Up next in 10
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
View Video Transcript
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
#College Sports
#Sports Coaching & Training