May 18, 2003

Recap| Box Score

California head coach Diane Ninemire
On the game: "This is truly a championship game, this is what you live for. It was a great effort by Michigan. It was a true battle and we were very fortunate that we came up with the key hits. The long sacrifice ball by Chelsea (Spencer) to score the runner and Kelly Anderson threw a great game today. It was a total team effort and I'm very proud that we're making our fifth consecutive trip back to the World Series."

On the play of Chelsea Spencer: "Chelsea is an outstanding shortstop and her game has really come on strongly the last couple of weeks. I wasn't surprised that she would bring her best game at the most critical point of our season. She's just a really steady force out there and her plays really inspire our team. She did a great job."

On the importance of this game: "I knew that this would be a close game with two teams really fighting it out. I expected nothing less than what we had today. To me, this is what a championship game is all about."

On her impression of the weekend: "Ann Arbor is a great town and the hospitality and support we have received this weekend has been outstanding. I know that we will leave here with some fond memories and I want to thank everyone for putting so much effort into this tournament."

California pitcher Kelly Anderson
On her performance at the regional: "I was up to the challenge this weekend. Whatever coach needed me to do, I'd go out there and do the best that I could."

On her pitching strategy: "I pretty much stay down. I don't really go up much. I just tried to go in and out and throw change-ups to keep them off balance."

On her pitching in the seventh inning: "I didn't want to give them anything to good to hit. My arm was getting pretty tired towards the end, but I had to give it all I could."

On making it to the World Series: "This is my second trip. It's an outstanding reflection on our program to be making our fifth straight appearance."

California shortstop Chelsea Spencer
On her game-winning RBI: "Going up to the plate, I knew I could do the job. Knowing that I needed a fly ball, I saw the pitch and went for it."

On her defense against Michigan: "Kelly (Anderson) gave me all the opportunities to play my defense, and that's what I do well."

Michigan head coach Carol Hutchins
On the loss: "When you go out and leave everything on the field and don't win the game, it's disappointing. I'm not disappointed on how my team came out. They played fabulous and had every chance to win."

On the throw home that prevented the game-tying run for Michigan:"They had a great jump on it and it wasn't close to the plate. In my mind, I'd do it over it you gave me 10 chances. The throw happened to be right where we were running. I waved her in because you don't get a lot of opportunities to score. I thought we had a great chance and we still had Marissa (Young) on second base."

Michigan pitcher Marissa Young
On her season and career ending:"I didn't reach my ultimate goal, which was the World Series, but I gave it everything I had and my team was behind me. We've had a lot of struggles this season and we've battled back through all of them. We had a great tournament and it's going to be hard to leave."

On the pitching of Kelly Anderson:"I don't think she was getting tired, we realized she wasn't giving us as many pitches to hit. We had to make some adjustments; some people were chasing a lot of balls. We had to be patient and wait for our pitch."