I knew it was gone as soon as I hit it.

I've just been trying as hard as he can to get guys in. That's my job in the four hole. I hadn't been doing it up to this point. My goal today was to get hits when we needed them.

(Albany) swings the sticks pretty good, so we just had to match their intensity and keep battling and hope we came out on top.

As a hitter, you're just waiting for that first time you get out there against a live arm. You get tired hitting against the coach, who's throwing about 70 mph. You're ready to get out there and see some live pitching.

It felt pretty good and it was at a crucial time, which is even better.

It felt so good just to make solid contact again. I was just missing a lot of balls here the last few games. It was great to hit one solid.

It gets some early season jitters out so by midseason, they're veterans, especially if someone were to get hurt which we hope doesn't happen.