Heels Lay an Egg

The funny thing is that pitching was the strength of the 07 recruiting class, but after 5 CWS games only one freshman (Harvey) has seen any action.
Even with Garrett Davis going down with TJ surgery, the Tar Heels still have Striz,Leach,Johnson and others. Experience is great, but I think the freshman class could have been more of a factor.

 

Well, that is a relief. Even if it costs the Tar Heels a CWS championship, it's not worth risking either of those arms. White has to be a top 5 draft pick after his showing in Omaha.
As for Ackley, any team who passes on him in the first round will regret it later. What a stroke !

 

I notice their impatience and something else. They let quality pitches go by...just stared at them and the other thing I noticed is they fouled too many good hitting pitches off. When a pitcher makes a mistake (something Fresno pitchers will do) you have to make them pay..not foul them off. I'm real concerned with Shelton's bat right now. He does not look comfortable at all (I know that feeling). I would like to see him bunt for a hit or sacrifice the 1st couple of at bats. It might help him see the ball better.

and lord help me...if UNC has a runner in scoring position with Chad Flack at bat, please stop Coach Fox from trying to bunt him...thank you.

 

You can bet

the coaching staff wants to win very badly. So they will go with the guys that they think give them the best chance to win. We can all speculate all we want to. But I feel very confident Coach Fox has a better idea of who can get it done than we do.

Those guys will get their chance when the time is right. I like Bates alot. I hope Warren can go 6 and Bates can finish it. And I really hope the bats give us a working margin. If not we can let Chad drop another bomb or FedX. Maybe this is the night Seth drops a couple on those Bulldogs?

 

I was thinking the exact same thing about Seth. It's his moment tonight....at least that was in my dream last night

 

I hear you Braves

I think you start expecting a ball so your surprised by a good pitch to hit. Then you swing at the next one because you know you should have swung at the last one. It all adds up to pressing at the plate and getting out of a good groove at the plate. Good hitters hit better when facing pitchers that are consistently around the plate. Sometimes they struggle with guys that are effectively wild. They throw a "Cock shot" after two horrible pitches and it just freezes you.

Kyle is just pressing. If he can settle down he will be fine. The kid is a great hitter and has shown it all year long.

 

There it is...BUT, if they can get on top early...relax...they may runaway with this game.

 

Grape

is getting some good pitches to hit because he is hitting in front of Ackley. And because of this he has had some nice hits in this series. He had three in the opening game vs LSU. He had a big double in the game vs Fresno. He will be ok. Its Shelton we need to get going. He is key in that 2 hole. He has layed down a couple of nice sac bunts. But Kyle has been a big force this season.

Please don't take this the wrong way because I am not second guessing Coach Fox. He knows a whole lot more than I do. But I would think about putting the DH in Gore in the 2 hole and moving Kyle down in the order to see if that could jump start things. Maybe even put Flack back in the 5 hole and move Seager back to the 2 hole.

Ackley
Seager
Fedroff
Fed X
Flack
Shelton
Gore
Williams
Grape

Or

Ackley
Gore
Seager
Fedroff
Fed X
Flack
Shelton
Williams
Grape

Right now
Ackley
Shelton
Fedroff
Fed X
Seager
Flack
Gore / Fleury
Williams
Grape

But Coach knows his players best. They can all hit they just need to start banging like they can and tonight would be a great time to start.