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UNC's Scott Forbes, Tyson Bass and Reece Holbrook after beating George Mason
Apr 29, 2025
UNC's Scott Forbes, Tyson Bass and Reece Holbrook after beating George Mason
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0:00
Okay. Deciding to pitch head for putting
0:03
Sam in to pitch head in that spot after
0:05
Ron has done pretty well. What was that?
0:07
Well, the first thing is we felt like we
0:08
really needed another run. That's a good
0:10
team. Um that's the type of team that I
0:13
told our guys that's who you got to beat
0:15
as a four seed. Today's college game in
0:18
a regional. They have good team balance
0:19
lineup. I felt like we really need
0:21
another run. So, I wanted to pitch run
0:23
most importantly. Um Perry's a really
0:25
good base runner. He's got speed and I
0:27
felt like once we had an opportunity,
0:30
Sam was a really good matchup. I thought
0:31
he's had great at bats. His batting
0:33
average is extremely misleading. The
0:34
quaff chart, he's been up on it the last
0:36
three or four weeks. Um, and he's an
0:39
older guy and experienced hitter. So, it
0:41
paid off. Um, obviously, and he he has a
0:44
huge swing of bats. And then Justin
0:46
McDuffy's first start starting like
0:48
that. What did you see from him? I
0:50
wasn't surprised. I think he's going to
0:52
be a I mean, we have three unbelievable
0:55
weekend starters. I'd like for him to be
0:56
a starter. Uh but the way we've been
0:59
able to use him is the reason we were
1:01
able to start him. If you look at his
1:03
work, rarely has he been taxed. Um he
1:06
threw Friday, it was three days rest and
1:08
only threw 60 pitches. But building up
1:10
to that Friday, he had a full six days
1:12
and before that he had a four full four
1:15
days. So, I almost let him throw more,
1:17
but in my mind, I had 75 tops and I
1:20
thought he was outstanding. I think you
1:22
saw a glimpse of what he's capable of
1:24
doing. And he reminds me a lot of Trent
1:26
Thornton his freshman year. I think he
1:28
can do both. And then, I mean, again,
1:30
with the pitching, Olen, he loads the
1:32
bases and then gets out of that inning.
1:34
A lot of it him and also that outfield
1:36
defense. Yeah, no doubt. Um, Olen's been
1:38
really good for us. He's still got to
1:40
improve his off speed. If he can get his
1:42
off speed better, when I say better,
1:44
more swing and miss and through the
1:46
zone, his fast ball plays up. He's got
1:47
that good extension. He's hard to square
1:50
up. Hard to hit the ball in the gap or
1:51
over the wall with his fast ball. So,
1:53
his strikeouts will go up with his off
1:54
speed. It's gotten better. Um, but he's
1:57
he's competing. He's filling up the
1:58
strike zone. His velocity is getting
2:00
back up. Um, and he did a good job
2:02
because Lynch has been so good for us.
2:04
And I thought he made some pretty good
2:05
pitches and with good stuff and they
2:07
just did a good job of moving the ball
2:09
right there.
2:10
came in right after we scored and uh
2:12
they loaded up and the game's never
2:14
over. And for us to get out of that, I
2:16
felt pretty dang good going to the last
2:17
inning. What goes into improving that
2:19
off speed? Is it you just have to be
2:21
more comfortable with those pitches? Is
2:22
it reps? Is it a mechanical thing? No,
2:24
it's just, you know, really working on
2:27
throwing it through the zone. A lot of
2:29
pitchers want to shape their breaking
2:31
balls or their sliders when they try to
2:33
spin the ball early. Same thing with the
2:34
change up. And to have a really good off
2:37
speed pitch, you have to attack with it.
2:39
Like you're trying to throw at 92, 93
2:41
mph. Trust your hand placement. Um, you
2:44
know, and he's just a little early on,
2:46
but he threw a couple really good curve
2:47
balls. So, he does do a good job of
2:49
being aggressive with his curve ball,
2:50
but he's he's a legitimate four pitch
2:52
guy. Um, and I think again, I think he's
2:55
scratching the surface. I think he's got
2:56
another tick up with everything. I think
2:58
his velocity has another tick in there,
3:01
too. He's a really young kid. What What
3:03
have you seen from Tyson lately? He
3:05
seemed to have found his power stroke
3:07
here in the last week or so. I mean, you
3:10
know, Tyson, it's his first year playing
3:13
at this level, you know, and I think
3:15
everybody expects like this guy's going
3:17
to hit 400 with 30 home runs cuz he had
3:20
a good fall and a good preseason, but
3:22
he's had to adjust. But that's what what
3:24
makes Tyson so good is the last game
3:26
doesn't affect him. The last at bat
3:28
doesn't affect him. Matter of fact, he
3:29
helped us win that game on Sunday and he
3:31
had a bad day offensively, but he had an
3:33
unbelievable day defensively. Um, but he
3:37
he doesn't walk in today, oh, you know,
3:38
I had a bad day offensively. He doesn't
3:40
carry it over. Um, he listens. He's
3:42
coachable. He works hard with coach
3:43
Weers. And that was really good to see
3:45
him catch that left-handed pitcher cuz,
3:47
you know, him and Gavin have troubles
3:49
against left-handed pitchers. They see
3:51
the ball so well, they just get a little
3:52
bit big early. Um, and I thought his
3:54
timing was really good today and he that
3:57
that was a big spark to him. I mean, he
3:58
crushed that ball. How did you see these
4:00
guys really? It seemed like they
4:01
capitalized on almost everything. Those
4:03
mistake pitches. GMason had a lot of
4:06
errors. How does that serve them well
4:07
now and then going forward? Yeah, I
4:09
mean, that's what good teams do. That's
4:10
why we practice so much defense and
4:12
fundamentals is if you give good teams
4:14
extra outs, um, you know, don't defend a
4:17
bunt, don't make a play. It's hard to
4:20
prevent a big inning. Um, and our guys
4:23
are good about that. And we've we've
4:25
just gotten more distribution throughout
4:26
the lineup. was really excited for Ron
4:29
Kellis. I thought he looked really good.
4:31
Um, his timing was good. He just juiced
4:33
that ball in the gap. He should have
4:35
been on third base, but still like he's
4:37
he he looked like Ron Kelts. The Ron
4:40
Kelts that I know that's a threat as
4:41
soon as he steps in the box to hit a
4:43
double or home runs. That was really
4:45
good to see for us. Reese
4:48
Yeah. I mean, you know what? Like Reese
4:50
has just grown up so much.
4:52
Um he he is a role guy, but he's always
4:57
ready. He's worked extremely hard. His
4:59
attitude's been unbelievable, and it's
5:01
clear that he wants our team to have
5:03
success, and whatever that means he
5:05
does, he's going to be ready for it. His
5:07
BP's been really good. He's a he's an
5:09
option for us off the bench. He's an
5:10
option to pitch run, which is why now
5:12
when we do bring him in to pitch run,
5:14
I'm much more comfortable leaving him in
5:16
for an at bat. Gets a bunt down at pit.
5:19
Has a good at bat today. Looked really
5:20
good. his tempo looked good. Uh, so
5:23
really, I'm just proud of him and I'm
5:24
proud of his maturity of like, hey, you
5:26
know what? I'm just going to be ready
5:28
and I'm not going to be concerned about
5:29
whether or not I'm in the lineup, but
5:30
I'll be ready when my name's called. How
5:32
have you kind of seen those intangibles
5:34
from him and his play on the field just
5:36
kind of increase as you have him? Yeah,
5:38
he's just matured. Um, you know, he's
5:41
he's like every kid though. You want to
5:43
play be in the lineup every single day,
5:45
but you get to a point where it's like,
5:46
okay, if I'm not, how am I going to
5:47
handle it? How can I make everybody
5:49
beside me better? And that's a huge
5:51
reason we're having the season we're
5:54
having. We lost a ton of guys last year.
5:55
Um if you look at what we lost
5:57
offensively, a lot of new faces, a lot
5:59
of having to figure out how to get to
6:02
know each other, how to come together.
6:03
And you don't that doesn't happen
6:04
without older guys helping guys
6:08
understand the culture, understand the
6:09
standards. Um and Ree has done that. And
6:12
Ree works, you know, he doesn't take
6:13
days off at practice and you get
6:15
rewarded for that. Does that carry over
6:17
to other guys that may be in a similar
6:19
position as he is? Yeah. I mean, cuz
6:21
you're he's older and if you got this
6:23
young guy and he's whining and
6:24
complaining, he can be like, "Look,
6:25
dude, this is my fourth year in college.
6:29
I don't want to hear you whining and
6:30
complaining. I want to be in the lineup,
6:32
too." But that's not what we do here.
6:33
And that's what you have to have from
6:35
your older guys, and we've had guys that
6:37
are like that. Um, you know, and you
6:40
don't have that locker room
6:42
success. Even though we demand it, we
6:44
demand good attitude, you still have to
6:46
eventually buy into it when you're an
6:48
older player. And once you bought into
6:50
it, it helps everybody. Who you starting
6:52
tomorrow? For Boaz. Yep. Excited to see
6:55
him pitch. He'll be ready. Thank y'all.
6:58
Thanks, coach. Thanks, coach.
7:01
Did you see? We said the same thing.
7:03
We're on the same with couple dollars.
7:06
He got the NIO, you know. Is it Is it
7:08
$5?
7:10
Hopefully more than that.
7:13
Tyson, can you just talk about kind of
7:14
how this outfield defense has evolved?
7:17
Yeah, I mean I was just telling him in
7:19
the dugout it's a lot easier to play
7:21
when you're trusting the guys around
7:22
you. And for me it's kept Bandy and
7:25
Stoke and I know that they got my back
7:28
and I got their back. So giving it 100%
7:30
every time. And then I mean today
7:33
especially and that Friday game at pit
7:36
and that Sunday game at pit, you guys
7:37
are just it seems like you're able to
7:38
hit really well in momentum and the
7:41
runners and scoring position is getting
7:42
better. What do you think is really
7:44
going into that? Uh honestly I don't
7:47
know. So just being able to capitalize
7:48
is huge. Uh it's only a select amount of
7:51
pitches in a game that determine the
7:52
outcome. It's been going in our favor.
7:55
Hopefully he keeps going that way. There
7:56
been a difference for you at the plate
7:58
recently kind of finding the power spoke
8:00
here in the last week or so? Uh just
8:01
being a little shorter, a little
8:03
quieter, trying to hit the ball 400 feet
8:05
instead of 700.
8:08
What's the adjustment for that like 700
8:10
to 400? Uh just slowing down. Uh we says
8:15
it all the time, but I guess You don't
8:17
really realize it until you actually
8:18
realize it that the ball moves faster
8:20
when you're moving faster. So maybe you
8:22
shouldn't move so fast and then the ball
8:24
won't be so fast. Is 700 possible? No,
8:27
but I'm going to try. Are there big
8:30
adjustments you've had to make coming up
8:32
to this level? Um uh yeah, just same
8:34
like being shorter, being more
8:36
selective. A lot of stuff is better.
8:39
Everybody throws harder. You don't want
8:41
I mean you don't get less pitches that
8:43
you can actually hit. So being
8:45
selective, being on time, things like
8:48
that. What is the furthest from you
8:50
have? Uh I really don't know. Confirmed
8:54
probably 460, but nonconfirmed maybe
8:58
further. I like to think. We're talking
9:00
about your ability to just kind of
9:02
forget about the day before. How have
9:05
you kind of honed that ability?
9:08
Uh, I just growing up I just kind of
9:11
realized that life can be so much worse
9:14
than I have it. I mean, I have literally
9:17
nothing to complain about.
9:19
So, I'm getting to play a game. I live a
9:22
great life. I have a great family, great
9:25
girlfriend. Yeah. Striking out four
9:28
times on a Sunday night in Pittsburgh
9:30
when we're staying in a nice hotel in
9:31
the city is not something I should cry
9:33
about.
9:34
Did you want them to run on you tonight?
9:36
Oh yeah. Every time I'm praying they hit
9:39
me the ball and that they go cuz I love
9:41
to throw. It's my favorite thing. Little
9:44
aggressiveness coming around second.
9:47
Yeah. I was got to second and I was
9:49
checking up and I was checking up and
9:51
then I saw the center fielder just kind
9:53
of being lazy and I was like, "What?
9:55
You're going to be lazy? I'm just going
9:56
to go to
9:57
third." Yeah. I should have scored but
10:01
coach Force told me to stop. How have
10:03
you seen this team kind of have the
10:04
ability George makes a lot of errors
10:06
tonight to just capitalize both on
10:07
errors and then mistake pitches? Yeah,
10:09
like I'm saying like I said earlier
10:11
certain there's a certain amount of
10:12
pitches in the game that determine the
10:14
outcome
10:15
and
10:17
just knowing you got to get it done when
10:19
you got to get it done, I guess. How
10:21
hard is it to lay off the Incredibly
10:24
hard. Unbelievably hard. What What makes
10:26
that so tough though? Uh I don't know.
10:30
It is unbelievably hard. I guess that's
10:32
just my cryp tonight, but it happened to
10:34
a lot of people.
10:37
Thanks.
10:39
Couple games in a row. Forbes, you heard
10:41
Forbes earlier, got total faith in your
10:43
game. You've been here for a long time.
10:46
Just sort of talk about the process of
10:48
getting to here and then taking
10:49
advantage of your opportunities. Uh
10:51
yeah, obviously I grew up here. My dad
10:54
played and coached here, so it was
10:55
always my dream school and where I
10:56
wanted to be. Um, and then going along
10:59
with what Coach Forbes said, just
11:01
maturing as the years go on. Um, if I'm
11:03
not in the lineup, like not having a bad
11:05
attitude. I know freshman and maybe
11:08
sophomore year, I didn't handle it like
11:10
I should have. Um, but yeah, just trying
11:12
to stay ready. I've always worked hard
11:14
and uh, yeah, just trying to be ready
11:17
whenever my time's called and not
11:18
thinking if I don't get a hit this bat,
11:20
I won't be in tomorrow. Just taking
11:22
advantage of the time when it comes.
11:24
What do you think has been kind of the
11:26
biggest step in that kind of pro that
11:30
mental process here? Um, mainly just
11:33
trying to control what I can control.
11:35
Like, uh, I can't control if I hit it
11:38
right at someone, but I can control if I
11:40
having a bad attitude before the game or
11:43
before the time's called and then I'm
11:44
not ready when my time's called. Um, so
11:47
yeah, just knowing that I work hard and
11:49
that the work ethic will eliminate like
11:51
the fear that if this doesn't happen or
11:54
if I don't get a hit here, just trying
11:55
to stay ready and being ready whenever
11:58
that time is called.
12:00
When you obviously staying ready is a
12:02
thing everybody talks about, but just
12:04
describe that. You probably not going to
12:06
get in the game early, one through fifth
12:08
inning or so, but when it starts getting
12:10
late in the game, you know, you just
12:13
what's going on in your head there? Um,
12:15
a lot of it's situational. Like mainly
12:17
I've been a pinch runner off the bench.
12:20
So, and most of the time it's been for a
12:22
DH. So, just knowing like the situations
12:24
if it's a close game,
12:26
uh, and that DH gets on, I'm probably
12:29
going to be running. So, if it's like a
12:31
one-run game, tie game, I'm probably
12:32
going to be the guy to go in there and,
12:34
uh, make a good read and try to score
12:36
the game-winning run. And then, yeah,
12:39
just trying to stay loose in the dugout.
12:41
And then if I do score a run, knowing
12:43
that it could come back around and I get
12:45
a chance to hit and just trying to
12:46
mentally prepare for that. Uh just
12:49
positive self-t talk. Uh and knowing
12:52
like trusting all the work I've put in.
12:54
How big of a weapon is the base running
12:57
skill that this team has. Yeah, it's
12:59
huge. We got a lot of fast guys. Um like
13:02
y'all saw today with if a team makes an
13:04
error, we can kind of jump on it with
13:06
speed around the bases. Um, stealing
13:09
bases is off obviously a big thing if
13:11
we're not hitting homers or uh driving
13:14
balls in the gap. Just trying to take an
13:15
extra 90 whenever we can. And uh got
13:19
guys that can get bunts down, get the
13:20
extra 90, dirt ball reads, all that
13:23
stuff. When you when it's coming back
13:26
around, you know you're going to get
13:27
that at bat. Most of these guys get four
13:30
and five a game. You you miss that
13:32
opportunity, whatever. I've got another
13:34
one. You for you, it's usually one and
13:35
done. How have you able to how's that
13:38
maturity helped you sort of produce in
13:41
that moment? Yeah, I know freshman
13:44
freshman year I did not approach it the
13:46
right way and thought I have to get a
13:48
hit here. That way I can play the next
13:50
day or if I don't get a hit here I might
13:52
not play for a while. Um, and now it's
13:55
just more of all right, I've got this
13:57
opportunity and I just need to be locked
13:59
in for it and not chase a hit and swing
14:02
it balls out of the zone or uh try to do
14:05
something to hit a ball over the net.
14:07
Just try to put a good swing on a ball
14:09
and trust the BP, trust the T work, all
14:12
the early stuff and uh yeah, just take
14:16
advantage by not letting it overwhelm me
14:18
instead of just being present in the
14:20
moment. Coach talks all the time about
14:22
hitters routines before they go up to
14:23
the plate. How do you keep that kind of
14:26
consistent even when you don't exactly
14:27
know when those at bats are going to
14:28
happen? Yeah.
14:30
Um mainly mine is just in the on deck
14:33
circle and walking up to the plate and
14:36
then just right before the at bat
14:38
starts. But yeah, I've kind of always
14:40
had that routine since high school or
14:42
even before then. And yeah, that's kind
14:45
of the only one I can control. I can't
14:47
control if guys are getting on base
14:49
ahead of me and uh like what the
14:52
situation's going to be. Just yeah, like
14:54
I said, trying to be ready for a pitch
14:56
in the middle of the zone and putting a
14:57
good swing on it. We won't keep you much
15:00
longer, but I do want to ask you about
15:01
the leadership aspect of it that I asked
15:03
Forbes about. I mean, a lot of these
15:05
young guys want to play and you've been
15:06
in that spot. You mentioned it. Just
15:08
what's it like sort of mentoring younger
15:11
guys that are in the shoes you've been
15:12
in? Yeah.
15:14
Um, just exactly like coach Forbes says,
15:17
everyone wants to play and I'm I'm an
15:20
older guy, but I'm the same way, too.
15:21
Like, I wish I'm in the lineup some
15:23
days. And then if I'm not, it's just
15:25
still trying to keep that same attitude
15:27
of being ready. And I've been on both
15:29
sides of it where I didn't handle it
15:31
great freshman year, so I just try to be
15:34
a mentor to the freshman if maybe
15:37
everyone in their heads thinks they
15:38
should be playing for a certain reason.
15:40
But uh yeah, just telling them to be
15:43
ready. Uh keep working. But the freshman
15:46
this year have been great. We haven't
15:47
had any issues and they they all want
15:50
the same thing we do is just winning and
15:52
taking advantage of the day we have.
15:54
What do you think about Tyson talking
15:56
about I can't be mad at striking out
15:57
when I get to do the stuff I love to do.
16:00
Yeah, for sure. I I've had to work on
16:02
that part of it too, just dealing with
16:04
failure and um a lot of it has been
16:06
through perspective. just how I grew up
16:09
with leukemia and knowing that a lot of
16:11
people do have it a lot worse off and
16:12
that uh I'm grateful to be playing the
16:15
game today and if I have a bad at bat
16:17
it's not the end of the world like there
16:19
are a lot worse situations that could be
16:21
going on.
16:23
Appreciate you
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