Tobacco Road Rivalry takes to the Diamond

DURHAM — Duke. North Carolina.

Whenever they get together, in any sort of sport or contest, things always get interesting. And baseball is no different.

This year, as Duke hosts the series, the rivalry takes place in a special venue as well — the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Kent Emanuel said after his start in UNC’s 2-1 victory in game one of the series Friday night.

“I mean you have this big, giant stadium with all this stuff in the background. It’s pretty cool, it kind of makes you feel like you’re already there at the next level. It’s awesome.”

The DBAP, is a 10,000 seat park that was built in 1995 for a price of $16 million. It’s home to one of Minor League Baseball’s most famous teams, the Durham Bulls. On Friday night, official attendance figures said there were more than 5,000 on hand to see the Tar Heels and the Blue Devils.

And there were quite a few Tar Heel fans in the house.

“It was nice to hear our crowd be loud tonight,” Chaz Frank, the Tar Heels’ center fielder, said. “At home, we’ve kind of been disappointed. We’re the nation’s winningest team since 2006 and our attendance numbers are way down for the product we put on the field. So it was really nice for them to come out tonight and it was a great atmosphere.”

For coach Mike Fox, it’s more about taking care of business than getting caught up in the rivalry.

“It’s important just because it’s an ACC game,” Fox said. “We’ve got an opportunity to win our division and they’re the team we’re having to play this weekend. They’re all big. Certainly people want to talk about Duke and Carolina but for us, tonight was just about us trying to match their pitcher.”

The Tar Heels will look to claim the series in game two Saturday at 2 p.m. back in the DBAP and even though his work for the weekend is done, Emanuel is excited for the weekend ahead.

“No doubt about it, Duke-North Carolina in a triple-A facility,” he said, “It’s going to be a good weekend.”