Mike Candrea Quotations

When you start picking a roster of 17, it gets very competitive. They are definitely in the mix, though.

We need to pick things up right now and find a way. We need kids to contribute. They have on occasion this year, but we need to make sure everyone comes ready to do their part.

She's a special player. She's our Tiger Woods. When I told her, 'Lisa, you got the ball,' it was an easy decision on my part because I can't think of anyone better in a big game.

She's pretty much week-to-week. She's still able to throw and do workouts right now.

She's been cleared to play. She'll be in uniform and ready to go for us.

She came back in great shape. It's exciting to see,

She comes prepared all of the time and is an outstanding pitcher that wants to dominate the game. She definitely has a presence when she walks on the mound that she is going to dominate you.

I don't have any doubts. Lisa can hold her own right now.

Freed had a rocky first inning and then really settled down and threw well. We had some opportunities tonight and just couldn't get the big hit. I thought we competed hard and we look forward to seeing them again in the future. Ueno is a solid pitcher and throws hard. She has a good off speed pitch.

I was devastated, obviously. I was very disappointed. There is not much more we can do right now but strategize and try to fight to get softball back into the games.

I think there is an outside chance it might happen,

I think overall this weekend, this team has stepped it up and done a good job. We're playing pretty good right now, and obviously, offensively we put some numbers on the board, which is a good thing. I'm proud of this group right now.

I think if there is any team ready for it, it's us. We played a very good schedule and we know what we need to do.

We jumped on teams early, which is a good trait.

We were struggling offensively and were in a good situation with a good bunter. It was a no-brainer.

(Ueberroth) said something like, 'I only pick a few fights and I usually win.'

When I watch her prepare, she does it with a lot more urgency. She is really pushing herself.

When she puts the ball in play, good things happen.

Probably 2,000 games and that's never happened to me.

Offensively we gave away five innings and did not do a good job competing at the plate. We're just not aggressive enough and we're a little too nice to compete at this level.

Alicia continued to battle. (She) didn't have her best stuff but that's a good team. They will be ready the next couple of days. My hat goes off to them for making it a game.

This is a chance to keep the tradition in our program active.

It's very disheartening. I'm used to kids in an Arizona uniform that play the game hard and play the game as a front-runner. This weekend they played like they were in awe. Hopefully it's a weekend that will help us turn it around.

It's only a start, but I was very, very, very impressed with the way we competed. We got great balance and contributions from top to bottom, and that is always nice to see. It seemed like we had a different hero every game.

It looks like she is enjoying the game again and playing with confidence. We know how good she is defensively at third base. It's just a matter of time to get the offense to come around.

Oh, I remember Tanya Harding from '95. She pitched against us in the World Series and beat us. So I know her.

It was a great offensive performance. We got some bats unleashed. Overall, I thought offensively we looked really good and got some key hits and put a lot of runs on the board. That's good for the pitcher that's for sure.

It was a good wake-up call for us.

I'm hoping right now, with (former USOC president) Peter Ueberroth strategizing and putting everything in order, that they will try and present the case. Hopefully it will come up for a re-vote or for sure get us back in the games for 2012.

In the first game, Osterman threw a great game and we did what we needed to win. Against Japan, we played a good game and Southern was tough for us, but we just couldn't buy a break. We hit a lot of hard balls right at people and my hat goes off to Japan. They look good, but tomorrow is a different day and we have to go right back at them.

If you make mistakes, they will make you pay for them. But if we're smart and pitch to them carefully, we can take care of that.

I don't think I have ever seen that.

We have been so impressed with the Pocket Radar that it has become the only radar gun we use for coaching and scouting.

It's not the most conducive weather to play softball in, but you've got to come out and play it.

That's the thing about this game -- you get a little monkey on your back. You go 0-for-3, you go 0-for-6, pretty soon you start pressing. You keep trying a little harder, and the harder you try, the worse it gets. So, anytime you can break out of it by getting a base hit, it feeds confidence.

We found out that no matter how good you are you can't go out there and compete against teams that have been together for quite some time.

Practice like it's a game; play the game like it's practice.

It's a game of making great pitches at the right time, being opportunistic by getting a run at the right time and playing good defense.

I want kids who are going to go out there and compete, lay it all on the table. I think the big thing about this game is you have to care a lot about it.

I will never sacrifice my morals and ethics for anyone or any win.

I don't want to deal with problems, and so you want to make sure that you don't give yourself problems by not doing your homework and maybe trying to take a kid that's got great ability but isn't going to get it done in the classroom.