North Carolina State University Athletics
TIM PEELER: Slugger Aaron Bates Glad He Came Back
5/24/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 24, 2006
Six Wolfpack players earn All-ACC honors
BY TIM PEELER
RALEIGH - Last June, part of Aaron Bates' life-long dream came true: he was selected in the Major League Baseball draft, in the eighth round by the Florida Marlins.
But after a month of negotiations with the Marlins, Bates decided he would put off his professional baseball career and return to NC State for his junior season. He had goals to achieves, skills to work on and an education to pursue.
Now, as Bates and his teammates begin post-season play in the ACC Tournament in Jacksonville, Fla., the junior first baseman is excited about the possibilities that could come his way over the next month.
There's this week's double-elimination tournament at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville. The seventh-seeded Wolfpack (35-19 overall, 16-13 ACC) opens play at 1 p.m. against No. 2 seed North Carolina (45-11, 22-8), hoping to turn around a end-of-season slide that has seen State lose nine of its last 13 games.
The next week, the Wolfpack will look to go to an NCAA Regional for the fourth consecutive year, with eyes on making it into a Super Regional and the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.
"Winning an ACC Championship and going to Omaha were both goals I had when I made the decision to come back," said Bates, who was one of six Wolfpack hitters named to the All-ACC squads. "Those opportunities are still there. Individually, I never set any goals because I think doing that limits you.
"I think individual numbers come with winning and playing the game the right way."
Bates finished the regular season with a .350 batting average. He's one of seven Wolfpack regular starters hitting at .340 or better, as coach Elliott Avent's team lead the league in hitting, on-base percentage and tied for the lead in doubles. Bates, a California native who transferred into NC State from San Jose State prior to last season, has 18 doubles, a team-high nine home runs and 47 RBIs. He's done nothing in his second season with the Wolfpack to diminish Avent's claim that he is one of the best hitters in school history.
His numbers aren't quite as gaudy as they were last year, when he established himself as one of the most dangerous hitters in the country with one of the greatest offensive seasons ever produced by a Wolfpack player. He had the second-highest batting average in school history (.425) and led State in virtually ever offensive category, including runs scored (61), doubles (16), home runs (12), RBIs (64), slugging percentage (.678), on-base percentage (.523) and walks (37).
What bodes well for the Wolfpack over the next couple of weeks was that Bates was at his best late in the season, going 28-for-56 with two doubles, five home runs and 19 RBIs in the Wolfpack's final 14 games.
But, despite his slightly lower offensive numbers this year, Bates has no regrets about rejecting the Marlins final contract offer and returning to school. There are two reasons for that.
First, he wanted to improve his skills at first base, a position the long-time catcher had never played before arrived in Raleigh. He's worked hard this season to learn the nuances of the position.
"It's been a learning experience," Bates said. "I am a lot different player than I was when I entered college three years ago. I am a lot better. I am a lot more mature. I know the game a lot better. Coming back this year has definitely made me a more complete player, in understanding the game and playing the game in certain situations."
Secondly, he's nearly 30 hours closer to becoming the first person in his family to earn a degree from a four-year college. To be honest, that was never his goal when he first attended San Jose State, but as he has progressed towards a degree, he finds it is something he really wants to achieve.
"I want to finish my degree and have a plaque that says `NC State' on it," Bates said. "I definitely down the road want to come back and get it."
He says he will end this academic school year about 30 hours short of getting his degree, and will make plans to return to campus to finish it.
Before then, however, Bates has his professional baseball career to ponder. He'll go back into the draft this June and he has high expectations for what might follow.
"There is no doubt in my mind that I can play at the higher levels of professional baseball," Bates said. "That is no disrespect to the game or the competition I am playing. It's just that every hitter has to have that kind of confidence.
"When it comes down to it, it is the same game, just better competition. I think there is no doubt I can be successful. And that has been my life-long goal - not just to play in the Major Leagues, but to be a successful Major Leaguer.
"I think I definitely have the ability to do that."
You may contact Tim Peeler at mailto: tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
