The Confidential

North Carolina Wins the 2013 ACC Baseball Championship!

After nearly 50 innings in 3 days, North Carolina’s hard work finally paid off. They can finally rest (and they need to) as 2013 ACC Baseball Champions. In a game that was exciting, but never truly in doubt, the Tar Heels defeated the Hokies 4-1 in front of an ACC Championship record crowd of 8,697 at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. It was the perfect way to cap an unusual, and record-setting weekend in college baseball’s most-exciting conference.

Saturday’s 18-inning marathon against rival NC State  pretty much guaranteed that this game was going to go one of two ways. Either the Tar Heels were going to be too worn out and collapse under pressure, or they were going to be determined and unstoppable.  Despite closing out the Wolfpack less than 12 hours before first pitch Sunday, the Tar Heels came out swinging. It’s hard to blame them. Their efforts over the last few days, and the entire season, show that they want to win- and they’re not going to give up.

As a fan who attended both games, and lost a lot of sleep this weekend, I could not be more proud of my team. They worked hard, capitalized on numerous errors by opponents, and developed a resiliency that will come in handy as they keep playing. This weekend was a complete team effort, and a lot of credit should be given to the pitching staff, which kept the Tar Heels in the game on Saturday as the bats went cool.

I hope they celebrate their victory all afternoon, because when they finally go to sleep and wake up, bigger goals will be on their mind. The ACC looks to be well-represented in the next few weeks, and every single participant in the ACC tournament has a chance to go far. Thanks to the ACC, the Durham Bulls, and all of the staff and volunteers who made this event possible. I could not be more proud to be both a Bulls employee, and a Tar Heel, this afternoon.