Skip to main content

LEADING A DOUBLE LIFE

Bottom of the fifth, bases loaded, two out. Terry Harvey, the
North Carolina State pitcher, had nearly worked out of this jam
as he composed himself and turned to face the Georgia Tech
batter. After a deep breath, Harvey hummed one home.

An instant later the righthander watched his pitch and his 1-0
lead disappear over the outfield fence. As Harvey described it,
"It was like going downfield on a game-winning drive and
coughing it up at the goal line." He should know; he's also the
Wolfpack's quarterback.

As it happened, Harvey retired six of the next seven batters in
this first-round game of the ACC baseball tournament in May, and
N.C. State came back for a 12-inning, 9-5 victory over Tech.
Harvey, who would go 9-4 last season as a starting pitcher and
8-2 as a starting quarterback, came away with a no-decision
despite working 10 1/3 innings. "I hung in there after that one
bad pitch," Harvey said. "I guess football has made me tougher.''

When Harvey was a high school senior, most recruiters told him
he would have to decide between football and baseball. Instead,
he attended a school that allowed him to play both sports. Now a
senior, he is one of several ACC quarterbacks who have also been
ACC pitchers. Last year every school in the conference except
Virginia had a player on its football roster who had both
quarterbacked and pitched while in college.

Why so many pitching quarterbacks in the ACC? Nobody has an
answer, although the ACC is more encouraging than most
conferences of players' participating in multiple sports. But
Harvey has his own theory: "The pressure, the intensity is a
challenge," he says. "At both positions you're either the hero
or the zero, and you're going to wear it one way or the other."

--J.B. Morris

COLOR PHOTO: JIM GUND The Wolfpack's Harvey is one of several two-way types in the ACC. [Terry Harvey playing football]

COLOR PHOTO: SIMON GRIFFITHS [See caption above--Terry Harvey playing baseball]