Year in, year out, the ACC is one of the top baseball conferences in the nation. Every season, the conference is well-represented in the rankings and in the postseason, showing how highly regarded the teams are. This season is no different.
The most obvious way to measure the strength of a conference is the polls. Seven teams from the ACC, including N.C. State, have been ranked in the top 30 this season. For a few weeks earlier this year, ACC teams occupied four of the top seven spots in the rankings. As impressive as those numbers are, coach Elliott Avent said he doesn’t put too much thought into how highly his team, or his opponent for that matter, is ranked.
“I’m not a big guy on polls,” Avent said. “But I know rankings are a source of what people look at to judge the teams.”
Sophomore pitcher Clayton Shunick also downplayed the importance of the national polls.
“The rankings mean nothing,” Shunick said. “We’re not too concerned with who is in the top 10 and who’s not, are we ranked, are we not. We’re just going to go out there and play our type of game and come out on top.”
Even without the rankings, it is easy to see that the ACC is a tough conference to play in. UNC(last year’s national runner-up), Florida State, and Virginia all have more than 20 wins. Florida State has only lost one game so far this season. Eleven of the 12 teams in the conference have winning records.
“It’s fair to say that the ACC is one of the strongest conferences in the country,” Avent said. “If you get in the upper level of the ACC, then you are in the upper level of the nation. The conference is extremely competitive.”
As for whether his team can beat the top squads in the conference and the country, Avent showed no hesitation in saying the Pack is right with them.
“Just look at the past few years; we are on the level of those teams,” Avent said. “It’s a lot like the Major League Baseball playoffs or the college basketball playoffs going on now. It’s about putting your team in a position to be there and playing well at the right time.”
Simply by playing in the ACC, the team will have one of the toughest schedules in the country. With competition like State will face this year, Avent said the team should be well-prepared for the postseason.
“If you get in the national playoffs, you’ve already seen the best competition. You’ve seen the best pitchers; you’ve been in tremendous pressure situations,” Avent said. “Every time you get in those high pressure games it helps you grow as a player and as a team. There is no question that the conference schedule prepares you for whatever you fall upon during the season.”
The team is currently 5-4 in conference play, but over the next few weeks the Pack will face all of the top squads in the conference as it approaches the end of the regular season. According to Avent, the team just needs to focus on its play and try to get to the top of the ACC.
“We’ve just got to keep trying to get better and trying to get healthier,” Avent said. “And hopefully at the end we will be there and have a chance to make a run.”