It was quite the season for the NC State baseball team in 2021. A remarkable midseason turnaround led to an improbable and inspiring run to the College World Series all to be cut just short of the national championship by a controversial decision by the NCAA forcing NC State to forfeit, ending a magical season and leaving the team and fans wondering, “What if?”
Seven months later, Pack9 is set to take the field once again in what is one of the most highly anticipated seasons in school history. The story of the offseason has been one of revenge and redemption as all eyes are set on another run to Omaha. But making it that far again will not be easy.
The Pack lost a lot of its production from last year’s team to the pros, including seven of nine starters from the regular batting rotation and two of its best pitchers. Simply put, the Pack will have a lot to replace with a lot of new faces.
The good news is that the guys that are returning from last year’s team were key contributors. From the batting rotation, the Pack returns two seniors in outfielder Devonte Brown and infielder J.T. Jarrett. While the two of them were sixth and seventh on the team in batting average, respectively, they have each proven to be capable hitters in key moments.
In last year’s ACC Tournament, Jarrett had go-ahead RBIs in elimination games against Pitt and Georgia Tech, which ended up being game-winners. In the regional round of the NCAA Tournament, Brown stole the show, hitting three home runs in the regional including a go-ahead grand slam in the round-clinching win against Louisiana Tech. He also homered in the first game of the College World Series against Stanford.
Jarrett and Brown are not just capable hitters, however, but are also sensational defenders, making highlight-reel plays on a team that was sixth in the country in fielding percentage. Perhaps one of the best plays of the season came during what turned out to be the last game when Brown made a diving catch against Vanderbilt to rob an extra-base hit.
On the mound, the Pack returns three pitchers from last year’s regular rotation. The ace will almost certainly be sophomore right-hander Sam Highfill, who proved himself to be one of the best pitchers in the country at the end of last season and has received multiple preseason All-American honors this season. Highfill won his last five starts last season, including wins against No. 1 Arkansas and an epic shutout performance against Vanderbilt in the College World Series.
Also returning is sophomore right-handed pitcher Matt Willadsen, who played well in starts against Duke in the ACC Championship and the Pack’s series-clinching win against Arkansas in the Super Regional. The other returning pitcher is sophomore lefty Chris Villaman who also played well towards the end of last season and even saw some time in a starting role at points during the season.
Besides those guys, the faces on this year’s team will be relatively new. However, many of them had playing time and got experience in key moments from last season.
In what turned out to be the last game of the season, the Pack famously played with a 13-man roster in a 3-1 loss to Vanderbilt. Many of the players were not in the regular rotation, including sophomore infielder Carson Falsken, sophomore infielder Eddie Eisert, sophomore infielder DeAngelo Giles and sophomore right-handed pitcher Garrett Payne, all of whom return in 2022. Not only did they play, but they almost won the game as the Pack was one swing away from taking down the Commodores at the end.
The Pack also adds a host of transfers and new recruits, but it’s difficult to know right now who will be key contributors. What is known is that this year’s NC State team will be almost a completely different team than in 2021.
It’s safe to say that despite losing almost the entire bunch of regular rotation players from last year’s team, the Pack will still have plenty of talent in 2022. The media outlets seem to think so as NC State has been ranked No. 16 preseason by Baseball America, No. 11 by NCBWA, No. 10 by D1 Baseball, No. 9 by USA Today and No. 7 by Perfect Game.
The Pack has also been picked to finish second in the ACC Coastal Division in the ACC Preseason Media Poll with one first-place vote, which is exactly where the team stood in the 2021 preseason.
When it’s all said and done, there’s only one thing on the mind of the team and of NC State fans: returning to Omaha. However, even if the Pack is able to replace the production it lost from a season ago and has the talent to make a return trip, that will still be an extremely difficult task.
Simply put, it’s hard to win a championship in any sport. In baseball, there are many games, innings and pitches, but in the end, it all comes down to what you do at the end of the season. Last season, NC State was a prime example of the phrase, “It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish” and was able to knock off some of the most dominant teams in the country over the course of the season, such as then-No. 1 Arkansas and then-No. 4 Vanderbilt. The Pack got hot at the right time, but just one bad game or one mistake can end a season.
Whether fair or unfair, for many fans it’ll be Omaha or bust for NC State in 2022. Does the Pack have the talent to get there? Probably. Will the Pack get there? There’s no way to know. But one thing is for certain: If the Pack is somehow able not only to make it back to Omaha, but to win it all, it would be one of the all-time redemption championships in college sports history.
