It’s time to seize moment

By: Will Vandervort

Granted, this hasn’t been the grandest year for Clemson baseball, but it has been a good one. The 17th-ranked Tigers come out of exam week in pretty good shape as they sit second in the ACC’s Atlantic Division and are 30-15 overall.

What does this mean? Well, the Tigers are in position not only to get back to the NCAA Tournament after having to sit out a year for the first time since 1986, but they have a fairly decent shot at hosting one of the 16 regionals.

I know some of you think a team at 30-15 doesn’t really deserve a shot at hosting a regional, but do you really know that for that sure? If not Clemson, then who? Of the teams under consideration as the regular season enters its last 16 days, few teams have a better résumé than the Tigers.

Currently Clemson has played more top 50 teams than any team in the country and they have posted a 16-13 record against those teams. The Tigers also rank No. 8 in WarrenNolan.com’s RPI (rating percentage index) – one of five ACC teams in the top 11.

North Carolina and Georgia Tech own the top spots in the RPI rankings, while Miami is No. 6 and Virginia is No. 11. By the way, Florida State, who leads the Atlantic by two full games over Clemson, is ranked No. 18.

The Web site also has Clemson ranked No. 3 in strength of schedule thanks to that 16-13 record against top 50 teams and considering the fact it has a 5-4 record against three of the teams in the top four. The Tigers beat No. 1 Miami and No. 2 Georgia Tech two out of three times in both weekend series and also got one win at No. 4 North Carolina on March 7.

Plus keep in mind the NCAA doesn’t rule a regional to a team because it deserves it necessarily. Granted, they have to be at least close to other teams that are considered, but some regionals are decided based on bids considering institutions have sent into the NCAA – you know the guaranteed money they can send the NCAA if they should host a regional.

Few college ballparks can sit what Clemson can for a regional. Doug Kingsmore is capable of holding 6,217 fans officially, but I believe I have been a part of few crowds that have exceeded that number by at least a thousand or two.

Then consider the fact Clemson is just a handful of baseball programs capable of supporting itself. Clemson fans love baseball and will pack Doug Kingsmore for any regional game that involves the Tigers, plus they have shown in the past they will support the other games that are being played that particular weekend.

The last part of why the Tigers have a good shot at hosting a regional – their schedule. As tough as the first 45 games were, the last 11 games appear to be a whole lot easier. Now there are still two conference series to go – Maryland and N.C. State – but the Tigers should win both and in fact have a good shot at sweeping both.

Maryland, who the Tigers host this weekend for a three-game series starting Saturday, are just 6-18 in ACC play and 22-24 overall. Clemson is 51-1 against the Terps all-time at Doug Kingsmore. The Tigers have won 21 straight at home against Maryland dating back to a 10-9 loss in 1992.

Clemson goes to N.C. State on May 14 to close out the regular season. Unlike the Terrapins, the Tigers have had some difficulties against N.C. State, especially in Raleigh. Clemson is just 36-35 all-time at N.C. State, including six losses in its last nine games up there.

In between those two series, the Tigers play Furman (19-22) in a rematch of their 14-inning game back on March 3, which the Paladins won 4-2, at Greenville’s Fluor Field on May 6. Clemson follows that up with a three-game home series against UNC-Wilmington (24-17) starting on May 8 and then host the College of Charleston (22-16) to close out the home part of its schedule on May 12.

Though Furman has beat the Tigers once this year and UNC-Wilmington and the College of Charleston will be playing to get into the tournament, there is no reason to think Clemson can’t win all 11 of those games and if not, at least 10 of them.

Last week, Jack Leggett told his team before heading into a stretch where they played a nationally ranked Coastal Carolina team, their archrival in South Carolina and hosted a top five team in Georgia Tech that they had an opportunity to make a statement. The Tigers made that statement with a 4-1 record.

If last week was the week of opportunity, then the next 11 games will be time to seize the moment at hand. Win them all or at last nine of them, and there is little doubt Clemson will find itself at home the first weekend of the NCAAs. Win only half, or worse yet, more than their share then the Tigers will have to test their 7-9 road record at someone else’s regional.

How bad do they want it?

By: Will Vandervort

Sunday became such a long wait for former Clemson safety Michael Hamlin — he decided he was going to take a nap to kill the time.

“I watched (the draft) all the way through to the mid-fourth round and then I decided to turn it off and took a nap,” Hamlin said to the Cowboys’ official Web site Sunday evening. “I just went around and tried to do something to distract myself.”

Hamlin had to distract himself until late in the fifth round, when the Dallas Cowboys drafted him with the 30th selection in the fifth round and 166th overall in the 2009 NFL Draft.

It was that kind of day for the former Clemson players as no Tiger was drafted until defensive tackle Dorell Scott went third in the fourth round Sunday and was 103 overall. Then late in the fifth round safety Chris Clemons went one spot ahead of Hamlin at 165 to the Miami Dolphins.

“I was nervous waiting on the phone to ring,” Clemons told reporters. “It got frustrating a little bit, but I just kept my head up and stayed in there.”

James Davis hung in there too. The Tigers second all-time leading rusher did not get drafted until the sixth round, when the Cleveland Browns selected him No. 22 in the round and 195th overall. It surprised him even more to learn that he was the last player and the only offensive player selected from a team that eight months earlier was considered one of the top offensive units in college football.

But Clemson’s involvement in the 2009 Draft was more than likely a result of the 2008 season — a year that had so much hope and promise that it still continues to haunt members of the team four months after its conclusion.

Aaron Kelly and Cullen Harper, who were projected to be drafted somewhere in the fifth or sixth rounds Sunday, never heard their names called out. Kelly later signed a free-agent contract with the Atlanta Falcons, the only team he worked out for, while Harper has not announced his plans.

Two other Tigers signed free agent contracts. Defensive tackle Rashaad Jackson will try to make it with the San Diego Chargers, while Tyler Grisham hopes he can become a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers next fall.

Overall, it wasn’t the kind of draft Clemson fans and some of the so-called experts envisioned when the Tigers opened the 2008 football season as the No. 9 ranked team. But when you don’t meet expectations as a team, then in most cases the individual usually suffers the most when it’s time to hear his name called in the NFL Draft.

The good news is four guys did hear their named called ultimately and now they will have a shot — though there’s a hard road ahead — to fulfill their dreams of being NFL players. I wish all four players — guys I have had the pleasure to get to know over the last four years — the best as well as those who have and will sign free agent contracts.

All of them are going to get the opportunity to live out their dreams. Now that the opportunity is here, how bad do they want it?