University of North Carolina Athletics
Dustin Ackley
Photo by: Joe Bray
This Day In Tar Heel Baseball History: May 30
May 30, 2020 | Baseball
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 30
For today's version of 'This Day in Recent Carolina Baseball History' we go back to 2008 and 2009 for a couple of emphatic NCAA Tournament wins, one of them in the opening game of the Cary Regional and the other in the winner's bracket game in the first regional held at the new Bosh.
Here's a fun fact I didn't know before embarking on this Diamond Heels history project- Matt Harvey started the first game of the regional all three years he was in the program. On May 30, 2008 that came against Mt. St. Mary's at the USA Baseball complex in Cary that the Heels called home that season. Matt threw a 1-2-3 1st with a pair of strikeouts.
Dustin Ackley singled to lead off for the Heels, who were experimenting with the put your best hitter first so he gets as many at bats as possible theory. Kyle Shelton was next and reached on an error that put both him and Dusty into scoring position. Tim Fedroff doubled to bring them both in and give the Heels a 2-0 lead before even making an out.
The Mountaineers got one back in the 2nd. But in the bottom half Ryan Graepel hit a leadoff single and Dustin Ackley followed with a double to bring him home and make it 3-1. Kyle Shelton bunted Dusty up to 3rd and Tim Fedroff brought him in on a single for his second run scoring hit in as many innings. 4–1.
Matt allowed a 1 out walk in the 3rd but the runner was quickly extinguished on a double play and in the bottom of the frame the Heels really blew the game open. On the first pitch of the inning Tim Federowicz hit a ball to the outfield that the fielder just dropped, allowing him to get all the way around to 3rd.
Then the double parade began. Garrett Gore hit a double to score Tim. 5–1. Seth Williams hit a double to score Garrett. 6–1. Ryan Graepel hit a double to put runners on 2nd and 3rd. A Dustin Ackley sac fly scored Seth. 7-1. And a Kyle Shelton grounder scored Ryan. 8-1
With such a huge early lead the Heels pulled Matt just in case they wanted to use him again later in the weekend. Tyler Trice came on for a 1-2-3 4th and in the bottom the Heels kept on hitting. Garrett Gore hit a leadoff double and Seth Williams was next up and he went deep to make it 10–1.
Then it actually kind of became a game again. The Mount put up a pair of runs in the 5th, finally had an inning where they held the Heels scoreless, and then scored another 4 runs in the 6th to cut their deficit to 10-7. They had the bases loaded with 2 outs in the 6th and the go ahead run at the plate and the Heels actually had to go to closer Rob Wooten which they certainly couldn't have imagined needing to do when they were up 10-1. But Rob got a fly out to left to prevent further damage.
In the bottom of the 6th the Heels went ahead and got most of the runs back. Ryan Graepel hit a one out double and Dustin Ackley followed with a triple to bring him home. 11-7. Kyle Shelton dropped down a squeeze and the Mountaineers tried to get Dusty at home- but he was safe and Kyle got on base too. 12-7.
On the next pitch Tim Fedroff hit what was going to be a double to center and it was so misplayed that he ended up actually coming all the way around to score- it wasn't an inside the park home run because of the error but it still carried the excitement of an inside the park home run and gave the Heels a 14-7 lead.
The Mount got a run back in the 7th but this was a night where it sort of felt like the Heels were going to be able to score unlimited runs if they needed to and in the bottom of the inning Dustin Ackley reached on a 2 out error. Kyle Shelton singled and the Mountaineers unsuccessfully tried to throw Dusty out at 3rd, which allowed Kyle to move up to 2nd. Tim Fedroff singled to bring them both in and make it 16-8, his 5th and 6th RBI of the day.
Logan Munson threw a 1-2-3 8th and Rob Catapano threw a scoreless 9th with a pair of strikeouts to close out the game and set the Heels up for a winners bracket game the next day against UNC-Wilmington. Rob Wooten got his 6th win of the season for ending the threat when the Mountaineers had a chance to take the lead in the 6th and the win pushed the Heels to 47–12 on the season.
The Heels ended up with 9 doubles for the game. Tim Fedroff (including a pair of doubles, 6 RBI, and a run) and Dustin Ackley (including a triple, a double, 4 runs, and 3 RBI) each had 4 hits. What a pair that was to have simultaneously in the lineup.
Ryan Graepel had 3 hits, including a pair of doubles, and scored 3 times. Seth Williams (including a home run and a double, 3 RBI, and 2 runs) and Garrett Gore (including a pair of doubles, 2 runs, and an RBI) each had a pair of hits.
Mark Fleury doubled, Kyle Shelton singled, scored 3 times, and drove in a pair, and Chad Flack had a single to round out the 18 hits for the Heels.
On May 30, 2009 the Heels faced Coastal Carolina in the winners bracket game at the Bosh. The Chanticleers and Heels were very familiar with each other- they had faced off in Super Regionals in 2008, and the Chants has already been to the Bosh in 2009 and come away with a 7-3 victory early in the season. They were going to have Cody Wheeler on the mound, who was a pretty highly ranked draft prospect, so this wasn't a game the Heels were expecting to be easy by any means.
Alex White threw a scoreless 1st and in the bottom Ben Bunting walked, Dustin Ackley singled, and Kyle Seager walked to load the bases with nobody out. Ryan Graepel drove in a run on a grounder to 2nd and Levi Michael knocked one in with a single and the Heels took an early 2-0 lead.
Alex threw a scoreless 2nd but Coastal, which always has a potent offensive attack, came back with 3 in the 3rd to take a 3-2 lead.
It didn't take the Heels bats long to respond. In the bottom of the inning Levi Michael singled and Mark Fleury walked with 1 out and then with 2 outs Mike Cavasinni walked to load the bases. Jacob Stallings walked to bring in a run and tie the game at 3.
That brought up Ben Bunting, a former Tar Heel star who doesn't get the level of attention you might expect for someone in the top ten on the program's all time hits list. He came up with the biggest hit of the game, doubling to right center to clear the bases and put the Heels back up 6-3.
Coastal hit solo home runs in both the 4th and 5th to get back within 6-5 and after a 2 out walk in the 5th Colin Bates came on in relief of Alex and got a fly out to end the inning.
In the bottom of the 5th Garrett Gore singled and Mike Cavasinni got hit by a pitch to put runners on 1st and 2nd with no one out. But the next two hitters were retired and it looked like the Chanticleers might escape the threat. A wild pitch moved the runners up to 2nd and 3rd and Dustin Ackley was issued a free pass because Coastal preferred to deal with Kyle Seager.
That was a mistake. Kyle hit the very first pitch he saw to center for a single that scored 2 runs and got the Heels lead back up to 8-5. Dustin Ackley was incredible but I'm not sure intentionally walking anyone to get to Kyle Seager is a best practice.
Colin threw a 1-2-3 6th with a pair of strikeouts. In the bottom of the inning Levi Michael, Mark Fleury, and Garrett Gore connected on three singles in a row to bring Levi home and make it 9-5.
Colin threw a scoreless 7th, allowing just a one hit single. He was really calming down the potent Coastal offense. In the bottom of the inning Dustin Ackley and Kyle Seager hit back to back singles to get things started. A Levi Michael double brought 2 runners home and expanded the lead to 11-5.
Colin threw a 1-2-3 8th and finished his day with 3.1 scoreless innings where he struck out 4 and allowed only 1 hit and a walk. He got a well deserved 4th win of the season for that masterful performance against a pretty fearsome lineup.
The Heels had one last rally in them in the bottom of the 8th. Seth Baldwin and Ben Bunting singled and Dustin Ackley brought in a run on a double. 12-5. A Kyle Seager sac fly made it 13-5 and a Ryan Graepel single rounded out the scoring and made it 14-5.
Greg Holt came on for the 9th and walked the bases loaded with 1 out...then got a double play to end it without any damage and send the Heels on to the regional championship.
Coastal's star hurler Cody Wheeler came in to the game 10-0 for the season and came out of it 10-1. Levi Michael (including a double, 3 RBI, and 2 runs) and Dustin Ackley (including a double, 2 runs, and an RBI) each had 4 hits. Ben Bunting (including a double, 3 RBI, and 3 runs), Kyle Seager (including 3 RBI and a run), and Garrett Gore (including an RBI and a run) each had a pair of hits. Ryan Graepel singled, drove in a pair of runs, and scored one, Mark Fleury singled and scored a run and Seth Baldwin had a single as well to round out the Heels' 17 hits.
May 30
For today's version of 'This Day in Recent Carolina Baseball History' we go back to 2008 and 2009 for a couple of emphatic NCAA Tournament wins, one of them in the opening game of the Cary Regional and the other in the winner's bracket game in the first regional held at the new Bosh.
Here's a fun fact I didn't know before embarking on this Diamond Heels history project- Matt Harvey started the first game of the regional all three years he was in the program. On May 30, 2008 that came against Mt. St. Mary's at the USA Baseball complex in Cary that the Heels called home that season. Matt threw a 1-2-3 1st with a pair of strikeouts.
Dustin Ackley singled to lead off for the Heels, who were experimenting with the put your best hitter first so he gets as many at bats as possible theory. Kyle Shelton was next and reached on an error that put both him and Dusty into scoring position. Tim Fedroff doubled to bring them both in and give the Heels a 2-0 lead before even making an out.
The Mountaineers got one back in the 2nd. But in the bottom half Ryan Graepel hit a leadoff single and Dustin Ackley followed with a double to bring him home and make it 3-1. Kyle Shelton bunted Dusty up to 3rd and Tim Fedroff brought him in on a single for his second run scoring hit in as many innings. 4–1.
Matt allowed a 1 out walk in the 3rd but the runner was quickly extinguished on a double play and in the bottom of the frame the Heels really blew the game open. On the first pitch of the inning Tim Federowicz hit a ball to the outfield that the fielder just dropped, allowing him to get all the way around to 3rd.
Then the double parade began. Garrett Gore hit a double to score Tim. 5–1. Seth Williams hit a double to score Garrett. 6–1. Ryan Graepel hit a double to put runners on 2nd and 3rd. A Dustin Ackley sac fly scored Seth. 7-1. And a Kyle Shelton grounder scored Ryan. 8-1
With such a huge early lead the Heels pulled Matt just in case they wanted to use him again later in the weekend. Tyler Trice came on for a 1-2-3 4th and in the bottom the Heels kept on hitting. Garrett Gore hit a leadoff double and Seth Williams was next up and he went deep to make it 10–1.
Then it actually kind of became a game again. The Mount put up a pair of runs in the 5th, finally had an inning where they held the Heels scoreless, and then scored another 4 runs in the 6th to cut their deficit to 10-7. They had the bases loaded with 2 outs in the 6th and the go ahead run at the plate and the Heels actually had to go to closer Rob Wooten which they certainly couldn't have imagined needing to do when they were up 10-1. But Rob got a fly out to left to prevent further damage.
In the bottom of the 6th the Heels went ahead and got most of the runs back. Ryan Graepel hit a one out double and Dustin Ackley followed with a triple to bring him home. 11-7. Kyle Shelton dropped down a squeeze and the Mountaineers tried to get Dusty at home- but he was safe and Kyle got on base too. 12-7.
On the next pitch Tim Fedroff hit what was going to be a double to center and it was so misplayed that he ended up actually coming all the way around to score- it wasn't an inside the park home run because of the error but it still carried the excitement of an inside the park home run and gave the Heels a 14-7 lead.
The Mount got a run back in the 7th but this was a night where it sort of felt like the Heels were going to be able to score unlimited runs if they needed to and in the bottom of the inning Dustin Ackley reached on a 2 out error. Kyle Shelton singled and the Mountaineers unsuccessfully tried to throw Dusty out at 3rd, which allowed Kyle to move up to 2nd. Tim Fedroff singled to bring them both in and make it 16-8, his 5th and 6th RBI of the day.
Logan Munson threw a 1-2-3 8th and Rob Catapano threw a scoreless 9th with a pair of strikeouts to close out the game and set the Heels up for a winners bracket game the next day against UNC-Wilmington. Rob Wooten got his 6th win of the season for ending the threat when the Mountaineers had a chance to take the lead in the 6th and the win pushed the Heels to 47–12 on the season.
The Heels ended up with 9 doubles for the game. Tim Fedroff (including a pair of doubles, 6 RBI, and a run) and Dustin Ackley (including a triple, a double, 4 runs, and 3 RBI) each had 4 hits. What a pair that was to have simultaneously in the lineup.
Ryan Graepel had 3 hits, including a pair of doubles, and scored 3 times. Seth Williams (including a home run and a double, 3 RBI, and 2 runs) and Garrett Gore (including a pair of doubles, 2 runs, and an RBI) each had a pair of hits.
Mark Fleury doubled, Kyle Shelton singled, scored 3 times, and drove in a pair, and Chad Flack had a single to round out the 18 hits for the Heels.
On May 30, 2009 the Heels faced Coastal Carolina in the winners bracket game at the Bosh. The Chanticleers and Heels were very familiar with each other- they had faced off in Super Regionals in 2008, and the Chants has already been to the Bosh in 2009 and come away with a 7-3 victory early in the season. They were going to have Cody Wheeler on the mound, who was a pretty highly ranked draft prospect, so this wasn't a game the Heels were expecting to be easy by any means.
Alex White threw a scoreless 1st and in the bottom Ben Bunting walked, Dustin Ackley singled, and Kyle Seager walked to load the bases with nobody out. Ryan Graepel drove in a run on a grounder to 2nd and Levi Michael knocked one in with a single and the Heels took an early 2-0 lead.
Alex threw a scoreless 2nd but Coastal, which always has a potent offensive attack, came back with 3 in the 3rd to take a 3-2 lead.
It didn't take the Heels bats long to respond. In the bottom of the inning Levi Michael singled and Mark Fleury walked with 1 out and then with 2 outs Mike Cavasinni walked to load the bases. Jacob Stallings walked to bring in a run and tie the game at 3.
That brought up Ben Bunting, a former Tar Heel star who doesn't get the level of attention you might expect for someone in the top ten on the program's all time hits list. He came up with the biggest hit of the game, doubling to right center to clear the bases and put the Heels back up 6-3.
Coastal hit solo home runs in both the 4th and 5th to get back within 6-5 and after a 2 out walk in the 5th Colin Bates came on in relief of Alex and got a fly out to end the inning.
In the bottom of the 5th Garrett Gore singled and Mike Cavasinni got hit by a pitch to put runners on 1st and 2nd with no one out. But the next two hitters were retired and it looked like the Chanticleers might escape the threat. A wild pitch moved the runners up to 2nd and 3rd and Dustin Ackley was issued a free pass because Coastal preferred to deal with Kyle Seager.
That was a mistake. Kyle hit the very first pitch he saw to center for a single that scored 2 runs and got the Heels lead back up to 8-5. Dustin Ackley was incredible but I'm not sure intentionally walking anyone to get to Kyle Seager is a best practice.
Colin threw a 1-2-3 6th with a pair of strikeouts. In the bottom of the inning Levi Michael, Mark Fleury, and Garrett Gore connected on three singles in a row to bring Levi home and make it 9-5.
Colin threw a scoreless 7th, allowing just a one hit single. He was really calming down the potent Coastal offense. In the bottom of the inning Dustin Ackley and Kyle Seager hit back to back singles to get things started. A Levi Michael double brought 2 runners home and expanded the lead to 11-5.
Colin threw a 1-2-3 8th and finished his day with 3.1 scoreless innings where he struck out 4 and allowed only 1 hit and a walk. He got a well deserved 4th win of the season for that masterful performance against a pretty fearsome lineup.
The Heels had one last rally in them in the bottom of the 8th. Seth Baldwin and Ben Bunting singled and Dustin Ackley brought in a run on a double. 12-5. A Kyle Seager sac fly made it 13-5 and a Ryan Graepel single rounded out the scoring and made it 14-5.
Greg Holt came on for the 9th and walked the bases loaded with 1 out...then got a double play to end it without any damage and send the Heels on to the regional championship.
Coastal's star hurler Cody Wheeler came in to the game 10-0 for the season and came out of it 10-1. Levi Michael (including a double, 3 RBI, and 2 runs) and Dustin Ackley (including a double, 2 runs, and an RBI) each had 4 hits. Ben Bunting (including a double, 3 RBI, and 3 runs), Kyle Seager (including 3 RBI and a run), and Garrett Gore (including an RBI and a run) each had a pair of hits. Ryan Graepel singled, drove in a pair of runs, and scored one, Mark Fleury singled and scored a run and Seth Baldwin had a single as well to round out the Heels' 17 hits.
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