University of North Carolina Athletics
Walston: What You Might Have Missed
June 24, 2011 | Baseball
June 24, 2011
It's really too bad that college baseball doesn't get the national spotlight but for a few weeks in June. Because if you only started paying attention to Carolina baseball with the College World Series, you missed an incredible ride.
The Tar Heels played 65 games over 17 weeks in 2011, and each week a new hero seemed to emerge. Here's some of what you might have missed:
If you only saw Kent Emanuel shut out Texas on Monday, you missed an Easter Sunday gem, when he staved off a sweep at the hands of Miami with a one-run complete game.
If you only saw Michael Morin for an inning in Omaha, you missed his journey from starter-to-reliever-to-shutdown closer, and the "look what we found" feeling when he earned a pair of masterful saves at Florida State.
If you only saw Colin Moran getting an intentional pass from Vanderbilt's Taylor Hill, you missed his walk-off single to cap a sweep of Clemson, and an All-American freshman season in which he drove in a team-high 71 runs.
If you only saw Patrick Johnson pitch Saturday against Vanderbilt, you missed a scoreless streak of more than 30 innings, believed to be the longest in school history.
If you only saw Ben Bunting hitting .400 in Omaha, you missed his diligence in working out of a hitting slump late in the regular season (and some spectacular catches in centerfield).
If you only saw Levi Michael's struggles at the plate in the College World Series, you missed his clutch offense in a weekend sweep of No. 1 Virginia, and some spectacular fielding in the NCAA Regional.
If you only saw Chaz Frank doubling up Texas' Jonathan Walsh on Monday, you missed him rob Florida State's Jayce Boyd of a game-tying home run in April, and repeat the feat against Georgia Tech a month later in Atlanta.
If you only saw Greg Holt give up five runs in two and two-thirds innings, you missed his genuine grand slam at UNC-Wilmington, and his do-everything role out of the bullpen all season long..
If you only saw Jacob Stallings hit two doubles Wednesday, you missed him throw out a school-record 32 runners attempting to steal (and you might have missed a great batting routine).
If you only saw Chris Munnelly for a third of an inning in Omaha, you missed him striking out eight Cal Poly batters in the first game of the season in Los Angeles.
There were noteworthy performances all season. Back in February, Cody Penny struck out two in the 11th and forced an All-American to fly out to seal a win at Cal State Fullerton. Seth Baldwin failed twice to lay down a bunt, but then went the opposite way for important insurance runs in the Super Regional. Tommy Coyle went 5-12 in the Chapel Hill Regional.. Jesse Wierzbicki drove in the game-winning runs in front of a rowdy crowd in Greenville in late April. Southpaws R.C. Orlan and Tate Parrish became reliable matchup men out of the bullpen.
The 2011 campaign also saw several freshman forced into important roles. Brian Holberton became the left-handed designated hitter. Tom Zengel, Jeff Bouton and Matt Roberts gave the Tar Heels pinch-hit options from both sides of the plate.
Shane Taylor gave the Tar Heels four valuable innings of relief at Florida State. Andrew Smith became an important righthanded option out of the bullpen.
As a fan, if you're only going to be satisfied with a national championship, you're almost always going to be disappointed. But if you can appreciate the ride, along the way you're going to find dozens of great stories, characters and plot twists.
The 2012 season will see younger players step into new roles, and a fresh set of characters will join familiar favorites.
This October, the Tar Heels will play their annual Fall World Series. By then, the season won't be far off at all. If you only saw the Tar Heels in Omaha, February will bring an entire season to check them out in Chapel Hill. Don't miss it.
Turner Walston is the managing editor of Tar Heel Monthly. Turner's Carolina Baseball Podcast, is available on iTunes.
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