Vance Arnold Quotations

We've got everybody healthy and we used a lot of guys today. We've got 11 or 12 guys swinging the bats well right now but our pitching is going to have to carry us from here on out. But we feel like we're in good shape for conference and I feel like we're as good as anybody in the state right now.

We accomplished what we needed to. We're really swinging the bats right now and a lot of kids had unselfish at-bats when the game was still tight. We had some walks and a couple of kids got hit and then the big boys knock them in. We just don't have an easy out in the lineup.

We really hit the ball early. But when bad things have happened to us, we swing at the wrong pitch on the wrong count and we get frustrated at the plate.

We ran ourselves out and took the bats out of some hands in a few innings. We made outs at bases we shouldn't have, trying to be too daring. If we would have played a little smarter we could have ended the game in five and saved some pitching. We wanted to take some chances going to second not third and home and we made some obvious misreads.

If anyone has earned this opportunity it's Grant. Because he was real good when he was young and then kind of disappeared and he's battled back and he's come a million miles. Our expectations weren't real high coming into the season but he's never turned the ball down and the defense loves him because he throws strikes and gets ground balls and double plays.

From the outfield to the infield, we can pretty much throw a ball and get it anywhere pretty quickly. And frankly, we were a little surprised that our defense has turned out to be so strong, but we feel really good about it right now.

We talked after losing the first game that positive people make positive things happen. We forgot about what happened in that first game and the kids battled in the second game. We told the guys to just swing the bats and be aggressive and they came through.

We made some mistakes that we had not made in the first five games. That contributed to the situation. We knew anything could happen the other night at Springdale because we've got several guys without much varsity experience on the AAAAA level. But I think we learned from it and we'll be fine.

Just so many times before, we've had a lead in the bottom of the seventh and then not come away with the win. I mean, holy cow, their pinch hitter comes up with two outs and two strikes and slaps an outside fastball by the second baseman, and you go holy cow again. I mean, you think, what do we have to do to win?

It didn't look like we wanted to play very bad. I don't know, we just didn't want to play smart baseball. We know Rogers, we knew what their pitcher was going to do. I guess they just didn't listen during practice.

I thought Drew Baker did an excellent job playing a new position at first base. He did a great job at the plate, too. He laid down a perfect bunt in our big inning and drove in a run late for insurance. It was a big day for him.

Our goal for him is not to strike everyone out but to be around the plate and get ground balls. We want him to make the hitters swing instead of taking pitches and keep the tempo of the game moving.

That was the best pitching performance he's turned in. He came in and handled himself well in a tough situation and got out of two tough innings back to back. He kept us close and we were able to take advantage late.

I worry about the kids getting down. We need to stop making errors and get off of our heels.

We continued to put the ball in play. We didn't strike out and we hit the ball hard, but they continued to make big plays.

We drove the ball into the alleys, and that brings a lot of confidence.

We've kept our guys fresh. We will have several guys we can pitch if we have to.

With the fall ball experience and the warm weather, we're ahead of where we were last year. We've been able to get outdoors and get a lot done. We've got all our defenses in and we've worked offensively.

Tim did a great job of competing and hitting his spots. He's one of those kids, you tell him what you need him to do and he comes through.

We still don't have a lot of experience on the mound. We're trying to get kids innings and try to convince them to go after them.

We're swinging the bats right now up and down the lineup. We've got so many guys who can put the ball in play and make things happen. We're running the bases well. Even some of the juniors who are waiting to play are swinging the bats well.

We knew going in that we were going to pitch by the innings. (Drew) Baker pitched really well for us early on, but he got tired, so we said, 'Oh well, we'll use Plan B, then Plan C, then Plan D.' So we just kept rolling and tried to let the kids get outs.

Van Buren, Conway. The kids are thinking, 'hey, we're always going to come back and pull it out and we can make this happen.' I tell the kids there are many factors involved: Weather, umpires, luck.

We had several guys step up and hit the ball. Sixteen hits and we played great defense and earned some respect.

(Cosby) has a hurt heel and he couldn't get comfortable, but he still battled. He still threw strikes and he wasn't walking people. That's all you can do as a pitcher and that's all we can ask for as coaches.

Drew had a bad first at-bat, and I got on him after that. He came back and was patient at the plate. He saw a pitch and hit it at a big time for us.

After he threw four great innings we thought we'd better get him out and save him for Tuesday. That was a big plus that he was able to come over here and throw strikes and get ground balls and he got us out of innings quick. And we set the tempo early and took a lot of pressure off him by scoring a couple of runs in the first.

The weather is supposed to be nasty Tuesday and Wednesday. We're not sure if we will play them this week.

This group has hit the ball real well. They go opposite field well and they're not afraid to swing the bat.

There just wasn't much leadership at the plate tonight. We had bright spots but then we just lost focus.

Conference-wise, we should be right back up there as one of the top two in the conference. Even after the success in the tournament, I think our pitchers still have to prove themselves against tough competition in tight games. But I think the kids expect to win and have a lot of confidence right now.

That has been the history of this team. When we have to go deep into our pitching well, things have not gone well for us. I guess we are going to have to start looking to some younger guys to see if we have somebody ready to stand up for us.

Taylor did a great job on the mound. We hadn't pitched Taylor in a while and he came in and got their big hitters out and that's what we wanted from him. Grant Cosby, Tim Carver and Tyler Higgs pitched well. They were in the zone and they didn't walk batters. That's what we need to see.

It was more of a true league. It was a good chance for some of our newer varsity guys like Tyler Higgs to get in some work and some of our pitchers to get some quality innings.

It was a great night to throw against a great team.

Cameron's been hitting the ball real well. He's been playing great defense as well. We're really excited to have him back.