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NCAA WOMEN'S COLLEGE WORLD SERIESJune 5, 2016Lonni AlamedaJessica BurroughsCali HarrodAlex PowersOklahoma City, Oklahoma Auburn - 8, Florida State - 7. LONNI ALAMEDA: Yeah, I'd first like to thank the NCAA for always moving this event forward, and I think there's so much more room to grow for fastpitch softball and it's awesome to see the crowd here and the Hall of Fame Stadium here and the ASA and everything they do for it. This is where the dreams of little softball players want to be, and we got that experience, so just so grateful for everyone putting their time and effort into making this experience for us. As for our program, I don't think we could be more proud of the steps we've taken for Florida State softball. This is the team 33, and they've really taken the legacy a step further. We just talk about the process, and you couldn't be more proud of the fight they had from Game 1, how much we've learned, to today just leaving it all out there. The people to my right were outstanding in that, but it was a full team effort. Every single person in the dugout made a huge effort for this team to give everything they had. It's an L, but it's truly a win for us because we are a better program and we're going to move forward and be stronger. Q. Cali, after you hit that three-run homer, what's going through your mind? Are you thinking we've got the momentum take this game? CALI HARROD: Yeah, I was pretty excited but I was just happy I could come through for the team and just give us that momentum going out into the field into the next at-bats. It was just really awesome coming into the dugout and my teammates were so excited for me, and like Coach said about the process and just taking it one pitch at a time, so really what was going through my head was just, okay, next pitch. Q. Coach, just talk about Jessica; to pitch a complete game and put her right back out there and for her to do -- I know she gave up the home run but to keep persevering? LONNI ALAMEDA: Yeah, J.B. had an outstanding day. She's been so consistent for us, not only pitching wise, but as a leader for us, too. Her tutelage for Meghan King has really grown a one-two punch for us and I think that's something -- I'm very lucky as a pitching coach to have, just the pride they've of the bullpen. We really got something today. She's always been confident, but we had the up-down, we had the changeup, she was confident with throwing it, and it showed up, and I couldn't be more proud of her, but I think she's proud of herself, too, because we put a lot of work into that, and that comes out for your players to have that and see that. You kind of get that proud mom moment, and she was pretty outstanding today for us. Q. Jessica, I know it's still really raw, but can you look back over the season and think, hey, we really did something with such a young group? JESSICA BURROUGHS: Yes, I am. I just think this team is just -- they just kept fighting until the end. They just gave everything they had, starting in the fall. Everyone took what this program is all about and just went with it. The freshmen came in, they learned quickly and a lot of them have made an impact, all of them is made an impact on this program and we'll continue to grow. Next year we're going to come back even stronger and more experienced, but I just think -- I don't even know. This year has been the funnest I've had, and I'm looking forward to next season, and it's kind of a little bittersweet ending how it did, but we fought, and we just kept pushing through, and I couldn't be more proud of this team. Q. Coach, if you can, just talk about the chip-away effect, you score one in the first, then the second. You get two runs, now it's tied up, now it's just like, keep the focus and work your way through. LONNI ALAMEDA: Yeah, yeah. Well, you know, UCLA taught us a little bit, the grand slam, and we've been here before, right, we can keep chipping away. We knew we could swing the bats against Auburn's pitching. We knew that, and we knew that their hitting was going to be tough. I mean, they swing it and they've been great all season, and they put together a good ballgame. It was just a matter of one-pitch mentality. We grew up so much here at the World Series as a team, and we talked that process all season long, and we believed it. We believed it. We found out that's what you have to do when you get here. It's the biggest stage, you've got to trust the process and you've got to trust your teammates, and it showed up for that fight mentality for us in the last couple games. Q. Coach, to start the season you said you're just looking for growth. Anything else is just gravy. Does this season -- are you already looking forward to what you're going to have next season? Are you already chomping at the bit waiting for 2017? LONNI ALAMEDA: Yeah, you know what, I think right now is a time to reflect on our current season. You know, it's a long journey. You start really over the summer, you start thinking about the next season, and then when you come together in September you are grinding it out to be here. Like your dream of any college softball player is to be here. But we've got to go take some time right now and enjoy this team and everything that we did and then come September we'll be ready to go and get after it for next year. It's tough to get here. It's tough to get here. It's not going to be a cake walk. I know we have the majority of our team returning and the experience, but we're going to have a lot of things to prove to ourselves, and we want to be back here. We're going to push our tails every day to get back here. Q. Alex, you were one of the most consistent players here at the World Series. What was it like for you watching players like Cali, players like Sydney really come alive toward the end and make an impact for this team? ALEX POWERS: I mean, I get more excited for them than I do for myself because I think when you can be selfless and have that much excitement for each other, I think that's what's going to change the ballgame. When Cali hit that home run, I think I was the first person like running out of the dugout. I mean, just such joy you feel for your teammates, and I think that's one of the most important things about being a team and being successful is being able to know that if you don't get the opportunity or if you do and you fail that other people will get the opportunity and that hopefully they succeed, and that's the best feeling of fulfillment. Q. Coach, you got a chance to look at the replay of the play at the plate at the end, and how close was it? LONNI ALAMEDA: I have not looked at it. I think the throw was high. I think if the throw was on line, but Warren did a Superwoman spin around throw which she does a ton, so I think she was safe as much as in my mind I wanted her to be out, but it wasn't there. We had our chances. We had the right people up with the bases loaded. We had our chances, and that's the game. If you can just leave it all out there -- I think in the third or fourth inning we brought the team together, I went out in the circle and I said, it's a dogfight right now and it's been an emotional day. It's been a long, emotional day. We had a great win this morning. Just give every ounce of what you have right now, and the team perked up, and they did it. They were awesome and the coaches brought them together about the hitting, same mentality, just give everything you have, and they fought, fought, fought. Tip your hat to Auburn. They're a great ballclub. They've done a great job there, and it's just fun to play a competitive game like that. Of course you want to come out on the winning side, but it is so fun to be in those moments, and that's what you train for. Q. Coach, when Morgan had two on and she hit that ball to the left-field gap, Draper made that critical catch, it looked like it could have been a two-RBI double. LONNI ALAMEDA: Yeah, it did rob a two-RBI double. That's it. That's this level. Again, like you know, there were so many great plays, it had to be good softball TV. It was just outstanding back and forth. I think Uncle Mo was running to one dugout and running to another. He was going back and forth and we couldn't really grasp it. That's what it's all about. Sometimes you applaud other players, too. You are cheering for your team but you just want a really good game and you just want to fight. It was an outstanding -- I'm sure a top-10 play. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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