The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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78 ■ THE WOLFPACKER BY TIM PEELER N C State's 1968 College World Series team had just three starting pitchers, senior Alex Cheek and freshmen Mike Caldwell and Joe Frye. Between them, they started 31 of the Wolfpack's 34 games during that ACC and NCAA District III championship season. They started the first three games at Omaha's Rosenblatt Stadium, in which the Wolfpack beat Southern Illinois and Texas and lost a controversial decision to second- ranked St. John's, when a Johnnies' base runner swung so far out of the baseline rounding third on the game's deciding run, he nearly tripped on the dugout steps. When it came down to the most impor- tant game of the season, with the under- dog Wolfpack facing top-ranked Southern California for a spot in the national cham- pionship game against Southern Illinois, second-year head coach Sam Esposito couldn't ask his exhausted staff to start an- other game. So he turned to Tommy Smith, a sophomore right-hander from Albemarle, N.C., who had started just two games all year and amassed only 15 1 ⁄3 innings up to that point. "Our starters were gassed," Smith re- called 50 years after that fateful game. "They had thrown a lot of innings, espe- cially down the stretch of the ACC regular season and the two district games against fourth-ranked Florida State. I knew some- one had to start the Southern Cal game, and Sam said it was going to be me. "It was easily the biggest start of my col- lege career. Sam just said, 'Go give it what you can and see what happens. We just might be able to beat these guys.'" That was the attitude Esposito's "River Rats" had all season. When it needed a win against Virginia, he turned to Cheek, who not only pitched a masterpiece — with a broken toe, no less— he hit what might be the longest double in Wolfpack baseball his- tory, a 500-foot shot at the Cavaliers fence- less park. Cheek limped as far as he could while the outfielder chased the ball down. In the regular-season finale, Caldwell nearly pitched a perfect game. He allowed a hit on the game's first pitch, but the run- ner was erased trying to steal second by catcher Francis Combs. In the fourth inning, Caldwell gave up his only walk of the game, but the same base runner was wiped out on a ground-ball double play. With just 77 pitches in a one- hour, 20-minute game, Caldwell secured the Wolfpack's first ACC championship with the 4-0 victory. Caldwell and Frye were the winning pitchers against Alabama and East Caro- lina, respectively, at the District III cham- pionship in Gastonia. But Cheek faltered in the first game against Florida State and the Pack fell 15-12. Caldwell answered with another brilliant performance in the second game against the Seminoles, going all the way in a six- hit, 4-1 victory that guaranteed a Wolfpack roster made up only of North Carolinians would get their first ever plane ride, all the way to Nebraska. Cheek beat No. 3 Southern Illinois and No. 2 Texas (with a save by Caldwell), sandwiched between Caldwell's 3-2 loss to St. John's. And then it was up to Smith. "With our regular starters having all pitched a lot in the first three games, we had no place to turn to except to sophomore Tommy," Esposito said back in 1968. "He was asked to do a job in the toughest situa- tion you could put a young pitcher into, and he did everything we could have asked for. "We hit the ball as solidly as we have in any other game, but we couldn't get it through when we needed it." Smith pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the second inning without allowing a run, and gave up unearned runs in the fourth and fifth innings. That shouldn't After pitching his first three years at NC State, Smith moved to the outfield as senior for the 1970 season, posted a team-best .379 batting average and was named to the All-ACC team. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE MEDIA RELATIONS ■ PACK PAST Tommie Smith Helped Lead The Wolfpack To A Third-Place Finish At The 1968 College World Series