North Carolina State University Athletics
Nick Stanley's Blog: Parking in The Last Row
5/30/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Catcher Nick Stanley came to NC State last fall after hitting an amazing .491 with 12 doubles, seven home runs and 36 RBIs during his sophomore season at South Florida Junior College. Wolfpack coach Elliott Avent calls Stanley a "consummate ball player who loves to play and understands the game." He's also an English major who will write a daily blog for GoPack.com during this weekend's NCAA Raleigh Regional. Stanley has been a solid contributor during his first season with the Wolfpack, making 30 starts behind the plate and hitting .310 with two home runs an 22 RBIs. "Nick is a real gamer, someone who always plays better in a game than he does at practice," Avent says. "He steps up. I think it comes from his confidence in his abilities and and how much he loves the game. He is always talking in the dugout and saying funny things. He gives us that looseness that is necessary." Here is Stanley's second entry.
RALEIGH, N.C. -- I guess the first indication I got that this was something special came when
I arrived at the field at around 2:30 and had to park in the very last row
of the West parking lot across the street from Doak Field at Dail Park.
From there, everything just had a "regional"
feel.
When we got to the ballpark for lunch, the first game between Charlotte and
South Carolina was still going on. That was weird to watch a game being
played on our own home field. We had to take batting practice in the batting
cages which was another departure from our normal routine.
When the game started things really turned up a notch. The stadium was
filled to the max and you could feel a little extra bit of excitement in
the air. The fans were loud and into the game from the beginning, just one
of the pluses of playing at home. It was awesome when they started the
"WOLF!" "PACK!" chant on either side of the stadium.
That was by far the loudest I have ever heard The Doak. I think the we fed off of that energy and really played well.
Tonight was a good win for us, not just because we won but because we
really played well. Freshman Jake Buchanan pitched well, as he has pretty much all year. We
played great defense and got some huge hits when we really needed them.
Ryan Pond, our senior outfielder, came up huge with two outs in the seventh inning and drove in two runs to give us the lead.
It was just another one of the big hits that he seems to come up with when
we need it. From there, reliever Joey Cutler came in and shut it down.
The objective now is to carry this momentum over to the next game against
South Carolina. I'm sure that our fans will be out in full force again
tomorrow night and hopefully we can play as well as we did tonight. Thanks
for all the support!
GO PACK!
