May 1, 2018
Boshamer Stadium (Capacity: 4,100)
Chapel Hill, NC
North Carolina Tar Heels vs UNC-Asheville Bulldogs
Final Score: 11 – 5
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We continued our vacation to North Carolina by trekking across the state from west to east. We stopped in the middle (the Piedmont) for a visit to Chapel Hill. This town of 57,000 is a part of the Research Triangle with nearby cities Durham and Raleigh. The University of North Carolina is the school that is the lifeblood of the town and that is even seen visually with their synonymous baby blue color on objects like fire engines and street signs. UNC has a large student body (over 30,000) and is one of the oldest public universities in the U.S. (born in 1789). While the school is consistently a top-ranked program in many disciplines, it’s important to understand that for nearly two decades, many of their athletes attended made-up coast classes and the NCAA failed to give them a harsh punishment. Tar Heel baseball has always been quite successful as the program has made the postseason 30 times, with 10 of those appearances also including a trip to the College World Series. They’ve yet to win a national title, but have been close as they fell in the Finals to Oregon State in 2006 and 2007. Games are played at Boshamer Stadium, a ballpark that closed for a year as it was rebuilt for the 2009 season. The facility is first class and what it might lack in originality is made up for with an abundance of team displays.
Prestige Ranking: 3.5 out of 5
Location
Chapel Hill is a college town that features the campus bordering a central road that is the heartbeat of town. Franklin Street is where the action is and it features a nice blend of restaurants and entertainment with a great music scene. However, I found Franklin less quaint than many other college towns that I’ve been to. My guess is because the Street has four lanes and the amount of commercial franchises was combatively high. I didn’t really go crazy over this one. As for UNC, the campus is lovely with lots of greenspace and historical buildings worth a walking tour. Be sure to check out Old East, the Old Well and the Bell Tower. Visitors can also spend time in Morehead Planetarium or the Botanical Garden.
Location Ranking: 7 out of 10
Accessibility / Parking
Boshamer Stadium is to the south of UNC and Chapel Hill’s core (15-20 minutes by foot) as it is in the Middle Campus with other athletic facilities. The school provides great parking information on their website, but it wasn’t completely accurate as advertised surface spots off of Ridge Road were not available to the public. That sent me over to the Rams Head parking deck, an area I could see getting full for big crowds. We didn’t have an issue, but I found walking out of the door very confusing as believe or not, I couldn’t find the ballpark! I ended up back on campus with students heading to their dorms. The deception comes from the ballpark not being visible as you have to walk a bit before seeing it. Definitely could use some signage for fans. Other distant parking options are available if needed. Interstate access to Chapel Hill is adequate and cars will come down US-501 to reach town. It can get congested around rush hour during weekdays.
Accessibility / Parking Ranking: 5.5 out of 8
Exterior
Like many rebuilt college ballparks, Boshamer Stadium has a brick layout. At least this has purpose as it is consistent with most campus architecture. Stadium shape is curved and has a rather low profile thanks to terrain as both the seating bowl and field sit well below street-level. Fans don’t see much of the third base side of the exterior as Ridge Road heads away from that section. This lay of the land leads to an off-balance, yet perfectly suitable look. At the home plate entrance, the ballpark and field name are on the building, along with a couple of school logos.
Exterior Ranking: 6 out of 10
Concourse
The open concourse is modern with a view of the field and cover from the overhead suite/press level. The area is well decorated with Tar Heel displays and there are some openings to the outside between brick columns. Space is a bit of an issue because tabletops for standing room patrons are obtrusive, being placed near the middle of the walkway in some spots. The concourse gives way to a picnic area in right field, while in left it ends to a ramp that leads to a separate section down the line.
Concourse Ranking: 3.5 out of 5
Food
With a light crowd on hand at this Tuesday game, several stands were closed and that left us with a basic menu. The exception was the “Chronic Tacos” stand, which was good, but not worth missing an inning by being stuck in line. Regional chain Bojangles’ provides the chicken sandwiches. I did look at the offerings from some of the closed stands and they featured various sandwiches, including a Pulled Pork one with the choice of Eastern or Western BBQ sauce.
Food Ranking: 5 out of 8
Interior
What I like about Boshamer is that the seating bowl begins at the top of an 8-foot brick wall that surrounds the infield. This provides an elevated seating deck and the pitch has enough of a grade to enhance the sightlines. Seating is disjointed as a 10-section main seating area needs a walkway connection for the separate bleachers down the left-field line. On the other side, it is connected, but the fit is a bit odd. Overall the shape is negligible to the fan, except for those separate bleachers (which do have the same chairback seats as the rest of the park). Luxury suites and the press section is all in a box perched over the concourse. The coloring is green, which is the same as the seats. Combined with the brick, the look is that overdone “retro” seen all over the country. I would have loved to see their Carolina Blue as the seat shade. At least the chairs are spacious as that is what really matters. In the outfield is a pleasant array of trees mixed with a few buildings.
Interior Ranking: 9 out of 14
Scoreboard
I really like the scoreboard in left field, which is flanked by brick columns. Sitting above line score information is a clear, crisp video screen. This is packed with info and stats during at-bats and then utilized well for video when necessary. At the top is a clock and some logos, including the word script: “Carolina”. As nice as the board is, it exemplifies the lack of originality to this stadium. Compare the scoreboard to what is at Auburn’s Plainsman Park. The structure is nearly identical.
Scoreboard Ranking: 3.5 out of 4
Displays
Can’t say that the ballpark doesn’t have team spirit as UNC has that in full display. The third base side features a separate room in the concourse called the Hall of Honor. All things Carolina Baseball can be found in this space and the displays are too many to name. The pictures are stunning and there is a continuously looping video of their run in the 2015 tournament. Haven’t seen anything like this and I thought it was terrific. Bonus point to the student staff member who welcomed visitors and even entertained children with coloring and a photo up on the wall. Elsewhere, the concourse has an equally impressive amount of displays as sky blue signs honors various accolades of both the individual and team variety. Walls have a plaque here or there and there are several spots with “Carolina” spelled out. My favorite is behind the bleachers as each letter has a picture in the background, plus they added years of each CWS appearance. Great stuff all around.
Displays Ranking: 6 out of 6
Cost
Tickets are inexpensive as they come in at $7 – $10 for ACC games. They are $3 cheaper for non-conference events. Parking is $5, but you may be able to find a spot-on campus that is free and not in the garage. Most food prices aren’t bad as both chicken and burgers come with fries. That goes for $8. A bottled water is $3. On the expensive side is pizza at $7 and tacos (x3) at $13.
Cost Ranking: 7.5 out of 8
Fan Support and Atmosphere
The crowd was sparse on this Tuesday Night as less than 1,000 were on hand. They did a few things to make their presence known, like rhythmically clapping with 2 strikes and 2 outs or standing up to applaud a 10-run inning. North Carolina is perennially in the middle of the ACC attendance standings, though crowd numbers have gone up this season as the team has been pretty good. Seeking out pictures of crowds during weekend conferences games show Boshamer nearly 80% full. Later in the season, UNC didn’t sell out when they were playing at home in the NCAA Regionals, a good gauge of popularity.
Fan Support Ranking: 4.5 out of 8
Atmosphere Ranking: 7.5 out of 14
Other Stuff
The Tar Heels have come close to winning it (including this year as they’ve been ranked in the Top 10 much of the time). In addition to not taking the title in Omaha, UNC was the tournament #1 seed in 2013 and the #2 in 2017……More numbers: Carolina has won 11 regular-season titles and 7 conference tournament championships within the ACC, a league that they have been a long-time member of……The Tar Heel nickname dates back centuries with details on its origins fuzzy. The school mascot is a ram……The stadium’s name comes from Cary C. Boshamer, who donated to the stadium. It is incorrectly referred to as “The Bosh” as Cary’s last name is pronounced “Boss-Hammer”……The field is named after the Bryson family….There is room for about 900 fans to stand and watch the game, however there are no grassy sections.
Game
It was a snappy start as one of the top teams in the country (UNC) went up against one of the worst (Asheville). Zeroes went on the board until the 5th when the Bulldogs scored two. In the bottom half, the Tar Heels put up a ten spot as Asheville went through 5 pitchers. Runs came in on walks, wild pitches and hits. The inning ridiculously took over an hour to complete and the whole game was 3:30. UNC-Chapel Hill won 11-5, though they had to withstand Asheville’s threat in the 9th inning with the bases loaded. Brandon Riley went 3 for 4 with 2 RBI for the Diamond Heels.
Stadium and Arena Visits 
