Head Coach Amy Weaver on how far the Messiah program has come since she was named an assistant coach 17 years ago: “I actually go back even further to my playing days at Messiah. This program has come a long way. When I joined it as an assistant coach, we were just starting to climb up the ladder back in 1992. 1994 was our first NCAA appearance. We didn’t make it to the National Championship, but we made it to the first round. The program has just continued to get better and better. We’ve had our ups and downs. Every year we have tried to get to this level, and that has always been our goal.”

Weaver on being elevated to full-time status after originally being named head coach at Messiah on a part-time basis: “That was a big thing. We’ve had part-time coaches before and my first year I was a part-time coach. Being able to be full-time just gives you the opportunity to be at the school all of the time. I have a lot of other job duties [other than just coaching], but you’re at the school full-time and it gives you more opportunities to grow your program.”

Weaver on how confident she was late in the game with a 1-0 lead: “I felt confident, but I wanted to get more runs. I kept telling the girls that we want to get more runs and break the game open. We were hitting the ball well. We hit some long shots to the warning track, but we just weren’t getting runs in. But I still felt confident the whole way.”

Freshman right-handed pitcher Jessica Rhoads on being intentionally walked in the fourth inning of a scoreless game: “As a pitcher, I hate to intentionally walk somebody because I want to go after them. I think [Coe] did that to put people on base and set up force-outs. I don’t think they did it because it was me up to bat.”

Rhoads on the difference between pitching with a 2-0 lead as opposed to a 1-0 lead: “It’s huge, because with a 1-0 lead you know that if you make one little mistake they can score and tie the game. With a 2-0 lead, you feel like you still have a little room for error.”

Rhoads on her feeling when junior catcher Abby Bergakker hit a home run in the top of the seventh inning to extend the Messiah lead to 2-0: “After her home run, I knew we were in good shape and that we would get the last three outs.”

Bergakker on the pitching of Rhoads throughout the National Championship Tournament: “She was at the top of her game all tournament long. From seeing her throughout the season, this weekend is the best that she has thrown.”

Weaver on how Rhoads compares to the other pitchers that she has coached in her career: “We’ve had a lot of good pitchers, and we’ve even had a first-team All-American. But Jess is the best pitcher that I have ever coached.”

Weaver on the play of Bergakker throughout the tournament: “She has been incredible. She’s a fighter and she’s great behind the plate. She can hit home runs when she meets the ball just right. She’s done an incredible job of throwing runners out. She’s just a great player.”

Weaver on whether Messiah flew under the other teams’ radar entering the tournament: “Our team was completely motivated because we felt that we were underestimated. It motivated us and we wanted to prove what we were all about. They did that.”

Weaver on whether the fact that no Messiah players received All-American honors was a motivating factor in the tournament: “We felt like some of our players were worthy [of All-American consideration] but like I said before, it is what it is. We talked about needing a team effort and needing every single person on the team to win this. We won this because we were a team.”

Rhoads on whether she felt Messiah was underestimated: “We were never ranked [in the Top 25], and every other team in the tournament was. Coming in we knew that we were a good team, so we just had to prove ourselves. That’s exactly what we did.”

Weaver on her extensive use of her bench throughout the tournament: “I truly can say that everyone we have is a team player. Even our bench players know their roles and are constantly ready to fill in where we need them. It was a total team effort all the way through.”

Weaver on claiming a first National Championship in softball at an institution that has claimed numerous other National titles in other sports:  “It feels good to have our championship. We’ve been motivated by the success of our other programs. We wanted to accomplish the same thing, and that has been a motivating force for us.”

Bergakker on the closeness of the team: “This is a close team and one of the best teams that I’ve ever been a part of. We just have fun, whether we’re on the field playing the game or doing off-the-field stuff. We just have fun together and do our thing.”

Weaver on the experience of playing in the National Championship Tournament at Montclair State: “It’s been great. They have an incredible field and it’s been fun to play here. You really feel like you’re on a championship field and it gave all of the players a championship feel the whole way through the tournament.”

COE POST-GAME QUOTES:

Head Coach Bob Timmons on how this Coe team compares to the other teams throughout his 24-year coaching career: “This team’s heart was second-to-none. They have overcome a lot of different things throughout the year just like today. We lose [Sonja Schwenker] to a knee injury and we have our catcher and our number three hitter go down with a broken hand. We’ve had other issues during the season and they have worked hard since September of wanting to be a team and coming together. As far as any of my other teams, [this team] is number one as far as I’m concerned – not just because they got this far, but because of the time and effort they put into being a team instead of a bunch of individuals.”

Timmons on the fact that an injury to senior right fielder Sonja Schwenker allowed reserve senior Danielle Leavens to play in the final game of her collegiate career: “[Danielle] has worked very, very hard for us without complaining. Things didn’t work out for her exactly like she would have liked at the end of the year, but she’s a true team member and supports everybody and I’m very proud of her.”

Timmons on whether he has ever previously re-entered a starting pitcher in the same inning in a contest prior to Coe’s victory over Gustavus Adolphus earlier in the day: “Not quite that quick before. I’ve done it before, but there usually have been a couple of other batters. In that situation, [Simon] came in and got us the strikeout that we needed. Then [Simon] wasn’t giving us what we wanted as far as location, so we knew that Sonja [Schwenker] could do that, and we brought her right back in. It was [assistant coach] Ben’s [Sorden] call because of what that hitter had done against Sonya in her at bats.”

Senior right-hander Sonja Schwenker on how she reacted when Timmons told her she was going back into the Gustavus Adolphus game one batter after being removed: “I just tried to step up my game and pull us through. I’ve been in those situations before, and you just have to pull through them.”

Timmons on the National Champion Messiah team: “They have a very nice team. [Jessica Rhoads] helps a lot because you don’t have to play a lot of defense when she’s out there. [Messiah] made every play that they needed to make and they hit the ball throughout their line-up. We were doing everything we could to get the tying run to second base. We were trying to force [Messiah] to execute, and they did.”

Senior outfielder Danielle Leavens on the pitching of freshman right-hander Ashlee Simon: “To come into this tournament as a freshman with that poise was really impressive. The combination of her and Sonja [Schwenker] was outstanding. I wouldn’t want any other pitchers out there.”

Senior All-American shortstop Ashley Leonard on making a return trip to the National Championship in her final season: “Being our second time [in the National Championship], I kind of knew what to expect and I wasn’t as nervous as I was as a freshman. I decided that whether we played two games or four games, I was going to play as hard as I could and leave the field regretting nothing.”

Senior catcher Megan Jack on the pitching combination of Schwenker and Simon: “Both of our pitchers know how to execute and they’re both really poised on the mound. It’s a privilege to have two outstanding pitchers that we have confidence in.”

Senior first baseman Amy Hanse on her experience at the National Championship: “It’s been awesome the whole time. It was cool when we made it as freshmen, but to be able to come back as seniors, we knew what to expect and we knew how much fun the whole experience would be. We made the most of it this time.”

Timmons on his National Championship experience at Montclair State: “It was a great tournament played in a great facility. It was just a great experience. Like I said before, getting here is the toughest thing. The rest of it is gravy, and you just hope you play well. I’m so proud of these kids, and my coaches who have done a good job of keeping them level and doing what we needed to do to be successful. Our experience couldn’t have been any better.”

Timmons on his team defeating Gustavus Adolphus earlier in the day: “That is the thing I’m most proud of. After a tough loss last night, these kids had all night to think about it and they could have just let it go by the wayside today. They didn’t. They chose to come out and fight and beat a very good Gustavus Adolphus team. I’m just proud of the fact that we were in the championship game.”

Hanse on her experience of playing for Timmons: “It’s been a great four years. Every year has been so much fun, and I think I speak for all of our seniors when I say that I’m glad I chose to play for Coach Timmons. He truly cares about his players. Every coach is supposed to care about their players, and most coaches care about every aspect of the game of softball, but Coach Timmons cares about every single one of us beyond the game.”