North Carolina State University Athletics
Nick Stanley's Blog: Surving the Gamecocks
6/1/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
RALEIGH, N.C. -- 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 third entry.
Well, today's walk from West Lot to Doak Field at Dail Park wasn't quite as long, but it was way more exciting. And by exciting I mean having to avoid a gamecock. I don't mean Gamecock as in some fan tailgating, I mean a live gamecock with talons and everything. Yep, a live gamecock on a leash tied to a tree just hanging out.
Wow. Anyway, once I made it past the gamecock, I figured I was safe. Wrong. As I was walking up to the stadium, a foul ball came within five feet of smoking me in the head. I picked the ball up and gave it to some fans walking by and ran to the locker room and into safety.
Man, what the heck? It felt like someone was trying to get me. So after the walk to the stadium, which turned into a gauntlet of death, things started to settle down. It was the usual Boston Market for lunch, with the two televisions in the locker room on other regional games around the country and extremely loud rap music drowning out everything and everybody. That's pretty much what goes on everday until its time for batting practice. As for the game, it was another very excting night with a lot of great moments. The excitement started when Dallas Poulk hit a lead-off bomb that hit the flagpole with the NC State flag. As if the crowd needed any more reason to be loud, that just set them off. You could tell that the game was tight because in a big situation the crowd would go from deafening to absolutely silent. You could literally hear a pin drop at some points. Once again we played well and got big plays when we needed them. The biggest play of the night might have been when Devon Cartwright came off the bench to play leftfield and made one of the best throws of the year to nail a guy at the plate. We've done a good job of putting ourselves in the best possible position to win this thing. Now we've just got to keep this momentum going for the rest of the way. See you tomorrow night Wolfpack fans. GO PACK!
