ACC baseball teams look to contend for NCAA title

Most people know the ACC boasts powerhouse programs in football, basketball and even soccer. ACC fans should not forget about baseball, though.

Baseball America ranks four Conference teams in the Top 25 - Florida State (1), Georgia Tech (8), Clemson (19) and North Carolina (20) - proving the ACC is one of the nation's most challenging conferences.

"The ACC is gonna be a difficult league this year," Tar Heel Coach Mike Fox said. "There are a lot of strong teams in the league."

Coach Mike Martin's top-ranked Seminoles (7-2), who came up only one run short in the final game of last year's College World Series, will rely on their overpowering pitching staff to restrain their competition. Jon McDonald leads the rotation, and Blair Varnes will fill the second starting spot for Florida State. Both are among the nation's elite pitchers. McDonald went 9-3 with a 3.57 ERA last season, while Varnes posted an 11-2 record.

The Seminoles already are showing signs they might return to Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Neb., site of the 2000 College World Series. Last weekend they got off to a promising start, winning two of three games against Stanford, which was ranked No. 1 in the preseason.

Although the ACC Coaches Preseason Poll only ranked North Carolina (6-0) fifth, the undefeated Tar Heels have jumped to No. 9 nationally thanks to a hot start. Carolina faces a tough test this weekend when it travels across the country to face No. 2 UCLA in a three-game weekend series.

"We have a pretty good nucleus of players," Fox said. "We are starting a young team with young players in critical positions."

Clemson (2-1), No. 19 nationally, fell three outs short of a trip to the College World Series in 1999. Of the 17 returning players from last season's tournament run, six started last season, including All-American outfielder Patrick Boyd.

Last season, Georgia Tech (2-1) failed to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 14 years. Eight players who started more than 30 games last year for the Yellow Jackets are returning. Among the top returnees are Jason Basil, Brad Stockton and Mark Teixeira, the Jackets' primary offensive threats. Basil posted a .349 batting average last year, while Stockton hit .331.

Wake Forest (2-2), which posted a 47-16 record last season and won the ACC Tournament, returns five starters. Despite 1999's success, the ACC Coaches picked the Demon Deacons to finish fourth in the Conference.

N.C. State (1-2) and Virginia (0-3) tied for sixth in the Coaches Preseason Poll. The Cavaliers will rely on Brandon Creswell and Jon Metzger their top two starters. The Wolfpack is led by catcher Dan Mooney and infielder Jason Smith, who are batting .400 and .375 on the season, respectively.

"We have a very young team that loves to play ball," Wolfpack Coach Elliot Avent said. "If we can handle the wins and losses we'll have a good season."

Maryland (0-3) and Duke (1-5) are young teams and are in the process of developing better programs. The Blue Devils took the first step by hiring Bill Hillier as their new head coach.

"We're going to be competitive this year," Hillier said. "We are going to go out every week and compete. People will know, when they play our team they are going to be in a dogfight"

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