COMING HOME: Colin Moran (18) is following in the footsteps of uncle B.J. Surhoff — going from Rye to North Carolina. Moran hopes his journey, like Surhoff’s, leads to the major leagues. (
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Colin Moran’s family tree is rooted firmly in professional baseball. So is his future.
From a young age, the North Carolina star third baseman from Rye attended major league games with his famous uncle B.J. Surhoff on the field. Moran hobnobbed with big leaguers and received an inside look at the life of a professional athlete.
“It’s inspirational when you have a family member who’s doing it,” he said. “It paves the way for you.”
Moran likely won’t be the top overall pick in next month’s MLB First-Year Player Draft like Surhoff was 28 years ago, but he is not far off. Moran has emerged as one of the nation’s top hitters for the fifth-ranked Tar Heels, Surfhoff’s alma mater, hitting .364 with 13 home runs, 69 runs scored and a program-record and NCAA-leading 84 RBIs with just 19 strikeouts in 225 at-bats heading into yesterday’s ACC Tournament action.
A left-handed gap-to-gap hitter like Surhoff with the laid back personality and quiet intensity to match, the 6-foot-3 Moran has a chance to be the fourth player in NCAA history to lead the nation in runs scored and RBIs.
An Iona Prep graduate, Moran didn’t get off to a fast start in Chapel Hill. His first fall was rough, a struggle in fact, North Carolina coach Mike Fox said. For the first time in his life, Moran wasn’t hitting; he was overmatched. Over the long winter break, he got his confidence back, thanks in part to his older brother Brian, a left-handed relief pitcher with the Mariners’ Triple-A affiliate who had just finished his second year of professional baseball.
Colin shadowed Brian that month and returned to UNC a different player. He immediately proved he belonged in the starting lineup and was the national Freshman of the Year that spring, leading the Tar Heels to the College World Series, and is on pace for similar acclaim this spring.
“He’s come a long way,” Fox said. “I don’t think anybody who saw Colin Moran in high school or during the summer said he would be one of the best college players in the country as a junior.”
A workout warrior who spends hours after games in the weight room, Colin doles out credit for his success like he sprays hits to all fields, to his parents Diane and Bill, to Surhoff, to his teammates and coaches at North Carolina. Brother Brian, four years his elder, gets the most credit.
It was Brian who would bring him along to his games and practices, Brian who showed him how hard he needed to work by earning his way onto North Carolina’s team as a walk-on, Brian who is nearing his own major league dream.
“He helps me in every way, being a good role model, being there when I need him,” Colin said.
He doesn’t have any specific memories of watching Surhoff play, other than wanting that to be him one day. One postgame sticks out. The Orioles had just won the American League Division Series in 1998, and in the raucous celebration, Moran was wandering around the bowels of Camden Yards. Pitcher Scott Erickson was on the trainer’s table, and called him over. Expecting a high-five or a pat on the back, he obliged.
“I went over there and said ‘Hey’ and he poured a beer on me,” Colin recalled, laughing. “I cried. Looking back on it, it was really funny.”
Watching the same guy they would see at family barbecues or during holidays at the top of the sports world convinced the two brothers a future in baseball was possible. Surhoff, 48 years old now with four children, has offered pointers when the time is right, but his biggest contribution was his own career — which began in 1987 and spanned 19 seasons, with the Brewers, Orioles, Braves then back to the O’s before retiring following the 2005 season.
“It gave us an idea of what we wanted to do and how to get there,” Brian said. “It makes it that much more real and allows you to see how to get to that point.”
Colin is projected to go in the top half of the first round in next month’s draft. Some services even have him being selected as high as the top five. Baseball America executive editor Jim Callis has him rated as the second-best college baseball position player eligible for the draft, next to University of San Diego first baseman Kris Bryant.
“He’s going to hit against anybody,” said one AL cross-checker who has followed Colin since his days at Iona Prep. “In the times I’ve seen him, he’s never backed down.”
Callis said there are concerns about Moran’s athleticism at third base, but he said the argument can be made Moran is the best pure hitter in the draft.
“There is no weakness at the plate,” Callis said, raving about Moran’s patience, pitch recognition and ability to hit to all fields. “He should be able to hit at the next level, and hit well. I think he’s a potential all-star bat.”
Moran is taking it all in stride, like next month’s big day is just another pitcher he will face. There is a chance one day the two brothers could face each other on a major league diamond — in one of the stadiums they dreamed of reaching all those years ago while watching their famous uncle.
zbraziller@nypost.com