Tar Heels Try To Take The Next Step

By Kenny Cook - June 12, 2007

There's a new sheriff in town in the Carolinas, and his name is Mike Fox. The North Carolina Tar Heels, who were eliminated from post-season play by South Carolina in 2002-2004, faced down their old nemesis and advanced to the College World Series for the second straight year. Having come oh so close last year before a heartbreaking loss to Oregon State in the national championship game, the Tar Heels weathered the loss of standout pitchers Andrew Miller and Daniel Bard in the first round of last year's draft, and head to Omaha for an encore performance.

Here's a look at the Tar Heels around the diamond:

POSITION PLAYERS:
C Tim Federowicz, So (.357-4-64)
1B Dustin Ackley, Fr (.416-7-66, 11 SB)
2B Garrett Gore, So (.333-2-26)
SS Josh Horton, Jr (.331-8-50)
3B Chad Flack, Jr (.251-7-44)
LF Reid Fronk, Jr (.327-11-54)
CF Seth Williams, Jr (.301-8-40)
RF Tim Fedroff, Fr (.344-4-36)
DH Kyle Seager, Fr (.311-2-28)

The Tar Heels lost only Jay Cox from the every day lineup from last year's team, and after plugging in a couple of impressive freshmen haven't missed a beat. And they haven't even missed Matt Spencer, who started 46 games last year and has had a big year at Arizona State after transferring. Although they have hit fewer home runs (64 vs 83) and stolen fewer bases (46 vs 91) compared to last year's team, they have still managed enough offense to get things done.

Ackley, Collegiate Baseball's Freshman Player of the Year leads the team in batting average, RBI, stolen bases, and hits. He's struggled in NCAA tournament play (.182 BA), but had the game winning hit in the bottom of the ninth against East Carolina to win the Chapel Hill Regional. Gore and Seager shared second base until Gore settled in there, and he is a difficult out in the nine hole. Seager has been productive since taking over at DH. Horton was drafted in the second round by the Oakland A's, and although he's committed 17 errors, has made some outstanding defensive plays and has a great arm, not to mention that he's probably the best clutch hitter on the team. Flack has had a down year offensively, but it was his two-run home run on Sunday night which broke a 4-4 tie (and a 9 game homerless streak for UNC) to give them the lead for good on the way to a Super Regional Championship. That homer came exactly one year after his two home runs beat Alabama to send UNC to last year's CWS. Fronk played third base his first two seasons, but after struggling there at times has made the move to left field and excelled both defensively and as the leadoff hitter. Williams has been impressive defensively in centerfield and leads the Tar Heels in hitting in NCAA play (.444). A big year at the plate allowed Tim Fedroff (yes, it's easy to get him confused with Tim Federowicz) to take over right field. Federowicz is the clean up hitter and second on the team in RBI; he'll occasionally come out from behind the plate to pitch in relief as well.

STARTING PITCHERS:
Robert Woodard, Sr (10-2, 3.01)
Alex White, Fr (6-5, 4.22)
Luke Putkonen, So (7-1, 4.74)
Adam Warren, So (10-0, 2.09)

Woodard is the stabilizing force and rudder of the team; he is 33-5 for his career and went 22-0 at home. He had a complete game shutout against Clemson in last year's CWS. White is legit- he has great tools but only two wins in his last eight starts; he's gone 0-1 with a 12.96 ERA in his two NCAA starts so far. Putkonen is a talented draft-eligible sophomore, taken in the third round by Detroit. He has also been inconsistent late in the year, with only one win in his last six starts (0-0, 9.00 ERA in NCAA play). Still, he's 13-1 for his career. How good was UNC's bullpen in the Regionals and Super Regionals? Warren went 10-0 as the midweek starter and didn't see the mound in either round. If UNC gets off to a good start in Omaha, having him as a fourth starter could be huge.

BULLPEN:
Andrew Carignan, Jr (2-1, 1.36, 15 saves)
Rob Wooten, Jr (6-1, 2.15)
Matt Danford, Sr (5-0, 2.83, 1 save)
Tim Federowicz, SO (2-2, 4.05, 3 saves)

Carignan throws smoke and has been UNC's nearly flawless closer the past two seasons, getting 15 saves each year. He had a gutty 4 inning relief appearance Sunday night against South Carolina, holding them scoreless as UNC's offense took control of the game. Wooten has 41 relief appearances and really emerged in the post-season; he appeared in all 6 UNC games of the first two rounds, winning three. He didn't allow a run and struck out 14 batters in 9 2/3 innings. Danford has done a little bit of everything in the bullpen and is 19-5 in his UNC career. His action in the first two rounds has been limited only because Wooten has been throwing so well.

North Carolina has come from behind in the sixth inning or later in each of their past five victories, and hope that experience in winning close games will get them to the top of the hill at Rosenblatt. At a school with such high profile coaches as Roy Williams and Butch Davis, baseball coach Mike Fox has quietly built UNC into one of the top programs in the country. Annual trips to Omaha may become a common occurrence for Tar Heel fans. Hopefully with the growing of the baseball fan base and construction of a new, larger stadium it will remain a special treat and not an expectation.