I have done it all season, so it is not something new.”