20 years later, the 2006 Carolina baseball team still feels less like a season and more like a doorway.

Before that group, Omaha felt like history, but after them, it started to feel like an expectation.

They came within one game of a national championship with first round arms,

future big leaguers, a shortstop who hit everything, a bullpen full of characters, and

Chad Flack doing Chad Flack things in Tuscaloosa. The legacy, however, is bigger than the final

score of that last game. This team helped change what Carolina baseball believed it could be.

Tonight, we're not going to talk about box scores. We're going to go back to the bus rides,

the clubhouse, nights in Omaha, Bosch memories, and the stories that made this group different.

I'm Joey Powell for Inside Carolina. Special podcast today, Diamond Heel special on the 20-year anniversary of what changed

Carolina baseball.

I'm happy to be joined by Matt Danford, Andrew Carrig and Andrew Miller, Daniel Bard,

Josh Horton, and Chad Flack.

Fellas, I would be remiss if I didn't say I had to look forward to this for quite some time, if nothing else, because it's going to be really unique to have all of these personalities back together for one more time.

And in the 20th anniversary, it was cool to see you guys on the field at the Bosch before the Georgia Tech series.

But I figure we might have a little fun today when we're diving into stuff.

So I want to, I want to start with just talking about setting the scene for where Carolina

baseball was prior to this, right?

The program hadn't been to the college world series since 89.

The 2006 team, you guys, broke through and finished his national runner up in a three-game tilt with Oregon State.

So I'd start here and any of you can feel, you know, move to chime in.

But when you got to Chapel Hill, did it feel like this program was a sleeping giant?

Or did it feel like something that you guys really need to build?

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