University of Hawai'i at Manoa Athletics

Hawai`i vs. Minnesota (5/18/2013)
Head Coach- Bob Coolen
Pitcher- Kaia Parnaby
First Baseman- Leisha Li’ili’i

Opening statement Bob Coolen
(Coolen) It was the second time seeing Minnesota. We knew what their pitcher was all about; they knew what our pitcher was all about. We were a little bit more aggressive. A couple of our hitters attacked the ball better in this game. I think that was the reason why we did what we did earlier in the game today. We waited a little bit longer yesterday. Today with the familiar faces out on the base paths and field, we knew what we wanted to do.

Was your confidence shaken after the loss earlier today? How did you shake it off to be dominant in the second game?
(Coolen) I don’t think our confidence was shaken. I think they were pissed to put it mildly. Angry at themselves for not going in with an attitude that we needed to be aggrieve. Washington pitcher threw a really good game against us, and we didn’t play that aggressive type of hitting game that we usually play. And that’s what we have to do, we rely on our hitting to give Kaia support. And Kaia usually can hold a team to one run or two runs. We usually produce more runs, and this morning we didn’t do that.

Kaia, did you change anything up against them to keep them guessing?
(Parnaby) No I kept my game the same. They changed; they went back in the box. They were more aggressive than the other day. They made adjustments that worked for them at times. I didn’t change my game plan; I keep it the same no matter who it is.

Do you feel like it was a pitchers battle… both of you throwing your third game this weekend?
(Parnaby) She’s a really good pitcher; I give credit to her for throwing those three games. All of these teams are tough, and yeah it was a head to head battle with us for a while. I give props to her… we’re a hard hitting team to pitch against.

Did you feel any pressure after the strikeouts this morning?
(Li’ili’i) Definitely, I just had to go up on my last at bat and clear my mind. I was thinking a lot, today and yesterday. I was really struggling…but I took the change-up

How are you doing physically? I know it’s not easy, that’s a lot of pitches today.
(Parnaby) I had that break between the Washington game and this game. I took my time and refocused. I didn’t have the best sixth/seventh inning. I took time, went a refocused, and got my armed rubbed out, and fighting good and healthy. It helped me a lot. I’m going to sleep very well tonight. It’s a luxury we don’t play until later tomorrow; I get to sleep in a bit. Go about my day until we have to leave. That will really help the recovery.
 
Did you expect anything less? Were you surprised by her outing?
(Coolen) Not at all… I didn’t even have to give her the ball third game. Usually I have to give her the ball, it’s a ritual we have. She just took and started warming up. That was the choice that was made, she was going to pitch. Everyone was asking if I was going to throw Loie to give her a break and then bring her in. And I said it’s not that time of year to start bringing in your number two pitcher to give your number on a break. She was already outside by the time I got down out here.

How are you really feeling, now that the days over?
(Parnaby) If my legs get tired it’s mental. You can always work through that. If I get tired I work through it. It’s a seven inning game. You can work through anything.

Are you going to see the same Washington pitcher?      
(Coolen) I don’t know, I can’t speculate what they’re going to do. You’ll see the same pitcher here. But I don’t know what we’re going to face tomorrow. We’ll just go out, worry about what we’re wearing on our back, and go out with the attitude that the players don’t want to stop playing with the senior class. Because it’s really emotional last game. We want to avoid that last game as long as possible.

Are you going to pitch Kaia both games tomorrow?
(Coolen) We’ll talk about that as the games go on, and we see how we do against whoever we face. Play by ear. If Kaia looks at me and wants a couple inning break, we’ll give it to her. We did that when were in Honolulu. Before we played Washington, we start li and put Kaia in, and that’s the game we ended up wining. You may see that tomorrow, you may not. It will just be game by game. We can’t get ahead of ourselves because we have to get the first game under our belt.