A lot of Evan?s development has come from his persistence and hard work and dedication to get better each day. He?s been a great addition to this team. |
He?s a very serious, hard-working young man. The players almost kid him because sometimes he can be a little too serious. He?s just a blue-collar guy who brings his lunch pail to work every day and is as complete of a player as we have here. |
I almost started crying, to be honest with you. I know on a personal basis what he was going through. It was a very difficult time for him. |
I think from the point where Jason was 1-4 to this point, I've never seen anybody — Mark Prior, Jered Weaver, you name it — have the numbers he has, ... They are mind-boggling. The only thing I was worried about was whether we would go to the well too many times with a thin pitching staff and wear him down. |
I wasn't sure if he was going to pitch (tonight). He tweaked his back lifting weights and it was 50-50 if he would pitch. |
I'm always pretty optimistic. I have a lot of confidence in modern medicine, but after one minor surgery and two major ones, you start to wonder if the kid will ever come back. |
I'm happy to put it behind us. Everything was kind of put on hold. |
I'm in shock. I'm in awe. These guys I've been honored to coach have kept surprising me and surprising me and surprising me. This is the greatest turnaround in Cal State Fullerton history. |
I'm not going to do anything until it's at least two-thirds full. |
It makes it even more special to accomplish this competing against your mentor and against someone who laid such a strong foundation for Cal State Fullerton, |
On one hand it makes it even more special to accomplish something like this competing against your mentor and somebody who laid the foundation for such a great program at Cal State-Fullerton, ... But my heart goes out to him and his club because they are 180 degrees in the opposite of what me and my players are feeling. |
Pacific has really impressed us. When Quincy Noble was there, they played what I thought was a pretty soft schedule. They would come into league with a glittering record and then not do so well. Coach Sprague has scheduled some really good teams, and they've fared very well, so I think Pacific looks like one of the most improved teams in the conference. |
The '04 version is one of the greatest comeback seasons in Cal State Fullerton history, |
The '04 version is one of the greatest comeback seasons in Cal State Fullerton history. |
They've had some great No. 1 and No. 2 pitchers in the past, but they're deeper in quality and with their bullpen. There used to be a few hitters in the lineup, that if you got them out, you'd be successful. One through nine now is a tough out. They have better speed, play better defense, all across the board there's improvement. |