University of North Carolina Athletics
Diamond Heels Adjust Game For Cary
February 11, 2008 | Baseball
Feb. 11, 2008
By Adam Lucas
Carolina has been dominant at home during its rise to national prominence--a combined 74-12--over the past two seasons.
Now the Diamond Heels will have to learn how to be equally dominant at home away from home.
While Boshamer Stadium is being transformed from relic to regal, the Tar Heels will play all 2008 home games at the USA Baseball Training Complex in Cary. It's a beautiful facility, with plenty of fan amenities--parking, concessions, and room to walk around--that were unfamiliar at old Boshamer.
Those are the changes fans will notice right away. Players, however, noticed a dramatic change as soon as the first ball hit a bat during fall workouts.
Cary, it seems, is cavernous.
The Tar Heels didn't hit a home run there during any fall practice sessions. In the first scrimmage of the spring season last Saturday, Dustin Ackley crushed a pair of balls that might have been home runs at most locations in the ACC. In Cary, they were harmless fly ball outs. The ball finally did begin to leave the park early last week; Kendric Burney and Kyle Seager both homered in recent practice sessions.
Carolina hasn't always had success at big ballparks; it dropped two of three in the last trip to Virginia and had struggled at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville until last year's ACC Tournament championship. The new home dimensions mean offense and pitching adjustments will be required.
At the plate
Carolina's power waxed and waned last season, as a 13-game, one-homer drought was snapped with a four-homer explosion against Rice in the College World Series. Two of the top four home run hitters from last year are gone, but the middle of the Tar Heel order--with Tim Federowicz, Dustin Ackley, and Chad Flack--should be potent.
In Cary, however, that potency might translate to doubles and triples rather than home runs. With pitchers cautious of coming inside to the trio, all--especially Flack, who struggled at times with offspeed pitches away as a junior--will have to look away
"In Cary we will have to bunt, handle the bat, and keep our strikeouts down," Mike Fox says. "Guys like FedEx and Flack will have to change their approach a little bit, because we'll need to be a gap-to-gap hitting team. Our philosophy is simple: what can you do in this at-bat to help our team win. Our hitters understand that."
That might mean a slight change in approach. Carolina was not bunt-happy in 2007, as the Diamond Heels laid down just 26 sacrifice bunts, the second-fewest in the ACC.
While UNC is unlikely to ever be confused with the Vince Coleman/Willie McGee St. Louis Cardinals, Tar Heel baserunners might be more active in 2008. After stealing just 46 bases in 2007--again a figure that ranked 11th in the league--there is speed at several key points in the order. The loss of Mike Cavasinni to a season-ending knee injury hurts, but several freshmen have good speed, and Kendric Burney should play an enhanced role after seeing spot duty last season.
On the mound
"It's very different pitching in Cary," says senior reliever Rob Wooten. "That park is huge."
Wooten is one of the Tar Heel relievers least likely to be impacted by the change. His ground ball/fly ball ratio last year was 1.4/1, one of the best figures on the team.
Adam Warren, who was much more reliant on fly balls on his way to a 12-0 sophomore campaign, knows the dimensions might make a difference.
"It allows us to not be as fine," says Warren, who will move into the weekend rotation as a junior. "We can hit that outer third of the plate rather than the outer black. We should be able to just let our defense do the work."
That's good news for a pitching staff that will be breaking in several new faces. Warren and sophomore Alex White will be fixtures in the weekend rotation. The third weekend spot is likely to go to lefty Rob Catapano, who had a great summer in the Cape Cod League. He'll be pushed by a talented pool of remaining starting candidates, including a raft of freshmen.
That group is largely untested but packed with promise and it's possible several different pitchers could see action in a weekend role before season's end. In fact, because of the heavy early schedule--nine games in the first 12 days before the ACC opener against Duke--the opening two weeks could largely be seen as pressurized auditions, no matter what the day of the week.
The biggest hurdle for young college pitchers is often throwing strikes; finding the plate might be less challenging if the hurlers know there is plenty of room for the defense to work behind them. Quality outfield play (Carolina's starting outfield is likely to be comprised of Dustin Ackley, Seth Williams, and Tim Fedroff) will be essential, as taking the wrong route to a ball could easily turn a double into disaster.
For the pitchers, limiting walks will be a primary concern.
"In Cary, the guys who pitch will be the guys who throw strikes consistently," Fox says. "You have to make people hit it. That's why Rob (Catapano) was so impressive this fall, because he struck out 27 and walked three.
"I know we're going to put some young guys out there on the mound. We know they are talented, but until you see them out there in a real game you never know for sure."
Adam Lucas most recently collaborated on a behind-the-scenes look at Carolina Basketball with Wes Miller. The Road To Blue Heaven is available now. Lucas's other books on Carolina basketball include The Best Game Ever, which chronicles the 1957 national championship season, Going Home Again, which focuses on Roy Williams's return to Carolina, and Led By Their Dreams, a collaboration with Steve Kirschner and Matt Bowers on the 2005 championship team.
