The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/430118
48 ■ THE WOLFPACKER Avent said. "I watch them walk around the locker room. I watch them walk out on the field, I watch them do their drills. I watch them in the weight room. I see a difference in the way they see themselves and carry themselves, and that's based on all the work they've done under the direction of Coach Foxhall. He's had a great impact on our program already. We were certainly very fortunate to get him with his experience. He's got a tremendous work ethic." With numerous questions still unan- swered at this point, no one can predict exactly what 2015 will hold for NC State. Avent predicts two things for certain, however: 1) The Wolfpack will play hard and with enthusiasm, and 2) With 19 new players on the roster, Wolfpack fans might want to buy a program when they go to the ballpark. "We'll have a lot of different guys play- ing this year, a lot of different faces for the fans to learn," Avent said. "I think they'll enjoy the way these guys play, the enthusi- asm they play with, and it seems that they really love NC State. I think this will be a fun group that our fans will enjoy watching in the years to come." ■ ■ By The Numbers 8 Position players on the current roster started at least 24 games a year ago. 18 Freshman All-Americans for NC State since 1984, including 10 since Elliott Avent became head coach for the 1997 season. Andrew Knizner be- came the Wolfpack's most recent Freshman All-Amer- ican in 2014. 29 The number of bases this year's returning play- ers stole in 2014. 154 1 ⁄3 Combined innings pitched in 2014 by this year's returning pitchers. By comparison, Carlos Rodon, by himself, threw 132 1 ⁄3 in- nings as a sophomore two years ago, and 98 2 ⁄3 innings as a junior in 2014. 906 Career victories by Elliott Avent in 26 sea- sons as a head coach, the last 18 of them at NC State. He picked up career win No. 900 last May 3 with a 9-2 thumping of Coastal Carolina in the middle game of a three-game sweep by the Wolfpack at Doak Field at Dail Park. Key Players To Watch Senior center fielder Jake Fincher Fincher was a key part of NC State's heralded freshman class of 2011-12. He hit .313 with nine doubles, a triple and 14 steals as a sophomore during the Wolfpack's run to the 2013 College World Series, but slumped to .267 with only eight extra-base hits a year ago. His 42 career stolen bases tie him for seventh in Wolfpack history. He is a two-time Cape Cod League All-Star. Overlooked in the MLB Draft as a junior a year ago, Fincher is one of the ACC's most experienced players and will be counted on heavily for production and leadership. Senior shortstop/second baseman Logan Ratledge Ratledge started 88 games his first two seasons and batted .255. He was hitting at about that same pace the first half of last season when something clicked in. Over the last 26 games of 2014, he batted .340 with five doubles, a home run, 14 RBI, eight steals in nine attempts, a .441 on-base percentage and a .420 slugging percentage. Ratledge has been a solid, reliable defender for three years at second base, and in the fall he moved to shortstop and didn't miss a beat. He had an exceptional fall and appears ready to parlay his second-half performance in 2014 into an entire season in 2015. Junior left-handed pitcher Brad Stone Stone emerged as a freshman two years ago, started 13 games and was 3-2 with a 5.49 ERA when the Wolfpack made its first College World Series trip in 45 years. While his won-lost record and ERA improved to 4-2 and 3.02 in 2014, he was not nearly as effective. His innings were down and his walk and strikeout rates both went in the wrong direction. He continued to struggle early in the fall before finding himself the last few weeks. Stone is not only the Pack's most experienced pitcher, he is the staff's only experienced pitcher, with 102 1 ⁄3 career innings compared to 149 for the rest of the staff combined. Noting The Pack • Just when you didn't think the ACC could get any tougher, enter the Cardinals. Louisville, which won 50 or more games and went to the College World Series each of the last two years, not only joins the ACC for baseball this year, but will be in the Atlantic Division along with the Wolfpack, Florida State and Clemson. "I've never seen a bad Florida State team or a bad Miami team," head coach Elliott Avent said. "North Carolina's been to something like six of the last nine College World Series. Virginia has been so great the last 10 years and played for the national champion - ship this past year. Clemson and Georgia Tech are very good every year. Duke and Wake Forest are getting better. "This league is so good year in and year out. It's almost unbelievable that we could make it even better, but that's what we've done by bringing in Louisville." • A year ago, NC State added major league blood- lines in first baseman Preston Palmeiro, the son of ex-big leaguer Rafael Palmeiro. The elder Palmeiro, an All-American in his collegiate days at Mississippi State, played 20 seasons in the big leagues with the Cubs, Rangers and Orioles. This year, freshman third baseman Joe Dunand adds to the Wolfpack's big-league ties. Dunand is the nephew of New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez. A native of Miami and a product of Gulliver Prep's baseball powerhouse, Dunand is slated to start at third base as a freshman for the Pack.