NC State baseball coach Elliott Avent closing in on 1,000 wins with the Wolfpack
It was the first day of N.C. State’s baseball practice, the team scrimmaging and Doak Field filled with lively baseball chatter.
Elliott Avent stood near the dugout, fielding a few questions, the Wolfpack coach keeping an eye on things as he spoke.
Suddenly, silence.
Pitcher Matt Willadsen was slowly walking off the mound, holding his right arm near the elbow. Many of the players were somber, their heads down.
“That’s a Tommy John,” Avent said.
There was no trepidation in his voice. Avent said it matter-of-factly, like a coach who has seen and experienced so much — good, bad, exhilarating, infuriating— in his 27 years in the Wolfpack dugout.
Avent went into the clubhouse to check on his player, and it appeared Willadsen had injured his ulnar collateral ligament. No announcement has been made on whether he will need “Tommy John” surgery, or if there was a UCL tear, but Willadsen is sidelined indefinitely and potentially could miss the 2024 season.
In a flash, the Pack lost a player who led the team in innings pitched and strikeouts a year ago, whose 3.78 earned run average ranked second on the team, who was the Saturday starter.
The Wolfpack opens the 2024 season Friday against Virginia Commonwealth on Doak Field at Dail Park. Willadsen, a senior who played his high school ball at Holly Springs, likely would have taken the mound during the three-game series against VCU and helped kick things off.
Before the Willardsen injury on Jan. 26, Avent had called his team pitching “dynamic.” He had mentioned Willadsen, Logan Whitaker and Sam Highfill, three of the older guys, but also said the Pack had some promising transfer pitchers and talented freshmen who should contribute.
“We’ve got a bunch of good, young arms and we have the veterans who have done so much for us,” Avent said in a media availability. “We’ll see how that works out.”
An hour or so later, Willadsen was walking off the mound.
Avent’s reaction? He soldiers on. That’s what coaches do: they teach, they lead, they deal with injuries, they adjust, they soldier on.
In 27 seasons at N.C. State, Avent has stood in the Wolfpack dugout for 1,590 games. He has won 998, approaching a personal milestone that he hopes will not result in much fanfare or any on-field presentations, although it likely will.
A forgotten fact by nearly everyone but Avent: He lost his first three games at N.C. State in 1997, all at Florida Atlantic. Victory No. 1 with the Pack came against Charleston Southern on the road as senior right-hander Brett Black took a perfect game into the seventh inning and finished with a one-hit, 6-0 shutout.
For the record: the Pack finished 43-20 in 1997, earning the first NCAA Tournament appearance for Avent.
Avent, who coached at New Mexico State for eight years and won 225 games before coming to NCSU, picked up his 1,000th career win in April 2017. But to win 1,000 at N.C. State, where former coaches Sam Esposito and Ray Tanner built a strong foundation, is meaningful to the Nash County native who grew up both a fervent baseball fan and N.C. State fan.
“When you get to that number it will allow you to reflect on all the players and reach out to so many people who have made this journey here at N.C. State so special,” Avent said.
Avent, 67, has not won an ACC title in that journey but has taken 20 Wolfpack teams to the NCAAs, two to the College World Series and had others end seasons just a few wins away from making it to Omaha, Nebraska.
In 2013, he saw Trea Turner’s long fly ball to left field caught by UCLA’s Christoph Bono on the warning track just short of the wall. What appeared to be a three-run, eighth-inning home run when ball left bat, Turner sticking up his left arm in celebration, turned into a disappointing out.
Avent always has believed if Turner had homered, had the Pack not lost 2-1 to UCLA, it would have gone on to the national championship. Nothing can shake that.
But what also shakes him, what will always make him burn internally, are the events of the 2021 College World Series.
Most know the details: Not all of the Pack players had been vaccinated for Covid-19, there were positive tests in Omaha and ultimately a decision made by the NCAA to make the Wolfpack forfeit a game against Vanderbilt, ending its season.
“N.C. State fans love to have something to rally around and they rallied around that ‘21 team because everybody knew they were wronged,” Avent said.
The Wolfpack, left out of the NCAAs in 2022, went 36-21 last season, bowing out in the NCAA Columbia Regional.
This year, the Pack has been ranked as high as No. 13 in the preseason by D1Baseball, and was 16th in the USA Today Coaches Poll. It’s a team that added 20 new players, that had a recruiting class ranked in the top five by D1Baseball.
Jacob Cozart was selected a preseason first-team All-America by Perfect Game and many believe he could be the first catcher taken in the 2024 MLB Draft. He’s that good, making 48 starts last season and hitting .301 with 10 homers.
“This team is doing a really good job of just focusing on what we can control, not focusing on what the outside media says, all the buzz surrounding our team,” Cozart said recently.
Two wins will get Avent to 1,000 at State, although there’s no way he’d ever claim it could come in the opening series with VCU.
“I’m not counting yet,” he said.
This story was originally published February 15, 2024 at 6:00 AM.
