University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Frustrating (And Dominating)
June 19, 2006 | Baseball
June 19, 2006
By Adam Lucas
OMAHA--It is almost humorous in its predictability.
Here is what happens: Robert Woodard pitches his usual gem of a ballgame. In this case, it was a three-hit shutout of the nationally top-seeded Clemson Tigers. He threw 130 pitches, 90 of them for strikes, and got through the final two innings--which featured the top six hitters in the Tiger order going down in order--primarily on grit.
So Woodard does his thing, pumps his fist, and propels the Tar Heels into the championship round of their four-team bracket at the College World Series.
And then the most interesting part of the night begin: the other team tries to figure out what kind of voodoo just infected their bats.
In an eight-minute postgame press conference, Tiger head coach Jack Leggett and designated hitter Herman Demmink used the word "frustrating" three times. Of the handful of questions posed to them, one of them included that same word, "frustrating," twice in one sentence. One questioner tried to assign Woodard's success to his "herky-jerky motion."
This is what Demmink said about facing Woodard: "I felt like every at-bat I was all over a lot of the pitches. I didn't notice a whole lot of movement. We talked about it and we felt like we were all over it but there must be some late movement. It's frustrating because to an outsider it doesn't look like his stuff is that electric."
Somewhere Robert Woodard is laughing.
When Andrew Miller goes out and throws a three-hit shutout, opposing batters genuflect in his presence. They talk about his overpowering slider and use words like "nasty" and "overwhelming." They call him "dominating."
When Woodard throws a three-hit shutout, opposing batters say they were all over his pitches. He is "frustrating."
Look, he has accepted the type of pitcher he will always be. He knows he will never throw 95 miles an hour--heck, he won't throw 90.
But just once, couldn't he be dominating?
Every single major league team passed him over at least 40 times in the draft two weeks ago. One thousand, three hundred and eighty-nine baseball players were picked before the St. Louis Cardinals chose him.
Find me 1,389 baseball players who have the competitiveness and precision Woodard displayed on the Rosenblatt Stadium mound Sunday night. On second thought, don't bother. It would be impossible.
Or, yes, frustrating.
Woodard does two things that made him the perfect starter for the Tar Heels. He pitches (not throws, and there's a big difference) and he thinks.
"I wanted to pound the strike zone and be aggressive," Woodard said. "Clemson is a very aggressive team. My job was to focus on the sink of my ball. If I was going to miss, I wanted to miss below the knees. Every single pitch I told myself that."
The result was a maestro's performance for the former chess champion. Pitching coach Scott Forbes called every pitch of the game, catcher Benji Johnson caught every pitch, and Woodard threw every pitch.
Wait, that's not right. He pitched every pitch.
Andy D'Alessio has a staggering 23 home runs and is a run-producing machine. How does Woodard control him? Not by overpowering him or trying to be too precise. By doing something simple--all four of D'Alessio's at-bats came with no runners on base. You can't tie up a 2-0 game with a solo home run.
Woodard's signature game--it's not just his best pitched game of the season, it's the best pitched game of the year by any Tar Heel, the best pitching performance of this NCAA postseason by any player, and maybe the best postseason pitching showing in Carolina history--gives Carolina a two-day rest before their next game. That's valuable time to recharge the bullpen batteries, although it's not really needed; arms in the `pen are usually overworked by this point in the season, but the main danger for Carolina's bullpen is atrophy.
It's also time for the Tar Heels to come to a startling realization. They arrived in Omaha just happy to be at the College World Series. That loose approach paid off in their first two wins. And now, rather than just being happy to be here, they've got a chance to make a legitimate run at the title.
When Roy Williams addressed the Diamond Heels before their Chapel Hill regional, he spoke to them about the upcoming NCAA Tournament. "Go win the whole darn thing," he told them.
Williams was in attendance Sunday night. He eagerly ran down to the field to congratulate Mike Fox and the Tar Heels after the victory. Naturally, he made a point of congratulating Woodard.
"That was a great performance," he told the junior righty.
"Thanks, Coach," Woodard said. And then he said something as perfect as any slider or changeup.
"Let's win the whole darn thing."
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly and can be reached at alucas@tarheelmonthly.com. He is the coauthor of the official book of the 2005 championship season, Led By Their Dreams, and his book on Roy Williams's first season at Carolina, Going Home Again, is now available in bookstores. To subscribe to Tar Heel Monthly or learn more about Going Home Again, click here.
