Pioneering NC State baseball team honored after 57 years. Why it took so long

Raleigh

Sometimes, it takes a while.

Or in the case of N.C. State’s 1968 baseball team, 57 years.

In the spring of ‘68, the Wolfpack gave the school its first College World Series team. Coached by the late Sam Esposito, the Pack won the school’s first ACC championship and then advanced to Omaha, Nebraska, where the dream of a national title ended with a tough loss to Southern California, the 1968 champion.

While the players have aged, and some have been lost, many of the memories of the ‘68 team remain fresh. They were the first. They deserved rings. Now, they finally have them through the efforts of some former team members, Wolfpack coach Elliott Avent, former Wolfpack Club executive director Bobby Purcell and private donors.

A ceremony was held Friday at Doak Field at Dail Park, and Avent helped hand out the rings along with Alex Cheek. It was Cheek, the big lefthander from Greensboro, who teamed with starters Mike Caldwell and Joe Frye to pitch the Pack to Omaha and who helped set up Friday’s ceremony.

“It was a long time coming,” Cheek said.

The ‘godfather of NC State baseball’ led the way

Among those who have passed away are Esposito, who Avent has long called the “Godfather of Wolfpack baseball,” and players Chris Cammack, Steve Martin and Tommy Smith. Family members were presented with their rings, including Sam Esposito, Jr.

The ceremony had a backdrop of baseball players. Current members of the Wolfpack team stood behind the seated stars of ‘68 to offer their support and appreciation.

“Hopefully you won’t have to wait 57 years for a ring,” Cheek said to the players. “You can beat anybody like we did. We had so much pride in what we did.”

It took 45 years, until 2013, for the Pack to return to Omaha with a team that had Trea Turner and Carlos Rodon, both MLB stars playing key roles for the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Yankees in the playoffs this month. Other CWS appearances under Avent have come in 2021 and 2024.

A future World Series star on the mound

Caldwell, a freshman on the 1968 team, later pitched in the big league for 14 years. The lefty from Tarboro was a 22-game winner in 1978 and won two games for the Milwaukee Brewers in the 1982 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals.

“I still say the 1968 season was the most fun and most memorable season of baseball that I ever experienced,” Caldwell said.

Caldwell credited Avent for remembering and honoring the ‘68 team and “keeping all of this crowd together.”

In the 1960s and ‘70s, it was not common to present championship rings in college sports. That changed through the years, at every level of sports, and past achievements were celebrated – the Pack’s 1970 ACC basketball champs waited until 2016 before getting their rings.

The 1968 baseball team was 25-9 and 13-4 in claiming the ACC championship. It went to Gastonia and won the NCAA District 3 title, beating out Florida State to get to Omaha.

“As far as I’m concerned, the ‘68 team set the standard for what N.C. State baseball can be and should be,” Avent said Friday at the ceremony. “I love this team. It represented everything about this school.”