This Day In Tar Heel Baseball History: May 21

CHAPEL HILL - North Carolina looks at "On This Day in Tar Heel History", as Tom Jensen shares his memories as an avid Tar Heel fan and regular at Boshamer Stadium.

May 21
For today's version of 'This Day in Recent Carolina Baseball History' we go back to 2010 and 2011 for wins at the Bosh that probably earned the former team a spot in the NCAA Tournament and the latter team a national seed and the right to host the postseason at home all the way to Omaha.

The 2010 Diamond Heels got off to a rough start in ACC play. They lost their first three series and at one point they were 2-8. At another juncture they were 7–13. At both of those times it looked like they would probably be home in June.

But they came into the final weekend of the regular season having won 4 of their last 6 ACC series. The selection committee cares more about how you finish than how you start and it seemed like if the Heels could win their final series against Virginia Tech and make it 5 of 7 winning weekends to close out conference play they had a pretty decent chance of getting on the right side of the bubble.

They won the first game against the Hokies 13-6 and on May 21, 2010 they were going for the series. Things did not get off to a great start. The Hokies scored 3 runs in the 3rd and the Heels couldn't get anything across in the first 5 innings.

Colin Bates came on for the Heels in the 4th inning, his final career appearance at Boshamer Stadium. He was one of the best multi inning relievers the Heels have had during their entire golden era.

He threw 182 innings over 82 appearances, only 6 of them starts. He struck out 185 opposing hitters and ended up with a 16-7 record and a 3.26 ERA. He was a big part of our Omaha teams in 2008 and 2009 and became even more important on the 2010 team that didn't have the pitching depth of his earlier seasons.

There were few games he came up bigger in than his last night at the Bosh. He struck out the side in the 4th. Then threw a 1-2-3 5th. And had a scoreless 6th with another strikeout.

In the bottom of the 6th Ben Bunting hit a 1 out single and with 2 outs an error put runners on the corners. Jacob Stallings fell behind 1-2 but then singled to left to bring Ben home and cut the deficit to 3-1.

Colin quickly threw a 1-2-3 7th and in the bottom half the Heels bats really got it going. Levi Michael got behind 0-2 to lead off the inning but then singled. After an out Brian Goodwin singled to put runners on 1st and 2nd.

That brought up Ryan Graepel who, like Colin, was playing his last weekend at the Bosh. He singled to bring in Levi and get the Heels to within 3-2.

After an out the situation was runners on the corners, 2 down. And the Heels got the single train cranked back up. A Seth Baldwin single brought Brian home to tie the game at 3. And a Tommy Coyle single brought Ryan in to give the Heels the lead at 4-3.

After that long bottom of the 7th Colin came back out for the 8th and didn't show any signs of rust from his time sitting around. He quickly dispatched the Hokies 1-2-3 with a strikeout to end the inning.

In the 8th the Heels got one more insurance run when Levi Michael got hit by a pitch and stole second, and came home on a 2 out double by Brian Goodwin that made it 5-3.

Not that Colin needed the insurance. The Hokies did get runners on 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs in the 9th. But Colin just capped the game with a strikeout. He went 6 shutout innings, struck out 7, allowed only 3 hits, and didn't walk anybody. His final outing at the Bosh was also one of the longest and most effective outings of his career.

And with the series win in the books, ensuring the Heels won 5 of their last 7 conference series after a slow start, it looked like an NCAA tournament bid was probably in their future.

Brian Goodwin (including a double, an RBI, and a run), Levi Michael (including a couple runs), Jacob Stallings (including an RBI) and Tommy Coyle (including an RBI) each had a pair of hits for the Heels. Ryan Graepel (including an RBI and a run), Seth Baldwin (including an RBI) and Ben Bunting (including a run) had hits as well.

In 2011 the Heels came into the last weekend of the season having lost 3 of their last 4 ACC series, probably putting them on the wrong side of the national seed bubble. But they also had an opportunity- #1 Virginia was coming to the Bosh and doing well against #1 is always a good way to beef up your resume.

The Heels won game 1, 6-0, thanks to a Patrick Johnson masterpiece and clinched the series with a late comeback to win game 2, 2-1.

Their position was looking a lot better. But it was really going to look better if they could pull off the sweep on May 21, 2011, the final day of the regular season.

Chris Munnelly had the start and threw a scoreless 1st and a scoreless 2nd. The Hoos got one in the 3rd to go up 1-0 but Chris came back with a scoreless 4th and a 1-2-3 5th.

The Heels got a hit in each of the first 4 innings, but they weren't getting any of them home. That changed in the 5th. Brian Holberton got it all started with a 1 out double to right. He moved to 3rd on a wild pitch and Seth Baldwin singled to bring him home and tie the game. Chaz Frank followed with a single to put runners on the corners.

That brought up Colin Moran with 2 outs. Chaz stole 2nd, giving the Heels two runners in scoring position. On a 2-2 count Colin doubled down the left field line to bring Seth and Chaz both home and give the Heels a 3-1 lead. Brian and Colin were roommates that season, their freshman year, and their pair of doubles ended up providing most of the offense the team needed that day.

Chris threw a scoreless 6th and came out in the 7th. He went 6 innings, allowed only 4 hits, and ended up getting his 6th win of the season. It was a big time performance in a game with big stakes.

Virginia ended up with the bases loaded and nobody out in the 7th, down just 3-1. Greg Holt, pitching on his Senior Day, got a strikeout and then a pair of groundouts (from future big leaguers Chris Taylor and John Hicks) to hold Virginia to just a single run. The Heels escaped the trouble leading 3-2.

The Heels took a committee approach to the 8th. Greg got the first out of the inning, Tate Parrish came in to get the second one, and Shane Taylor got a strikeout to retire the side.

When the season started Michael Morin was in the weekend rotation. But as the year evolved he took on a new role- the end of the game was his. Virginia hit a single to lead off the 9th but then Michael got a fly out and struck out the last two hitters to give the Heels the sweep of the #1 team in the country and a final regular season record of 44-12 and 20-10 in ACC play. Michael got his 8th save of the season. After that showing the Heels had firmly earned the right to play at the Bosh until Omaha.

That game is memorable for me besides just the excitement of the sweep. It was Fan Appreciation Weekend at the Bosh, which involved random giveaways for people based on their seat numbers.

The biggest ticket item was a jersey signed by the team and my seat just 'happened' to be 'randomly' selected as the winner for that prize. The gift itself was nice but even nicer was the reaction. A lot of the players and coaches came out of the dugout between innings to give *me* a standing ovation and when the rest of the crowd figured out what was going on most of them joined in too. It was a complete surprise and although certainly not necessary, very touching and a once in a lifetime sort of experience.

Colin Moran capped the last regular season game of his National Freshman of the Year season with 4 hits, including a pair of doubles, and 2 RBI. Seth Baldwin also had a pair of hits and drove in and scored a run. Brian Holberton doubled and scored a run, Tommy Coyle doubled, Chaz Frank singled and scored a run, and Jacob Stallings and Ben Bunting (on his Senior Day) each had singles.

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