University of North Carolina Athletics
Omaha Reading List June 12
June 12, 2009 | Baseball
June 12, 2009
By Adam Lucas
Who will be Arizona State's starting pitcher on Sunday? As of Friday morning, there's still no word, which is a little bit silly. It's not like in football, where a team might have to prepare for two different kinds of starting quarterbacks. In baseball, Mike Fox might make one lineup change, but the guessing game doesn't really change preparation at all. It changes preparation for fans, though, because you have to read up on both righty Mike Leake and lefty Josh Spence. ESPN.com, which suddenly discovers college baseball in June, had a solid feature on the duo. The story about Leake wondering about Omaha meal money is destined to be repeated a time or two, including in this profile. He's one of the best pitchers in the country.
Most of the preview stories have been about the Sun Devils' pitching, but they also have a good offense. Some ASU teams have been power-heavy, but the '09 edition has proven they can play small ball. They'll see some familiar faces in Omaha, as the 1969 national champion Arizona State team will also be there.
Arizona State arrived in Omaha late Wednesday night, giving them the front page. He'll have more throughout the trip. Carolina is joined at the CWS by fellow ACC member Virginia. Both teams say the level of competition they faced in the league this season will be a boost. A big postseason plus has been the offensive contributions throughout the batting order. The balanced attack will be important against tough competition. And, even though he hates stories about himself, here's a nice look at Carolina's head coach, who is just one win away from his 500th career victory as a Tar Heel.
From an Omaha perspective, the CWS is more than just a fun event. It's also one of the big revenue producers for the area. With the current economic climate, the city is concerned about the impact on the bottom line.
