As the University of North Carolina prepared to play baseball at Duke this wet weekend, the opening ACC series of the season, sophomore first baseman Dustin Ackley had already established that his spectacular freshman season was no fluke.

The Walnut Cove resident hit .402 a year ago and was the consensus national freshman of the year.

Nine games into this season, the left-handed Ackley led the ACC with a .500 average. His father is a former professional baseball player who spent a lengthy career in the minor leagues. It looks like his son may surpass that accomplishment before his career ends. He is a phenomenal hitter and a superb athlete, bringing far better feet and agility to his position in the field than most first basemen.

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Spring practice is only just getting started for the Carolina football team, but there is some early news. First of all, cornerback Jordan Hemby is apparently looking strong at cornerback, which is a surprise. For anyone who remembers how highly recruited Hemby was (Florida or UNC), this may sound silly. How can his playing well be a surprise?

The reason is Hemby's career had been in some doubt because of a serious knee injury. He's had other injuries as well. Now healthy, he's showing the potential recruiters saw in him when he signed out of Morganton. His ability is enabling junior-college signee Melvin Williams to play safety. Carolina also has returning starting cornerback Kendric Burney, who plays in the outfield and is a designated hitter with the baseball team, and rising sophomore Charles Brown.

Coach Butch Davis likes to call Brown "Charlie" Brown, which for anyone who ever read or saw Peanuts is kind of funny with the character's history of trying to kick a football.

But this Charlie Brown is no joke. After an outstanding freshman year, this Brown has been able to add bulk and remain one of the fastest players on defense.

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After a tough freshman season and the emergence of T.J. Yates at quarterback, many of us had written off Scotland County's Cameron Sexton as having a real chance to be the Tar Heels' quarterback. He had Yates ahead of him after last season and red-shirt freshman Mike Paulus behind him.

But in a testament to what determination, hard work and going above and beyond can do, Sexton has apparently gotten off to the best start this spring between he and Paulus. Sexton's dad is a former player himself, and he helped his son get some additional help during the off-season. Cameron is said to now be in the best shape of his life and his mechanics at quarterback have improved immensely.

With Yates recovering from shoulder surgery and missing spring practice, it will be interesting to see how this plays out as the Tar Heels get into the thick of spring drills. The bulk of spring practice is ahead of the team.

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Ackley has established himself as the marquee hitter for the Tar Heels, but he is far from being the only strong bat in the lineup for the team that played for the national championship the last two seasons.

Second baseman Kyle Seager, another left-handed hitter, has been sizzling hot for the Tar Heels in the early going. He entered this weekend's series at Duke second on the team in hitting at .382 and led with 15 RBI.

In a tournament in South Carolina a week ago, the kid had multiple hits every day and they were clutch hits, too. He is no fluke, either. He was the designated hitter for the ACC champs and College World Series team a year ago, and he is a former co-player of the year in North Carolina as a senior in Kannapolis.

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Sylvia Hatchell, the Carolina women's basketball coach, should be the national coach of the year. Just think about this. She lost two key players who led the team to the Final Four in back-to-back seasons, including the unmistakable Ivory Latta (whose jersey was retired this season). Yet the Tar Heels return to go undefeated through the regular season in the ACC and finish atop the standings with a former national champion in the league (Maryland) that still has its key players from that title run.

What Hatchell and her kids have accomplished already this season is amazing, and she deserves some of the recognition that is often withheld from her.