University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Work In Progress
February 22, 2009 | Baseball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
Feb. 22, 2009
By Adam Lucas
Over the last few weeks and months, Carolina head baseball coach Mike Fox has become accustomed to working on an accelerated schedule.
Yes, the entire construction process for the renovation of what became Bryson Field at Boshamer Stadium took over a year. But over the last month, Fox has made daily visits to the construction site and watched what appeared to be a dubious chance of being ready for Opening Day turn into a functioning and fan-friendly stadium. Last Thursday afternoon there was minimal concourse signage; by the time fans began streaming through the gates on Friday afternoon all sections were clearly marked.
Project supervisor and resident miracle worker Mike Bunting estimated the stadium was 98 percent complete, but it's unlikely many fans noticed the two percent that was missing.
Just like a construction foreman scrambling to meet a deadline, Fox is under time constraints as he tries to assemble the 2009 version of his team. As recently as 2005, he would have enjoyed over a month of nonconference play--that team played 17 games before its first league contest--before opening the ACC schedule.
He has no such luxury this season. The Diamond Heels have two weekends--including the just-completed sweep of VMI--before hosting Clemson in an important league series. That changed the way Fox approached the games against the Keydets.
"Even before Clemson, we've got Coastal Carolina coming in here Tuesday," Fox said. "We don't have a lot of time to mess around with giving a guy an at-bat. I have to find the top 10 or 11 guys pretty quickly, because conference play is lingering out there and we know it's coming. We have to get our starters as many at-bats as we can."
The Tar Heels used the same top six in the batting order for all three victories this weekend. There was very little reason to change, with Mike Cavasinni, Levi Michael, Dustin Ackley, Kyle Seager, Garrett Gore and Mark Fleury combining to collect 15 of the Tar Heels' 27 RBI.
Fleury, who has moved into the starting catching role vacated by Tim Federowicz, was one of the key beneficiaries of that order, as he consistently came to the plate with runners on base. The result? A .500 batting average, a slugging percentage of .800 that ranks behind only the otherworldly Ackley, and a team-high 6 RBI.
"I have five guys in front of me who are getting on base all the time," Fleury said. "It's awesome hitting behind those guys."
Equally awesome was the Tar Heel performance on the mound, where Carolina pitchers struck out 44 hitters in 27 innings. A bullpen that saw almost every member make an appearance did not allow a run.
"Everyone knows about our starters, but I like those guys coming out of the bullpen," Fox said. "For the most part, they were aggressive in the strike zone."
There was little to be learned about the starting pitching, as weekend starters Alex White, Adam Warren and Matt Harvey have largely already built their Carolina resume. But it was gratifying to see Warren give up just two hits in five innings on Saturday. Perhaps the most encouraging performance was authored by Harvey, as he bounced back from allowing a first-inning three-run homer on Sunday by striking out 11 over five innings and allowing no hits after the homer. All three weekend starters picked up victories.
There's very little time to relish the sweep, even as a third of league teams already took a loss over the weekend. High-scoring Coastal scored 36 runs in its first three games and comes to Boshamer on Tuesday eager to avenge a super-regional sweep.
"We play a conference game in less than two weeks," Fox said as he looked around at an office lobby that still needs pictures on the walls and trophies in the trophy case. "We don't have time to dilly-dally around with any of this."
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly. He is also the author or co-author of four books on Carolina basketball.
