Former (and forever) Diamond Heel Chad Flack went to Omaha three times as a player in 2006, 2007 and 2008, and then again as a grad assistant in 2009.
You may remember him for his 8th AND 9th inning homers against Alabama to send Carolina to the College World Series.
Going into the Super Regionals, and following the two highest rated regional college baseball games ever on ESPN vs. LSU, I had a chance to sit down with Chad earlier this week to discuss the current team.
What’s happening with the team this week? How do you prep for a super regional and is there any worry about a hangover after all the emotion of last weekend?
When you’re playing in college, you feel like you’re invincible. Could have probably played the next day and been ready to go, to be honest. This time of year, it’s just the excitement. You’ve prepared all year for this opportunity. The coaches obviously put in a ton of hours with scouting reports and making sure we understand everything about the opposing team, the pitching staff, what they like to throw and all those things.
But really as a player, you’re just enjoying nothing but baseball. You don’t have school right now. You’re just practicing and you’re having a good time. Those guys could have played the following day without a doubt. When you’ve got a group of guys that love being around each other on the field and off the field there’s no better time of year in their eyes.
LSU had like 21 hits in [their] first game earlier that day and you start getting a lineup that’s confident, that’s squared up a few balls earlier in the day, you could play three games and it be good. When they got hot the way they did, it’s almost a positive to keep playing too. As long as you got pitching.
It just came down to whoever has the bat at the end is gonna be able to win this game. But I think that’s a testament to what kind of UNC team we’re watching.
They have a lot of leaders. They play for the name on the front of the jersey and they play for each other and they have this mentality of “get it done because my teammate’s gonna get it done.” And when you have a team that’s not only talented but has that belief in each other, guys on the bench being extremely supportive—this is a special group. Wearing that jersey; none of ‘em take it for granted. And it makes everybody want to cheer even harder for ‘em.
LSU’s Tommy White became kind of a villain for Carolina fans in the regional, just a generally punchable face and full-on hatable essence. Besides, obviously, Oregon State, when you were playing was there anybody else that you particularly hated playing against or couldn’t stand?
I think that’s more of a fan thing. As a player you don’t pay much attention to that as long as that mutual respect is there.
I do remember [my sister] Ali was around five when I was playing and she absolutely hated this pitcher for Miami who ended up becoming a closer in the major leagues. He was very, very good, but he had the long hair and the mustache and all that kind of stuff, and she called him “that dirty pitcher.” She was not a fan.
Are there any surprises with this team? Anybody that you think came outta nowhere?
I don’t know if I would say surprises. In our pitching staff, there’s people in roles that we weren’t quite expecting at the beginning of the year because our two best guys, at least going into the year, went down. So yeah, Sprague coming in and having the success that he’s had has been extremely impressive.
And I really think DeCaro getting put into that Friday night spot — this kid is supposed to be a senior in high school still. The way he’s handled that has been very impressive. He’s gonna be a very special player for us over the next couple years.
Lots of drama last weekend. What’s that feel like—to hit a walk off, especially on the big stage?
A walk-off home run in the regular season is a lot of fun. It’s celebrating and all that kind of thing. But when the season’s on the line, when it means the most, in the NCAA tournament, it’s almost like, you kinda go numb to be honest with you, really. You’re going up with confidence that you’re gonna be successful. But when you finally do that, you hear the fans and you see your team getting as excited as they do, it’s just kind of blurry for a little bit. There’s no feeling like it, knowing that you’ve put in all the work, all year long, you’re playing for the name on the front of the jersey.
You care so much about your teammates and about your coaches and all that, to be able to be the one that comes through in that type of manner, in that situation, for all of those people that you love and appreciate so much, I think it just takes it to a whole ‘nother level.
Thank you, Chad, for your time. And with the intensity of that Vance Honeycutt walk-off in game one of the Supers, I think we’ll leave it at that.