Duke culminated its season with a thrilling come-from-behind, walk-off win over UNC-Asheville May 17. Trailing 4-2 entering the bottom of the ninth, the Blue Devils (15-40) got a clutch two-out, two-run double from senior Javier Socorro and a wild pitch to stun the Bulldogs.
The dramatic victory can be seen as a microcosm for the program's progress as a whole over the course of the season, coming back from the edge of defeat to seize victory.
The 2006 season was all about coming back and starting fresh. With a new manager, new uniforms and several new faces, Duke desperately needed to restore the integrity of a program tarnished by a steroid scandal and a controversial coach.
Former Blue Devil shortstop Sean McNally took over as manager, replacing Bill Hillier, who had been accused of encouraging steriod use during a tumultuous and unsuccessful six-year stint at Duke. McNally made his presence known early, forcing all his players to earn spots on the roster in order to institute what the manager called "a positive culture of discipline and structure."
The 2006 campaign was free of scandals on and off the field, and McNally believes that his team has begun the restoration of Duke baseball.
"It's a process of building an infrastructure and we've made tremendous strides," McNally said. "I'm excited for next year and beyond."
That type of intangible success, however, was not reflected as much on the field, where the Blue Devils struggled to their eighth consecutive losing season, finishing 11th in the ACC with a 6-24 record. Duke did win two road series for the first time in a dozen years, a substantial accomplishment considering that the team did not win a single game on the road in 2005.
Nine of Duke's final 11 games were against teams ranked in the top 10 in the nation. Although the Blue Devils were swept by North Carolina, Clemson and Georgia Tech, they were vastly more competitive than they had been earlier in the season.
Duke pounded UNC ace Andrew Miller for 12 hits in six innings, the most the touted prospect has given up all season. Against the Yellow Jackets, the Blue Devils held the lead or were tied after five innings in each of the three games.
"We certainly made progress on the field as reflected in how competitive games were with top 10 teams in the country and the best teams in our conference," McNally said.
The season-ending win, however, ended a 10-game losing streak and provided the departing seniors with a more tangible manifestation of success.
"To win in a walk-off fashion at home with our seniors playing such a big part was pretty special," McNally said. "They really were a great illustration of how to play the game hard, how to play it right.... It's not going to be easy [to replace them]."
Duke seems to have the pieces in place, however, to build upon the foundation laid by McNally in his first season. Junior Jonathan Anderson led the team in hitting with a .313 average. Sophomores Brett Bartles and Jimmy Gallagher led the team in home runs with seven and six, respectively. Freshman Nate Freiman hit .304 and smacked five long balls despite missing nearly 30 games with an elbow injury.
McNally understands, though, that his team is still some time away from becoming seriously competitive in arguably the nation's toughest conference.
"In this league, as competitive as it is, we just have to focus on each day, each game and each season," McNally said. "Our goal for next year will be to get in that top eight [to qualify for the ACC Championships]."
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