Everything Monte Lee said after South Carolina's Saturday loss to Alabama

South Carolina interim head baseball coach Monte Lee spoke to the media following the team’s 9-6 loss to No. 19 Alabama on Saturday. Here’s everything he had to say.

Opening statement

“Alabama did a great job today. Starting pitcher [Zane] Adams, thought we had him on the ropes. Obviously, in the second inning, put together the big inning — [Jake] Randolph with a three-run homer, and then [Luke] Yuhasz with a great at-bat. [KJ] Scobey with a triple RBI, two-strike count; put together a good at-bat. We just had a lot of really good at-bats there in the second inning with two outs and scored four runs. But you got to give the guy credit. The second time through the order, he got it going. He stayed in there and kept executing pitches and made some adjustments. He was really good, and he gave them a shot.

“Unfortunately for us, Brandon [Stone] wasn’t at his best, left some pitches up over the plate and got hit. And [Logan] Prisco, who’s been so good for us out of the bullpen, same thing; he got hit.

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“Look, we were competitive there at the end of the game. It was good to see us put together some good at-bats at the end of the game there. Scored six runs, nine hits, which it was good to see the offense do a little bit more. But we weren’t perfect. Made a baserunning mistake in the seventh after back-to-back hits. Defensively, [Tyler] Bak made a great play in center field, and Will Craddock made a great play at first base.

“So, all in all, we swung the bats better. We’re better offensively. Got some production at the bottom of the order. Just didn’t pitch good enough today. It’s hard to win in this conference when you give up that many runs. But those guys have been good for us all year, and would expect, moving forward, them to be better. That’s what got us today.”

That baserunning mistake by Yuhasz in the seventh, what happened there? And what was the explanation of why that happened?

“I don’t know. Look, it was a mental lapse. That’s all I can say. And there’s no explanation for it.

“I did not talk to him about it in the moment. Obviously, the game is still going on. As a coach, you don’t want to embarrass a player while the game is going on. If you’ve ever played this game, you play for nine innings. You’ve got to stay in the game. It’s one of those things that you’re frustrated as a coach when something like that happens, and I’ve seen things like that happen where you know player has a mental lapse. If you address it immediately and embarrass the player, it’s going to shut the dugout down. It’s going to shut the player down, and he still has to go out there and play. So, it’s a conversation that I will have with him tomorrow when I’m a lot calmer and he has an opportunity to calm down because he’s frustrated.

“I needed him to stay in the game even after making that mistake, and he had a great at-bat at the end of the game. So, that’s why I have not addressed it, just so you know. I’ve learned my lesson many, many times as a coach. When you get frustrated, and you meet with a player or the team right after the game, that meeting is not for the players; that meeting is for you. And when you meet with the team or talk to a player about something — you know, a tough game or a bad situation happens in the game — I’ve always believed just wait ’til the next day and have a conversation with the team or the player when you’re calm, cool and collected and have better control of yourself.

“So, I’ll talk to Luke about that tomorrow.”

It seems like the pitching staff has been allowing a few more runs lately. Do you feel like they’re just wearing down a little bit at this point in the season, maybe mentally and physically?

“Well, you don’t ever want to use that as an excuse, right? That they’re physically just wearing down or mentally wearing down. Look, I know it has to be challenging on a pitching staff when you’re not giving them the run support that they would like to have. I know that, mentally, it’s got to be tough. And that’s not an excuse; that’s just reality — that, if I’ve got to go out here, and I’ve got to pitch really well to keep us in the game just because not getting the real support, that we need to win games. So, I know it’s got to be challenging on them mentally.

“Physically, I will say, I feel like, if you just look at all of our pitchers, the velocities have been pretty consistent throughout the course of the season. So, I don’t see signs of physical fatigue. Nobody feels great this time of year after a long season on the pitching side or the position players side. But I don’t see signs that are alarming to me when it comes to our pitching staff in terms of physical fatigue. I would say the mental fatigue, the stress of trying to make pitches, just feeling like, ‘Hey, I’ve got to pitch really well to give us a chance today just because, offensively, of our inconsistencies over the course of the season,’ I’m sure that is the case.

“But it was good to see. Again, we haven’t had a good offensive game in quite a while. This was certainly better. We had opportunities to make it an even better offensive day. But it was good to see us be a little more competitive at the plate today.”

You mentioned Brandon’s outing in your opening statement. What have you seen out of him lately that’s really given him some struggles on the mound?

“I think probably just putting a little bit too much pressure on himself with left-hand batters. To me, when Brandon was going really, really good, Brandon was trying to earn the opportunity to be the Friday, Saturday starter. Like, early in the year, when he was coming out of the bullpen with spot-starting, he was trying to prove himself a little bit. I think Brandon’s always felt like he’s had to prove himself. And I think, between the ears, when he feels like he’s got to prove himself, he’s at his best.

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“So, I don’t think that’s necessarily the reason why he got hit. But I think part of it is, the more consistent the routine is for him, he hasn’t been quite as good. It’s almost like when we, ‘Hey, we need you to start on Saturday. We need you to start on Sunday. We’re going to bump you up.’ When he doesn’t quite know his schedule — and you don’t have to think a whole lot, just has to go out there and compete — it seems like he’s been better. So, I don’t know if it has anything to do with just him settling into one spot.

“I think he’s better when he has a little sense of urgency. Look, he’s a competitive kid. I’ll talk to him a little bit after the game; he’s frustrated. He’s just leaving some pitches up out over the plate with two strikes. He’s getting way too much of the plate with two strikes. I think he’ll tell you that. And he’s just not the kind of guy that can do that. He throws a lot of strikes, and he doesn’t have, like, a wipeout breaking ball. He’s a pitch-to-contact guy. He’s got to pitch down; he’s got to keep the ball out of the middle of the plate. And he didn’t do that today.”

It’s Senior Day. Talmadge [LeCroy] was here for five years. Tell us a story about Talmadge we don’t know that you’ll always carry with you.

“Yeah, I’ve got a lot of great stories about Talmadge.

“Number one, when I was coaching at the other school [Clemson], Talmadge was really, really mad that I did not recruit him. If you want to hear a great story in Talmadge’s own way own way — because he’s very blunt, and he can be quite ornery — when I got here, he told me how much he disliked me for not recruiting him out of high school. That’s how we started our relationship. But I had so much fun in my first year here with Talmadge and Cole Messina and Ethan Petry. I would hit with those guys every morning.

“He was the guy that really welcomed me here. After we got through that initial conversation, he was the guy that really made me feel welcome with the group of players on that team, those young guys, just because of the amount of time we spent together in the cages. He’s always been so dedicated to the game and wanting to be the best player that he can be, and just a special, special young man to be in my time as a coach.

“I don’t know if I’ve had a better personal relationship with a player than I have with Talmadge LeCroy.”

Senior Day, it’s not just here, but it’s all across the country. You had five or six guys you’re honoring, but only one who was recruited into the program and spent his time here. The other are transfers, just here for a year — stop by and finish up, and they’re gone. Does it take away at all from Senior Day that, moving forward, you’re going to have very few seniors who’ve been in the program for their entire career?

“Well, instead of looking at it that way, for me, I think it’s very appropriate to honor the student-athletes who stuck it out, in my opinion. Look, the transfer portal, in my opinion, it’s a good thing. I think kids need the opportunity. If they’re not getting the opportunity to play, and they want to look elsewhere, they shouldn’t be penalized and have to sit out like they used to. I think all of us would agree: The transfer portal has not been used in that way, right? For the most part.

“Talmadge stuck it out. Talmadge was a guy that, he could have left and went other places, and he didn’t. He stuck it out through the good times and through the bad. And for me, when you get to Senior Day, and you see a young man who’s been here, which is not the norm — who started in the program and ended in the program — I think players, student-athletes like that, in any sport, should be recognized and appreciated for sticking with it because that’s not often the case in this day and age.”

When [Logan] Sutter came out and [Patrick] Evans came in, was that because of the error that Sutter had made?

“No, and the error was a result of an injury. So, I took him out because, when he ran through first base in the at-bat before, he hurt himself. He tried to go out on defense. He said he felt like he was okay, but when the ball was hit, I could tell he physically was unable to play at 100%.

“So, it wasn’t because he made an error. The reason that he made the error is because he physically could not move to catch the ball.”

Do you have a starter in mind for tomorrow?

“Yeah, we’ll go with [Alex] Valentin.”

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