Link Jarrett Notebook | 5.19

Notre Dame baseball coach Link Jarrett spoke on Wednesday as his Irish prepare to head to Virginia Tech for a three-game series. 

On winning the ACC:
"I told the guys yesterday to separate from the pack like we did is remarkable. It's hard to win this thing, period. It's hard to make it to the ACC Tournament with the caliber of play - you're talking about every team in this league being ranked. You separated yourself from the field - it's remarkable what these guys were able to accomplish. 

"You win this by the come from behind win against Georgia Tech and Boston College - and the game here against North Carolina when you're up and then all of sudden you feel they're on the verge of taking it from you. You win this over the long haul of some miraculous games and very consistent play. 

"It tells you how tough this group and how consistent they've been in a lot of phases in the game. It's really remarkable." 

On locking up the No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament:
"This is an accumulation of how hard they've worked. I'll even go back to last year. The transition to us as coaches, it's just challenging. You're putting in a whole new way of doing things and sometimes it takes a little while to see the fruits of that labor. These guys worked in the weight room, practice, skill work, training, nutrition - they've engaged in all the different areas of the program. 

"This is a gauntlet of 36 games against basically 12-13 - I guess we played every team but Miami. You're talking about 13 teams that have all been ranked in the Top 25. That's really something you don't see in sports very often, but that's what this conference is about. Our guys got through the gauntlet better than anyone else. 

"To separate from that field tells you how difficult some of those tough games that maybe we pulled victory from the jaws of defeat. That's the only way you can separate. If you don't win four, five, or six games that were difficult or maybe didn't look like you should win, then you're going to be right there in the middle of the pack with the bulk of the teams. 

"I hope our guys understand the magnitude of what they have accomplished. There is obviously way more left to do, but nobody can ever take away the fact this team was ACC Atlantic Division Champions, the overall No. 1 seed and the overall ACC regular-season champion. They separated from the pack and that's very, very hard to do, especially in a 36-game schedule against the caliber of teams in this league." 

On the potential for NCAA to announce 100% capacity for the NCAA baseball tournament (based on local and state guidelines):
"The chance to play in front of a lot of fans is neat. You want people to be here and it just adds to the atmosphere and energy. I don't know the ins and outs of how they're going to make these decisions for us or other places. That is so far on the backburner for me in terms of trying to prepare the team to win games. 

"Anybody that's involved in athletics will tell you the more energy and atmosphere created by the crowd makes for a better event. When the dust settles, we'll know who can come and I hope we get to host it. If we don't, then we go somewhere else. You just want a good atmosphere for the players, teams and the competition to really evolve into something that's really neat. I hope it works out that way." 

On a target being on Notre Dame's back in the ACC Tournament:
"No doubt. The ACC Tournament is unique. I was talking to Chris, who runs the baseball portion of the ACC. I have to choose certain things within the context of when we get to play. As the No. 1 seed, I get first dibs on how we want to set our games. That's very unique. 

"Some of the things that come up in the ACC Tournament are very unique. The pods and then for me choosing when I want to play and when our days off will be - that's very unique. I guess the top few seeds get to choose, but as the overall No. 1 seed, I guess I get anything I want in terms of when we want to play the first two games. 

"When we get on the plane, I'll start to dive into that a little bit. You don't know who you're going to play other than who is in the 12 (teams). I don't know that the seeding has been set. The only thing we know is that we're No. 1 and I'll sort out when I think we need to play. 

On options in choosing when to play in the ACC Tournament:
"I may get this wrong, but it sounds like of Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, I pick the two days that our team will play. That kind of determines when the other teams, the 8-seed and the 12-seed, that then determines when the ACC will play those games. 

"It's really unique. I guess whoever wins the 8 vs. 12 game, then we need to beat that team. Essentially as the higher seed, if you go 1-1 in those games, then you advance. That's what I know, but I need to get through this weekend to see where the chips fall and then I'll try to get into the layout of that event." 

On clinching ACC while not being on the field:
"I think I've won five regular-season titles and most of those came down to something on the field. This team beat that team and you hit a home run in the 8th inning that won it. 

"I actually got to take my wife and daughter to Pittsburgh to watch JT (Jarrett). As I'm sitting there, Matt (Paras) is feeding me, Louisville lost. Florida State lost. You guys are now the outright Atlantic Division champs. Then Georgia Tech lost.

"Things have to go right, but to think about never having it happen when you're team is in their bye week. We couldn't play because we had guys in exams at 7:30 pm on Saturday night. There was no way we could play a series. 

"That was only possible because of some of the games - you can go to any one of these weekends along the way and think of games we probably could have lost. You win that conference championship along the way and with some of the remarkable and miraculous wins this team had. 

"To sit there and have it being fed to you as you're watching your son's team play - I couldn't have drawn it up. Amazing." 

On finals and practice over the last week:
"It's been unusual. I have not been through this at Notre Dame. I know the exams are basically around the clock and difficult. We tried to navigate it as best as we could. The neatest part of this is to think of locking up an ACC overall title, seeding and division. It puts you in a good frame of mind when you get to practice. 

"We get to practice tonight on the road for the first time. The guy are excited about that. We get to get in early, practice and get to the hotel. This is a little bit of a refresher for the guys today to be able to charter in there after the exams. It's very helpful. 

"Our practices have been OK. It's not normal, but that's just part of what we deal with and the guys are resilient and ready to get back at it." 

On goals and mentality of this weekend's series at Virginia Tech: 
"(Will) Mercer is a little a sore. That, combined with an 11-day layoff, it kind of leads us into it seems like letting (John Michael) Bertrand throw first gives us the flexibility when you look at going into the ACC Tournament with the best chance to have flexibility in how you use your pitching. 

"Obviously, he's been a consistent deep starter type of guy. We need him to have as much bounce-back ability as we can give him. Throwing him tomorrow seemed like the most logical way to go about it. 

"We're going into this weekend - we need him to throw well if he throws either Thursday, Friday, or Saturday. Throwing him on Thursday, then you start looking at the second championship you can win, which is the conference tournament. 

"The conference tournament is far different than what these 13 weeks of the regular season look like. Now, you turn your attention to that as you turn your attention, how do you win the ACC Tournament because you've been the outright winner in the league, you feel pretty good about your chances about being in a regional. Hosting it, I don't know how they're going to get to that final determination, but we won the league. 

"Then you start looking at the third championship and that's a regional championship - winding yourself up this weekend knowing you want to play well and you want to win the series. Then you look at championship No. 2 and 3 and how do you best line up your personnel to give you the best opportunity to continue to add on to your championship resume." 

On Virginia Tech:
"Good power. They're a little left-handed hitting dominant. Their better hitters seem to be left-handed. I don't have their starting pitching rotation. They have thrown a big lefty that's over the top with a big breaking ball. Not a ton of velocity on the staff. They have a left-handed guy that's got the bulk of their saves. 

"They play pretty sound defense, but I think they're more oriented on banging that thing around a little bit. I hope that maybe the fact we have some left-handed pitching options gives us a good alignment going into this against their more productive left-handed bats. It just seems like the more dangerous guys are left-handed hitters." 

Injury updates:
"We'll see tonight - the left-handed hitting piece is what is last to come along for him ((Jared Miller). If he can, great. If he can't, I think he's had a good amount of at-bats against right-handed pitchers. You've seen him progress against the right-handed pitchers. That's good. I hope we can get him back left-handed. We'll test him out tonight and see if it's realistic. If they throw the left-handed starter, it will at least give him a chance early in the game to bat right-handed. 

"Other than that, I think we're in pretty good shape. You're only able to play 27 people, so we're going to take more than that and we're going right to the ACC Tournament, which allows 30 people to be eligible. Until I go to the home plate meeting before the game tomorrow night, I have some maneuverability with the 27 of the 30 we're taking. Other than Miller, I think everyone has been trending in the right direction. Mentally, just recover today from the gauntlet of exams here."