Newfound confidence key to Charlotte 49ers’ postseason baseball success
The Charlotte 49ers’ baseball team is heading to its second NCAA regional in three years. A little over a month ago, not many would have predicted this.
The same could be said even just a week ago.
After dropping their first game of the Conference USA tournament to Louisiana Tech, the 49ers needed a confidence booster. That’s when Charlotte coach Robert Woodard told his team a story about a chip and a chair.
“Last week, when we lost to Louisiana Tech in the 9 a.m. game, the very first game of the tournament, I told our guys to keep their heads up,” Woodard said. “There is an old poker saying, I think Doyle Brunson, who passed away a few weeks ago (said), and I am a bit of a poker fan: I’m probably a better fan than I am a player. ... I saw a clip of him talking about how as long as you have a chip and a chair, then you have a chance.”
This adage comes from the 1982 World Series of Poker main event, where Jack Straus was down to a single poker chip and managed to come all the way back to win the tournament. The late Brunson would also use this phrase, and it really hit home with Woodard.
It also hit home with Charlotte’s players.
The 49ers went on to win five consecutive games and claim their first Conference USA title. It was just the third time in conference history that a team would lose its first game of the tournament and fight its way back to win the championship.
“We had our backs against the wall for five or six straight games,” sophomore outfielder Cam Fisher said. “I feel like we play our best then. We feel like we’ve got nothing to lose and we have a chip on our shoulder, but we are still at the table, we are still thriving, and we are still here. It doesn’t matter what you throw at us, we are going to compete and leave it all out on the field.”
Charlotte finished the season with a 34-26 record, beating several highly ranked teams along the way, including South Carolina and Coastal Carolina, both of which are NCAA regional hosts for this year’s tournament.
The 49ers are turning any doubt they might have into a newfound sense of confidence heading into the NCAA regional on Clemson’s campus. They aren’t letting themselves get too low after a loss any longer, and that is what is pushing them in each game they play.
“Confidence is a real thing in our sport,” Woodard said. “Confidence comes from two places. It comes from hard work, which our guys have put in, and it comes from success, which our guys are coming off of.”
For junior pitcher Wyatt Hudepohl, there was a specific moment in the season that he felt got things going back in the right direction for him and the entire pitching staff.
The light switch moment was when the pitching staff had a meeting after an early-season series against Louisiana Tech.
“You’ve got college guys that want to go out there and pitch,” Hudepohl said. “We said that it is bigger than us. We said that when (whoever) gets the ball, they are the only pitcher who matters at that moment, and we ran with that.
“Whoever is out there, in whatever moment, if you have the ball, you are the most important pitcher at that moment.”
The 49ers open up regional play against Tennessee (38-19). Senior infielder Austin Knight, who began his college career with the Volunteers, feels ready even though the team will go in regarded by many as the “underdog.”
“We are a team that is battle-tested and not afraid to fail,” Knight said. “We have no fear out on the field. We are going to go fight pitch-by-pitch. Everyone is ready to fight and do what they can for the team. So, it is a team effort, and no one is playing for themselves.”
Being the leader Knight is, the motto of “a chip and chair” means a bit more to him. He is ready to go fight with and for his teammates.
“You are never out of the fight until someone tells you that you’re done,” Knight said. “So, for us, as long as we are there and we take the field, we can do anything. We can win any game that we are in. It doesn’t matter what the score is. We are going to fight until the game is over and they tell us to stop.”
Charlotte is hot at the right time of the season, and players and coaches alike feel that their newfound confidence can propel them past any team they meet.
“There is a great opportunity in front of us,” Fisher said. “We’ve got a great challenge in front of us and a great week in front of us. I think we are very dangerous, and I think we are going to shock the world. I think a lot of people here and people who support our program believe that. I think we’ve got the tools to do it, and we are hot at the right time.”
This will be Woodard’s second regional appearance as a head coach. He also went to four in a row as a pitcher at UNC, finishing as the national runner-up during his junior and senior seasons.
“This is why you put all the hard work in, to get to this stage,” Woodard said. “There is no letting off the gas. It is full steam ahead for us.”
When the 49ers take the field on Friday night, they won’t feel like the underdog because they know they still have a chip and a chair.
Clemson regional
Friday, June 2
Game 1 – (1) Clemson (43-17) vs. (4) Lipscomb (36-24), 1 p.m. (ESPN+)
Game 2 – (3) Charlotte (34-26) vs. (2) Tennessee (38-19); 6 p.m. (ESPNU)
Saturday, June 3
Game 3 – Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 (TV TBA)
Game 4 – Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 (TV TBA)
Sunday, June 4
Game 5 – Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 3 (TV TBA)
Game 6 – Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5 (TV TBA)
Monday, June 5
Game 7 – (if necessary): Rematch Game 6
