San Diego Padres

MLB teams look to N.C. in Draft

July 25, 2025 Shawn Krest

Wake Forest may have grabbed the spotlight early in last week’s MLB Draft, but the rest of the state’s baseball talent was eventually uncovered. At press time last week, three rounds had been completed. A […]

NC produces over 50 MLB picks

August 2, 2024 Shawn Krest

Major League Baseball reached out to its next generation of players with the 20-round MLB Draft, last week in Texas. As we reported last week, Wake Forest took center stage in the first round, with […]

The Big Dumper leads NC’s representation in MLB postseason

October 12, 2022 Shawn Krest

October is famous for crowning new cult heroes during baseball’s postseason, and this year has already found a prime candidate to join them: The Big Dumper. Cal Raleigh’s nickname — which celebrates the Seattle catcher’s […]

Camels crash 1st round of MLB Draft

July 20, 2022 Brett Friedlander

Members of the Campbell baseball team fancy themselves as “a bunch of nobodies from nowhere” because of their remote location in Buies Creek and the considerable shadow cast by their nationally recognized neighbors at UNC, […]

UCLA COVID issues cancel Holiday Bowl only hours before kickoff

December 28, 2021 Staff and wire report

NC State’s bid for the second 10-win season in school history came to an end less than four hours before it was scheduled to start. The Wolfpack’s Holiday Bowl game against UCLA became the latest […]

Expanded MLB rosters give young players valuable time with big clubs

July 8, 2020 Brett Friedlander

The cancellation of this year’s minor league baseball season was a disappointing blow to many young prospects whose advance up the ranks toward a possible major league career has been put on hold for an […]

100 in 100: Chatham County’s Greg Harris, Siler City’s curveballer

April 13, 2020 Brett Friedlander

North State Journal’s 100 in 100 series will showcase the best athlete from each of North Carolina’s 100 counties. From Alamance to Yancey, each county will feature one athlete who stands above the rest. Some […]

Former Bull Kirby Yates takes long path to All-Star Game

July 10, 2019 Shawn Krest

CLEVELAND — Kirby Yates had a very simple plan for his career in 2017. “I didn’t want to suck,” he said. “I wanted to be better. Plain and simple.” Yates had earned a promotion to […]