North Carolina State University Athletics
Haynes' World: Wolfpack Almost Finds Its Field Of Dreams
5/20/2001 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 20, 2001
By Tony Haynes
I confess: before heading to Charlotte for the ACC Baseball Tournament last Tuesday, I only packed enough clothes to last three days. Upon my departure, I informed family members that I would be back by Thursday. I didn't even take the charger for my cell phone. I ran out of clean clothes, I wasn't home by Thursday and my cell phone died.
Fortunately, the NC State baseball team had more faith than I did.
Thank you Elliott Avent. Thank you Josh Miller. Thank you Adam Miller. Thank you Joe Gaetti. Thanks to all of you for reminding us that, as Yogi said, "it ain't over 'till it's over."
And we as Wolfpack fans should know better. Wasn't it Jimmy V who said, "never, ever give up?"
Just one day before they hopped a bus for the 28th ACC Baseball Tournament, NC State learned that it had been dropped into the dreaded 8 vs. 9 play-in game against Maryland. How many of us were guilty of thinking, "what's the point?" But instead of asking the obvious question, the Wolfpack figured "why not?"
Why not become the first team in league history to go from the play-in game to the championship game? And because they believed, they almost turned Fort Mill, South Carolina into the Land of Oz.
The 1983 NC State basketball team had the glass slipper. The 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates had Bill Mazeroski. Hickory High School in the movie Hoosiers had Gene Hackman.
The 2001 NC State baseball team almost found its Field of Dreams at Knight's Castle.
In the end, the Pack didn't have enough guns to overcome Wake Forest's powerful Deacons, who snatched their third ACC title in four years by whipping NC State in Sunday's championship game 17-4.
Like the rest of his teammates, freshman outfielder Joe Gaetti did pack enough clothes to last a week or more. Then he went out and put on a power display that would have impressed a former major league dad named Gary. Joe Gaetti went to the ACC Tournament with two career homers. He left with six.
"Nobody thought we would make it as far as we did," Gaetti said. "I think most of the team said before the play-in game that we could make it to the championship game."
Wearing a bulky knee brace to protect the torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, Wolfpack reliever Josh Miller showed us that it is possible to thread a needle with a baseball. Miller's stunning four and a third innings of relief in a memorable 6-4 victory over nationally ranked Georgia Tech was amazing. Facing a line-up that featured nine players with batting averages above .300, the senior right-hander allowed zero runs.
Adam Miller went from being a light-hitting shortstop to a heavy-hitting shortstop. A .248 hitter during the regular season, Miller went 10-for-24 in the ACC Tournament. And there were others who contributed to the Wolfpack's memorable run to the title game. Instead of hanging his head after a three-error breakdown against Florida State, third baseball Sean Walsh bounced back. Before going 0-for-2 against Wake Forest, Walsh had hit safely in 22 consecutive games.
Colt Morton, who set a new freshman record by clubbing his 12th homer against Tech on Saturday, caught seven games in six days and never even thought of asking for a day off.
Pitching to an earned run average of 7.28 for the season, junior pitcher Dan D'Amato baffled mighty Florida State for seven innings on Saturday night. In 15 innings against the Seminoles this year, the lefty allowed just four earned runs and recorded two victories.
D'Amato and the rest of the Wolfpack rose to the occasion to give the ACC a tournament to remember. Unfortunately, the event played to mostly deaf ears in Charlotte, a town that had gone goo, goo over the Hornets and Saturday night's NASCAR wallet bleeder at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Little did they know that another dramatic story was developing in their own backyard.
"The players have gone through a lot this year with the injuries we've had and the adversity we faced," Avent said. "Every time it seemed like something was going to go well for us, it would go the other way. Adversity can have a death effect on anybody, especially when you're 18 to 22 years old. The last six or seven weeks I told the players that they've handled things beautifully. They've come to the park ready to play every day. To come to this tournament and play so well was great. It's really pleasing to see the players with smiles on their faces and having that success they so richly deserve."
Well put coach. And next time, I'll definitely pack enough clothes.
