Avent: "They've Done Everything Asked Of Them"

NC State head coach Elliott Avent discusses his team as the Wolfpack prepares for this week's ACC Baseball Championship.

Avent on freshman pitcher Reid Johnston...
He actually pitched some big games for us early in the year.  

He believes in who he is. He doesn't overthink anything. He does his job, has a lot of confident in his ability. He says, "Here it is.  If you're good enough to hit it. Fine."

Starting for us on Friday night, that's something you don't expect freshmen to do and he's handled that role very well.

Kicking off the ACC Tournament it will probably be the same thing.

What makes him so effective?
He throws strikes.  He has a fastball, changeup, and breaking ball, but he throws strikes and locates his fastball.

He says he was a hitter a year ago.
We recruited him as a hitter and a pitcher both.  He hit more in high school and was the lead guy for Rocky Mount Academy.  

He's come here... in the fall we knew how we'd need him out of the bullpen, and we gave him the choice... he made that decision and what a decision he made.

Could playing four games in four days be a detriment heading into the NCAA Tournament?
I don't know you probably have to ask my predecessor, Ray Tanner... he felt like he lost out of a couple of SEC Championships and went on to win national championships.  

Not that you go out to not win a ball game, but guys are tired this time of the year. We took two days off after Florida State.  We'll have a very light practice today and a very light practice tomorrow but this time of the year you do need rest.

It's nice to play two, but four games going into a regional could be taxing on everybody.  I just hope we get to find out how taxing it is.

You and other coaches have been critical of the ACC format in previous years.  Is the setup with the highest seed getting the tiebreaker if you all go 1-1. Is that the closest it will get to being accurate?
I don't think I've been critical of anything the ACC has ever done.

I think the format is a good format... I think it works out fairly well because it gives teams with a better regular season a better edge... it has everything in there and gives you a chance if you're trying to make your plea for an ACC bid... it gives yourself a chance to enhance your NCAA bid.

What do you feel good about with your team going into the ACC Tournament?
I've felt good about this ballclub since day one. They've done everything asked of them.

We've had some injuries that would make you doubt and we've played a lot of freshmen, that can be tough in this league and unforgiving, but our guys have brought the freshmen along as well as taking care of themselves.

The leadership of this ballclub in the locker room, I can't speak enough about.

You guys went yard 80 times this year... you guys have guys who can bring the bats.
It's amazing. I think we have four or five guys with double-digit home runs. It's unbelievable.

Last year Joe Dunand hit 18 and we lost Joe to professional baseball, and you look up and Brett Kinneman has 17... it's been a balanced lineup.

We also have as good a speed as we have on this team since Tre Turner left... we can beat you in a lot of different ways.

I also think our pitchers have shown they can make pitches when they need to.

Brian Brown is one of those guys. What kind of a job has he done this year?
I read Steve Pitarra's tweet about his college roommate and teammate, it summed up everything we feel about Brian Brown, he feels about him, Joe Dunand, Josh McLain, everybody on this ballclub. There's something about that young man that is just special... his work ethic and how he goes about it.

I think he's about to tie the NC State record in starts.  That would be neat for a kid from near Philadelphia who came in here loving sports but knew nothing about NC State. He's going to leave here one of NC State's all-time favorite sons.