Teams head to Louisville for title play
LOUISVILLE, Ky.—The top-seeded Cardinals get to host this week’s Atlantic Coast Conference tournament just across town at Louisville Slugger Field, this after winning just about everywhere this season.
Originally scheduled to be played in Durham, North Carolina, the ACC moved the tournament last fall because of the state law restricting the rights of LGBT people. As teams begin the first of four straight days of pool play Tuesday on the home field of the Class AAA Louisville Bats. Club officials hope to impress enough to become part of the tournament rotation instead of an emergency call-up.
“The whole goal in this process is to put on as good of an event as possible to be considered,” said Greg Galiette, general manager of the Cincinnati Reds’ affiliate.
“When we got our schedule for the 2017 season, we were looking at this time period as a time to do a concert because for the first time in a while we weren’t going to be home on Memorial Day weekend. We were approached by the ACC to see if we had interest in hosting the tournament and it just naturally fit into the time slot.
“It was almost like the baseball gods made it happen.”
The tournament will be back in Durham next year.
The NCAA and the ACC have said they would again hold championship events in North Carolina after a compromise struck in March to partially erase the impact of a law limiting anti-discrimination protections for lesbians, gays, bisexual and transgender people. The now-repealed House Bill 2 also required transgender people to use restrooms corresponding to the sex on their birth certificates in many public buildings.
LGBT advocates have denounced the replacement law, which still prohibits local governments from barring sexual identity and gender discrimination in workplaces, restaurants and hotels and declares that legislators will decide any future changes in restroom policies.
But with the tournament in Kentucky this year, Louisville (46-9, 23-6 ACC) certainly hopes a loyal fan base that has previously turned out for the NCAA Tournament comes out to help the Cardinals reverse a three-game slide.
The Cardinals, who went 29-4 at home this season, got an advance feel for the 13,131-seat ballpark after a 6-4 win over Northern Kentucky last month. They look to take advantage of the pitcher-friendly park to not only earn their first conference title, but possibly stay home throughout the postseason as they seek their first College World Series berth since 2014.
“It’s really like every other year that I’ve been here where we host a (NCAA) regional and super regional,” said Louisville pitcher/first baseman Brendan McKay, who on Monday was named the ACC’s Player of the Year by league coaches.
“It’s just an opportunity to be in a comfortable zone, (where) you get to sleep in your own bed and pretty much have a normal routine. It’s just a great feeling to know that you’re here.”