University of North Carolina Athletics
Magic At The Bosh
April 24, 2003 | Baseball
April 24, 2003
As Sean Farrell strode to the plate at Boshamer Stadium on Wednesday evening with two outs and the winning run in a tight rivalry game versus East Carolina just 90 feet away, it would have been interesting to ask him what his most fond memory of the venerable old stadium was.
A place UNC fans simply call "The Bosh," Cary C. Boshamer stadium has long been home to the Tar Heels and no stranger to dramatic comebacks. When Wes Moyer crushed a game winning, walk-off homerun over the scoreboard at Boshamer to cap a four-run Tar Heel ninth inning rally against Virginia Commonwealth on April 15, UNC Assistant Coach Chad Holbrook walked off the manicured turf smiling and saying something about "A little magic at The Bosh." That magic has long been a part of the valley between Ehringhaus and Avery dormitories in the heart of Blue Heaven, and Sean Farrell has been there to witness much of it.
Farrell was there when a little known sophomore named Chris Maples drove a Chris Ginn fastball 340 feet in the right-centerfield gap for a game winning double over the Florida State Seminoles in front of a delirious packed house in 2000. He was also there to see Maples cement his legacy as a hometown hero two years later when he led off a nine run seventh inning for the Heels against those same Seminoles. That solo homer might not have been so significant with Carolina still trailing #1 Florida State that night 7-3 except it was Maples first homerun of the inning. Number two was just a grand slam that gave UNC the lead it would never relinquish the rest of the weekend as the Tar Heels became only the second ACC team to ever sweep Florida State.
Farrell might tell you about a walk-off homerun to power the Heels past Seton Hall on opening day 2002. There are probably still other moments of heroism too precious too forget yet too numerous to mention here that would come to the mind of the Charlotte, NC senior.
Somehow though, Farrell probably thought he could give the Heels one more sterling memory of a little "Magic at The Bosh." Even as he took the first two pitches from East Carolina closer Greg Bunn, Sean saw the twinkling of another Carolina Comeback. He watched as ECU third baseman Mark Minicozzi backed almost to the outfield grass as he prepared himself defensively. In that instant, Sean Farrell decided how he would write himself into Boshamer's storied history. He wouldn't do it with a towering homerun or a clutch double. No, Sean would just lay down a bunt. A bunt that would end with him mobbed at first and the Pirate faithful shaking their heads in disbelief. You know, if you had asked Sean Farrell his most memorable moment in The Bosh before last night, he would have probably said something about a ball that was hammered 500 feet. Now, he would most likely tell you about one that barely rolled 90.
