University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Tar Heel Outfielders Get Right Jump
June 11, 2009 | Baseball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
June 11, 2009
By Adam Lucas
There is perhaps no better measure of the absolute dependability of Carolina's outfielders than the relative dearth of recent spectacular plays made by Mike Cavasinni, Ben Bunting and Garrett Gore.
For some outfielders, the diving catch or over-the-shoulder grab is a mark of achievement. The Tar Heel starters, however, realize that in many cases a showy catch is usually a sign of a mistake in the crucial half-second after the baseball hits the bat.
"Making the right read off the bat can mean getting to the ball or not getting to it," says Cavasinni, the starting centerfielder. "That first step, if it's in the wrong direction, can change an out into a hit."
That's especially important in a spacious outfield like the one at Omaha's Rosenblatt Stadium, where the center field wall is 408 feet away, the power alleys are 375 feet and the lines are 335 feet. Those dimensions can allow uncertain outfielders to turn fly balls into doubles, and at the time of year when a single run can be critical, those doubles can sometimes mean the difference in a game.
That the Tar Heels would be headed for Omaha today with one of their best defensive outfields in recent memory is especially impressive considering that they're starting a completely different outfield than the '08 College World Series participants. Stalwart Seth Williams was expected to be an especially big defensive loss, but Cavasinni has capably filled his role. In left, Bunting has never committed an error in his 105 career UNC games, and Gore has made a smooth transition from the infield to right field.
In fact, it's been the senior from Wilmington who has made the year's most spectacular outfield plays. Mike Fox's demand that he regularly take balls off the bat during batting practice helped Gore adjust to the nuances of the position, like the fact that a hard-hit ball off the bat off a right-handed hitter would always tail away from him. Natural athletic ability helped with the rest, including perhaps the year's most spectacular Tar Heel defensive play, an over-the-wall home-run-robbing catch against Clemson.
Gore's rifle arm, the one Fox describes as the strongest on the team, has led to 10 outfield assists. Unfortunately, as Gore relates with a forlorn look, the scouting report on his rocket seems to have become well-known, and throwing opportunities have become less frequent.
"It's slowed down out there," says Gore. "It's not the aggressive runners you can get. It's those guys who think they can cruise out there and they big-league it a little bit. It's the best feeling ever to see that guy come off the bag and freeze him with a throw."
If zapping an overzealous runner is the best feeling an outfielder can have, the worst is getting turned around and losing track of a fly ball. It's happened to the Tar Heels so few times this season that it's almost taken for granted--until you consider some of the defensive misadventures opponents have had in recent weeks that have led to an extra Carolina base.
There's precious little time to think when chasing down a difficult play, but Cavasinni thinks the outfielders' solid off-field relationship has led to better on-field play.
"Any ball that's hit in the gap, you know it's going to be a bang-bang play," he says. "If you have trust in the other guys out there with you, it takes away any uncertainty you might have about diving for it or going all-out for it. You don't have to worry about whether someone is going to be there to back you up."
Going all-out, of course, can sometimes be hazardous to an outfielder's health. That was never illustrated more vividly than last year's College World Series, when Carolina left fielder Kyle Shelton went face-first into the wall down the left-field line while in pursuit of a foul ball against Fresno State--and held onto the ball, incidentally, a play that has been a staple of ESPN's college baseball highlight reels during '09 tournament play.
Shelton was in Chapel Hill this week, which gave him the opportunity to warn Carolina's current left fielder about the perils of the wall.
"He definitely warned me about that wall," Bunting said. "He told me he didn't realize he was so close to the wall, so I've got to watch out for that. There's a lot of ground to cover down the lines out there."
One Fantastic Ride.
