April 4, 2008

by Stan Cotten

Many young men would give their right arm to play college baseball in the ACC. Wake's Charlie Mellies did. Literally. After undergoing Tommy John surgery during the 2006 season, the now senior righthander is in his last season as a Demon Deacon and still hoping for good things to happen to the Deacs who sit just below .500 on the season.

"If you look back over the last couple of years we've had a slow start," Mellies explains. "Obviously that's not ideal - you want to get out of the gates strong. But we've always seemed to recover at about this point every year and taken strong momentum into the [ACC] tournament."

"We are not in a situation where we can't turn things around."

Spoken like a true leader. The last line sounds a little like George W. Bush answering a question about the sputtering economy. And who knows, one day Mellies may be taking questions about the U.S. economy and his own foreign policy from a podium adorned with that famous seal.

Mellies doesn't hide his desire to one day be the leader of the free world. He wants to be the President of the United States.

"Without a doubt," Mellies says with conviction. "I feel that I have some good ideas, and I think it would be a lot of fun. People think I'm crazy, but I think it would be a great job."

If character and charisma count for anything, don't count Mellies out from some day calling 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue home. But right now he's focused on getting the Deacs' season and his own play turned around.

"I had a bad start at Pepperdine which has killed my stat line, but it happens," Mellies admits. "Every now and then you might have a bad start, but the key now for me and the rest of the pitchers is consistency. One good start here or there doesn't do it for the team."

And one thing that hopefully won't get in Mellies'way is his surgically repaired pitching arm. The very serious Tommy John procedure cut short a promising 2006 season that began for Mellies with a complete game shutout of top ranked Florida. But Mellies says that is all in the past.

"I feel great - it feels better than it ever has before," says Mellies about his arm that bears the noticeable scar. "I think it's better than prior to surgery, and I think it's showing on the mound. I can go longer innings - I can go to higher pitch counts. I really think it's better than it ever has been."

With renewed confidence in his arm, Mellies and the Deacs hit the second half of the season hoping for enough wins to again get them to a second straight NCAA Tournament. A tough schedule to date will hopefully be a plus down the stretch.

"It's helped us in the past," admits Mellies. "A lot of teams play cake schedules and it catches up with them in the end. They may have 35-40 wins, but they aren't battle-tested. Last year we led the nation in one-run games and that helped us come tournament time when we knew we had to get to the ACC Championship to even have a chance at the [NCAA] regionals."

So Mellies and his Deacon teammates begin the uphill battle toward the postseason and a ticket back to the NCAA Tournament - one ticket I can definitely vote for.