Coach Jim Morris' Quotes From Regional Press Conference
May 29, 2003
First of all I’d like to welcome all of the coaches here and I’d like to congratulate them on their seasons. I know they’re all as excited to be in the NCAA Tournament as we are. We’re excited of course to host the tournament; Miami has done that many, many times before I got here. (Senior Women’s Administrator) Connie Nickel has done it many years and people here do a great job. I found out in my first year here when they actually invited me to the meeting to get ready for the tournament. There were like 15 people in this meeting and they met for about hour and no one said a single word to me. They’ve got all these different things set up and it was very, very organized. At the end of the meeting I raised my hand and said, “What do you all want me to do?” They said, “You’re supposed to win. Other than that, you don’t have to be at the meeting.”
That was the last time I ever went to one of Connie’s meetings. Because I know everything is done and everything is ready.
We’re excited. It’s been an emotional season for us. It’s one that’s had some ups and downs. It’s been really tough to take some of the things that have gone on during the season. But our players have done a great job of refocusing, and doing what they need to do to be very consistent throughout the year, and I think that’s something that very, very important for our team. We haven’t had any great winning streaks, but we’ve been very consistent throughout the year.
We’re excited about playing Bethune-Cookman. I’m very familiar with their program. I’ve watched what coach Melendez has done since he’s been at the tournament. He’s done a tremendous job and every single year they’ve gotten better. I know they won their tournament, and I know the guy they are starting against us, and I’ve heard nothing but great things about him. I’m sure he’s the MVP on their team because he’s MVP in their league and a great player. He’s a great pitcher and a great hitter. He’s a guy that some people have said may be the best hitter that they’ve seen in college this year. I know he’s an outstanding player. All-around he’s a great athlete and so we’re looking forward to facing him.
We’re excited that everybody is from Florida because their fans can come. As coach (Cooney) says, it’s very easy for them to come down here. There are more Gators here than there are Hurricanes in this city. I know that because we’ve played them. Their guys always throw well and it should be a great draw and it should really make for an exciting tournament. The weather report has the rain going out today and being really nice tomorrow. We need that. We want it to be a nice track to play on.
On the starter
We’re starting Vince Bongiovanni. Vince was our No. 2 starter when the year started behind Danny Touchet, who’s out for the year with an arm injury. (Bongiovanni) has had an outstanding year, and he’s got an outstanding arm. He’s pitched very well this season. He got hurt in the middle of the season and was out about six weeks, but he’s back in the rotation now. He’s been pitching now for about three weeks in the rotation, and the guy’s got really good stuff. He’s a prototype pitcher that a lot of people like.
On the Long Beach State series and it’s importance going into the tournament
I think that it was very important for our confidence because Long Beach State has an outstanding club. They get great pitching, they’re well coached, and to go out there and win two is very exciting. We lost on Saturday to a guy that’s probably going to be on the USA team. The guy the night before was 10-0 and we beat him. He was on the USA team last year. So we faced some really good pitchers. I like playing Long Beach State. We’ve played them home-and-home a lot at the end of the season. We’re playing them here next year at the end of the season.
On Miami being the No. 8 National Seed
The other thing that I don’t think a lot of people know is that we are No. 3 in the RPI. That is something that’s important because I’m sure with the rankings that some people were probably surprised that we were a No. 8 seed. I was hoping for that because of our RPI. We’re a very young team with a lot of new players in the lineup. The only returning starter at the positions they were playing at last year is our center fielder Danny Figueroa. Jim Burt is at a new position (first base), but the other guys on the infield are new. Brian Barton is new right and we have a different player in left field, so we have a lot of new guys. Our rotation is different than last year as well. Our team has played very hard all season. They’ve worked very hard and they’ve gotten better all season.
On playing in the postseason
I don’t talk to them a lot about it. We just talk about having fun and playing hard. I think that the Miami tradition stands for itself. I think that the older guys talk to each other, and they help each other with that. I know that when I came in they helped me with it. I’m very lucky because everybody on my coaching staff played at Miami. J.D. Arteaga has more starts than anybody in the College World Series. He’s the winningest pitcher in the history and he can talk to the pitchers. They’re the guys that give our young guys leadership and tell them what it’s like to play in these tournaments and what they need to do.
On the team’s injuries
Danny’s got hip pointer and I wouldn’t say he’s a 100 percent. I don’t what percent he is, but he’ll be playing wide open because it is the NCAA Tournament and he’ll play hard. Ryan Braun is the same way. He was our MVP as a freshman and he’s had a great year. It was a very freak thing that happened. He was taking a slow grounder during infield against Savannah State, and he tripped and fell right on his face. Of course everybody was laughing, but little did we know at that point in time that he had hurt his back and hasn’t played a lot since that point. He played the first game at Long Beach (State) and we took him out in the middle of the second, and he did not play in the third. But he’s getting better and he is getting treatment everyday
On the play of Danny Figueroa
Gino feels like he may be the best defensive center fielder that has played at the University of Miami. He’s put together a really good year offensively and he’s gotten on base. When he gets on base, we have time to make things happen. Danny was selected to play for Team USA this summer and I’m excited for him. I think he’s excited about it, and I think he’ll do a very good job representing the USA and the University of Miami.
