Red, Feb. 23, 2015

TECHNICIAN

RED PHOTOS BY CAIDE WOOTEN

Young Pack roster has big shoes to fill Christian Candeloro Staff Writer

NC State entered the 2014 season with a No. 5 preseason ranking and expectations of a deep postseason run. Those expectations were a result of the maturation of one of the best recruiting classes in NC State baseball history, as Trea Turner, Carlos Rodon and Brett Austin had blossomed into stars.

The season didn’t pan out the way that the Wolfpack had hoped, ending with a first-round exit in the ACC Tournament and no trip to Omaha. The offseason saw several NC State players get drafted leaving holes in the lineup.

How the Wolfpack fills those holes will go a long way toward determining how successful the team will be this season. No one is expecting Omaha out of the group, but players will need to step up and make up for the lost production.

NC State saw four pitchers drafted in the Major League Baseball Draft. All of the talk will focus on how to replace Carlos Rodon, who went third overall to the Chicago White Sox, but he was only a piece of what the Wolfpack lost. Logan Jernigan (15th round, Padres) and the Peterson twins, Patrick (23rd, Mariners) and Eric (37th, Astros), combined for 11 wins and 180 2/3 innings.

NC State must replace its entire weekend rotation, plus its best reliever Andrew Woeck (31st, Rays) who posted a 2.17 ERA in 11 appearances. With so much experience gone, the Wolfpack must rely on young arms to bear the load.

“The biggest new look we have this year is the pitching,” said Wolfpack head coach Elliott Avent. “We are trying to replace the production of four guys with eight or nine different pitchers this year. It will be interesting to see how it turns out.”

Sophomore right-hander Cory Wilder, who pitched only 9 1/3 innings last season and allowed seven earned runs, is a strong candidate to lock down one of the weekend rotation spots. The right-hander has nice size and will see an increased role in 2015.

Wilder was strong against Villanova on Opening Day and has the opportunity to lock down the opening night role on weekends.

Another player to consider is freshman righty Evan Mendoza.

The Sarasota, Florida, native went 7-1 with a 0.78 ERA as a senior in high school last season. His fastball jumps to the high 80s and he has several pitches in his arsenal to complement it.

Mendoza dazzled in his first appearance against Davidson but was crushed on the road at Coastal Carolina so it remains to be seen what his contribution will be.

Juniors Curt Britt, a transfer from

Senior designated hitter Logan Ratledge watches a ball fly into foul territory during NC State’s season opener against Villanova Friday.

Ratledge hit .667 with one RBI and two walks in the Wolfpack’s 14-5 victory over the Wildcats.

South Carolina, and Brad Stone (42, 3.02 ERA) are also candidates for a weekend rotation spot and Jon Olczak (1-1, 2.86) will man the closer spot.

The biggest surprise of the 2015 offseason will be who replaces Brett Austin behind the plate. Freshman All-American third baseman Andrew Knizner, who hit .330 but had the third-most errors on the team, will take over the catching duties for the 2015 season.

The sophomore was approached about it in the offseason by the coaching staff and worked hard all winter at the craft.

This is not the first case of a highly-talented collegiate infielder making the transition to the catching position. Pratt Maynard was a highly touted pitcher and infielder who made the transition at NC State and was drafted in the third round in 2011 by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Another famous example of this would be Buster Posey, who started all 65 games his freshman year at shortstop for Florida State before moving to catcher for his sophomore season. Posey was drafted fifth overall by the San Francisco Giants and has since won the NL MVP and Rookie of the Year hon-

ors. “[Knizner] is so competitive, such a student of the game,” Avent said.

“If there’s anybody that can make it, it’s a guy like that.”

At the shortstop position, the Wolfpack must replace Trea Turner (13th, Padres), the speedster who stole 26 bases and scored 65 runs in 2014.

Defensively, the team will be in good hands as junior Ryne Willard, a transfer from Tallahassee Community College, will slide into the starting role and looks to pick up where Turner left off with his bat.

Freshman Brock Deatherage figures to be an immediate contributor and has unbelievable speed.

Deatherage stole 31 bases as a senior at Western Alliance High School.

The 2014 NC State baseball season had big names that made bold predictions and failed to follow through. The 2015 team will feature players that most of fans never heard of and will enter the season as underdogs in the stacked ACC. If the Wolfpack will have any chance of competing in 2015, young unknowns will have to take the reins and become the next batch of MLB draft prospects.

Challenging ACC schedule awaits Wolfpack Jake Lange Associate Sports Editor

The NC State baseball team has accrued a 3-2 record thus far to kick off the 2015 season, but the brunt of the team’s schedule still remains and is simply daunting. This spring, between mid-March and mid-May, the Pack will go up against f ive top-15 conference powerhouses, according to the NCBWA rankings.

“It’s a tough schedule,” NC State head coach Elliot Avent

said. “We got ‘em all, but that’s the way it falls sometimes. It just means you’ve got to be ready.”

NC State will open its sequence of formidable foes March 13, when the Pack journeys south to Coral Gables, Florida, to challenge the No. 11 Miami Hurricanes in a weekend bout.

Though Miami struggled at the plate last year, the team will show much of its power in its defense, as the ‘Canes have some of the most athletic infielders in the ACC. The Pack will face the bulk of

the schedule’s adversity in April.

The No. 15 Florida State Seminoles will travel to Raleigh April 1 to take on NC State in a trio of matchups. Coming off a top-20 scoring season, FSU boasts most of its strength on the offensive end, specifically through junior outfielder DJ Stewart.

A hitting machine, Stewart was named the ACC Player of the Year last season after leading the conference in batting average (.351), slugging percentage (.557) and on-base percentage (.472).

Head coach Elliot Avent talks to his players before they head out onto the field before facing Villanova in the team’s season opener.

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A week after facing the Seminoles, NC State will make a short trip to face the rivals down the road in another weekend series.

The No. 13 UNC-Chapel Hill baseball team looks set to piggyback off of last season’s success and hopes to make another run for Omaha.

The Heels will miss last season’s leading hitter in Michael Russell, but the scenario will give Carolina’s young talents the opportunity to step up and make an immediate impact. Carolina’s infield has become a huge concern, as the team suffered some key defensive losses, again challenging the underclassmen to rise to the occasion.

On April 24, State will face its toughest opponent of the season in No. 1 Virginia. The Cavaliers sit atop the rankings as a national favorite this season for a reason. Virginia’s consistent

and productive hitting helped carry them through the College World Series in 2014, and the team is lethal from the mound.

The Cavs still have a bad taste in their mouths from falling to Vanderbilt in the final series in Omaha, and the team, armed with dominant hitting paired with dangerous defense, is eager to return.

The Wolfpack will finish out the season at Doak field when welcoming No. 10 Louisville to the ACC in a weekend series starting May 14. The Cardinals can get the job done at the plate, and with the versatile athleticism of its roster, Louisville will look to make another run at the CWS this season.

NC State’s 2015 conference opponents also include Clemson, Boston College and Pittsburgh in March, Notre Dame in April, and Wake Forest in May.

Former pro joins Pack as hitting, fielding coach Joseph Ochoa Correspondent

Although the year 2014 was a bit of a disappointment for the NC State baseball team, 2015 will have its bright spots, especially amongst the coaching staff. Newly acquired hitting and fielding coach and former Philadelphia Phillies prospect Taylor Black will look to make his impact on the coaches as well as the players.

Black joins assistant coach Scott Foxhall, who will mainly be focusing on the pitching staff. The new additions to head coach Elliott Avent’s staff will be given responsibilities immediately.

Black, a former minor league in-

fielder in the Philadelphia Phillies organization, will be looking to make his mark in his first collegiate coaching position.

In addition to helping the team earn a spot in the year’s postseason, Black said he wants to help the team improve daily.

“My goal for the team is for them to get better every day, learn from each loss and each win and take things one game at a time,” Black said.

Black is from Greenville, South Carolina, and played for Easley High School all four years of his high school career, earning All-Region honors his senior year in 2007.

Black said Raleigh reminds him a lot of his home in South Carolina and that he is enjoying being with the

BLACK continued page 5

CAIDE WOOTEN/TECHNICIAN

First year hitting and fielding coach Taylor Black coached at third base in the Wolfpack’s season opener against Villanova. Black is a former prospect of the Philadelphia Phillies.

BLACK

continued from page 4

com mu nit y of Ra leig h a nd working with the NC State players.

“Ra leig h reminds a lot of South Carolina,” Black said. “I really enjoy working with these kids.”

Being only a few years older than the players, Black said he has a good relationship with the players, and they see him as someone who they can relate to.

“He has done a really good job with the players,” senior shortstop Logan Ratledge said. “He lightens the mood and keeps everything going on the team.”

After his time at Easley High

School, Black went on to play for three different college teams at various levels of competition.

Black played for Charleston Southern as a freshman where he hit .333 for the season and was fourth in Charleston Southern single season history with 17 doubles.

During that time, Black was named to the Big South Conference Presidential Honor Roll, which is given to student-athletes who maintain a GPA of 3.0 or higher.

Black also spent some time at the Junior College level when he played for Spartanburg Methodist College in South Carolina.

During his time there, Black had a strong season with a batting average of .366 with 12 doubles

and six homeruns.

In 2010, he began to play shortstop for Kentucky. Black had a solid season, starting all but one of the 56 games for the team with an average of .270, 11 home runs and 37 RBIs. During t he June A mateur Draft for MLB in 2010, Black was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals during the 28th round but returned to Kentucky for his senior season.

Black had an improved season in 2011, finishing his career at UK with a club-high 95-game starting streak and batting .319 w ith 17 ex tra-base hits and four homeruns. Black was also named the SEC Player of the Week during his final season.

Black said the SEC and ACC

are pretty similar.

“There aren’t a whole lot of differences between the two conferences,” Black said. “Both are going to have the same level of talent.”

After his college career, Black was drafted in the 16th round of the MLB draft by the Philadelphia Phillies organization in 2011.

Black spent the end of the 2011 season playing A-minus level ball with the Williamsport Crosscutters in Pennsylvania.

Black played in 58 games batting .212 with 10 extra base hits, one homerun and 17 RBIs. After spending 2011 season in A-minus ball, Black spent the next two years in the Independent baseball league playing for

the Evansville Otters in Indiana, cumulating a batting average of .226 over his two seasons with the team.

Black also had 17 extra base hits, seven homeruns and 47 RBIs over his two seasons with Evansville. When ref lecting on his time in the minor league farm system with the Phillies, Black said he was grateful for the opportunity.

“I enjoyed it a lot,” Black said.

“It’s really helped my coaching career boost forward.”

Using the experience gained from his playing career, Black will look to help lead the Pack to success in the upcoming season.

Freshmen, transfers prepared to make a splash Christian Candeloro Staff Writer

The NC State baseball team saw its fair share of faces leave in the 2014 offseason and welcomed in a new class of freshmen and transfers who look to stake their claim to be the next group of stars to don the red and white.

NC State head coach Elliott Avent did a terrific job of restocking the cupboard in 2015, but the team will still feel the losses of several key contributors from last year’s team. The Wolfpack will rely heavily on young talent to replace the lost production.

“This is a whole different ball club from last year,” Avent said.

“This team is learning each other. It’s all new guys. They are going to trot out there and you are going to know a couple of guys and that’s about it.”

Leading the pack of talented freshmen who could have everyday roles for the Wolfpack are third baseman Joe Dunand, outfielder Brock Deatherage and pitcher Evan Mendoza.

Dunand, the nephew of New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez, was drafted in the 35th round of the MLB draft by the Cleveland Indians but elected to sign with NC State instead. The Miami native showed a strong arm and a reliable glove during the fall, prompting the Wolfpack to move freshman All-American third baseman Andrew Knizner to catcher.

Dunand also has great potential at the plate and can eventually develop into a solid hitter for the Wolfpack. Dunand led his Gulliver High School team in

CAIDE WOOTEN/TECHNICIAN

Sophomore right-handed pitcher Cory Wilder rears back as he prepares to fire a pitch to home plate during NC State’s season opener against Villanova Friday, Feb. 13. Wilder threw for 5 innings allowing just two hits and striking out five in the Wolfpack’s 14-5 victory over the Wildcats.

batting, runs, RBIs, home runs, walks and slugging and hit eight home runs in as many at bats in the Horizon National Tournament in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Deatherage is a burner with the speed to be a threat any time he’s on the base paths. The coaching staff believes he is as fast as the departed Trea Turner, who stole 25 bases for the Wolfpack last season. Deatherage can carve out a starting spot in the outfield alongside senior Jake Fincher and either senior Bubby Riley or sophomore Preston Palmeiro.

Mendoza is a right hander

from Sarasota, Florida, who will crack the rotation early with a chance to earn himself a spot for the rest of the season. Mendoza boasts an upper-80s fastball, along with a curve, slider and changeup. He went 7-1 with a 0.78 ERA his senior year of high school.

Replaci ng Trea Tu r ner at shortstop will be junior college transfer Ryne Willard. The Smithsburg, Maryland, native started his career with the Towson Tigers of the Colonial Athletic Association before transferring to Tallahassee Community College for his sophomore sea-

son. Now he will take over for one of the best shortstops in NC State history.

Another impact transfer will be right-handed pitcher Curt Brit t, who comes f rom t he University of South Carolina, a traditional powerhouse in the Southeastern Conference.

Britt transferred to NC State to be closer to his family after the passing of his father last year. He is tall at 6-foot-2, and his frame provides power while pitching, elevating his fastball into the low-90s.

Britt is likely to see action in the weekend rotation for the

Wolfpack, a position of great need. If he can show himself to be effective early, Avent should have no problem handing him the ball every week.

The Wolfpack will tinker with the lineup and pitching rotation early to feel out what pieces fit where. Wolfpack nation should expect to see several new names and faces making contributions early, and it should be fun to see which players perform well enough to earn playing time.