Everything From Virginia Tech's John Szefc After Monday's NCAA Tournament Selection Show

Virginia Tech head coach John Szefc spoke to the media after Selection Monday's selection show.

Virginia Tech Athletics

Following Selection Monday's selection show, where Virginia Tech qualified for its first Regional appearance for the first time since the 2022 season, Virginia Tech head coach John Szefc spoke to the media virtually. Here is the entirety of what he had to say:

On his thoughts on the LA Regional draw (UCLA, Cal Poly, Saint Mary's):

"Over the years, being involved with this, there's always an awful lot of speculation, as far as you know, where you should go, where you shouldn't go. ... Our guys played really well down a stretch opportunity, and we've been out to the West Coast this year already. I've actually personally been to a regional at UCLA in 2015, 11 years ago, when I was at Maryland. So, I kind of know the drill out there. But we'll be fine. Our guys are travel-tested, battle-tested, so we'll practice tomorrow and head out there and prepare for Cal Poly, which is our first opponent."

On if he was surprised to see Virginia Tech slotted as a No. 2 seed:

"Probably. probably. I would say probably only because all anybody looks at is the RPI. And our RPI was in the low 40s. Typically, if your RPI is not in the top 32, you are not a two seed,. You can do the math on it, usually, you know, numbers 17 through 32 are two-seeds, and then after that, you're getting into the three. So, I initially thought we would have been a three. It didn't happen that way. So, honestly, the only difference mark is it's home and away, as you know."

On the media not being invited to watch the selection show:

"I didn't really give it much thought, to be honest with you. I don't really have a strong answer for that one. Our guys were fine with it. Thought how everything went was fine. I didn't really put a whole lot of thought into cameras and the media part of it. We just go on to kind of come in here and get the result of what it was, and then go to work from there."

On if the team watched the show and their reaction to receiving a bid:

"One, we watched the show. Two. you know, some guys looked like, I think it was a combination of excitement and maybe a little bit of surprise, only because we're obviously on the East Coast, and typically a lot of teams aren't sent all the way across the country, whether they're coming from west to east or east to west, but yeah, that was really
all."

On what the first regional since 2022 means to the program:

"I think it's just a really good accomplishment. I'm happy for our players that they get the opportunity. Really thankful to our coaching staff. Those guys have done a tremendous job this year, preparing guys for all the different challenges. I give an awful lot of credit to our trainer, Kyle Staggers, for keeping guys healthy and on the field. Guys like him and Andrew Stone, our strength coach.

"Those guys don't get half as much credit as they deserve keeping guys healthy and strong and on the field, which is something we really have not had over the last three years, and it's not because of those two guys. We just had some bad luck as far as injuries go, but I've always felt like if you can keep your best players on the field and available, you'll have a pretty good opportunity to advance and be overly competitive in this league that we're in."

On how big it is to make it back in after multiple years of getting into the top-25 and ending on a cold streak:

"I think it's big for the program. It's big any year that you go to the NCAA Tournament. I think you got to realize in this day and age where rosters are different year to year, as far as freshmen and transfers, you have a lot of new players from year to year, and if those guys can stay healthy, and like in our case, I think it took our guys a little bit of time to get used to the level, the speed of the game, the hitters our arms are facing. For pitchers, the hitters we're facing. Just took a little bit of time, because our schedule was still demanding, and we played an awful lot on the road early. But I give our guys a lot of credit down the stretch here, very consistent for the most part, and put themselves in a position that we're sitting here talking about this today."

On if this is a team that Szefc would expect to be the only one of his last four seasons to make it to NCAAs:

"I don't know, I mean, teams have been pretty talented over the last four years, I mean, I will tell you the difference. I really believe, is the fact that this team has stayed healthy. Knock on wood, we have not had colossal season-ending injuries, which we've had over the last three. Yeah, we had 17 major injuries over the last three years. I would like to think that if that didn't happen, and we kept some of those guys on the field, that maybe the result might have been different. But I think the fact that this team was one, good enough and two, healthy enough and available, I think it helped them/us to finish the way that this team finished."

On the benefit of having already traveled to California this month:

"I think there's a big benefit. I really do. The fact that you're there, as far as the length of the flight, the time change. I will say this, having been to both San Francisco and LA, the weather in LA is probably a little bit better, a little warmer than the cooler weather up in the northern part of California. So, I think that we'll step into better weather. We'll also step into some pretty stiff competition from the teams in that regional, obviously, but there's no such thing as going to an easy regional there. Those don't exist. So, we'll have our hands full of Cal Poly on Friday, but I think they'll have their hands full with us."

On the change after a 7-7 start:

"I know our guys got together and met — it was like a Monday after the Stanford series — and kind of hammered some things out amongst themselves. I think that had a little bit to do that; the energy was probably better after that, and that had nothing to do with the coaches. But I mean, I've always felt like the team's been good enough to win games at this level. We've won 16 games against ACC opponents, so I don't think it's been a question of not being good enough. I think we had some things go our way in the second half of the season, and guys stayed healthy and on the field.

"I will also say this, if you go back to the Sundays at Georgia Tech, at UVA, at Miami, where these guys battled through and salvaged series, and then were led in the mound by Griffin Stieg. And I tell you, those were pretty important Sundays that sometimes people might not remember them because they're played in the first half of the year, but without those Sundays, I don't know that we're sitting here having this conversation."

On if the team is playing its best baseball:

"I think we're playing good baseball. Is it our best? I can't say. I don't think it is. I think we still got some more in the tank, only because I think our guys have played good solid baseball. Have they played great solid baseball? I think we can still perform better than what we've played. Actually. I do."

Q: In what facets?

"I don't think we've really put like three days together in the ACC. We've won five series down the stretch, but I don't think we've been as strong for three straight days. Position player-wise, whatever you want to say, but I don't think we've been as strong over the course of three days as we can be in probably all facets of the game. That's where I think we haven't played our best baseball. If we're out there winning three games and weekends and sweeping people, maybe I'd say we are, but I don't think we are. I think we're playing good, very good. I just don't think we're playing our, as you would say, our best baseball."

On Whit Babcock telling reporters baseball has 16 available scholarships and what goes into the success of playing behind a lot of the conference:

Well, I think you have to make as best decisions as you can, as far as putting the team together over the summer months with the resources that have been given to you. And understand, the months of June and July over the last two years, it's like you're not going to the beach and drinking cold drinks. Like those two months are working. Those two months are as hard as any months in the calendar year for us, as far as roster management goes, and putting the best product together that we can on paper. Now, that's on paper. You don't win games on paper. But I think you have to win the game on paper before you can win the game in person, and that's where we try to take what we have, try to get the right guys in place, at least what we think we do. You're not always going to be right, and just instruct and coach guys as best we can. Really, you're not always going to hit it right, but you try to hit it right as much as you can."

On what it means for Szefc and the coaches to be back in a regional:

"It gives you a good feeling of accomplishment, beyond whatever you're getting paid, or whatever, whatever anybody's getting paid ... before you play the regional games. There's only 33 at-large berths, and there's 308 teams in college baseball, so like there's a lot of competition going on, man, for those berths, obviously. It's gotten to be more and more difficult to get to grab one of those berths. There's a lot that's got to go your way, but ultimately, it comes down to how good the players are that you have, how well they play and how well your coaching staff prepares them. That's really what it comes down to.

"I do think the fact that usually, teams ... in those Power Four leagues, sometimes they have more of a more late, they might get a more benefit of the doubt. But I coached at Marist for seven years, and I understand that the levels are different. And I'm not knocking the guys at Marist; those were some of the most favorite guys I ever coached in my life. But man, when you're going through this 30-game ACC season, you got your hands full all the time. It's not just with how well your guys play, but it's how healthy they stay, and what you have access to bullpen-wise on a given day. There's just a lot that goes into it, so playing baseball in the ACC, it sounds great, and it is great. However, there's an awful lot of challenges to playing in a league like this that maybe other people don't see or understand."

On if Szefc expects Renfrow to pitch in the regional:

"I think I'm expecting that. We got to go back and talk with the coaching staff as far as how we're going to set this whole thing up, but yeah, we think he's going to be fine to pitch in that. Yep, that's been the plan all along."

On if the team winced at all seeing they were in the Los Angeles Regional or if they didn't care:

"They're obviously really good. I mean, John Savage does a really good job with those guys. I saw that firsthand when they're in that same tournament with us in Texas, when we're out there in early March. And then if I go back 11 years ago, when we took that Maryland team out there to play them, and they're the No. 1 seed that year. They're good. But I'm gonna tell you something, like if you go to any of these other regionals, just about any one of them, you're gonna face really good teams. Obviously, they might not have the bling that UCLA might have, or Georgia. Obviously, there's Georgia Tech, North Carolina in our league. Anybody's gonna have to play their best baseball to get past people like that, especially when you're playing them at their place. But in a regional, you're expected to win, and as the No. 1 seed in any regional, there's a lot of weight on guys' shoulders when you're expected to win. They still got to go out, and you still got to get 27 and they got to get 27. So, it's always interesting to see how a team is going to perform when you have that kind of weight on your shoulders."