Pitching, depth make UNC baseball No. 1

For the 2013 season, Baseball America tabbed the Tar Heels as the preseason No. 1, an honor that UNC has never had before.

But that hasn’t changed anything for coach Mike Fox.

“Just another year,” Fox said Friday before the Tar Heels first official practice.

“This is always an exciting time, no matter what other people say, just getting ready. Opening day is not that far away … I think our players are just excited to get an opportunity to start the season.”

The Tar Heels will start the season Feb. 15 with a nonconference series against Seton Hall, and that will be UNC’s first chance to prove whether or not it deserves the number one spot.

North Carolina boasts one of the strongest pitching staffs in the country with all three of its weekend starters from the end of last season returning. That staff is a large part of the reason why the Tar Heels are ranked where they are.

Staff ace Kent Emanuel, an All-American, will be starting his junior season at UNC with a career record of 17-5. But he is just one of many talented arms in the arsenal.

“We’re really deep,” Emanuel said. “I think this is probably the most experienced pitching staff I’ve been on since I’ve been here.

“We have some great pitchers who don’t even know what their role is yet. There’s so much competition within this staff — I think it’s really going to carry over to a really productive season.”

Emanuel said the Tar Heels have had strong pitchers in the past. But what’s different about this team, he said, is the experienced talent behind those hurlers.

Senior Chaz Frank is one of three seniors on the team, and he’s expected to anchor a fast outfield that’s likely to also feature freshman Skye Bolt and junior Parks Jordan.

Frank said UNC’s experience coupled with its talented pitchers has earned UNC the top preseason spot.

“We have two All-Americans coming back,” Frank said. “Our pitching staff is phenomenal — might be the best in the country … So I think the pitching is the reason why we’re number one.

“We also have some great leaders coming back, some experienced guys.”

As talented and experienced as the Tar Heels may be, Fox is not sold on the number one ranking.

“I mean, it’s a preseason poll,” Fox said.

“We all know what that means. I would be kidding if I didn’t say its certainly an honor that people think we have a chance to be pretty good.

“But if I had my druthers we wouldn’t be, because it comes with some very high expectations and then you worry about how your team is going to manage all those.”

Contact the desk editor at sports@dailytarheel.com.