The NC State club baseball team is looking forward to another successful season this year, as 17 players on its 28-man roster are returning players.
Last season, the Wolfpack went 17-8 with a 9-5 record in conference play, finishing second to rival East Carolina University. Since joining the National Club Baseball Association in 2001, NC State has made five World Series appearances, won seven conference titles and finished second in the nation in the 2004 season. Avery Woolard, a senior studying mechanical engineering, has been a part of the club baseball team for three years and is the current president of the club.
“The big thing about our team that’s different than theirs is, I’d say ours is really student-led,” Woolard said. “ECU’s got a coaching staff.”
He also mentioned that ECU’s team has a much larger roster, which is perhaps a reason to be even more proud of NC State’s accomplishments.
NC State plays in the Mid-Atlantic South Conference of the NCBA, along with ECU, UNC-Chapel Hill, UNC-Wilmington and Appalachian State, along with a number of nonconference games as well. Woolard and his fellow officers are responsible for scheduling the team’s games on their own.
“You have to contact all teams pretty much a season in advance and plan out next year’s schedule,” Woolard said.
Balancing school work with club sports can be a challenge, but planning ahead and getting help from teammates is the key to success.
“It might take an hour or two out of the week then, but it will save you a bunch of time down the road,” Woolard said. “But I also have three other officers that help me out a lot, and I couldn’t do it without them.”
The team’s record is 4-4 so far this season. It had a rough start against Wake Tech Community College, losing all four of its first games to the Eagles. Woolard attributed it mainly to a shaky pitching game that allowed too many walks and obviously not earning enough runs.
However, the team turned it around this past weekend, notching four wins in back-to-back doubleheaders against Virginia Commonwealth and Craven Community College, respectively. In the victories, the Pack fixed its previous problems.
“The pitching was awesome, and we scored 41 runs compared to our opponents’ five runs,” Woolard said.
The team takes on Clemson this coming weekend in a seven-inning doubleheader on Saturday and a nine-inning game that will be played Sunday. It has its sights set on the ultimate prize this season, with hopes of winning the national championship.
For Woolard, though, there is more to baseball than just winning games, as his favorite parts of the game are the competitiveness and camaraderie.
Woolard also said the team tries to give back to the community whenever possible by volunteering with the Miracle League of Cary and helping Raleigh Parks and Rec with its youth tryouts.
