Tar Heel baseball is back in an old, familiar position.

Before Carolina had its historic run of reaching six College World Series in eight seasons, it seemed next to impossible to make it out to Omaha to play for the national championship. UNC had done it only a handful of times all those years before Mike Fox took over as head coach. Then they got good enough to figure it out.

In 2006, the Tar Heels broke through to turn a good program into a great one. Chad Flack hit two late home runs, including a walk-off, to win the NCAA Super Regional at Alabama and send Carolina to Omaha, where the Diamond Heels lost to Oregon State in the best-of-three finals. After that, they played the NCAA Tournament at home regularly, which made it a lot easier to advance.

Now, Carolina is back in that position with a No. 3 national ranking and no worries entering the ACC Tournament today in Louisville. The last two years, Fox’s team had to win the conference tourney to make the NCAA field and did not do it. In this season’s spectacular showing, the Tar Heels won all 10 ACC series they played and captured the Coastal Division crown, winning 44 games thus far.

They are all but guaranteed hosting one of the sub-regional sites and then one of eight super regionals that produce the College World Series field. That’s when playing at home is a huge advantage if teams can earn it. Playing in their own ballpark, sleeping in their own beds and cheered by their own fans is a reward that gives a team a tremendous edge in the post season.

The Diamond Heels have hit more home runs this spring than in the prior two combined and returned a dominant pitching staff. Plus, they have the ACC’s only service dog, two-year-old golden retriever Remington that assists the training staff with treatments, rehab and emotional support for the players as their good luck charm.

Carolina had established itself as one of the premier baseball programs in the country until the hiccup of the last two years. This season, and with the No. 1 recruiting class in the country coming in, should return Fox’s program to that gold standard for some time to come.

Photo via UNC

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