North Carolina State University Athletics
TIM PEELER: Pack's Lead-off Hitter A Poulk Hero
6/1/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
COLUMBIA, S.C. Don’t give Dallas Poulk any credit, he says. Just give him a spot in the lineup, preferably at the top of the batting order.
That’s all the freshman second baseman from Fayetteville’s Pine Forest High School wanted when he arrived at NC State last fall, somewhat of a sleeper among the Wolfpack’s dozen and a half new recruits. But when the season started in February, there was no place to put Poulk because senior Vince Gutierrez was the starter at second base. Besides, Wolfpack coach Elliott Avent wanted to bring the young player along slowly as he made the transition from high school to college baseball. For more than a month, Avent told Poulk to be patient, that his time would come. It was the hardest five weeks of the young player’s life, even harder than when he was waiting for a phone call from Avent during the recruiting process. He had never been out of the lineup. For four consecutive years at Pine Forest, he was always the first guy to the plate, hitting better than .400 in his four years as a lead-off hitter.
In mid-March, Gutierrez got hurt. “We couldn’t bring Dallas along slowly anymore,” Avent said. He put the young player at second base, easing him into the lineup at the bottom of the order.The Wolfpack’s offense, which struggled out of the gate with seven new position players, hasn’t been the same since. In the 39 games Poulk has started, he’s batted nearly .400, gotten 20 more hits than anyone else on the team, led the squad in stolen bases with six and chugged out a remarkable .507 slugging percentage, even though he’s only hit one home run.
On May 4, Avent made Poulk the Wolfpack’s lead-off hitter, and the freshman ramped up his statistics even more. In 13 games of hitting first, Poulk is .466 with a .638 slugging percentage and a .523 on-base percentage. “It’s a mentality thing,” Poulk says of hitting first in the lineup. “You have to go up there ready to play.”
Heading into today’s opening-round game of the NCAA Columbia Regional, Poulk is giving the middle of State’s lineup exactly what a lead-off hitter should an early base runner to drive in. The game will begin at 2 p.m. and will be broadcast on WKNC-88.1 and on the Pack Pass, the premium portion of GoPack.com. “Dallas is definitely a spark plug,” said senior catcher Caleb Mangum, the Wolfpack’s team leader with 46 RBIs. “He gives us a lot of energy out there. He is a good kid to have starting the game out for you.”
Poulk says the Wolfpack’s offensive surge has nothing to do with his arrival in the lineup. “Our team is just starting to come together,” he said. But it took a catalyst like Poulk for that to happen. His numbers are steadily improving with every game. In his last 20 games, he’s hit .413. In his last 15 games, he’s hit .431. In his last 10 games, h’e hit .432. Last week, at the ACC Tournament in Jacksonville, Fla., he hit .455. His productivity has helped the rest of the top half of the order become more effective, as well.
“Dallas just loves to play,” Avent said. “He’s played hard for us all year long. He’s just the kind of kid who loves to play ball.” Especially for the Wolfpack Poulk grew up in an NC State family. “We bleed Wolfpack red,” Poulk said.
He had gotten some interest from several smaller schools in the state and heard from both South Carolina and Clemson. But the call he wanted was from Raleigh. He remembers when it came, on the first day that college recruiters were allowed to contact him following his junior year. “When that call from NC State came,” Poulk said, “it put a smile on my face.”
Poulk’s production at the top of the Wolfpack’s order over the last four weeks has kept Avent smiling too.
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
