What Wes Johnson had to say after Georgia’s super regional-clinching win
Georgia defeated Mississippi State 11-9 in 10 innings Sunday to sweep the Athens Super Regional and clinch the school’s first trip back to the College World Series since 2008.
Georgia jumped out to a 7-2 lead before Mississippi State stormed back and eventually took a 9-8 lead following a Jacob Parker two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning. UGA rallied in the top of the ninth to tie the game at nine apiece and reclaimed the lead in the 10th inning on a Daniel Jackson two-run blast that ended up being the difference.
Georgia will play the winner of the Austin Super Regional between Texas and Oregon on Saturday, June 13.
Here is what UGA coach Wes Johnson said after the win.
Opening statement
“Yeah guys, I’ll start off by thanking a lot of people. You know, I need to thank my lord and savior, Jesus, my wife. I think about Charlie Condon, who stuck here with me. Could have left, didn’t, helped us build this thing. With that I’ll take questions.”
On how much resilience has meant to this team and program
“Yeah, I mean, resiliency. We talk a lot about toughness. I tell our guys all the time, like, I think toughness gets a bad rap. People think it’s some kind of physical element, and it’s not. It’s just you have to learn to be capable of great endurance and understand that our game is really long. They got to get you out. Teams are going to get emotional; those emotions are going to carry you out of what you normally do every day. And yeah, so that’s what we talk a lot about. Not only do we talk about it, we practice it, we try to give our guys something hard to do every single day, whether it be physical or mental. And you just saw a bunch of resilient guys, and you saw the fruition of all that work come through.”
What it means to get this program to Omaha in Year 3
“A lot, obviously. I mean, people don’t understand the sacrifices you make to do that, you know? The birthdays you miss, the anniversaries, yeah, a lot.”
On the moment shared with Daniel Jackson after the game
“Yeah, I just told Daniel, he’s the best player in the country. He’ll be one of the best I’ve ever coached. I mean, you look at him today, got his 26th bag, hit his 31st (home run) today. Yeah, I mean, you just look down, the job he did today, handling the pitching staff when we weren’t executing pitches, and emotions were high today. They should be, right? I mean, there’s something on the line here. And we had some guys, I thought Caden Aoki was outstanding, made one bad pitch, right there, that the guy hit out, the curve ball kind of left it up. We were obviously trying to go down. You look at that, did I leave him in probably a bat or two too long? But that’s our guy, man. That guy, there’s a reason we call him Doc, and I’m not going to get him right now. I’m going to make him tell me I got to get him, and, unfortunately, he gave up one more, but that’s fine. But yeah, Daniel handled the pitching staff outstanding. It was phenomenal.”
On having players who stay in the moment
“Yeah, you know, I tell our guys, one of the enemies of being good is either, you know, dwelling on your past or having tomorrow in your vocabulary. Because those two things, after they happen, they don’t exist, and you better stay in the present in this game, or you’ll get in a slump. So, to hear that they take that to heart, because I think that’s how you can take a team like this and get on a little bit of a roll with these kinds of players, is they stay in the moment, they stay in the present. I think Daniel’s what he said right there about his at bat. His first at bat, he saw the good ones, and then just being able to take stuff to the next at bat, you know, I wish we could carry those bats with us, but we can’t. Kolby (Branch) had a phenomenal day at the plate today; can’t take those home runs with him when he comes back up the next time, so we’ve got to get back inside of our approach, and no matter how many you get. I think the number sometimes, though, can give you a clue to how they might pitch you, but these guys understand staying in the moment.”
On getting transfer players to buy in to play at a high level
“Yeah, you know, the biggest thing is we live in this world now of NIL, right, and players getting paid, and this, that and the other. And whether you like it or not, you got to adapt or die. But we have a pretty complex system of understanding that you know we want players to come into the University of Georgia who want the path to a 12-year career, not a 12-month payday. When you get guys who want the path to a career, and you get them in a short period of time, and everybody knows in some form or fashion they want to keep playing or coaching or being in this game for a long part of their life. Then you’re able to create the chemistry that we have right now.”
On being in Omaha before and lessons to can take from those experiences
“Yeah, I’ve been to the last game of the year, both times I’ve been. Obviously was runner-up one year, and then won the next time I was there, and I think the biggest thing is, it’s no different than what we’ve been through so far. I mean, you’re going to play really good teams, you’re really good, you have to remember that. I think that you have to go out and understand that it’s a long game again. There’s going to be a lot of emotions. It’s the teams who have belief, slow the game down and just keep playing. It’s going to be the eight best teams in the country. You know, that’s the way the tournament is designed. I think the biggest thing is you can get caught up by the lights a little bit there, so it’s, like, understanding that you still, we’ll have practice days and off days, and this, that and the other, and you got to go get your work in and come back and enjoy yourself a little bit and go watch some ball and take in all that.”