Q&A: Ryan Quigley

Northeastern pitcher talks about facing the Sox

If Saturday's cameo is any indication, Northeastern lefty Ryan Quigley
is in for a quite a season. The Taunton native threw a scoreless
inning in the Red Sox-Northeastern scrimmage at City of Palms Park in
Ft. Myers, Fla. Of the three outs he recorded, two came on strikeouts
of Kevin Youkilis and Jed Lowrie; each who went down looking. After
making the Colonial Athletic Association All-Rookie team and spending
time as the team's closer in 2007, he pitched mostly in the rotation
his sophomore season and posted a 2-4 record with an 8.06 ERA. This
summer he was the recipient of the John J. Claffey Outstanding New
England Prospect Award in the Cape Cod Baseball League. Here's what the junior had to say after the game:

You got Youkilis and Lowrie both looking. Take me through those at-bats; what kind of pitches were working for you out there?

"Out in the pen my stuff felt pretty good. I was just able to get ahead
of those guys and I felt confident in my stuff. With Youkilis, I
started him off with a fastball, and then he swung through a slider. I
just luckily snuck one by him, it was right on the corner and the
umpire gave me the strike. Lowrie, I got ahead of him and kind got a
little too fine with it but then [the umpire] was able to give me the
call on the backdoor slider."

Do you guys go over scouting reports for these guys like in normal games?

"No, no. (Laughs) To be honest, I faced Pedroia and I wasn't even
thinking about who was next and I step on the mound and look up and
there's Youkilis staring back at me. It's a little surreal ... It's a
fun experience."

You're from Taunton. Did you grow up a Red Sox fan?

"Yeah, my whole life. I love watching those guys and following them all
through their careers and being able to play against these guys. This
is my first chance getting to face some of the bigger name guys while
they were still in the lineup."

Did you have a favorite player growing up?

"I always loved all the players. But if I had a favorite, pitching-wise
it was Tom Glavine. He wasn't a Red Sox, but I admired left handed
pitchers, guys like that. If I had to say one now it would probably be
Lester just because I'd love to throw like him and he's good guy with
all he's been through, he's just been a class act."

Coach [Neil] McPhee mentioned you've been throwing really well in the offseason and have gotten looks from scouts. Take me through what you're looking for this season  pitching-wise.

"I just want to help us win ballgames, get to the [CAA] tournament.
We've missed out the last two years and anything I can really do to
help that out would be a big plus for the team so that's basically
what I'm hoping for. Anything else that happens would be icing on the
cake."