Tar Heels Look Promising in the College World Series

Dan Mohrmann

The University of North Carolina is a school of rich tradition. Basketball is a religion in Chapel Hill and the team ranks among one of the all-time great college programs. So why are there Tar Heel murmurs in June? The basketball team hasn’t begun summer practice and the only time Carolina football is spoken of is when Florida State rolls them up.

The answer lies in America’s pastime. The North Carolina baseball team has shaken up the usual patterns of the ACC and fought its way past No. 4 Alabama for a birth in the College World Series. This marks the first CWS appearance for the Heels since 1989. The squad fought their way to Omaha thanks to superior pitching and just enough offense.

Junior Andrew Miller is the brick of the rotation for the Heels. The Baseball America Player of the Year led the team in innings pitched and strikeouts while gaining the recognition of numerous big league scouts. Miller was eventually drafted with the No. 6 overall pick to the Detroit Tigers. Many draft experts had Miller as the No. 1 overall pick, but the Kansas City Royals decided to go with pitcher Luke Hochevar at the last minute. Miller’s rotation mate Daniel Bard also turned the head of Major League Baseball officials and was picked up later in the first round by the Boston Red Sox.

With Miller and Bard providing a solid starting core for the Heels, the squad is poised to cause some damage in Omaha. Half the teams in the CWS this year are from the ACC. Carolina is 3-3 against ACC teams in the CWS, with Clemson being the only team that has yet to face the Heels.

Excellent starting pitching aside, the Heels have shown that they have the ability to score runs at the drop of the hat. During the regional tournament, Carolina outscored their opponents 43-13. Sophomore Josh Horton has proven to be a consistent force for the Tar Heel offense. His .404 batting average and .563 slugging average was good enough to earn him second team All-American honors.

The Heels are a strong team and can make a run in the CWS. They certainly have the potential to win the whole thing, but strong baseball schools Cal State-Fullerton and Rice have the experience to guide a team to the top of the mountain. But experience does not win championships. Ask the 2001 or 2003 Yankees, or the 2003-04 Los Angeles Lakers. Every once in a while, a Cinderella team can pop up and shock the world. Every Yankee team has its Boston Red Sox.

Getting to Omaha was the hard part for this Tar Heel team. Miller and Bard decided that they wanted to walk home with a championship rather than sign their sure-fire multi-million dollar contracts. Those are the kinds of sacrifices that will a team like the Heels to the promise land. The time for talk is over. It’s time to knock the dirt out of the cleats, dust off the rubber and play some baseball.