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Pitchers excel but UNC needs run production
BY BRIAN MACPHERSON
SENIOR WRITER
Questions exist in the bullpen
and at the plate, but most coaches
in the United States would sell their
souls for the two weapons North
Carolina baseball coach Mike Fox
can feature at the front of his start
ing rotation.
Daniel Bard and Andrew Miller
took the conference by storm a
season ago, emerging as two of the
nation’s best hurlers as they led the
Tar Heels to the title game of the
NCAA Tournament’s Columbia
Regional.
And with the loss of North
Carolina’s top three run produc
ers from a season ago, the duo will
be counted upon heavily to lighten
the load for the offense —but they
certainly won’t surprise anyone this
time around.
“They have to understand
that it’s anew year,” Fox said.
“Everybody now knows who they
are. With expectation comes a dif
ferent approach from these other
teams.”
Bard, a 6-foot-4 righthander,
was named ACC Freshman of the
Year after a season in which he
went 8-4 with a 3.88 ERA.
“He throws the ball so unbeliev
ably hard, and it looks so easy,”
Miller said. “His fastball can get
anybody out, and when he has
a secondary pitch, he’s nearly
untouchable.”
Miller, a 6-foot-6 lefty whose
slider dominated the prestigious
Cape Cod Baseball League last
summer, surged late in the season
to finish at 6-3 with a 2.94 ERA.
“With those two guys, we score
one, two runs, we still might
win,” said second baseman Greg
Mangum.
But the Tar Heels ranked No.
14 to open the season can’t win
with only two pitchers, and that’s
where the competition heats up.
Junior Adam Kalkhof won
seven games during his freshman
campaign, but shoulder tendonitis
plagued him a season ago.
Matt Danford, who turned in a
similarly, strong freshman season
in 2003, missed all of last season
after undergoing shoulder surgery.
The righty also will compete for a
spot in the weekend rotation.
“It’s too early for me to say that
one person has stepped up and
said, ‘OK, I’ll be the guy,’” Fox said.
“And that’s good. There’ll be some
competition.”
But questions begin to emerge
beyond the front end of the start
ing rotation.
In particular, Fox faces the task
of rebuilding a bullpen that fea
tured four of the most experienced
pitchers in school history. Whitley
Benson, Kevin Brower, Michael
Gross and Scott Senatore com
bined to throw 1541/3 innings a
season ago. But all four gradu
ated, and those innings won’t be
replaced easily.
Sophomore Robert Woodard,
a midweek starter last year, and
junior Jonathan Hovis likely will
see an increased workload this
season out of the bullpen.
But Gross, who finished the
season with eight saves, also had
established himself as the team’s
closer, and unless one of their
young pitchers Rids a groove
quickly, the Tar Heels will enter
the season without one particular
player in that role.
Freshman righthander Andrew
Carignan will have a chance to earn
that spot for himself if he gets off to
a strong start.
“I’m more concerned with who’s
going to be on the mound at the
end of the game, when the game’s
on the line in the last two or three
innings,” Fox said. “We don’t have
anybody locked in specifically to
that role.
“We’re going to miss Michael
Gross tremendously this year.”
All of the pitching in the world
won’t do the Tar Heels any good,
though, if they can’t score runs
and they’ll have to do so without
the three most productive bats on
last year’s team.
Third baseman Sammy Hewitt,
outfielder Marshall Hubbard and
catcher Chris lannetta combined to
hit 43 home runs and drive in 200
runs for North Carolina a season
ago, but all three now play their
trade on the professional level.
Of the players returning this
year, only outfielder Chase Younts
hit more than three homers.
None drove in more than 30
runs.
“Last year, we had the power in
the middle of the lineup, but one
through nine, we were a scrappy
team,” said outfielder Jay Cox, who
hit .329 during a strong rookie sea
son. “We raked in runs in the bot
tom of the order; we raked in runs
in the top of the order.”
But the lack of proven pop in the
lineup might lend itself to a differ
ent brand of baseball at Boshamer
Stadium.
“We’re going to be a lot more
aggressive on the bases,” Mangum
said. “We’re going to do a lot more
hitting and running, running and
hitting, a lot of bunt and runs, a
lot of things to manufacture some
runs.”
The Tar Heels will need strong
seasons from Cox and Mangum, as
well as outfielders Matt Ellington
Spring Sports
and Ross Cook, to support the
strong efforts they anticipate from
the pitching staff.
Cox hit .329 last season, tops
among returning players, to go
along with his three home runs
and 24 RBI.
Mangum compiled a .308
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batting average and drove in 24
runs.
Justin Webb, a jack-of-all
trades who will see most of his
time behind the plate, also could
provide punch in the batter’s box.
Webb, who primarily played
third base and first base a season
ago, hit .281 with two home runs
and 19 RBI.
“We won’t be a team that’s going
to be able to score a lot of runs in
bunches,” Fox said. “So we’ve got to
be a lot more consistent all the way
through the lineup, one through
nine.”
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