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UNC's Kane Kepley, Scott Forbes and Gavin Gallaher after the Heels fall to Oklahoma
Jun 2, 2025
UNC's Kane Kepley, Scott Forbes and Gavin Gallaher after the Heels fall to Oklahoma
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0:00
Yeah. Um, you know, first of all, I want
0:02
to give credit to Oklahoma. They played
0:03
really well. They have a really good
0:04
team. Um, you got to beat them and, uh,
0:08
they played better than we did tonight.
0:10
Uh, so that's why they came out on top
0:12
and we didn't. Um, you know, we just
0:16
they they had traffic the whole night. I
0:18
don't think we had a one, two, three
0:20
inning. Uh, we didn't make our normal
0:22
plays defensively.
0:24
um you don't pitch at a high level and
0:26
defend at a high level. It's hard to win
0:28
those games against a really good team.
0:31
But, uh our guys, they kept playing,
0:34
they kept battling. Um we left some
0:36
runners on base, but I told our guys
0:38
after the game, I was like, "Every one
0:39
of you got after it. Uh it just wasn't
0:42
our night. Um but we're going to flush
0:45
it quickly because we're going to play
0:46
again tomorrow. We're excited about it."
0:48
Tom, the experience of last year, I
0:51
mean, it's it's virtually the same
0:53
situation, almost a very similar game
0:55
and then having to back it up Monday and
0:57
go again. Guys like Gavin have been
1:00
through it and Kane will get his taste
1:03
of it, but what's the message? Just you
1:06
said flesh it. Yeah, I'll tell you the
1:07
exact message. I said, you know, we met
1:09
August 19th. That was our first meeting.
1:12
And I said, "If I had asked y'all in
1:13
there that we're gonna play for a
1:14
regional championship against Oklahoma
1:16
on Monday at the Bosch, what would you
1:18
say?" And they'd be like, "Heck yeah."
1:20
Um, so I preach that all the time. Um,
1:24
thankfully obviously that wasn't an
1:26
elimination game for us. Uh, so we we
1:30
have another game when not, you know,
1:33
that's the message like move on and take
1:34
a shower and once I find out the game
1:36
time, we'll get in here and we'll get
1:37
after it. Uh, I just kind of want the
1:40
same much you draw from that experience
1:43
last year in the same sort of situation.
1:45
Yeah, I mean definitely helpful.
1:47
Um like you said, very similar
1:50
situation. So just knowing that just
1:52
like tonight was hard, tomorrow's
1:54
probably going to be even harder. Um you
1:56
got to show up, you got to bring it and
1:58
just play like we got our backs against
2:01
the wall.
2:03
Gavin, you came through in a lot of
2:05
clutch situations tonight. Does your
2:07
approach change at all uh when your team
2:10
is down and you need a coach like that
2:11
or do you just keep it the same? No. Um
2:14
I'd say just try to, you know, keep it
2:16
simple. Um do the same thing every time.
2:18
Be consistent. Uh Coach We, Coach
2:21
Jackson, they prepare so much with all
2:23
their with their whole pitching staff.
2:25
So, um before I get in the box, I know
2:28
what my approach is and I know what I'm
2:29
looking to do and uh then just try to
2:32
stick to that and execute it. Ryan,
2:35
coach, was there anything that you saw
2:36
today that you know you'd like to
2:38
improve? I guess upon tomorrow that you
2:41
guys in better position. Well, obviously
2:43
a lot.
2:44
Um, you know, our guys competed, but you
2:47
can't give a team that's that talented
2:51
that many base runners. Um, you know,
2:53
they had base runner after base runner.
2:55
We also, I mean, they had we Coach Gains
2:57
just said it best. As bad as we thought,
3:00
you know, we pitched it. Um, I'm sitting
3:03
here looking at it. They only had three
3:06
four unr runs. Uh, so you got to make
3:08
big plays, too. And our guys have made
3:10
those big plays all year and they'll
3:12
make them tomorrow night.
3:15
Yeah, Scott, I'm wondering I've heard
3:17
that that Lynch is going to be your
3:19
pitcher tomorrow. Is that confirmed? And
3:21
and what are your
3:23
plans if that's not the case? There's a
3:26
good chance he will be our pitcher um
3:28
tomorrow. Um, you know, we got him and
3:31
Duff uh well rested and ready. Um, you
3:34
know, that can be a challenge when you
3:36
have a game cuz I'm a I'm a go for it
3:39
person. Um, but we just needed more
3:42
length to get deeper into the game to
3:44
get Lynch or McDuffy in there. Didn't
3:46
happen. Um, but they're ready to go.
3:48
They'll be fully rested and most likely
3:50
that's who we'll start is is Ryan Lynch.
3:53
Coach, on pitching, at what point in the
3:55
game did you kind of decide that, okay,
3:57
we might need to hold these guys if we
4:00
need them for another game? Yeah. Well,
4:01
I I mean, we talked about it before the
4:03
game. Uh you always have a plan going
4:05
in. I felt like we need to get into the
4:08
seventh. Um at least be tied or
4:11
potentially have the lead. Uh obviously,
4:14
if we were in the elimination game, that
4:17
would have been completely different.
4:18
But when you have two guys that you also
4:20
know, there's a reason those guys are
4:22
prepared. McDuffy started this year. Um
4:25
he's he's been lengthened out. Lanch has
4:27
started. He's been lengthened out. We
4:28
have other guys are going to need to
4:30
pitch potentially uh tomorrow, but I'd
4:33
made up my mind as a head coach that
4:35
unless we had the lead um from seventh
4:38
to ninth, I was going to put Ryan Lynch
4:40
or Walker McDuffy in the game.
4:43
Adam Gavin, the in dealing with
4:46
Barfield, their their starter tonight, I
4:48
think that was his third start of the
4:49
season. I mean, you guys knew you were
4:51
going to face Witherspoon last night.
4:53
I'm sure you had a ton of information.
4:55
Scott was talking about the video that
4:56
you guys watched. Like, does the
4:58
challenge now become sort of preparing
5:00
for these pitchers on the fly that maybe
5:04
don't know as well as Witherspoon maybe
5:06
not have as much information on some of
5:08
these guys? Yeah. Uh, I mean, like I
5:10
said, um, earlier, Coach We, Coach
5:13
Jackson, they do such a good job
5:15
preparing us. Um, they always have
5:18
in-depth scattering report unless it's
5:20
a, you know, a guy that hasn't seen the
5:22
mound this year. Um we're always, you
5:26
know, we're always prepared even if it
5:28
is a late notice. Like tonight, they
5:29
played earlier today. Didn't really know
5:31
who their starter was until we got to
5:33
the field. Um that can be tough, but uh
5:36
we just, you know, had a hunch of one or
5:40
two guys they might start and
5:43
um just, you know, try to prepare for
5:45
either one of those and then once we got
5:47
word, we knew we were looking to do.
5:49
Kane, can you talk about how after the
5:51
sixth inning, you fell behind by four
5:53
runs? I think it was 73, but then in the
5:55
seventh, you guys got two. In the
5:56
eighth, you got the bases loaded. Can
5:58
you just talk about the offensive
5:59
approach? You were falling behind, but
6:01
still kind of you guys were kept coming
6:03
coming after them. Well, it's just about
6:05
the fight. We were competing every
6:06
single AD, every single pitch. We knew
6:09
we had to get back in the game, not
6:10
looking at score, we were playing like
6:12
it was zero the whole time. So, I mean,
6:14
it was basically just competing at that
6:16
point and believing that you're better
6:17
than the guy on the mound.
6:20
Yeah, Scott, it looked like Skip was
6:23
using exclusively left-handers against
6:26
your lineup because you had six lefties
6:28
in there. Will you bury that tomorrow to
6:31
kind of take that advantage away from
6:34
because it sounds like his his strategy
6:36
is throw lefties against you guys? Yeah,
6:39
you know, we faced last six weeks
6:42
probably 80 to 85% of what we face has
6:45
been left-handed. Um, and our guys have
6:48
handled them pretty good. Uh, I still
6:50
thought we had good at bats. We didn't
6:51
have much to show for it. As you look at
6:53
their arms and the caliber that they
6:55
have is, you know, it's not like we're
6:56
striking out 14, 16 times. Um, you know,
7:01
we always look at matchups and you could
7:04
change a guy here or a guy there. So, I
7:06
don't want to say that's not a
7:08
possibility. Um, but I don't see our our
7:11
our top five hitters in that order
7:13
changing.
7:15
you you're constantly able to get so
7:18
many pitches off of one pitch or have
7:19
really strong quality at bats. You did
7:21
that in the seventh in response after
7:23
the sixth to get on base and eventually
7:25
get home. What's what allows you to have
7:27
such long at bats even if you're not
7:28
necessarily getting hit off. It's just
7:30
my mindset every single be it's trying
7:33
to see pitches, find a way to get on
7:35
base, help my team win, still second,
7:36
still third. So whether I reach on air,
7:39
walk, hit, hit by pitch, it don't matter
7:41
to me. If I get on first, that's that's
7:43
what I'm going to do to help my team
7:45
win. So, that's just the kind of player
7:46
I am, and that's never going to change.
7:49
Anybody else? Grace Kane, I mean, you've
7:52
obviously stolen a lot of bags and
7:54
coaches said that you have the green
7:55
light, but how much scouting goes into
7:57
the pickoff move of a pitcher and then
7:59
the ability of a catcher because
8:01
Oklahoma has two that they used before.
8:03
Yeah, lefties and righties are
8:05
different. Me and Coach Jackson, we we
8:06
talk a lot about it before uh the
8:08
pitcher comes in when like the times and
8:10
stuff and all that all that jazz. But uh
8:12
yeah, the a lefty pig, you sometimes
8:15
they have read moves and you have to
8:17
know that stuff. So, and Oklahoma does a
8:19
really good job of of hold over runners
8:21
and and pitch control and all that
8:23
stuff. So, yeah, it's really a
8:24
challenge, but yeah, I'm trying to steal
8:26
every single every single pitch and get
8:28
a good pitch to run on and get count as
8:30
well. And I know Banny and Steve got
8:32
good bats behind me, so I got to be
8:33
smart with that as well. So, um it's
8:35
it's really default aggressive for me
8:36
and try to put the right uh count going.
8:39
Last one right here in front and then K
8:41
if you can talk for yourself and then
8:42
also the rest of the outfield. You guys
8:44
have the outfield has a ton of speed and
8:46
it's able to like use your forward
8:47
momentum on those fly balls to you know
8:49
the runner tags up not have it be more
8:50
than one. Can you just talk about the
8:52
speed of the outfield and and the arms
8:54
that you guys have? Yeah, it's just
8:55
believing in ourselves, knowing we can
8:57
get to any ball in the outfield and
8:58
knowing how how fast each other are and
9:01
like where we will be in gaps in in
9:03
relation to each other. So deep ball in
9:05
the gap, I know where French is. I where
9:07
know where Tyson is going to be. So it's
9:08
just trusting each other and knowing get
9:10
the balls that um other guys can't and
9:13
help our team win. All right, thank you
9:14
very much. We'll see you at
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