North Carolina State University Athletics
TIM PEELER: Silent Synan Makes Some Noise For Pack
6/5/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
BY TIM PEELER
Wolfpack baseball coach Elliott Avent calls the junior from Browns Summit, N.C, the “E.F. Hutton” of his current squad: When Synan talks, everybody listens.
So imagine everyone’s surprise last Saturday night during the NCAA Raleigh Regional when Synan was ejected from a crucial game against
“Arguing” might be a stretch. In typical Synan fashion, he didn’t say a word. But his actions were pretty loud after he was called out on strikes in the bottom of the fifth inning. He slapped his bat on the outside of the plate to indicate where he thought the ball was, and home plate umpire Ken Eldridge immediately tossed him out of the game.
“I usually don’t get carried away like that, but that was a pretty emotional game,” Synan said. “Everybody could see that. I thought the ball was outside, and I hit the bat on the outside of the plate. That’s all it took.”
| NCAA Athens (Ga.) Super Regional | ||
| Friday | | |
| Game 1: NC State vs. Georgia | Noon | ESPN |
| Saturday | | |
| Game 2: NC State vs. Georgia | Noon | ESPN2 |
| Sunday (if necessary) | | |
| Game 3: NC State vs. Georgia | 4 pm. | ESPN |
And Synan also knows how to make a grand reappearance. The next night, with the Wolfpack needing a hit, he stepped to the plate in the top of the fifth inning, with the one side of the crowd at Doak Field at
“The hairs were literally standing up on the back of my neck, standing in the box listening to that,” Synan said. “There was so much energy in the park.”
And he used that energy to crush a fastball over the right-field wall. The solo, game-tying homer was still rising as it flew into a grove of pine trees beyond the fence.
“That was one of those exclamation-point home runs,” Avent said. “I’ve only seen a few of those here at Doak Field at
“Jeremy’s shot was right there with those two, especially for what it meant to the game.’
It was the second time in six postseason games that a player who had been ejected came back the next game to hit an important home run. Shortstop Tommy Foschi hit his first and only home run of the season against Clemson, the day after he was ejected from the Georgia Tech game for running over catcher Jason Haniger.
Synan’s homer against the Gamecocks was the Wolfpack’s first hit of the game, but it tied the score and set the table for the decisive seventh inning, when the Wolfpack loaded the bases and senior outfielder Matt Payne drove in the go-ahead run with an infield single between shortstop and third base.
“That guy loves to play,” Avent said of his regular left fielder. “He is a competitor. He plays so hard, yet under control. That’s why seeing him get ejected was so shocking.
| Post-season Batting Leaders | |||
| Player | H | AB | Avg. |
| Drew Martin | 6 | 14 | .429 |
| Tommy Foschi, SS | 9 | 22 | .409 |
| Jeremy Synan, OF | 8 | 21 | .381 |
| Pat Ferguson, 1B | 7 | 19 | .366 |
| Chris Schaeffer, C | 7 | 20 | .350 |
“He leads in a different way from guys like Ryan Pond and Matt Payne. He doesn’t say much, but when he does, everybody listens.”
Silent Synan, a two-year starter in left, likes his role on the squad, and he loves playing for the Wolfpack.
“This is a hard-nosed program,” Synan said. “I love everything about the university. With the team, I try to lead by example. I try to be as nice as I can be, but trust me, if you get on my bad side, it’s not great. I believe I bring quite a bit to the club. I pretty much have everybody’s back on the team and they all know that.”
And, right now, Synan is making his presence known at the plate. After finishing the regular season with an 0-for-10 slide, Synan went 6-for-13 in three games in the ACC Tournament and 2-for-8 in last weekend’s regional, with one of his hits being the game-tying home run. His .381 postseason batting average is behind only to Foschi and third baseman Drew Martin in Wolfpack’s last six games.
Heading into this weekend’s Super Regional at
He’s not thinking that the Wolfpack is two wins away from the College World Series.
“If you try to think that far ahead, that’s when you usually trip up somewhere,” Synan said. “We are just going to try to take care of these guys before we start thinking about anything else.”
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
