By James Hernandez

James: The pitching staff was absolutely light's out this weekend (29 IP, 22 H, 28 K's, 4 ER). Is this the kind of success you and your coaches envisioned from this staff or are they exceeding your expectations?

Coach Garritano: Our bullpen has definitely done a great job of maturing this year.  We have some younger guys in the bullpen that have gotten better with experience. Our staff is definitely a huge reason we are where we are today in the league standings.

James: Closer Alec Hutt was able to capture the CSN single season save record (11) with a pair of saves on Saturday. Talk about his importance to this team as we near postseason play. 

Coach Garritano: As I have said before, having Alec Hutt at the backend of ballgames is a huge plus for us.  He is a seasoned veteran with this being his second year as our closer.  Alec has been continuously working to better his pitches each and every bullpen session.  He has and will be a huge part of any post season successes.

James: Tyler Hallead did a solid job in his spot start the final game of this past weekend. Can we expect to see Sage Diehm back in the starting rotation or will Tyler get another start this weekend in Salt Lake? 

Coach Garritano: Tyler did a nice job for just his second start of the season.  He is another guy that with more experience he will become a really good arm for us during the post season.  He will get another start this weekend at SLCC.  Post season bullpens are so critical, it is nice to be able to bounce a Tyler Hallead or Sage Diehm into the bullpen when needed.

James: Last series versus SLCC was ultra competitive. Three of the four games were decided by two runs or less. Can we expect more of the same this weekend between these two rivals? 

Coach Garritano: I expect nothing less than the same type of games up in Salt Lake this weekend.  SLCC is such a dangerous opponent especially up there.  They have the talent on the mound and all around the diamond to sweep anyone in this league on any given weekend.  Should be one heck of a series.

James: Can you provide our readers with a brief scouting report of this weekend's opponent the SLCC Bruins?

Coach Garritano: I know they have moved their old closer into a starters role in Joe Barlow.  He is a Right handed power arm that is very tough.  It seems when he is on the mound, they play very well behind him at a high confidence level.  They also have Clayton in their rotation that is double tough!!  Offensively, they are very tough at home playing on a very fast artificial turf surface.  It will be very important for our pitching staff to make them earn their way on base and limit our BB's and HBP's.

James: Mikey York was able to run his scoreless inning streak to 21.2 en route to his fifth victory on the year. As he continues to get stronger can we expect a higher pitch count and longer outings? 

Coach Garritano: We have a plan for Mikey this year that will benefit the team and Mikey's long term health.  A player's health is our number 1 concern.  We have a goal in mind for his total number of innings pitched for the year.  Some of Mikey's starts, his pitch counts will be a little higher than others.  He has done a wonderful job thus far. 

James: Give us a player or two that you feel are primed for a big weekend versus the Bruins. 

Coach Garritano: I would like to say our pitching staff has been getting better and better as the weeks have gone by.  We will put this team on their backs this weekend in what should be a series that most of the games should be decided by 2 runs or less.

James: Since beginning the season 2-5 the team is 32-4. Talk about the growth and maturity of this team from late January up to this point, and the expectations you and your coaches have for the team moving forward. 

Coach Garritano: It was definitely a trying beginning to the season.  I have said in the past that we will get better with more experience.  I really believe that is the main reason we are where we are at record wise over the past 36 games.  Every coach in the country wants to see their club peak at the right time.  We were very hot offensively in the early – mid part of the season.  We have come on strong pitching wise lately.  The defense has remained fairly consistent the entire year.  We, like everyone else, can only hope that all 3 phases click at the same time come post – season play.

James: Can you provide our readers with the starting rotation for this weekend in Salt Lake? 

Coach Garritano: Our rotation will remain the same as last weekend.  AJ Jones will start in game 1 followed by Gabe Gonzalez in game 2.  On Saturday, Mikey York will start game 1 at noon followed up by Tyler Hallead to wrap up the series.  Big weekend for us and Go Coyotes!!!

Thanks Coach, and as always good luck!

For more information and all the latest up-to-date news on CSN Baseball please log on to www.csncoyotes.com