It’s hard to describe what has happened to the NC State baseball team over the last three seasons. Three years in a row, it has had opponents on the ropes looking to advance to the super regional round of the NCAA Tournament. Three years in a row, it inexplicably fell short.
Super regionals are not unfamiliar territory for the Pack. It advanced in 2012 led by the freshman duo of Trea Turner and Carlos Rodon, and again in 2013 when the team won the super regional and made an appearance at the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska. That team, specifically Turner and Rodon, laid the recruiting foundation for the Pack.
Current juniors Joe Dunand, Evan Mendoza, Brock Deatherage, Josh McLain and Stephen Pitarra came to Raleigh as freshmen in 2015 following Turner and Rodon’s exit, and have been the foundation of the team for three years. They are the players who came to play for Avent because he proved he could take them to Omaha, which is the dream for all college baseball players.
Dunand was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 35th round out of high school, but chose the Pack instead. He appears to have the best chance of the group to reach the MLB, mainly because of his power.
Mendoza came to Raleigh as a pitcher from Sarasota, Florida. He leaves as one of the best defensive third baseman the program has ever seen. He also had a 23-game hit streak during his sophomore year, the third-longest in NC State history.
Deatherage had various options coming out of high school. He chose NC State baseball over Southeastern Conference football or an Ivy League education at Harvard. His speed rivals that of Turner, who is one of the fastest players in the big leagues.
McLain was the latest in a long line of sensational defensive center fielders who have played for Avent. McLain played through a broken hand in 2016, suffered after getting hit by a pitch when he was the hottest hitter on the team.
Pitarra wrestled the second base job away from a few other candidates during his sophomore season, including Mendoza, who slid over to third. Safe to say that decision worked out for Avent. Pitarra lost his job this season to freshman Will Wilson after only recording three hits in the first month of this season, before moving over to first base and moving into the leadoff role for the Pack.
Despite having the talent level all three years to make a run to Omaha, the Pack could never advance past the first weekend of the tournament, despite putting itself in position to capture a winner-take-all game each year.
These juniors are going to get the majority of the blame for the shortcomings. They are the ones who came in because of the 2013 trip to Omaha and expected to return. They constituted over half of the starting nine the last two years.
This year’s team came in with high expectations, primarily because of these five juniors. A trip to Omaha seemed certainly within reach. However, from the get-go, it was apparent that this team was not as good as many expected.
The team could have given up many times this season. The juniors could have come into the year focused on boosting their draft status. The team could have given up when injuries tore apart the pitching staff early in the season. The Pack was thoroughly mediocre for two-thirds of the season before hitting rock bottom when it was swept by Boston College. The Pack’s record sat at 20-20, and the team was in danger of missing the NCAA Tournament and, embarrassingly, the ACC Tourney.
However, the Pack, led by its juniors, didn’t give up. State won 13 out of its last 15 games to earn a three-seed in the Lexington regional, which was perhaps unjust. The Pack played well in the regional, but seemed to run out of gas and fall apart in the final innings.
The professional ranks should treat this group of juniors better than their regional trips did. Dunand and Mendoza have real potential. It’s possible, although unlikely, that Avent recruited two big-league third baseman in the same class.
These juniors should be remembered as the guys who are leaving Raleigh as much better players than they came in, but more so as the guys who never gave up and faced an injustice with three excruciating postseason exits.
