WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: POOL C - GREAT BRITAIN VS CANADA

March 12, 2023

Drew Spencer

Jaden Rudd

Chase Field

Team Great Britain

Pregame Press Conference

Q. Are you ready to announce a starter at this point?

DREW SPENCER: We are, Akeel Morris.

Q. What led to that decision? I think you've got a lefty option in MILLS, and Canada has a lot of lefties. How did you play that out?

DREW SPENCER: We're just really confident in how Morris matches up against their hitters. Just felt like a good matchup for us.

Q. You guys played late into the night last night. You're coming back up for another game real quick after this. How do you keep the energy up from where it was last night?

JADEN RUDD: We just have to flush it, move on. We played a good game. It was an emotional game, a tough game. But at the end of the day we got scheduled about eight hours after that one ended.

So we've got to turn it around and focus on who we're facing out here and focusing on these nine innings rather than the nine innings that are already over.

Q. You talked about it last night, Drew, some of your guys have gotten -- your captain, Daniel Cooper, getting in that game in that spot to face some guys. If they take that experience away with them, how much can that be used going forward for you guys?

DREW SPENCER: It's incredible. You think about what our U-12s or our U-15s or even kids that haven't yet imagined or dreamt of putting on a Great Britain uniform might have in the future to be able to have a conversation about facing Nolan Arenado or Mike Trout.

Coop can have had that conversation already because I think that's, like, the sixth time they faced each other. But now, those conversations, we have now in the locker room, you go back, and any time we can get kids together with the guys that played on this team, they can talk about that. He can talk about what it's like to get a hit off Wainwright or Greinke the other day.

And, so, you go from not being something that other people are able to do in their programs and in their clubhouses to now something that we can add to ours. I think that has exponential potential for us.

Q. Have you heard from people back in Britain? Did anybody reach out to you last night, anybody in particular, anything you want to share?

DREW SPENCER: I had to put my phone on silent to get some sleep because there were a lot of messages, support and encouragement, whether it was from the rest of the GB coaching staff who were all tuned in, paying attention. And quite a few stayed up all night, to actually as we were getting back to the hotel family who were just waking up.