The Heels begin the CWS against ASU

UNC vs ASU

And so it begins, the College World Series for the Diamond Heels that is. It’s, as most of you now by now, is the fourth time in a row that North Carolina (47-16 – 19-10 in the ACC) is going to Omaha, something that no other team in the Atlantic Coast Conference has ever done before. It’s also the first time that any college has gone to a bowl game, been in a Final Four and gone to the CWS, and that is not just in the ACC, but anywhere in Division I. With the Heels ranked fourth and going up against Arizona State (49-12 – 21-6 in the Pac-10) today at 2:00 p.m. EST (on ESPN) I figured it would be time for a small post about what I think is going to happen in this game and in the next two weeks.

Over at the College Baseball Blog they have a nice little online piece about the players to watch in the bracket that the Tar Heels are in. For Carolina it has the two obvious ones, as they did go in the Top 15 of the MLB Draft, Alex White (15th) and Dustin Ackley (2nd). But it also has another pitcher, which they believe will be a first round next season when Bud Selig does his sport next draft. For today’s game the CBB also has three players they say to keep an eye on. And while I totally agree that these three Diamond Heels need to produce in order for Carolina to do what it hasn’t been able to do so in the previous three times, I am a firm believer that the only way that head coach Mike Fox is going to be able to lift the national title trophy is by having the whole team produce. It seems that when a couple do not as well as expected this time all goes down a bit. On the other hand when all are playing to their expectations the whole squad becomes better than anyone would imagine.

Speaking of junior first base man Dustin Ackley, he is one of the three finalists of the Dick Howser Trophy. The winner of this award, who is voted by the College Baseball Writers Association, will be annoutns on July 2, 2009 in the first ever College Baseball Awards Show (streamed on MLB.com). The following day will be the nationally broadcasted College Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony (for more on this award check here, or you can go see the official web site). The CBWA membership has been voting the winner of this award for a decade now, and they also select the Stopper, the Coach, the Freshman and the Pitcher of the Year. Coach of the Year in 2009 went to a head coach whose team is in the CWS, Virginia’s Brian O’Connor, while Stopper of the Year went to San Diego State’s Addison Reed.

I watched the games yesterday, and while I could not truly concentrate on them (since I was not at home), I think that for the Tar Heels to win it all it is going to come down to one major thing: pitching. If Alex White and the other Diamond Heels that will take to the mound this College World Series can settle in and pitch as good as they can, it could truly be Carolina’s year. They are not as talented as the first three times they headed to the CWS, so neither the pitchers or the rest of the team can make mistakes, especially in crucial moments, something that if memory serves me right, has happened in the last three outings to Omaha by coach Fox’ squad.

I also feel that the two brackets North Carolina is definitely in the tougher one, which means the team can not take a game/inning/play off and expect to get to the best of three final round. Besides UNC and ASU this round features Texas and Southern Miss, which will square off tonight, the game starting at 7:00 p.m. EST. Since this is double elimination, the winners of these games will face off as will the losers of these games. So, knowing that no one goes home this round, we also must think that losing the first game of this tournament means you can not make any more mistakes and I doubt a team like UNC wants to have that on their shoulders. What will happen today, as Alex White takes to the mound? I believe that while he did have some so-so starts this year, it’s all behind him, and he will come out with his best stuff and keep ASU in check while Dustin Ackley and the other bats put it away before the fifth inning.

Shortlink: