North Carolina (42-16) is looking for a fourth consecutive trip to the College World Series. The Tar Heels are loaded with potential big-league talent -- according to ESPN's Peter Gammons, Dustin Ackley could be the No. 2 overall pick in the June 9 draft.
But at some point they might also need Naperville Central graduate Colin Bates to take care of some critical outs in order to book a return ticket to Omaha, Neb.
As a redshirt sophomore reliever, Bates is a valuable piece of North Carolina's bullpen. Bates is 3-2 with a 3.02 ERA and six saves for the Tar Heels, who are seeded No. 4 nationally and will host a regional in Chapel Hill.
"Any NCAA tournament, you got to be careful not to overdo stuff," North Carolina head coach Mike Fox said Monday. "Changing things at this point would be silly. It's all about our kids being relaxed and confident, just like any other team that comes in here. We need to relish being at home. We need to be excited to (be) hosting a regional at this new stadium.
"I think we will be. We also have to set our mind that (we) need to play our best baseball to get out of this regional."
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