North Carolina State University Athletics
From Under the Shadow
4/8/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 8, 2011
Baseball At Miami This Weekend
RALEIGH, N.C. - It took some work to convince NC State shortstop Chris Diaz to join the Wolfpack.
It seemed like a no-brainer, since Diaz loved the school, loved the Wolfpack baseball program and loved the area. He did, after all, move up here from his native Miami as a teenager to attend Apex High School.
So what was the problem?
Nothing except the long shadow of his brother, Jonathan Diaz, one of the most accomplished shortstops in Wolfpack baseball history. The older Diaz was also one of the program's most popular players during his career from 2004-06.
Chris, who followed after Jonathan for every peewee and Little League team his entire life, was looking to create his own identity in college after playing four years own his own at Apex (N.C.) High School.
"I love my brother and have always looked up to him whenever I needed any advice," Diaz said. "I really didn't want to come here and be in his shadow. Don't get me wrong. I always wanted to be like him, but as a freshman coming in, I didn't want to be compared to him.
"I was afraid people would remember how great he was when he left here, and I might not be at that level when I first arrived."
Ultimately, he took Jonathan's advice when choosing between NC State, East Carolina and several other schools in the area.
"He's always told me what a great school NC State is," Chris Diaz said. "He also told me `I don't want you to be like me; I want you to be better than me.' We talked about it and I decided that I didn't want to live up to his career - I wanted to exceed it.
"I thought that might be easier to do elsewhere, but decided that NC State was the best place for me."
As a freshman, Diaz battled Matt Bergquist for a starting job in the middle infield, to go along with then-senior Dallas Poulk. Bergquist eventually became the Wolfpack's starting shortstop, while Diaz spent much of the year coming off the bench. He tied for the team lead with seven RBIs off the bench last season.
This year, with Poulk's career over, Diaz and Bergquist were teamed in the middle infield, with Bergquist starting out at shortstop and Diaz at second. But about a week before the season started, head coach Elliott Avent switched the two and it has made a world of difference in the Wolfpack's defense and offense.
Diaz has been steady with the glove, and even if he doesn't make the impossibly acrobatic plays in the field that were routine for Jonathan, he has been excellent at his position, with only three errors in 30 games this season.
At the plate, he has been one of the steadiest hitters in the lineup. Unlike much of the rest of the offense, he started the season strong, going 4-for-4 in the opening game and carrying the load while his teammates adjusted to college baseball's less lively new bats. After collecting two hits and scoring the tying run against East Carolina on Tuesday, Diaz ranks second on the team with a .333 batting average, with four doubles, two homers and 13 RBIs.
Heading into this weekend's series in Diaz's hometown of Miami, the rest of the Wolfpack lineup has begun to get hot at the plate. The Pack is averaging nearly seven runs in its last 10 games, a 1.5 increase from its first 20. Avent credits Diaz's steadiness in the lineup as a reason for that.
"I feel like our confidence as a team is a lot better," Diaz said. "We're more patient at the plate. Our expectations as a team are so much higher than they were at the beginning of the season. Every time someone goes to the plate, we believe they are going to be successful when they go up there. I think they are going to get a hit and do something to help our team."
Avent gives Diaz credit with keeping the team confident early in the season, both at the plate and in the field.
"We moved him to shortstop in the spring, mainly for consistency," Avent said. "He understands the game so well, probably more so than anyone else we have on the team. He keeps getting better. He knows what he does well and works at the things he would like to get better at.
"He's been a big asset for us, both on offense and defense. And he's probably the best baserunner we have. His instincts and knowledge off the game have been invaluable to us this year."
Diaz knows he's a different player than Jonathan, who spent the spring in the major league camp of the Toronto Blue Jays and was assigned to the team's Double-A franchise in New Hampshire. He began his sixth professional season on Thursday.
"I know I can't be compared to him defensively," Chris said. "The stuff he did with the glove was amazing. He just knew the game so well. But I'm still striving to be like him. I feel like a lot of things I've changed in my game are because he helped me out with it. He has always helped me out in baseball.
"I've tried to play the way he played the game. He played it hard and smart."
And in that, he doesn't mind being compared to his older brother.
• By Tim Peeler, tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
