College Baseball In North Carolina Is Booming

Ever since the rain out of the third game of the North Carolina-N C State baseball series late in April the intensity of college baseball has ramped up a notch.  Look last years ACC Tournament game in Greensboro which at the time was the largest ACC crowd ever was beaten by this year's ACC Tournament game.  People are saying this rivalry is beginning to form.  Look folks in baseball State and Carolina has always been a tough ticket to get.  Their stadium sizes have had something to do with it when only 1,500 could get in but this rivalry has intensified because now both are national powers.

I don't know who is going to win the CWS but there is no other conference  in the country that can say they had two conference members in the top five in the end.  There is no other state that can say they had two teams that made it to Omaha.  This baseball rivalry has always been there but now that both are top five teams the stakes have gotten more important.  Both should be just as good next year

Don't be shocked if you are in the Wolfpack or Rams club to see literature wanting you to give money to expand both stadiums.  Both are land locked to a major degree but I could see both schools trying to add two thousand more seats each in the near future.

It sure hasn't hurt the Big Four having the tournaments in Greensboro and Durham in minor league ball parks.  Look DBAP was not big enough for the Tournament game this year so the writing is on the wall for baseball find a bigger park for the ACC tournament but it has to be in North Carolina if you want to draw large crowds.

I was so glad to see Benton Moss get to pitch in the CWS.  TV said he was hitting 94 with his fastball.  Carolina's starting pitching took a nose dive towards the end of the regular season and there were many who questions whether Benton might be hurt.  After the way Hobbs Johnson threw Thursday and Benton getting a strike out  against his only batter I think  Carolina's pitching problem was they went too much to curve balls late in the season.  Hobbs didn't throw one for 8 and 1/3 innings and Benton blew by his one hitter.

I think for what ever reason Carolina's  pitching coach lost confidence in their fastballs and relied too much on their curves.  I don't care who you are if you hit 90 mph  or more and in Benton's case have a curve that drops off the table and Hobb's curve dives in the dirt  I want my pitcher throwing three out of four pitches fast balls and keep the hitters guessing when the curve is coming.  Late in the season everyone knew a curve was coming from both.  If I am a hitter looking curve and you slip me a fastball I am going to be late swinging and sitting in the dugout struck out.

I am so proud of the way both teams played this year and I have only one complaint about the College World Series.  Why in the world did Carolina wear those Duke blue tops?  Sunday when Carolina wore Carolina Blue and State had on the red tops that to me is Carolina meeting State.  I thought  Duke had make a cameo in Omaha.