Over a year ago, Bruce Winkworth made a prediction about the state of UNC Baseball. “Yeah, everyone makes predictions” you say. Well, Bruce is in a unique situation. He has followed ACC baseball since I was probably in diapers. More so, as the media relations director for the NC State baseball team, Bruce has insight that few others do.
Last year NC State baseball beat UNC in Raleigh at a game I was photographing. It seems I was the Wolfpack’s good luck charm; every game I went to photograph a game for State, the Wolfpack won and Bruce noted that in an email to me in May 2005:
Sorry your guys lost on Sunday, but you should have known that every time you show up at Doak Field, NC State wins a dramatic game on a walk-off hit. I believe you are three-for-three for us like that. And I wouldn’t worry about how much damage we did to the Tar Heels’ postseason hopes. They are really good (I mean really really really good), and they have a chance to go a long way in the postseason.
He also said this:
A year from now, with all the young talent they have, they could be a serious national contender.
And he was right; they were a national contender, just not the champion UNC fans had hoped for. While UNC lost today to Oregon State and didn’t claim the national title, they certainly gave a great performance this year. But in the end, it was a throwing error in the most routine of plays that robbed UNC of a national title, making them settle for national contender.
As a UNC fan, this loss hurts. It’s amazing how emotionally invested you can become in something like sports that is so inconsequential. But we all do I. Despite how bummed I am, I can’t help but to be proud of our team: they made their first trip to the CWS, they won 9 straight in the CWS, second-place finish in the national and a 54 win season.
Photo by Peyton Williams/UNC Athletic Communications