UNC junior catcher Jacob Stallings, right, shown earlier in the season with teammate Jesse Wierzbicki, will be playing in his second College World Series, but first as a starter.

Former BA catcher to face 'Dores in College World Series

By CAROL STUART
For Brentwood Home Page
North Carolina junior catcher Jacob Stallings, a former Brentwood Academy standout, doesn’t necessarily expect his dad – Vanderbilt basketball coach Kevin Stallings – to wear Carolina blue. But he believes his father will be rooting for the Tar Heels when the two schools meet in the College World Series this week in Omaha, Neb. It’ll be Vandy’s first appearance but UNC’s fifth in six years.

“Well, I don't know what colors he'll be wearing, but I can tell you for sure he'll be cheering for Carolina,” Jacob told BHP yesterday from Chapel Hill, N.C.

“That might make some Vanderbilt fans unhappy. But it was just like when his team played Carolina in basketball this year, I was cheering like heck for him. It's family first I'd say.”

Jacob Stallings, left, and Michael Morin celebrate the Tar Heels' berth in the College World Series. (Photos by Jeff Camarati/UNC Athletic Communications)

His dad’s job isn’t Jacob’s only connection to Vanderbilt (which by the way won that basketball game last November when the Commodores prevailed over No. 8 UNC in Puerto Rico).

Jacob reeled off several names of Commodore players he’s played with (including right-handed pitchers Sonny Gray and Will Clinard) and against (such as lefty Grayson Garvin and BGA’s Navery Moore) over the years.

“That's going to be interesting for sure,” he said. “I've got a lot of really good friends on that team and people I grew up playing with and people I played summer ball with. And obviously I'm real close with all the coaches, especially Coach (Tim) Corbin.

“It's going to be fun. It's going to be something that I'm just going to have to treat as just another game and try and go out there and win.”

As a matter of fact, Jacob and Vanderbilt’s Jason Esposito were text-messaging each other Sunday after both teams punched their tickets Saturday.

“We were texting today and sharing congratulations and wondering why we had to play each other the first round,” Stallings said.

It will be the second trip to the CWS but the first as the everyday catcher for Jacob, who says he had about eight at-bats in Omaha as a freshman in 2009.

Stallings, drafted by the Cincinnati Reds last week in the 42nd round, went 3-for-5 at the plate with 3 RBI in Saturday’s clinching victory over Stanford, 7-5. The Tar Heels had to wait out a 3½-hour storm delay before Stallings’ final RBI gave UNC a two-run cushion in the top of the ninth.

“The wait just seemed like forever. But our team's done a good job handling adversity all year,” he said. “… That was just nice to help our team win and get to where we need to be. Certainly it's a proud day for not only me, but I know the rest of my teammates.”

In addition to driving in 41 runs for UNC this year, Jacob has also thrown out a school-record 31 runners caught stealing this year. The record of 24 was previously owned by Chris Ianetta, now in the major leagues with the Colorado Rockies.

Stallings, who also made the 2011 Johnny Bench Award Watch List, said it was great seeing his name called in the MLB Draft last week but he’ll likely return to Chapel Hill. In baseball, pro teams are allowed to draft players after high school and after their junior season.

“It was a cool experience for me,” Jacob said. “I'm not sure what I'll do yet. I think I'll come back to school and finish my senior year and get my degree from a great university. It was certainly exciting just to be picked.”

Stallings’ college decision came down to Vanderbilt and North Carolina, but he primarily chose the Tar Heels due to their regular trips to the CWS including two finals berths.

“Honestly I always thought I was going to go to Vanderbilt. But Carolina had been to Omaha three straight years,” Jacob said. “The situation was just better for me here personally and Coach Corbin even told me I should go here, which was really a cool thing for him to do, looking out for my best interest.

“Coach Corbin and I still talk; we've talked a couple of times this season.  I'm very close to him. I admire him a great deal. I couldn't be happier for him and his team.”

Stallings, a former BA standout, was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds but will likely return to Chapel Hill next year.

So, why baseball and not basketball?

“Basketball was my main sport growing up, until about the eighth grade,” said Jacob, whose family lives in Brentwood. “I just think I got a little too slow and un-athletic to play at the next level in basketball. All I could really do was shoot and pass. I worked really hard at baseball and kept getting better.”

Brentwood Academy baseball coach Buddy Alexander texted Stallings right after the game Saturday night and his former player responded right back.

“I'm proud of him – he was a hard worker,” the Eagles coach said. “The thing I'm most excited for him is a lot of people assume if you're the son of a high-profile coach, Kevin being in a power conference, that people assume you get the easy route all the time.

“That's not true at all. The whole four years Jacob played for me I was impressed how he worked on his own. He was given nothing. He's earned everything he's got. I think his skill is coming through, and I'm glad people are getting to see him.”

Alexander said when he watched the NCAA Super Regional on TV, he saw the same throwing motion and mannerisms he saw when Jacob played at BA. “When he got into his squat, he looked like the same Jacob like when he was on my team, but he’s much more advanced from playing that level of competition.”

Stallings’ also has filled out his frame which Alexander noticed when Jacob visited BA at Thanksgiving last fall. But his biggest advancement has been at the plate.

“He's really developed as a hitter, that’s the big step he's taken,” the BA coach said. “He's had a big year overall.”

Alexander, who would like to clear his schedule to go to Omaha, said he wasn’t really surprised when Stallings chose UNC over Vanderbilt. Jacob was the regular catcher on the Eagles’ first state championship of an eventual three-peat, and even pitched a complete game in the finals.

“Jacob’s always kind of been his own guy,” Alexander said. “And I'm sure he doesn't look at it as playing his dad. He knows he’s the basketball coach at Vanderbilt ... A lot of people know Coach Stallings is a huge baseball fan.

"And Kevin being a college coach, he understands kids as players are going to do what's best for them, not necessarily the easiest pick or the most obvious. As it turns out, North Carolina has been great place for Jacob. He’s played all three years and played regularly.”