NC State’s roster grows stronger through advice given by legendary coach Kay Yow

When NC State entered the 2024 season, Wolfpack coach Elliott Avent was slightly concerned. He has seen a lot of baseball in his time, including the last 28 seasons at the helm of his childhood favorite team in Raleigh, but the Pack had a mix of grizzled veterans and eager freshmen. 

His task? Find a way to get those wide-ranging groups to mesh well. Avent’s star hitters are in their final year of eligibility, while the go-to relievers are primarily freshmen and sophomores.

“I was really worried about that at the beginning of the year because we’ve got 22- and 23-year-olds and when you’re 22 or 23 in college, 18-year-olds don’t seem quite as cool,” Avent said. “The stupid stuff they do and the parties they want to go to, you’re a little bit outdated on that. I was wondering how this team was going to come together, but we have a long history of leadership here.”

That leadership piece was going to be uber important. The Wolfpack entered the year as the preseason No. 13 team in the country, and if everything went well, the team was more than capable of a deep run into June.

So how was Avent going to approach it? Advice he learned from former NC State women’s basketball coach Kay Yow. She spent 34 seasons leading the Wolfpack, including the program’s first Final Four appearance in 1998, and Avent’s office wasn’t far from hers on campus when they overlapped tenures in Raleigh. 

Avent tried to glean information from Yow and it has paid off now. Her piece of wisdom that is paying off now? Having Avent’s team all live together. It may be tougher with 40 players, instead of the up to 15 that Yow had, but she insisted he find a way. 

“Try to get them to live all together,” Yow told Avent. “They figure things out, they figure out how to mesh and bond. If the old guys will lead the right way and the young guys will pay attention, then you can mesh them together.”

Avent’s current group is all together. The fifth- and sixth-year players are alongside the Wolfpack’s talented freshman class. They have been all year, and it has paid off as the team has bought into its roles. 

The Wolfpack is in to the Super Regional round after it went 3-0 in the Raleigh Regional this weekend, setting up a series at No. 7 Georgia with a trip to Omaha on the line. 

For Avent, his team’s ability to blend together as one this spring has been one for his career. 

“To watch those guys mesh,” Avent said, “it’s probably been one of the neatest things I’ve seen.”

Not only has the Wolfpack meshed as a unit, but the players have grown stronger when another goes down. The Pack lost starter Matt Willadsen to a torn UCL on the first day of practice, and later lost star reliever Shane Van Dam to the same injury and starting outfielder Josh Hogue to a broken leg. 

And as the Wolpfack endured each injury, the team seemed to become a tighter and tighter unit — rather than folding. That proved to Avent that his team’s chemistry was strong and their ability to accept roles was even more prominent than before.

“Guys had to grow up and take roles,” Avent said. “It just makes you a stronger ball club. … “To see what those guys did after the injuries, it amazes me,”

Now, as the Wolfpack has cruised into the Super Regionals, including five ranked ACC series wins during the regular season, the team’s roles have been ultra clear. 

Graduate infielders Alec Makarwicz and Garrett Pennington are the clear-cut sluggers, while junior catcher Jacob Cozart and junior shortstop Brandon Butterworth are more than capable hitters and elite defenders. 

The pitching staff, meanwhile, is a blend of veteran experience and youthful talent. Graduate right-handers Sam Highfill and Logan Whitaker lead the rotation, while freshmen relievers Cooper Consligio, Ryan Marohn and Jacob Dudan have all become the go-to arms with sophomore Derrick Smith locking things down in the ninth. 

It’s a unique mix, but the freshmen have embraced their roles and created a formidable group in the bullpen, while everyone else on the roster has bought into the Wolfpack’s success. 

Although there are less-experienced arms in big spots and veterans at the plate, the Pack’s ability to mesh as a cohesive unit has paid off. Avent doesn’t look at his freshmen as rookies anymore, and neither does Whitaker. 

“It goes back to the fall and how well we gel together,” Whitaker said. “I don’t view these guys as freshmen or younger guys or sophomores, juniors — none of that. This year, it’s been about creating a dynamic of, ‘Hey, this is our goal, go get the job done.’”

The Wolfpack is two wins away from checking another part of its goal — a second trip to Omaha in four seasons — and embracing the roles has been the most integral part of that. 

Avent isn’t a fan of cutting his roster down from 40 in the regular season, 30 in the ACC Tournament and 27 for the NCAAs, but his team’s culture has allowed the Wolfpack to continue to flourish as the numbers have dwindled in the postseason. 

“Getting roles defined and people accepting their roles and not getting sour because everybody wants to play … some guys might not get the playing time they’d like to have and may deserve,” Avent said. “But figuring out roles is a tough thing. The way our guys handled that was another step in maturity and discipline and love for each other and wanting to win no matter whether I’m the guy that’s getting it done or not.”

“That’s what you shoot for as a coach, sometimes you get there, sometimes it’s hard,” Avent continued. “We got there and I’m so proud of these guys.”