CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Derek Clark only appeared superhuman, as he cruised through the middle innings Friday night inside Boshamer Stadium.
Each time going through a powerful North Carolina lineup without as much of a scratch against him, he hopped off the mound, stuck his face proudly into the air and pouted his lips as he headed back to the WVU dugout.
Yet Clark is not super human. No. 4 North Carolina eventually prevailed in dramatic fashion, a two-run walk-off home run from Vance Honeycutt in the bottom of the ninth inning against WVU reliever Aidan Major to win the first game of a best-of-three super regional.
Clark’s pitch count soared past 100 pitches, then 110, 120 and so on.
“That guy was good,” was the way North Carolina head coach Scott Forbes said. “That guy was tough and we couldn’t do much against him.”
And then the ultimate situation stared WVU head coach Randy Mazey in the face by the time the game reached the seventh inning.
Stay with Clark, who was now approaching 130 pitches — and how many college athletes out there can even dream about that type of performance, let along achieve it — or go to a fresher arm out of the bullpen.
“I was not going to fight Derek Clark to take him out of the game,” Mazey said.
There was a solo home run hit by North Carolina’s Colby Wilkerson in the seventh.
Wilkerson, by most accounts in the press box, is the Tar Heels least impressive power hitter. It was just his first home run at home this season.
Yet Clark survived the inning and got out of it with a strikeout and ground out and WVU was clinging to a 6-5 lead.
He was unhittable in the eighth. He struck out Parks Harber and Gavin Gallaher, two guys with a ton of power. He got Anthony Donofrio to weakly ground out to second base.
By this time, Clark was hitting near mythical proportions and his pitch count was reaching such unbelievable numbers, that you had to run your eyes to make sure you were seeing things correctly.
Derek Clark deserved better. He was a true warrior on this night, the warrior WVU (36-23) needed if it had any chance of pulling off the upset.
Pitch count be damned. Clark had earned the right to pitch that ninth inning. He had earned the right to hold his own fate in his own hands.
“He mixed his pitches very well the whole game,” said UNC catcher Luke Stevenson, who tied the game with a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth inning. “We had to do everything we could just to compete against him.”
Stevenson’s shot went to dead center field, just over the outstretched hands of WVU’s Aaron Jamison, who leaped into the air, but could not bring the ball back into the ballpark.
Clark had finally come back to earth. His arm had now thrown more than 140 pitches. His body had gone through nearly three hours of an emotional battle.
“It’s playoff baseball for a reason,” Clark said. “Nobody is going to go away at this point. We were obviously playing a great team in North Carolina and their offense is one of the best in the country for a reason.
“Emotionally, I was just trying to stay even-keeled through the whole game.”
At that point, Mazey had no choice. Clark had done enough, even if he still had gas left in the tank.
Clark had proven to be human after all, even if he had pushed the envelope about as much as humanly possible into becoming extraordinarily supernatural.
A great story no longer had an unbelievable ending. Clark deserved so much more on this night.
“I could have kept going if he needed me to,” Clark said. “I allowed a sole home run and then a single up the middle. It was crunch time, so I don’t blame him for pulling me there.”
