The Unofficial Scorer’s All-Wolfpack Baseball Team 1981-2016 — Shortstops

This is the fifth post in The Unofficial Scorer’s All-Wolfpack Baseball Team, 1981-2016. Today, we look at shortstops.

To recap how this team was selected, current players and players who finished their eligibility prior to 1981 were not eligible. Players who began their college career before 1981 but finished in 1981, ’82 or ’83 were eligible, with their pre-1981 achievements more or less grandfathered into this. This affected several players from the 1981 and ’82 teams.

At the end of the day, both objective analysis and subjective opinion played a role in determining who made this team. I’ve taken painstaking care in going over this to make sure I’ve included everyone who is worthy. If, however, I left off a deserving name, it was wholly inadvertent. And if your favorite player did not make this team, it was not intended in any way to diminish that player. NC State has had more than its share of great players. I couldn’t list everyone.

Coming Sunday: Left fielders.

• Shortstop — Trea Turner (2012-14)

I admit to being conflicted here, but in the end this was an easy choice. When that AL East cross-checker got this project started by asking me who my favorite all-time NC State player was, the answer was easy — Jonathan Diaz. Period. And I say that with no disrespect or lack of love for Trea Turner or anyone else. Diaz was just a special player. No one else like him. You had to see him play defense to understand but with all that said, Turner was NC State’s greatest shortstop and the most physically gifted player in program history. He possessed electrifying sub-6.3 speed in the 60-yard dash, great hand-to-eye coordination, uncanny bat-to-ball skills, terrific instincts, and above-average defensive tools. As an offensive player, Turner ranks among the very greatest in program history. He terrorized opposing pitchers and catchers with his speed and daring on the basepaths. He had a potent combination of patience and pop at the plate, drawing enough walks to post a career on-base percentage of .435, and driving the ball with enough authority to slug .507. And when he got on base, he completely disrupted the defense because of his wheels. He hit 38 doubles, nine triples and 20 homers, scored 203 runs and drove in 121, walked 113 times to 94 strikeouts, and stole a school-record 113 bases in 127 attempts, a success rate of 89 percent. Defensively, Turner was a fine college shortstop, with superior range to his left, excellent hands, and a solid throwing arm. With Chris Diaz (Jonathan’s kid brother) established at shortstop in 2012, Turner spent his freshman year playing third base, batting .336 with 41 walks, five homers, 43 RBIs, 72 runs, and a school-record 57 steals. With range to his right not as critical at third base, Turner played Gold-Glove-caliber defense. The College Baseball Writers Association of America voted him third-team All-America. He was also first-team All-ACC and a consensus first-team Freshman All-American. Back at shortstop as a sophomore, he earned second-team All-America honors by batting .368 with 13 doubles, four triples, seven homers, 38 walks, 42 RBIs, 66 runs scored and 30 steals while leading the Wolfpack to the 2013 College World Series. He played two-thirds of the season on a fractured ankle, but still slugged .533 with a .455 on-base percentage, both career highs. With the draft looming, he tailed off just a bit as a junior in 2014, batting .321 with 12 doubles, three triples, eight homers, 37 walks, 36 RBIs and 65 runs scored. He slugged .516 with a .418 OBP. He batted third for about half the season and seemed to change his approach accordingly. Instead of just putting the ball in play and trying to reach base, he appeared to be swinging for the fences instead. At the same time, he wasn’t nearly as aggressive on the bases although he still swiped 26 bags. He won the Brooks Wallace Award as the nation’s top collegiate shortstop (he was a two-time finalist, btw) and was a consensus first-team All-American. That’s a hell of a season by any standards other than those he set the year before, and the inescapable truth is that Turner was an all-time great college player, the only three-time All-American in program history, and will likely be the first NC State player inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame. If Turner and Jonathan Diaz played on the same team, Turner probably would probably have to change positions, depending on how much you value elite-level defense, but Turner’s career more than speaks for itself. With all phases of the game considered, Diaz was the better defender, better than anyone, but Turner was NC State’s greatest shortstop. Case closed.

• Second Team — Jonathan Diaz (2004-06)

Jonathan Diaz was the best defensive shortstop I’ve seen in 36 years working college baseball, and an absolute joy to watch. Blessed with acrobatic athleticism, hands of velcro, a good throwing arm, a flair for the spectacular, and an off-the-charts baseball IQ, Diaz put on a show at shortstop for 182 games from 2004-06. Every day, you went to the ballpark wondering what kind of magic act he was going to pull off this time. He made all the routine plays, of course. He also made countless plays that no one else could dream of, and did it with style and aplomb. His footwork and positioning were textbook. His execution on double plays, cutoffs and relays was flawless. His hands did not know the meaning of the term “bad hop.” And just when you thought you’d seen it all, he’d pull a rabbit out of his hat — metaphorically, at least — by turning a play that would just make your jaw drop. Diaz wasn’t much of a hitter. He batted .167 as a freshman in 2004 but played 59 of 60 games because his glove had to be in the lineup. No one was sure how he managed to hit .317 as a sophomore, and he hit a much more believable .255 as a junior in 2006, earning second-team All-ACC and finishing his career with an even .250 average. He was patient at the plate. He drew 80 walks to go with 93 strikeouts, giving him a .370 career OBP. The Blue Jays picked Diaz in the 12th round in the 2006 MLB draft. He reached the big leagues with the Red Sox in 2013 and with the Blue Jays in 2014 and ’15, despite the fact that minor league pitchers often knocked the bat out of his hands. His defense and instincts were so otherworldly that he found his way to the big leagues despite lacking the one tool that scouts consider essential for a position player — the hit tool. His game was defense, and in three years at NC State he played defense better than anyone, ever. Those of you new to Wolfpack baseball the last 10 years, well, you missed it, and that’s your loss for we will almost certainly never see the likes of Jonathan Diaz again.

The Unofficial Scorer’s All-Wolfpack Baseball Team 1981-2016 — Third basemen

This is the fourth post in The Unofficial Scorer’s All-Wolfpack Baseball Team, 1981-2016. Today, we look at third basemen.

To recap how this team was selected, current players and players who finished their eligibility prior to 1981 were not eligible. Players who began their college career before 1981 but finished in 1981, ’82 or ’83 were eligible, with their pre-1981 achievements more or less grandfathered into this. This affected several players from the 1981 and ’82 teams.

At the end of the day, both objective analysis and subjective opinion played a role in determining who made this team. I’ve taken painstaking care in going over this to make sure I’ve included everyone who is worthy. If, however, I left off a deserving name, it was wholly inadvertent. And if your favorite player did not make this team, it was not intended in any way to diminish that player. NC State has had more than its share of great players. I couldn’t list everyone.

Coming Wednesday: Shortstops.

• Third Base — Tim Tracey (1993-94)

Tim Who? There will be some names on this team that no doubt will leave many current Wolfpack fans scratching their heads, not because these guys couldn’t play but because they played before NC State baseball attained the popularity it currently enjoys. Lights were first erected at Doak Field in 1995. The stadium wasn’t renovated until 2003-04. Those two events marked a turning point in the popularity of the program. Prior to that, however, NC State baseball was a comparatively anonymous endeavor. Attendance at the Doak was mostly paltry — the average per-game attendance most years was in the mid-triple digits and never passed 1,000 until lights went up in ’95 — but not because the product on the field didn’t warrant any love. Quite the opposite, in fact. Tim Tracey was a stud third baseman with a deadly line-drive stroke to the opposite field. He came to NC State from Massasoit Community College in his hometown of Brockton, Mass., and quickly established himself as the Wolfpack’s starting third baseman. He earned first-team All-ACC honors as a junior in 1993 when he batted .357 with 13 doubles, three triples, eight homers and 47 RBIs. He posted a .429 on-base percentage and slugged .538, helping that team win a then-school-record 49 games, a mark that stood until the 2013 team won 50 and went to the College World Series. He followed that with an even better season in ’94, yet somehow didn’t make first- or second-team all-conference despite hitting .379 with 24 doubles, five triples, four homers, 51 RBIs, a .452 on-base percentage and a .559 slugging percentage. Tracey finished his two-year stint with a .368 career batting average, good for third in school history at the time and still an impressive seventh, a .441 on-base percentage and a .553 slugging percentage. He played on two excellent power-hitting teams — the 1993 Wolfpack hit 62 homers and slugged .463, while the ’94 team belted 105 homers and slugged .544 — and he batted in the middle of the lineup for both. A big guy at 6-foot-5 and 220 pounds but with deceptive athleticism, Tracey made all the plays at third base. He had a quick step towards the line, soft hands and a strong, accurate throwing arm. In particular, he came in and easily gobbled up those slow rollers that eat up so many college third basemen. At the plate, the righthanded hitter wore out the right-field line, repeatedly ripping screamers into the corner. And at the old Doak Field, where right field was about 15 feet lower than home plate and the world occasionally seemed on the verge of tipping over, balls hit into the right-field corner were a sizable advantage for the home team. It should be noted, also, that Tracey’s shots to the opposite field were not balls he sliced because of a late swing. He hit pearods, straight line drives off his bat, down the line and into the corner. Tracey’s anonymity with Wolfpack fans comes from 1.) playing just two years and 2.) playing before NC State baseball became a local fan favorite. His anonymity has nothing to do with the caliber of his play.

• Second Team — Paul Borawski (1989-92)

Paul Borawski’s career took some time to get off the ground, but once airborne, he was a standout. He was a part-time player as a freshman in 1989, seeing action in 34 games, almost all as a back-up. He batted .253 with six doubles, a home run and nine RBIs. He then missed all but 10 games of his sophomore campaign for academic reasons. This is a touchy subject and I don’t want to cast the wrong light on Borawski. He was eligible to play by NC State standards. He was eligible to play by Atlantic Coast Conference standards. Hell, he was eligible to play by NCAA standards. At almost any other school in the country, he would have played that spring without so much as a whisper of academic problems. Unfortunately for Borawski, he was not eligible to play by head coach Ray Tanner’s standards, and consequently he sat out until the end of the spring semester. Once final grades were posted, he returned to action and batted .391 with a .417 on-base percentage and a .478 slugging percentage in 24 plate appearances. Yes, that’s a tiny sample size, but in this case it proved to be a harbinger of things to come. In 1991 and ’92 Borawski was one of the all-around best and most consistent players in the ACC, helping NC State win a combined 94 games and an ACC championship while advancing to two NCAA regionals. Borawski batted .351 as a junior in ’91, belting 23 doubles, two triples and 12 home runs, with 56 RBIs. He drew 30 walks and sported a .429 on-base percentage. He slugged .595. He also stole nine bases in 10 attempts. His 23 doubles are still tied for eighth in a single season in school history. On a team that won 48 games and scored 7.27 runs per game, Borawski ranked second in hits (91), second in doubles, second in home runs, second in RBIs, second in total bases (137), third in on-base percentage, second in slugging percentage, and third in steals. Shockingly, no one on that team made first-team All-ACC (go figure), and Borawski somehow didn’t make second-team all-conference, either. His numbers tailed off a bit in 1992, but he made the All-ACC second team after hitting .304 with 17 doubles, a team-leading 15 home runs, 52 RBIs, 59 runs scored and 15 steals in 16 attempts. He led the team with 44 walks, which led to a .413 on-base percentage. Again, he ranked among the team’s offensive leaders in almost every category, on a balanced club that won 46 games, scored 7.1 runs per game and won the school’s last conference championship in baseball. Borawski finished second in hits (75), third in doubles, second in RBIs, second in total bases (137), fifth in on-base percentage, second in slugging and second in stolen bases. The 1991 and ’92 teams were loaded with star players — Matt Donahue, Jeff Pierce, Pat Clougherty, Vinny Hughes, Andy Barkett, Jeff Meszar, Terry Harvey, Jamie Wolkosky, Sean Drinkwater, Chris Long, Scott Snead, Greg Almond. There just wasn’t enough spotlight to go around. Some players got lost in the shuffle, Borawski included. As a result, not many people understood just how good he was until he was gone.

The Unofficial Scorer’s All-Wolfpack Baseball Team 1981-2016 — Second basemen

This is the third post in The Unofficial Scorer’s All-Wolfpack Baseball Team, 1981-2016. Today, we look at second basemen.

To recap how this team was selected, current players and players who finished their eligibility prior to 1981 were not eligible. Players who began their college career before 1981 but finished in 1981, ’82 or ’83 were eligible, with their pre-1981 achievements more or less grandfathered into this. This affected several players from the 1981 and ’82 teams.

At the end of the day, both objective analysis and subjective opinion played a role in determining who made this team. I’ve taken painstaking care in going over this to make sure I’ve included everyone who is worthy. If, however, I left off a deserving name, it was wholly inadvertent. And if your favorite player did not make this team, it was not intended in any way to diminish that player. NC State has had more than its share of great players. I couldn’t list everyone.

Coming Saturday: Third basemen.

• Second Base — Tom Sergio (1994-97)

Tom Sergio came to NC State as an unheralded recruit from the Philadelphia suburbs, a late signee whose only other Division I offer was from Virginia Commonwealth. He quickly established himself as one of the best hitters on one of the best hitting teams in college baseball, and was arguably the greatest leadoff hitter in program history. When he reached base, which he did about as frequently as anyone to ever wear the uniform, he usually made his way around the bases and crossed home plate. He still holds the Atlantic Coast Conference record with 290 runs scored. His speed enabled him to break the school’s career record for stolen bases (since shattered by Trea Turner). That same speed helped him turn singles into doubles, and doubles into triples. Sergio was ACC Freshman of the Year and a Freshman All-American in 1994 after batting .366 with 72 runs scored, 15 steals in 16 attempts. He had a .441 on-base percentage while slugging .469. And that was just a taste to whet the appetite. As a sophomore a year later, Sergio truly burst on the national scene, batting .391 with 70 runs scored, 17 steals, a then-school-record .489 on-base percentage and a .515 slugging percentage. In addition to earning first-team All-ACC, he was second-team All-America by The Sporting News. Typical of many draft eligible juniors, Sergio suffered something of an offensive drop-off in ’96. He batted .317 with a .399 on-base percentage, both figures representing a decline of nearly 20 percent from his 1995 totals. On the plus side, he belted 17 doubles and stole 23 bases, both career highs. His 21 extra-base hits gave him a .455 slugging percentage. It was a down season only by his own previous standards, and he more than atoned for it all as a senior in ’97. Sergio’s finale for the Wolfpack was grand, indeed. He batted .412 with 14 doubles, 16 homers, 85 runs scored, 68 runs driven in, 18 steals in 22 attempts, 51 walks, a .700 slugging percentage and a .526 on-base percentage. He set school records that year for runs scored, walks and OBP, and also set career highs in homers, hits (100), total bases (170) and RBIs. He was All-America for the second time in three years, and this time he was just the fourth-ever first-team All-American in NC State history. Nineteen years after playing his last college game, Sergio still figures prominently in the school record book. In addition to being the ACC record-holder for runs, he ranks among NC State’s career leaders with 362 hits (2nd), 19 triples (2nd), 73 steals (2nd), 150 walks (3rd), 243 games played (4th), 521 total bases (5th), a .370 batting average (6th) and 167 RBIs (8th). Career records for on-base percentage have not been kept by the NC State athletics communication office, but Sergio’s .461 mark would have to rank near the top of the list. He finished with a remarkable ratio of 150 career walks to just 105 strikeouts. He slugged .534, giving him a career OPS of .995. For what it’s worth, he is, to my memory, the only hitter in NC State history who never, not one single time, took a practice swing in the on-deck circle. Never once. He saved his swings for when it counted. And he definitely made each and every swing count.

• Second Team — Brian Ward (1998-99)

Brian Ward looked more than a wee bit like Barney Rubble from The Flintstones. He stood about 5-foot-7 and was listed at 188 pounds. At times he appeared to be about as wide as he was tall, although that was certainly an optical illusion. Ward also was a slow runner, to put it kindly. But my, oh my, how the little guy could hit. With a bat in his hands, he was the biggest guy in the room, anywhere he went. He had quick hands, a short stroke, superb bat-to-balls skills, and a high baseball IQ. If hitting is a craft, then Ward was a master craftsman. After a record-shattering career at Brevard Community College in Orlando, Fla., where he twice led the state in batting (hitting .434 and .471), Ward came to Raleigh and twice earned second-team All-ACC honors with huge offensive years for the Wolfpack. He finished second in the ACC with a .393 average as a junior in 1998, belting 11 home runs with 66 RBIs. He had 105 hits, including 31 doubles, both of which still stand as school records. He walked 33 times. He had 267 at-bats (4th most in a single season in Wolfpack annals) and amassed 173 total bases (6th). He had a .466 on-base percentage and a .648 slugging percentage. There are times when you wonder what the voters of all-star teams are thinking, and the fact that Ward finished second in the All-ACC voting that year is one of those cases. The league’s coaches voted Clemson’s Kurt Bultmann first-team all-conference at second base, ahead of Ward. Bultmann hit .299 with 18 doubles, 10 home runs, 54 RBIs, a .383 on-base percentage and a .513 slugging percentage. Ward hit for a higher average (by .094 points), a higher on-base percentage (by .083 points), a higher slugging percentage (by .135 points), had more hits (105 to 70), hit more doubles (30 to 24) and home runs (11 to 10), and drove in more runs (66 to 54). And finished second. Whatever the coaches were smoking that day, I’m happy to report that it’s now legal in several states. A year later, Ward batted .367 with 18 doubles, 16 homers and 73 RBIs. He scored a team-best 65 runs and even stole nine bases in 12 attempts. He drew 37 walks and got hit by pitch nine times, giving him a .460 on-base percentage to go with a .671 slugging percentage. He led the team in home runs, RBIs, slugging and OPS (1.131). Again, Ward finished second in the all-conference balloting at second base, and this time the coaches got it right. Florida State’s Marshall McDougall earned conference player of the year honors by hitting .419 with 28 homers and 106 RBIs. He led the nation in RBIs and hits (126). In one game at Maryland, he belted six homers and drove in 16 runs. In one game! So Ward only got robbed by the coaches once in two years. Ward left NC State as the school’s career leader in batting average with a .380 mark, which still ranks second only to Aaron Bates’s .387 average from 2005-06. He also ranks third in school history with a .659 career slugging percentage. Again, there are no official rankings for career OBP in the school record book, but his .463 mark is two points better than Sergio’s, although in about half as many plate appearances. His career OPS was an eye-opening 1.122. The Padres drafted Ward in the 12th round of the 1999 MLB draft. After playing parts of three seasons in the Padres organization, he spent four years with Fargo-Moorhead of the independent Northern League, where he hit a combined .270 with 81 doubles and 27 homers in 364 games. After retiring, Ward spend seven seasons as an assistant coach on Elliott Avent’s staff.

The Unofficial Scorer’s All-Wolfpack Baseball Team 1981-2016 — First basemen

This is the second installment in The Unofficial Scorer’s All-Wolfpack Baseball Team, 1981-2016. Today, we look at first basemen.

To recap how this team was selected, current players and players who finished their eligibility prior to 1981 were not eligible. Players who began their college career before 1981 but finished in 1981, ’82 or ’83 were eligible, with their pre-1981 achievements more or less grandfathered into this. This affected several players from the 1981 and ’82 teams.

At the end of the day, both objective analysis and subjective opinion played a role in determining who made this team. I’ve taken painstaking care in going over this to make sure I’ve included everyone who is worthy. If, however, I left off a deserving name, it was wholly inadvertent. And if your favorite player did not make this team, it was not intended in any way to diminish that player. NC State has had more than its share of great players. I couldn’t list everyone.

Coming Tuesday: Second basemen.

• First Base — Turtle Zaun (1985-88)

Not surprisingly, two names jumped off the page when I went through the candidates at first base, and this was about as close a call as I had to make. In the end, I chose Turtle Zaun by a nose over Tracy Woodson. Zaun, whose nickname was given to him as an infant and had nothing to do with his celebrated lack of foot speed, won on a combination of longevity and peak value. Woodson’s great 1984 season was the greatest individual offensive season in school history, but it wasn’t that much greater than Zaun’s two great seasons in 1987 and ’88. Woodson’s slugging percentage in ’84 was a school-record and otherworldly .930, the only time a Wolfpack player ever slugged better than .900 in a season. His overall stat line that year was jaw-dropping. Still, Zaun is the only Wolfpack player ever to slug better than .800 twice (.834 in 1987 and .811 in 1988, which rank 2nd and 3rd in school history). He still stands among the school’s all-time leaders with a .372 career batting average (4th), 54 home runs (2nd), 195 RBIs (5th) and a .711 slugging percentage (2nd). He earned first-team All-ACC honors three times — in 1986, ’87 and ’88 — and captured ACC Player of the Year honors as a senior in ’88. He is one of just two Wolfpack players, along with Pat Clougherty, to hit 20 or more homers in a season twice (22 in 1987, 25 in 1988) and holds the school record for RBIs in a season with 87 in 1988. Zaun didn’t show much power his first two seasons, but he did hit for a solid average, batting .305 as a freshman and .322 as a sophomore. Head coach Sam Esposito, looking for more than singles from a corner infielder and DH, challenged Zaun after the 1986 season, demanding more run production. So Zaun hit the weight room and the results were dramatic. No player in program history has enjoyed back-to-back seasons comparable to Zaun’s junior and senior campaigns. He batted .402 (10th in school history) with 18 doubles, 22 homers (5th), 66 RBIs and a .485 on-base percentage (8th) as a junior in 1987; then topped that by hitting .399 with 19 doubles, 25 homers (tied for 1st), 87 RBIs (1st) and a .489 on-base percentage (tied for 6th) as a senior in ’88. He was never quite as great as Woodson at his peak but he was great for longer, and the overall arc and length of Zaun’s career pushed him past Woodson and over the top here. In short, his peak was close enough to Woodson’s and lasted twice as long. In 2003, he was voted to the ACC’s 50-man 50th Anniversary team.

• Second Team — Tracy Woodson (1982-84)

Quite honestly, Tracy Woodson could have been listed as a utility player for the purposes of choosing this team. He played second base as a freshman in 1982, shifted to third as a sophomore, then settled in at first base as a junior in 1984. First base was his position from then on and in all candor, he’s here because of that 1984 season, an utterly mind-blowing campaign, which, again, he turned in as a first baseman. Woodson batted .373 in 1984 and led the ACC with a school-record 25 homers (one every 6.32 at-bats), a then-school-record 77 RBIs, and a video-game-like .930 slugging percentage. He did all of that in just 40 games. That will almost certainly stand forever as the greatest single offensive season in school history. He was an easy choice for All-ACC, ACC Player of the Year and All-America. Woodson’s ’84 season didn’t quite come out of nowhere but it kind of seemed that way. He batted just .232 as a freshman in 1982, but with a team-best eight homers and 37 RBIs in 33 games. He followed that by hitting a respectable .299 with 13 homers and 52 RBIs as a sophomore in 1983, again leading the team in homers and RBIs. That’s two solid if unspectacular seasons, but hardly predictive of the explosion to come. Woodson’s ’84 season made national headlines, yet critics and naysayers were quick to note NC State’s soft non-conference schedule, a semi-valid point that ignores the fact that Woodson hit everybody that year, not just the cupcakes. Besides, if it was that easy, how come no one else did it? We’re talking a homer every 6.32 at-bats. There are numerous players who can’t do that in batting practice. Woodson earned second-team All-America honors in ’84, becoming just the second Wolfpack All-American in 15 years (by comparison, 13 NC State players made All-America the following 15 years). At this point, we need to talk about opportunity and length, not strength, of schedule. Before 1986, the Wolfpack never played 50 games in a season, usually playing way fewer than 40. Rivals around the country, meanwhile, were routinely playing more than 60. Some West Coast teams played 90 or more games. In this respect, NC State was very late arriving to college baseball’s modern age. That was hardly Woodson’s fault but he was certainly a victim of it. The Pack played just 115 games in his three seasons. He saw action in 110 of them. By comparison, Turtle Zaun played 115 games combined in 1987-88 alone. Jeff Pierce played 135 games in his two seasons in Raleigh, 1990-91. Despite the glaring lack of opportunity, Woodson still ranks third in school history with 46 home runs and ninth with 166 RBIs. His career slugging percentage of .720 is a school record. Records for homers per at-bat have not been kept over the years, but it’s unfathomable that anyone can approach his career mark of a home run every 8.78 ABs. No one considered for this all-time Wolfpack team was even close. It’s quite fair to assume that had NC State given Woodson more opportunities by playing, say, 50-60 games a year (as opposed to 38, 37 and 40), he might well be listed ahead of Zaun on this all-time Wolfpack team. Food for thought, but I don’t deal in hypotheticals. It may be unfair because of it, but it’s Zaun and Woodson, not Woodson and Zaun. End of discussion. In 2003, Woodson was voted to the ACC’s 50-man 50th Anniversary team. The Los Angeles Dodgers drafted him in the third round of the 1984 June draft, and he was in the big leagues in time to play in the 1988 World Series. He had the game-winning RBI in Game 3. He played in parts of five big league seasons for the Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals. He currently is head baseball coach at his hometown University of Richmond.

The Unofficial Scorer’s All-Wolfpack Baseball Team 1981-2016 — Catchers

This is the first installment in The Unofficial Scorer’s All-Wolfpack Baseball Team, 1981-2016. We begin at catcher.

To recap how this team was selected, current players and players who finished their eligibility prior to 1981 were not eligible. Players who began their college career before 1981 but finished in 1981, ’82 or ’83 were eligible, with their pre-1981 achievements more or less grandfathered into this. This affected several players from the 1981 and ’82 teams.

At the end of the day, both objective analysis and subjective opinion played a role in determining who made this team. I’ve taken painstaking care in going over this to make sure I’ve included everyone who is worthy. If, however, I left off a deserving name, it was wholly inadvertent. And if your favorite player did not make this team, it was not intended in any way to diminish that player. NC State has had more than its share of great players. I couldn’t list everyone.

Coming Friday: First basemen.

• Catcher — Colt Morton (2001-03)

NC State has been blessed with an abundance of excellent catchers over the years. I considered about a dozen of them, but always came back to Colt Morton. Blessed with a great name, movie-star good looks, upper-deck raw power and surprising athleticism and flexibility for a big man — 6-foot-5 and 225 pounds — Morton was the complete package behind the plate. The son of a personal trainer, his flexibility was especially noteworthy, and no doubt helped him to get into a low crouch, move around fluidly and set a nice low target for his pitchers. While there was a little too much swing-and-miss in his game (174 career K’s, including 76 in 267 plate appearances his freshman season), his power was a game-changer. Most of his home runs were moon shots, the kind of majestic, tape-measure bombs that demoralize opposing pitchers. Along with Brian Wright, he is one of just two NC State players ever to hit 10 or more home runs in three consecutive seasons (12 in 2001, 13 in 2002, and 19 in 2003). He was easily the most irreplaceable player on NC State’s first-ever NCAA Super Regional team, the 2003 squad, which went 45-18 despite playing just 10 games at Doak Field due to stadium renovations. He led the team in homers (19), RBIs (54) and walks (43) while guiding a talented but razor-thin pitching staff that featured three All-Americans. His game-tying bomb vs. Virginia Commonwealth at the 2003 NCAA Wilson Regional not only left Fleming Stadium, but also cleared the parking lot beyond the left-field fence, estimated by a Wilson Tobs official at about 500 feet. Morton belted 35 doubles to go with his 44 career homers, giving him a .520 career slugging percentage. Consistent from start to finish, Morton batted .260, .263 and .265 in his three seasons at NC State, not great averages, no, but he augmented that with 98 walks, giving him a .366 on-base percentage. He averaged a homer every 15.07 at-bats for his career, and upped that ratio to every 12.5 ABs in ’03. Defensively, he was a plus receiver, and fielded his position adroitly, blocking balls in the dirt, and vacuuming up bunts and dribblers in front of the plate. He had a plus arm and cut down the running game. He handled pitchers extremely well and was always — ALWAYS — the man in charge. On fly balls to the outfield with runners on base, Morton’s call to the outfield (“no tag” when the runner wasn’t tagging up, or the number of the base to throw to when the runner was tagging) was audible throughout even the loudest and most hostile stadiums. Most significant, at least to me, Colt Morton was the last NC State catcher to call pitches without prompts from the dugout. There are reasons why college coaches call every pitch, not the least of which is their tendency to be control freaks. The biggest factor, however, is the amount of skull work entailed in calling pitches. A catcher has to know his pitchers. He has to know the opposing hitters. As the game wears on, he has to remember how certain hitters were pitched, the exact pitch sequences, in previous at-bats. He has to understand game situations — the ball-strike count, the number of outs, runners on base and which bases, and whether those runners are a threat to steal or hit-and-run. And he usually has to boil all that down in a split second, pitch after pitch, before signaling the next offering from his pitcher. It’s not easy and it takes tremendous effort to learn. Morton was as smart behind the plate as he was physically gifted. His baseball IQ and understanding of game situations were unsurpassed. And all of that separated Colt Morton from the rest of a crowded field of NC State catchers.

• Second Team — Greg Almond (1992-93)

Greg Almond was NC State’s best defensive catcher of the last 36 years, and the Wolfpack, as mentioned previously, has had more than its share of great backstops. Catcher’s ERA is largely discounted by statheads. At some point, though, you have to believe the data and assume it’s not just a coincidence or luck. In the three years before Greg Almond arrived at NC State (1989-91), the staff ERAs were 4.54, 4.93 and 4.18. During Almond’s two seasons, that dropped precipitously, to 2.98 and 3.48. In the three years after he left, the staff ERA ballooned to 5.01, 5.08 and 6.95. To be fair, Almond wasn’t the only variable in the equation. In particular, the 1992 starting rotation may have been the best in school history, and the ’93 rotation wasn’t far behind. Still, behind every great pitching staff is a great catcher, one who can give a pat on the back or a kick in the ass as needed, who can be trusted to block that 0-2 breaking ball in the dirt, cut down the running game, and quickly field balls dribbled in front of home plate. That was Greg Almond. Wild pitches and passed balls both dropped by about half during his two years, and while the rules of baseball charge wild pitches to the pitcher, don’t think for a second that the catcher isn’t a huge factor. It was a rare sight, indeed, to see Almond chasing an errant pitch to the backstop. The running game slowed with Almond in the lineup, with the number of successful steals and total stolen-base attempts dropping by about 25 percent. And rather than risk running into outs, opponents tended to play station-to-station with Almond behind the plate. And if you didn’t believe the numbers, there was always the eye test. Almond was like a hockey goalie. Balls in the dirt got knocked down and smothered. Short-hop throws from the outfield or relayed from infielders never seemed to handcuff him. He set up a nice, low target and framed pitches well. Pitchers loved working with him. A good hitter overshadowed by several great hitting teammates and one extra-famous in-conference rival, Almond batted .251 with eight homers and 38 RBIs as a junior for the Wolfpack’s 1992 ACC championship team. A year later, he hit .315 with five homers and 31 RBIs for NC State’s 49-game winner, which was the school record for W’s until 2013. He posted a .281 career average with a .377 OBP and a .461 slugging percentage. Surrounded by the likes of Pat Clougherty, Tim Tracey, Vinny Hughes, Andy Barkett and Robbie Bark, standout hitters one and all, Almond’s offense was overlooked, even taken for granted. Then there was the presence of Georgia Tech’s Jason Varitek, an all-world catcher and future big league star who overshadowed everyone in college baseball those years. Varitek was genuinely great, especially with a bat in his hands. Behind the plate, however, Almond was better. In fact, Almond was easily the ACC’s best defensive catcher in both 1992 and ’93, no contest, and NC State’s best defensive catcher since 1981, hands down.

The Unofficial Scorer’s All-Wolfpack Baseball Team 1981-2016

About four years ago, I was talking with a major league scout — a cross checker for an American League East team, I believe — who asked who my favorite NC State player of all time was. He then started asking me about the best NC State players I’d seen at each position on the diamond. Our conversation was interrupted when other scouts arrived and changed the subject, but that conversation stuck with me and got me to thinking about which players I would choose for my own personal all-time NC State all-star team.

Not to boast, but no one is more qualified to choose such a team. I started working NC State baseball games in 1981 and have worked and/or covered Wolfpack baseball pretty much continuously ever since, serving as radio broadcaster, reporter, public address announcer, official scorer, and baseball SID. While I don’t consider myself an historian, NC State baseball was my primary occupation for about three decades, and I still follow the program closely. I feel quite safe in saying that I’ve seen more Wolfpack baseball games — somewhere just south of 2,000 and counting — than anyone alive, and I dare say I know more NC State baseball history than anyone, alive or dead. I know where the bodies are buried.

Four years after my conversation with that AL cross checker, I sat down at the computer and began to put this thing together, figuring that if nothing else it would be a pleasant way to pass some time during a long, boring offseason. It was hard work at times, but it also was a blast. For about six weeks, it was all I did. By summer’s end, to give myself some perspective and to let my thoughts percolate on low heat for a bit, I had to force myself away from it for a few months before returning to it in November. The time away helped. Once I got back to it the remaining entries came together quickly.

A huge thanks to Cavan Fosnes for allowing me to plunder and pillage the records in the NC State Athletics Communications office, which gave me some substance, numbers and verifiable detail to fill in the gaps that exist in my memory. In particular, going through the old box scores and scorebooks helped me determine who played which positions, especially in the outfield. I’m doing left, center and right fields as separate positions, and some of those distinctions had grown a little fuzzy over the years.

My choices here are based on both objective analysis and subjective opinion. I tried to be completely objective at all times, but I had to break a few ties and personal opinion came into play a time or two. I had no axes to grind with any individual player or players. I rooted hard for every guy who ever wore that uniform. Still do. I have my favorites but I also have well-informed reasons why they’re my favorites. I saw all of them play. Most of them, I saw every game of their college career. You can disagree with my choices and you won’t necessarily be wrong, but please understand that I’ve taken painstaking care to make sure I considered everyone who is worthy. With that said, it’s certainly possible that someone fell through the cracks. If I left off a deserving name, it was wholly inadvertent.

Some choices were easy, others quite difficult. I used a few loosely applied criteria to sort out some of the tougher calls, but there were no hard rules or tiebreakers. I didn’t rule out anyone who played just one year at NC State, a group that includes such standouts as Greg Briley, Tony Ellison, Jamie Wolkosky, Mark Wells and Adam Everett. Longevity and peak performance were the two factors I most frequently had to weigh against one another. Each case was different, and some of these choices were subjective. It’s my blog, after all.

All-America and All-ACC honors definitely played a role, but they were not be-all, end-all either. I reserved the right to use those honors as I saw fit. If a player was All-ACC twice, for instance, that didn’t necessarily break a tie with another player who was All-ACC just once, or even never. Ditto for making an All-America team. Two of NC State’s greatest players, Brian Bark and Jake Weber, never made All-America, not once between them, which says more about the people naming All-America teams than it does about Bark or Weber. I took extra care to remember the seven NC State players who were chosen to the ACC’s 50th Anniversary Team. Six of them were eligible for this team, including Bark and Weber.

This All-NC State team includes players who played between the years 1981 and 2016. There’s no question that Mike Caldwell, Chris Cammack and Steve Martin from the 1968 College World Series team would be included on just about any list of the greatest NC State baseball players. I fully acknowledge that, but other than a few games I attended when I was in high school, I never saw them play. This is about players who were active while I was working the games. Current players were not eligible. Those stories are still being written. Players who began their college career prior to 1981 but finished in 1981 or later were eligible. I saw them for at least one year, and what I know of their pre-1981 exploits were considered and grandfathered in. This affected only a few players from the 1981 and ’82 teams.

Some surprises popped up the deeper I delved into this. Some players had far better careers than I remembered, while others weren’t really as good. Some I remembered as being good but I was surprised at just how great they were. I was surprised at how little depth there was at some positions, such as the two outfield corners. Stunned, in fact, but part of that had to do with coaches moving players around and not settling them into one position. Because of that, several players qualified at utility-DH, more than I’d expected or intended, while left and right field were left a little thin. On the other hand, I was equally taken aback at how deep several other positions were, such as catcher and second base. NC State has had some great catchers and second basemen, and because of that, some players who were more than good enough to make this team at another position wound up in the honorable mention list. So it goes.

First up will be catcher. Stay tuned.

In Search Of Omaha, Redux

Fall baseball practice opens up soon, and for the second year in a row, NC State appears to be a prime candidate for high preseason expectations as we look ahead to 2017.

A year ago, the Wolfpack returned the bulk of a team that came within a few outs of running fourth-ranked TCU out of its own stadium in a regional finale that the Pack ultimately gave away amid a flurry of walks and wild pitches, two misplayed routine ground balls, and one of the most egregious balk calls in NCAA Tournament history.

Flash forward to the fall of 2016 and the Wolfpack returns to campus still licking its wounds from a regional finale that got away on its own home field, a devastating ninth-inning collapse to eventual national champion Coastal Carolina. That’s two heartbreaking regional finals that NC State let get away in as many years. And while it’s foolhardy to think the Wolfpack would have traversed the same path to a national championship that the Chanticleers did, the safe money here says that if you took a poll of the Coastal Carolina coaches and players as to which was their toughest postseason opponent, NC State would be the near-unanimous winner.

NC State was College World Series good in 2016, and the bulk of that team is back, and probably carrying a pretty big chip on its collective shoulder. First baseman Preston Palmeiro (.337 average/.412 on-base percentage/.539 slugging percentage/.951 OPS), catcher Andrew Knizner (.292/.359/.388/.747 OPS) and catcher/designated hitter Chance Shepard (.279/.384/.558/.942 OPS) must be replaced from the everyday lineup. On the mound, Ryan Williamson (7-2, 2.69) is gone from the weekend rotation, and bullpen magician Will Gilbert (5-1, 2.22, 6 saves) will be by far the most difficult of the departed to replace. Those are signifiant losses, but the returning nucleus is deep and dynamic, and there are multiple candidates available to replace most of the dearly departed.

For some historical perspective, the 2017 everyday lineup has a chance to be head coach Elliott Avent’s best since 2012, maybe his best since his extraordinary 2006 squad, which batted .333 as a team, scored 8.5 runs per game with a .976 team OPS, and was the best defensive team I’ve seen in 36 years working college baseball. Avent has been overheard in recent months touting the 2012 team as his best everyday squad, but the 2006 team was better by leaps and bounds. Aside from Trea Turner, who played third base in 2012, shortstop Chris Diaz and right fielder Ryan Mathews, no one on the 2012 team would have started in 2006. And Diaz and Mathews would have to change positions to crack the ’06 lineup.

So what does that mean for 2017? Simply that this year’s Wolfpack could be in that class, based on the returnees from 2016. Shane Shepard (.258/.396/.461/.857 OPS) should move in at first base, with Jack Conley (5-for-6 in limited action) taking over at catcher. Second baseman Stephen Pitarra (.291/.376/.347/.723 OPS), shortstop Joe Dunand (.297/.345/.424/.769 OPS), third baseman Evan Mendoza (.362/.417/.449/.866 OPS), left fielder Brett Kinneman (.296/.405/.526/.931 OPS), center fielder Josh McLain (.300/.359/.465/.824 OPS) and right fielder Brock Deatherage (.317/.395/.482/.877 OPS) all return from a team that batted .303 and scored 6.9 runs per game with an .836 team OPS. Kinneman and Conley are sophomores. The rest are juniors. It’s a talented, versatile and experienced group. As good as 2012? Probably. As good as 2006? Almost certainly not, but damned good by almost any measure you care to take.

The pitching will start with junior lefty Brian Brown (7-3, 3.70), with 14 wins and 167 innings under his belt through his first two college seasons. Joe O’Donnell (3-2, 4.02), assuming he’s recovered from the shoulder injury that sidelined him most of last season, and Cory Wilder (3-4, 4.61) bring a wealth of experience to the starting rotation.

Then there’s Cody Beckman (2-0, 6.05), who came back from injury a year ago and closed the season with a rush. Beckman was especially impressive out of the bullpen in May and June. In particular, he turned in a dominating performance in the regional final vs. Coastal Carolina, recording five vital outs, four of them strikeouts, before rain halted play in the top of the ninth inning with NC State holding a 5-3 lead. The New York Mets drafted Beckman in the 25th round last June but he opted to return to Raleigh. He could move into the rotation in 2017.

Johnny Piedmonte (1-3, 5.56), Austin Staley (3-1, 3.16), Evan Brabrand (1-1, 7.23), Sean Adler (0-1. 6.94) and Tommy DeJuneas (2-3, 6.23, 6 saves) should make for an experienced bullpen nucleus, but one with a history of hiccups. Staley was impressive in a support role most of last season. Piedmonte struggled going through a lineup twice as a starter but flourished as a reliever in May and June. His dominance of Georgia Tech in the ACC Championship was an eye-opener. Brabrand, a former walk-on, has shown steady improvement in his first two seasons with the Wolfpack. Adler, a transfer from Southern Cal, has big upside but struggled with his command.

DeJuneas was a revelation as a freshman in 2015, going 3-3 with a 1.82 ERA and six saves. Blessed with a blistering fastball and plus raw stuff overall, he entered 2016 as a potential All-American but never really got untracked. His 6.37 ERA fails to do justice to just how badly his season ended. Command has been DeJuneas’s downfall. He’s worked 69 1/3 innings in two seasons, striking out 84 but walking 44. At his best, he’s nearly unhittable. At less than his best, he can be a mess. After the unceremonious end to his 2016 campaign, DeJuneas headed to Harwich of the Cape Cod League, where he saw little game action — 12 appearances, 15 1/3 innings — but no doubt got plenty of bullpen work with respected Harwich pitching coach Steve Gruenberg. DeJuneas has 12 career saves, tied for fourth most in school history. He has as much upside as just about any pitcher in the country. It’s unfair to say he’s the key to success in 2017 because that’s just not the case. If he could start to fulfill some of that promise, however, that would make a huge difference.

With that kind of experience back, as erratic as some of the pitching might be, Avent is in the enviable position of bringing his recruiting class along at its own speed without having to rely on any newcomers who aren’t ready for prime time. Several of this year’s recruits, however, could well play significant roles in 2017.

In particular, Brad Debo, from Durham and Orange High School, is an elite-level hitter and catcher, a top-100 national recruit who will push Conley for time behind the plate. Righthander Dalton Feeney, another top-100-caliber recruit, brings some health concerns, with whispers of a partially torn UCL following him, but if healthy Feeney is the Wolfpack’s best pitching prospect since Carlos Rodon arrived in the fall of 2011. Nolan Clenney, a two-way performer who helped lead Brunswick Community College to the 2016 NJCAA World Series, has the potential to be at least a midweek starter, not a high-end prospect but a strike-thrower capable of eating innings.

Several other newcomers could earn roles of varying importance in 2017, but again, Avent will have the luxury of not depending on any freshmen to carry the team.

So what does it all mean for 2017? At first glance, this team probably has the best chance of reaching the College World Series of any Wolfpack team since the 2013 squad went to Omaha. This team’s everyday lineup is light years better than the 2013 team, which struggled to score runs much of the season and finished with a team OPS of just .742. The 2013 team made up for a lack of pop by stealing a school-record 110 bases, but overall that club’s offense was Turner, Jake Fincher and a carload of unheralded seniors who provided guile, guts and tremendous leadership, but not much in the way of actual offense.

On the mound, this year’s team has no Carlos Rodon, but it should have a deeper rotation than the 2013 club, which struggled when Rodon wasn’t on the hill. The remainder of the 2013 rotation — Ethan Ogburn, Brad Stone and Logan Jernigan — averaged 3 2/3 innings per start, putting immense pressure on a bullpen that was up to each and every challenge.

Grant Sasser (3-0, 1.03, 8 saves, 33 appearances, 43.2 IP), Chris Overman (1-1, 0.33, 6 saves, 21 appearances, 27.1 IP) and Josh Easley (7-2, 1.38, 25 appearances, 45.2 IP) were the bellwethers of what was arguably the best bullpen in the country and almost certainly the best bullpen in NC State history. As much as anyone on the team, the troika of Sasser, Overman and Easley was responsible for NC State’s 2013 march to Omaha.

So the question that must be asked is: Does a solid and deep rotation, an erratic but promising bullpen, and a talented and dynamic everyday lineup add up to a College World Series berth? Clearly, that remains to be seen. There’s a lot of work to do and a lot of games to play between now and then. All kinds of things can happen. Luck and injuries will play a role.

What we do know, however, is that, based on all available evidence, this team has a chance to be special, and in late August that’s the best you can ask for, a chance.