Oregon Manager Jeffrey Keller on the loss to Georgia

How you feeling coach? We had a great run. I’m excited and really proud of what my kids accomplished this year. We had a few tears in the dugout...but that’s okay. They’re 12 year-old kids. You’ve got to take your hats off to Georgia. They’re a great baseball team.

They came out and hit the ball very very well. I guarantee Jace has never been hit like that before. He had good velocity tonight... A good curveball. Change-up wasn’t his best. But he had a good fastball and curveball and Georgia just played really well. That’s why they’re U.S. Champs.

Where does Trevor’s home run rank with the team’s highlights for the year? It’s got to be right up there. For him personally I’m sure it’s #1. I think for the team it’s got to be the top two or three on-the-field moments. I know I got pretty excited when I turned around to look at the crowd. They were going crazy.

Can you talk about the zone Sam Albert is in? He’s been killing the ball lately. He should have been 3-for-3 tonight. He’s seeing the ball really well. It’s nice that we have another game so we see him continue to swing the bat. Because right now he is in a great groove. He’s hitting the ball harder than anybody on our team—and probably anybody in the tournament.

How are you going to approach the consolation game tomorrow? Are you going to have some fun or play it to win? I’m going to let the kids decide that tonight. We’re going to go get a bite to eat. Meet real quick and then watch the international game. Are we going to mix things up and try to have fun or we’re going to try to be 3rd? I’ll let them decide.

Did it seem like your son Derek was pressing a little bit? Yeah..after the first at-bat. In that first one he just missed a couple of pitches. The next two at-bats he was pressing. He was trying to hit the seven-run home run instead of hitting a line drive up the middle. I know he’s incredibly disappointed and it’s not how I wanted it to end for any of these kids—especially not your own kid. Devastated is probably a pretty good word for it.

How do you handle that disappointment? I said I wasn’t going to cry—but I might cry talking about him. I’m just going to go give him a big hug and tell him I don’t care what he did down here today. He’ll be fine. Football starts in three days. (Laughs)

What’d you tell the kids at the end? Exactly what I told them before the game. I don’t really care if we won tonight. All I care is that you guys played with passion and with heart. And you guys walked off knowing you gave everything you had. When we get up to the Grove tonight I guarantee the tears will be dry and in an hour they’ll be 12 and 13 year-old kids again.