University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Home Again
June 8, 2008 | Baseball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
June 8, 2008
By Adam Lucas
When it became apparent that renovations to Boshamer Stadium would be needed, it became obvious that at least one senior class would have to spend their final season shuttling between Chapel Hill and a temporary home. There's simply no way to renovate a baseball stadium--rebuild might be more appropriate than renovate, considering the over $25 million that's making Boshamer a facility worthy of the powerhouse UNC program--without displacing the tenants for at least a season.
Eventually, it became clear that the 2008 senior class would be the group that would not play their final season at Boshamer.
"I hate it for those seniors," Mike Fox said over a year ago. "And I hate it for guys like Tim Federowicz who might not be back for his senior year. But I hope they understand that they are a big part of what made that new stadium possible, and I hope it will be something that they will come back to Chapel Hill and look at with pride knowing they were part of it."
So Fox and his vagabond '08 Diamond Heels loaded up the white vans and began daily treks to Cary. The facility was the perfect host. The field was constantly in immaculate condition. Flags were raised out front celebrating Carolina's two straight College World Series appearances. The interlocking NC logo, in the perfect shade of blue (march yourself over to Lowe's if you think it's easy to find), was painted behind home plate.
For a year, this was home. But it was still 30 minutes from the real home. It's hard to feel like home when you have to get dressed in the visiting football locker room and then hop a bus for a half-hour. And by the time the Tar Heels lost their first regular season game in Cary, falling 8-6 in a bizarre 10 innings to Old Dominion, it was hard not to wonder if this whole thing was worth it.
Turns out, it was.
After dropping two of its first three games in Cary, Carolina went 29-4 over the rest of the home schedule, including wins in 16 of the final 17 games there, five of which were NCAA Tournament contests. The crown jewel was Sunday's 14-4 victory over Coastal Carolina in an Omaha-clinching super-regional contest.
Watching the last inning begin, it was reasonable to wonder how--or whether--the Tar Heels might celebrate this win. In 2006, they had to rejoice because the game ended on one of the most fantastic finishes in UNC sports history. In 2007, they exulted because they finally exorcised the South Carolina demon.
In 2008, well, would it start to seem routine? There was no heart-pounding finish or hated rival. There was just yet another solid exhibition of pitching and defense mixed with just the right amount of timely hitting.
But as the ninth unfolded, it became clear that everyone in blue understood exactly how special this moment could be. Senior Rob Wooten got the first two outs. Then Fox popped out of the dugout to bring in another senior, Tyler Trice, for the final out. But before Wooten left the mound, he wrapped every member of the UNC infield in a bear hug. He handed the ball to Trice, hugged him, and then had one final hug for his head coach.
With due respect to the Sunday game against Florida State, when parents and family were on the field to be honored, this was truly Carolina's senior day.
Trice followed the script by quickly getting the final out. The next vision he saw was Flack steaming toward him, eager to replicate Josh Horton's takedown of Andrew Carignan last year.
"I think he saw me coming," the third baseman said. "And I think he thought, `Oh no.'"
A mass of celebrating Tar Heels piled on each other between the pitcher's mound and first base. It was exactly the right tone of celebration. There was jubilation, like Wooten jumping on the top of the pile. But there was also caution--because Wooten jumped on top gingerly instead of recklessly and then hopped off to safety.
"You have to try to jump on late," said ace Alex White. "You want to get in there, but also make sure you don't do anything stupid."
And why not?
"We have some unfinished business to take care of," Flack said.
He's referring, of course, to the two straight second-place national finishes.
Will they take care of that unfinished business? It's impossible to know. College baseball might be the toughest national championship to win. Making it to Omaha three straight years is amazing, a feat achieved only by college baseball royalty. That's what Fox has built now in Chapel Hill. In five years, the Tar Heels will be recruiting players whose formative Omaha television memories involve North Carolina, the same way mine involve Texas or maybe yours involve Wichita State. Somewhere, there's a kid who thinks it's impossible to hold a College World Series without the Tar Heels.
I don't know if this year's bunch will walk off the field holding a national championship trophy. But I do know there's nowhere this year's seniors should end their career other than Rosenblatt Stadium.
They'll end their season 1,230 miles from Chapel Hill in a place that feels very familiar.
Maybe, finally, even a little bit like home.
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly. He is also the author or co-author of four books on Carolina basketball.
