University of North Carolina Athletics
Summer Ball Dispatches: Gianluca Dalatri
August 6, 2017 | Baseball
Dear Carolina fans,
This summer was pretty unbelievable with the opportunities I was given and the amount of outstanding people I have met along the way.Â
Being selected to play for the United States Collegiate National Team was a dream come true. It was something I never realistically imagined making and when I was given the opportunity I was overcome with joy. Wearing "USA" across my chest this summer was absolutely surreal. The amount of people that would kill to wear those same three letters makes it all the more special and made me never take it for granted. You never know if you will be given that same opportunity again.
The experience as a whole is something I would not trade for anything. The talent, knowledge, wisdom, and people I was around the whole summer is something that truly has no price tag to me. The things I learned and the opportunities I was given will not only help me with my baseball career but will help me with life as a whole.Â
Playing counties such as Chinese Taipei, Cuba and Japan taught me there is incredible talent not just here in the U.S., but all over the world. Therefore, we aren't just competing with everyone here in America, but we are competing with the rest of the world. Everybody's goal is to play in the Major Leagues, it doesn't matter what country you are from. With that being said, seeing how much talent there is away from the U.S. truly opened my eyes and drives me to work much harder then I did before.Â
Going along with seeing the incredible talent around the world, it was very reassuring to have the success we did as a team by winning every international series. Seeing how our best stacks up against other countries' best, and us coming out on top every time makes wearing USA much more rewarding.Â
With my freshman year officially being wrapped up (including summer ball), I am extremely excited to get back to North Carolina and be back with my teammates and coaches. Last year did not go as we planned and everybody in the country knows that. But that will not be the case this year. We will work harder than last year, I will make sure of it along with all the rest of the upperclassmen. Everyone is ready for the challenge and I cannot wait to get started. It is going to be a special year and everyone feels it. Just a matter of time before we are back in Omaha competing for our program's first National Championship.Â
Go Heels!Â
