COREY LOWENSTEIN - clowenst@newsobserver.com
Third baseman Colin Moran, the ACC's rookie of the year, fields balls during Tuesday's practice at Boshamer Stadium before the team leaves for Omaha, Neb.
CHAPEL HILL -- From his first start, North Carolina freshman pitcher Kent Emanuel exuded confidence. In that game, the left-hander stared down Missouri's batters and threw strikes.
"I got a guy out," he said, "and I was like, 'All right, I can do this.'"
Such confidence is visible in Emanuel's walk from the mound, a long, cool stride that suggests complete comfort with his surroundings - even when his team was competing for a trip to the College World Series. To watch him in between innings, it's as though he's a spectator cracking peanuts and not a weekend starter who against Stanford became the first pitcher in school history two collect two NCAA postseason wins.
"You can look at him in the dug out and you can't tell if it's a game he's pitching in or not," UNC coach Mike Fox said. "It's a great trait to have. I'd like to know who taught him that. It wasn't us."
Emanuel's contributions this season - eight wins, including the two NCAA post-season victories - stand as just one example of what UNC's stellar freshman class has accomplished. Like him, other freshmen have made significant impacts for the Tar Heels.
On a big stage
Starting today, the Heels are playing in the program's fifth College World Series in Omaha, Neb.
When the No. 3 seeded Heels face Vanderbilt at TD Ameritrade Park (2 p.m., ESPN), they will likely start two freshmen in their lineup - third baseman Colin Moran and designated hitter Brian Holberton - and call upon a handful of players to help them through their double-elimination bracket. Though they are not starters, Tate Parrish, Matt Roberts, Jeff Bouton, Andrew Smith have added depth to a Heels team that lost some of its key starters over the past two seasons.
These rookies - along with sophomores such as starting leftfielder Chaz Frank and second baseman Tommy Coyle - make up one of the youngest units in this season's World Series.
They joined UNC's program as a group of 12 highly recruited, multitalented high school athletes. Many of them - 10 freshmen are on the postseason roster - learned the ropes quickly in the fall and have provided the necessary combination of bravado and confidence that this Heels team needed.
"They are the best freshmen group we've had here in terms of - from the very beginning of the fall to now - their maturity," Fox said. "They are a very, very mature group. I think it starts with that."
Freshman baseball players enter the program in the summer before the start of school and are expected to acclimate to a rigorous blend of athletics and sports. They are paired with upperclassmen, who are expected to mentor and help them learn the daily routine, weight room routine and a book of team signs.
"It was a lot of pressure at first," Tate said. "As soon as I got comfortable, everything just started falling into place."
Well-prepared
This season's freshmen class developed a chemistry with each other that transitioned into overall team chemistry. They proved hard workers and good listeners.
"It's a huge part of our team," UNC senor Greg Holt said. "They just give you that extra boost and that added level of competition. Because nobody wants to get beat by a freshman. But these guys rolled in here prepared and ready to play."
It was Holberton - an outfielder from Charlotte - whose two-run double in the fourth inning of the Heels' first game against Stanford that resulted in a 3-1 lead. The Heels went on to win the game and take a 1-0 advantage in the best-of-three series that earned them their first trip to the College World Series since 2006.
That experience matched Holberton's expectations.
"I came here to win," he said, adding that his high school experience paled in comparison to a win over Stanford, "This is definitely something I've never experienced before. Fans - I've never played before that many before and never on that big of a scale. Not in that big of a game. ... That was awesome."
Moran, a 6-foot-3 third baseman from Rye, N.Y., has made the biggest impact of all freshman, earning the ACC rookie of the year award. He has produced 69 RBIs - 36 with two-outs - and sits just four behind former UNC player Dustin Ackley for the freshman record (73).
"Feels pretty cool to still be in the lineup going into Omaha," he said.
Coach's challenge
Fox said it's a coach's ultimate challenge to get a group of freshmen to understand they are not strong, fast or mentally tough enough when they enter the program.
"I'm very honest with them," Fox said. "I tell them right out of the gate the good and bad. ... We have to erase their memory when they get here. It depends on their maturity level how quickly they understand: Nothing I've done in the past matters. Nothing."
