They said it: Top sports quotes from May 2022

From each month in 2022, The Daily Gazette sports department is compiling 10 quotes from our interview subjects that stuck out the most for us, based on how they either made us think or laugh — or some combination of both.

Selected quotes come both from reporting for stories that appeared in The Daily Gazette and interviews associated with episodes of “The Parting Schotts Podcast.” Not all quotes used were previously published.

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“It’s about the most disgustingly close quarterback situation.”

— UAlbany football head coach Greg Gattuso, following the team’s spring game on May 1, describing the three-way competition for starting quarterback between Joey Carino, Tyler Szalkowski and Colorado State transfer Matt Valecce.

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“Saratoga is Saratoga. Seems like you could probably write a race on glass, and you’ll get people to run in it.”

— Thoroughbred trainer Jeremiah Englehart on May 3, when asked about the new mile dirt races that will be run at Saratoga Race Course this summer.

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“I’m just going right now. I want to give it everything I have before I leave. I want all the school records. I want section records. I’d love to win at states again.”

— Mohonasen girls’ track and field star Zionna Perez-Tucker on May 18. Later this week, Perez-Tucker will compete at the high school state championships.

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“It was pretty funny driving around in a bus on a temporary license.”

— Ballston Spa senior John Serina, on May 18, describing the early days of Matt King, Max Christiansen and him — all Ballston Spa boys’ lacrosse players — owning a former short school bus that they bought for $3,000.

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“I’m hoping that Josh [Hauge] does a tremendous job, and I think there’s a lot of excitement around the program right now. It’s not my time right now, and I recognize that. But when my time comes, I’m going to be ready. It’s kind of cool for me now knowing the program is in great hands. To be able to watch it grow and be a part of it as an alumni, and then when the time comes, put my name in the hat and really make a run at it.”

— Former Union hockey player and current Wilkes University men’s hockey coach Tyler Hynes on May 20, who said his goal is to be the Dutchmen head coach one day.

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“‘Almost’ doesn’t feel very good anymore.”

— Thoroughbred trainer Steve Asmussen on May 21, after his horse Epicenter was second in the Preakness, two weeks after he was second in the Kentucky Derby.

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“He was eligible to pitch, but I’m not selling my soul. He’s a young man who has a very bright future, [so we weren’t going] to possibly put him in a situation where he could get hurt. That was never a question. He was not going to pitch.”

— Troy High School baseball coach Chris Stack, on May 23, regarding the decision not to pitch star Mike Kennedy in the Section II Class A semifinals. Kennedy, a Louisiana State University commit who projects as an early-round pick in this year’s Major League Baseball amateur draft, had thrown 80 pitches in a no-hitter three days before Troy’s season-ending loss against Mohonasen in the semifinals.

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“I was born in St. Louis and I left when I was seven. I played a lot of my minor hockey in Michigan. But then I became a New York guy. I was with the Islanders, Sabres, Rangers. The big joke we always talk about is I’m probably the only player in the history of hockey or sports to be traded twice and never change his license plate.”

— Pat LaFontaine on his induction into the New York State Hockey Hall of Fame, on the May 24 edition of “The Parting Schotts Podcast.”

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“Something within us just changed. We wanted it so badly. We wanted it for our seniors. We just wanted it as a family. We had to push through, and just something sparked in us. We were alive in the dugout more than anything, and it just worked for us. We stuck together as a family. When others were down, we picked them up. That’s something a team has to do, and it’s something that we were able to do.”

— Saratoga Springs High School softball player Maddy Vaughn, on May 27, after the seventh-seeded Blue Streaks won the Section II Class AA championships. Saratoga Springs entered the postseason two games under .500, and defeated the Nos. 1, 2 and 3 teams in the field as part of its playoff run.

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“We played like a team today. Honestly, this was the best experience we’ve had all season. I’m so proud of us. . . . We’re on top of the world right now; first team in [school] history, it’s awesome.”

— Shenendehowa girls’ lacrosse’s Kelly Augeri after the Plainsmen won their first-ever Section II girls’ lacrosse title by topping archrival Saratoga Springs 12-8 on May 27. Augeri led the Plainsmen with four goals and one assist.