When the NCAA baseball tournament committee revealed its brackets on Memorial Day, it unwittingly created a Cary homecoming for more than a half dozen players and one coach.

Three of the four teams — North Carolina, UNC Wilmington and Elon — at the USA Baseball National Training Complex last weekend, have ties to the area.

North Carolina, the region’s No. 1 seed, has on its roster junior catcher Tim Federowicz, a 2005 Apex graduate, and Michael Knox, a 2007 Apex graduate who redshirted this season.

UNC Wilmington, the region’s No. 2 seed, has as its head coach Mark Scalf, a 1976 Cary High alum, and six players from area high schools: sophomore infielder Matt Holt (Green Hope, 2005), sophomore infielder Michael Rooney (Cary, 2006), sophomore outfielder Rhett Miller (Athens Drive, 2006), sophomore pitcher Bryan Booth (Cary, 2006), sophomore pitcher Seth Frankoff (Apex, 2006) and freshman catcher David Shambley (Green Hope, 2007).

Elon, the region’s No. 3 seed, has on its roster junior outfielder and pitcher Cory Harrilchak (Cary, 2005) and senior pitcher Greg Jones (Green Hope, 2003).

“There was a lot of guys from the Tri-Seven Conference I played against in high school on UNCW’s team.” Federowicz said. “It was good to see them again and see they’re still playing good. It kind of stinks for them it ended this way, but I’m happy.”

UNC rolls

North Carolina rolled through the regional by defeating Mount St. Mary’s 16-8 on Friday, UNCW 5-1 on Saturday and UNCW 7-3 on Sunday.

As a result, the Tar Heels extended their season-long stay at the USA Baseball Complex for another week. They will face Coastal Carolina, winner of the Conway (S.C.) Regional, in a Super Regional series in Cary this weekend. Game 1 is Saturday at noon. Game 2 is Sunday at 1 p.m. Game 3, if necessary, will be Monday at 12:30 p.m. or 7:30 p.m. The series winner will move on to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.

The Chanticleers (50-12) were one of the first teams UNC (49-12) faced in Cary this spring. In the Tar Heels’ third game at Thomas Brooks Park, Coastal drilled Carolina 11-4. UNC had three errors and allowed eight unearned runs.

“Well I know they beat us like a drum last time we played them,” said UNC coach Mike Fox. “We know how good they are and they’ve been good for a number of years. … They present a number of problems offensively, with speed and power, you see all those runs they score. They are a scary club.”

Federowicz keys Carolina charge

UNCW took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning Sunday thanks to Miller’s RBI single.

The Seahawks maintained that lead until the bottom of the fifth, when UNC right fielder Tim Fedroff singled home Dustin Ackley to knot the score at 1-1.

With two outs and a runner at second, UNCW elected to intentionally walk Kyle Seager, which brought Federowicz to the plate.

“I really wanted to hit that inning,” Federowicz said. “They walked Seager to get to me and I really liked that because I knew what the guy was throwing all day. I had his pitches and I felt like he was getting tired and I got a good pitch to hit. It was also good we got the rest of our lineup up and got into their bullpen more.”

With the count even at 1-1, Federowicz belted a single to left field, driving in Fedroff as the go-ahead run and keeping the inning alive.

The next man up, DH Mark Fleury, crushed a three-run home run over the right-field wall to put the Tar Heels firmly in control, 5-1. They never looked back on their way to clinching a third straight trip to a Super Regional.

Stunning comeback

Heading into the ninth inning of Sunday’s first elimination game, Elon led UNCW 11-4 and looked like it would be the team to face North Carolina later in the evening.

But the Seahawks scored 11 runs — all of them earned — in their final at-bat to defeat the Phoenix 15-11.

“Well it is the most amazing comeback that I have ever seen,” Frankoff said. “Like Coach Scalf said, once we strung a few hits together, we started believing.”

All six players from the area had a hand in the game.

Frankoff started on the mound and threw five innings, where he allowed two runs, six hits and a walk to go with five strikeouts. It was his only appearance of the weekend.

Shambley started as the designated hitter and went 0-for-2, and it was the only game he played all weekend.

Booth pitched to just one hitter, but he got credit for two-thirds of an inning and he earned the decision. In the bottom of the eighth, he entered the game with runners at first and second and one out. (The runner at second base was Harrilchak, a former teammate at Cary High). Booth induced Chase Austin to fly out to left field, and Harrilchak was doubled up at second base to end the inning.

“I was just glad we came back and won,” Booth said. “Me getting the win’s a plus. But we pulled it out, that’s the best part.”

To lead off the ninth, Rooney singled up the middle. Three batters later, he scored, cutting the UNCW deficit to 11-5. Four batters later, with UNCW trailing 11-9, Miller drew a walk. Jes Synder then walked to load the bases, and Rooney came up again. Again he smacked a single up the middle, driving in two runs, including Miller who represented the tying run.

Shane French followed with a two-run double off the wall — Rooney being the second run — to give the Seahawks a 13-11 lead. Holt then pinch ran for French, and he scored on Daniel Hargrave’s single to put UNCW ahead 14-11.

“All we wanted to do was single them to death, put the ball in play and make them make plays, and we were fortunate to find enough holes to get guys moving around the bases,” said Rooney, who went 2-for-4 in the game, with two RBIs and two runs scored. “And Shane French got a big hit, the double off the wall to give us the lead. That was definitely the best team effort we’ve had all season long.”

Comeback, Part II

Rooney got the comeback against Elon started with a single up the middle to lead off the ninth.

Against UNC, with the Seahawks down 7-2 to start the ninth, Rooney was the inning’s first batter. And like he did earlier in the day, he belted a single up the middle.

Immediately, he thought another ninth-inning rally was in the cards.

“I got that single in the ninth, and that was the first thing that popped in my head,” he said.

Though Rooney came around to score later in the inning, the rally fell short and the Seahawks’ season ended.

Booth vs. Federowicz

After earning the decision against Elon, Booth took the mound again Sunday evening and pitched an inning against UNC. His most memorable out was his final one.

He got ahead 1-2 on Federowicz and then whiffed the UNC catcher on a called third strike.

“It was fun,” Booth said. “He was tough in high school. He’s gotten better and I’ve gotten better, so it was fun battling him for that one out. It’s always fun going against him because he’s a good player.”

Scalf on homecoming

Like a half dozen of his players, Scalf is no stranger to Cary. He grew up in town, graduated from Cary High in 1976 and is a member of the school’s Sports Hall of Fame. He spent several weeks here last summer as an assistant with the USA Baseball National Team.

This was the first time he came home with the Seahawks, whom he has been the head coach of since 1992.

“Well, it’s nice to be back here, no doubt,” said Scalf, who is also a UNCW alum and was an assistant baseball coach there from 1984-91 before being promoted to head coach. “To be able to get back and see some familiar faces, it’s always an enjoyable opportunity, and hopefully we’ll have the opportunity to get back in this area in the future.”