College World Series primer (cont.)

Southern Miss

Southern Miss' Key Players Pos. Name Yr. AVG HR RBI SB C Kyle Maxie Jr. .281 4 16 1 1B Joey Archer Jr. .311 10 62 2 2B James Ewing Sr. .314 4 42 3 3B Taylor Walker Jr. .305 3 29 7 SS B.A. Vollmuth Fr. .236 7 25 1 LF Kameron Brunty Fr. .342 7 53 7 CF Bo Davis Sr. .371 14 53 10 RF Michael Ewing Sr. .231 4 18 1 DH Corey Stevens Sr. .330 8 59 2 Pos. Name Yr. W-L SV ERA SO SP Todd McInnis So. 9-4 0 3.61 86 SP J.R. Ballinger Jr. 6-3 0 3.89 59 SP Jeff Stanley Jr. 4-2 0 4.43 24 RP Collin Cargill So. 4-3 13 3.32 32

2009 record: 40-24
Coach (record with school): Corky Palmer (458-279)
CWS history: First trip to Omaha; no championships.
CWS route: Won Atlanta regional in four games, beating Georgia Tech in the final. Won Gainesville superregional in two games, beating Florida.

Scouting Report: "They play the game the right way. They're a typical Southern Miss team. But what they're doing is they're continuing to do things in the clutch and rise to the occasion, for a lot of reasons. Part of it is because it's Corky's last team, and part of it is because it's a veteran team.

"McInnis is their guy; he's as good a college pitcher as most college pitchers out there. McInnis has good command of his fastball, and two different types of breaking balls. He throws a 12-to-6 curveball and also a harder slider. Ballinger's a little bit of a harder thrower, 88-93, a little bit harder stuff than McInnis, but a really hard breaking ball, too. Ballinger's got really good movement on his fastball -- it's got more of a run to it than a sink. Our guys were coming back to the dugout saying his ball has more movement than anybody we'd seen all year.

"I think with McInnis and Ballinger, they can beat anybody, and with Cargill at the back end. But I think their biggest weakness is probably those middle innings. If Ballinger and McInnis don't pitch deep, their bullpen is suspect. Cargill is 82-85, a sidearm guy. He just changes the look enough. That's why I think if those guys pitch into the seventh or eighth inning, bring that guy in, he can create problems. Stanley, he was like 86-88, and he had a pretty good 12-to-6 curveball that had pretty good depth on it, and he commanded it pretty well.

"When you look at their team, there is absolutely nothing flashy about Southern Miss. But they know how to play the game, like they always have. Davis has become the sparkplug guy for them. He's absolutely what makes them go. They've got some power guys: Archer's got some pop in his bat; Brunty and Stephens are solid.

"They're a streaky offensive team. If they get going, they can be tough. They can be pitched to; I think a guy with a solid breaking ball can keep them at bay for a while, because they're a pretty aggressive fastball hitting team.

"I remember when [senior shortstop Brian] Dozier got hurt, it was as bad as it could be. They were pretty down. Vollmuth, they just threw him in there. He's done a pretty nice job -- he's played short fairly well for them, and I think they're surprised, because they weren't expecting that defensively. But he's a good-looking player with an athletic body, and he's got some tools. He's really stepped up for them. They're not an extremely rangy team defensively, but they make the plays because their pitchers throw strikes and they're always around the zone.

"Their guys all throw strikes, their guys are all around the zone -- [pitching coach] Scott Berry does an unbelievable job with those guys. And offensively, same thing: great two strike approach, all tough outs."

North Carolina

North Carolina's Key Players Pos. Name Yr. AVG HR RBI SB C Mark Fleury Jr. .315 12 59 1 1B Dustin Ackley Jr. .412 22 70 13 2B Levi Michael Fr. .298 13 56 5 3B Kyle Seager Jr. .386 5 59 13 SS Ryan Graepel Jr. .279 2 39 2 LF Ben Bunting So. .333 2 35 5 CF Mike Cavasinni Jr. .260 0 23 9 RF Garrett Gore Sr. .307 6 43 4 DH Jacob Stallings Fr. .216 0 7 0 Pos. Name Yr. W-L SV ERA SO SP Alex White Jr. 8-4 0 4.13 109 SP Adam Warren Sr. 9-2 0 3.23 97 SP Matt Harvey So. 7-2 1 5.35 78 RP Brian Moran Jr. 7-1 4 1.95 88

No. 4 National Seed
2009 record: 47-16
Coach (record with school): Mike Fox (499-206-1)
CWS history: Eight trips to Omaha, last in 2008; no championships.
CWS route: Won Chapel Hill regional in three games, beating Kansas in the final. Won Chapel Hill super-regional in two games, beating East Carolina.

Scouting Report: "They can really pitch it, they play solid defense, and they've got a couple guys in the middle of the lineup you have to worry about. One thing I noticed early is they just don't have that depth in the lineup they've had the last couple of years. You know what you're going to get with Ackley, and I thought Seager was probably the second best offensive player in the ACC this year, but they have to get some of the role players to play well for them to score.

"People talk about how you can get them with a left-hander, but I think he's got to be a special left-hander for him to get them. With Seager and Ackley, it doesn't really matter, he could be throwing through his legs and they're going to hit him. I do think Fleury struggles a bit against left-handed pitchers, and some of their table-setters are not as good against left-handed pitching as they are against right-handers.

"I don't think you have to worry too much about Alex White, because he's going to throw well. He's the one guy in their rotation that's going to go out there and have a chance to dominate a game, even against a good offensive team. Warren struggled with command against us, but he's throwing harder than he has in the past, and his stuff was good. But shoot, the kid's a proven winner. There's not a team in the country that can match up Friday, Saturday and Sunday with these guys. You've got a junior and a senior going your first two slots, and both of them have pitched in Omaha for two years. And Harvey's been pitching on a big stage all his life, so it's not going to affect him either. He had his struggles early in the year, but the last three or four times on the mound he has been pretty dominant.

"I like Moran a lot. He's got deception to him, he can get out left-handed hitters and he can get out right-handed hitters. I thought he was probably the best bullpen guy in the league this year. They will be able to have enough other guys, because in a three-game series like that they can put Patrick Johnson in the bullpen, he's got swing and miss stuff, and they've got [Collin] Bates.

"They're a pretty solid defensive team. Graepel's good -- nothing flashy but makes all the plays. Michael's really athletic at second base, Ackley plays an athletic first as a 6.5 runner. There is no glaring weakness with them from a defensive standpoint. Seager makes all the plays, and my favorite thing about him is there's no flash to him, it's just blue collar.

"I just think with the experience they have, and their core of premier players, I thought they weren't head and shoulders the best team we played this year, but they were the best team."

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