June 1, 2003
Recap|Box Score|Notes|Photo Gallery
NCAA BASEBALL REGIONAL (at Stanford, CA)
Game 6 - Stanford 19, Richmond 6
Stanford
Head Coach Mark Marquess opening statement:
"It was a great offense by our offense today. We stayed at it, and we swung the bats very well, and kept the pressure on. It is very difficult for Richmond to lose that first game and then have to come back and play again today, and maybe twice. They have a solid team, but we hit really well and it was our day today. It was a big win for us. Mark Romanczuk pitched great, and as usual he got stronger as the game went on. He probably could have finished it. Our offense today really made the difference."
Coach Marquess on great offense throughout the regional:
"I thought that we faced good pitching throughout the regional. Today we had some timely hitting and took advantage of their pitchers getting the ball up. I have never had a team that has swung the bats this well in the regional. Coming in to the regional we were playing our best baseball and swinging the bats well, so we hope to continue with that. This is probably the best that we have swung the bat in a regional for a while."
Catcher Ryan Garko on big offense taking the pressure off:
"It is always great to score a lot of runs. It puts us in a good position, and it takes the pressure off of our pitching staff. It gives them a bit of room to make mistakes. We have a lot of confidence in our bullpen if necessary, but today we didn't need to go to them that much. Scoring a lot of runs just makes a lot of things easier."
Catcher Ryan Garko on swinging a hot bat:
"I really think that it has to do with the last four years. I have worked hard for four years and got better with each season. I am the best hitter that I have ever been in my life right now. It is a lot of hard work, and everything that Coach Marquess and Coach Stots have taught me about hitting is showing right now. The hard work has paid off, and I am a much better player than when I got here four years ago."
Pitcher Mark Romanczuk on starting on regional championship day:
"I thought that it was business as usual. It was just another game. I talked with pitching coach Tom Kunis before the game, and he told me to come out and keep the same priorities, concentrating on first pitch strikes and being really aggressive going after hitters. Also, when your team puts up nineteen runs like we did this afternoon, it's hard to lose. Our offense has just been explosive, and I hope that we can keep this going."
Richmond
Head Coach Ron Atkins Opening Statement:
"A very disappointing day for us. I told our team, we won 48 games on the year, and we just ran into a very solid baseball team. We didn't have the firepower to stay with them, and consequently we ended up on the losing end. I'm very proud of this team, above and beyond my expectations. I hope what will happen is that our younger players will learn from the experience, and see the level that we've got to get to so that they can take their game to that level. I truly expect to be back next year, we've got a good nucleus coming back. I'm going to miss our seniors-Vito [and McGirr, and I'm sure I'm going to lose Stauffer too. I told my kids to keep their heads up, I'm as proud as I could be of them."
Atkins on being thrown into the losers' bracket immediately:
"It's very hard...we had to play two ballgames yesterday, and I thought we got great pitching performances from Belinsky and McGirr. To beat [Stanford] twice, somebody's going to have to really put a good team on the field. We felt like if we could get to Sunday, we'd have a chance. We just couldn't do it [today]-hitter one through nine [for Stanford] is a tough out."
Right fielder Vito Chiaravalotti on his career at Richmond:
"It would be nice to win, but as our other captain, Mike McGirr, said in the huddle, he'll remember these times, and he'll look back on it as the best time of his life--and I'll say the same thing. When I came to Richmond, I didn't expect this, especially after a 25-29 freshman year-to be beating Wake Forest, to be playing Nebraska in a Super Regional, or to be out here playing Stanford in a regional. Our players have a lot of heart; we might not get the most talented guys in the country, but we get the best guys, and I wouldn't trade them for anybody.