University of North Carolina Athletics
GoHeels Exclusive: A Perfect Storm
February 22, 2019 | Baseball, Featured Writers
By Pat James, GoHeels.com
Two years ago, during a season in which he emerged as one of North Carolina's weekend starters, Gianluca Dalatri left little time for anything else other than academics and baseball.
Also a freshman during the 2017 season, Austin Bergner said he and his fellow classmates rarely saw Dalatri outside of Boshamer Stadium. They'd often invite Dalatri out to eat. But Bergner can't recall him ever coming.
"I was so focused on doing my best that I wasn't hanging out with all the guys at Avery (Residence Hall)," Dalatri said. "I was doing, not my own thing all the time, but they called my room the attic because they felt like it was so far away from everything else."
Still, Bergner and others kept trying to break that barrier. And one day, they finally did.
At the end of the 2017 fall semester, Dalatri said his then-roommate was cut from the team and chose to leave UNC. That left Dalatri living on his own when the spring semester began. A few weeks later, he sustained an injury that cost him most of his sophomore season.
Aware of all this, Bergner, Tyler Baum and the rest of their housemates wanted to make sure Dalatri wasn't lonely. So, they began inviting him to dinners at their house.
This time, Dalatri, who said he shares a love of cooking with Bergner, chose to come. And he came again and again. By the end of the spring, Dalatri said he was going to Bergner and Baum's house every other day for dinner. He tried as often as possible to buy groceries. But no matter how much he purchased, nothing could equal the significance of their gesture.
"I'm still in debt to them," Dalatri said. "I was going through a really hard time living by myself and being injured. … They just didn't want me to be alone. That's when I really realized, 'OK, these kids, they're pretty special.'"
That's been further established over the last six months.
After a room became available, Dalatri moved into the same house as Baum and Bergner, as well as Dylan Harris and Clemente Inclan, in August. They've grown even closer since then, bonding over home-cooked meals and video games and, of course, talking about pitching. Dalatri and Bergner make dinner three or four times each week. Baum does the dishes and handles the bills.
They're more than housemates; they're brothers. Each of them would tell you that. And they happen to form the nucleus of what might be college baseball's best pitching staff.
'A perfect storm'
Baum, Bergner and Dalatri easily couldn't be here right now, entering their junior seasons. They could've elected to pursue professional baseball careers out of high school, as numerous players of their caliber have done. And nobody would've blamed them.
Yet all three chose to come to Chapel Hill.Â
Ultimately, the Tar Heels lost only one member of their 2016 recruiting class, which was ranked No. 1 nationally by Perfect Game and No. 2 by Baseball America, to the MLB Draft. Those who remain still talk about how unlikely that outcome once seemed.
"I think it was just a perfect storm," Bergner said. "I'm a huge believer in everything happens for a reason, and I don't think it's a coincidence all of us who could have signed ended up showing up here."
For Baum, the decision to attend UNC was an easy one.
Growing up in Ocoee, Fla., Baum said he and his friends regularly watched Carolina men's basketball games. That pastime initially sparked his interest in playing for the Tar Heels. He later learned about the baseball program and the University's academic reputation, and all those factors led him to commit to UNC in October 2014.
Baseball America ranked Baum as the No. 91 overall prospect in the 2016 MLB Draft. But before then, he wrote a letter notifying teams that he planned to honor his college commitment.
"There's no place better in the country than Carolina," he said. "This is my dream school, where I want to be."
Baum never thought he'd be here with Bergner, though. In fact, he never thought Bergner, who he teamed up with as a freshman and sophomore at West Orange High, would make it to college at all. That was the general assumption.
After transferring from West Orange to Windermere Prep before his junior year, Bergner debuted as the No. 1 prospect in Perfect Game's initial Class of 2016 rankings. He stayed at or near that spot for nearly the rest of high school. Most people – including Dalatri, who said he constantly watched videos of Bergner pitching in high school and considered himself Bergner's biggest fan – believed Bergner would be a first-round draft pick.
But Bergner never became enamored with any of that.
He said he relied heavily on his parents, coaches and trainer to keep him grounded. And before his senior season, just months before the 2016 Draft and a likely million-dollar payday, he made a decision that few in his position would be mature enough to make.
Bergner chose to attend Carolina, the school he'd already committed to and a place where he felt like he could grow up.
"I knew I was going to be able to come here and learn a lot from the coaches here," he said, "and also from pitching in the ACC and playing outside of our conference against good teams. I just felt like I was going to become so much better and better off for pro ball experiencing how to live on my own and stuff like that instead of just kind of being thrown to the wolves as an 18-year-old kid in pro ball and being away from my parents for the first time."
That's the position that Dalatri almost found himself in.
As much as he wanted to come to UNC, Dalatri said he didn't think he would. Ranked by Baseball America as the No. 174 overall prospect in the 2016 Draft, he knew he'd receive close to the amount of money that he was looking for if he was selected in the first two rounds. And that nearly happened.
Among the MLB clubs that called him on the first day of the draft, Dalatri said he was prepared to sign with one that contacted him in the first round. It offered less money than he was looking for, though, and he chose to stick with his number.Â
The next day, he registered for summer classes.
"I did think I was signing," Dalatri said. "But God has a weird way of working things out, and I think me not signing and coming here was the best thing that ever happened to me."
Growing pains
Since arriving on campus almost three years ago, Baum, Bergner and Dalatri have all shown flashes of brilliance. But they've had to navigate some challenges, as well, especially last season.
After going 7-3 with a 3.34 ERA and being named a consensus freshman All-American, Dalatri opened his sophomore season as the Tar Heels' Friday starter. He made two starts against USF and East Carolina. But an MRI after the latter revealed a stress reaction in his right throwing elbow. He was subsequently sidelined for 12 weeks.
He returned for UNC's regular-season finale and then made four postseason starts. But in the last – Carolina's 8-6 win over Oregon State in the first game of the College World Series – he threw only 15 pitches before leaving with what was diagnosed as a dead arm.
Although he expected to pitch the whole season, Dalatri said he doesn't view his sophomore campaign as a failure. He still got to pitch in Omaha. He also grew as a person and a player.
"I think I learned patience," he said. "I think I learned an appreciation for the game. The appreciation for the game is probably the most important of that. A lot of times you can take for granted what you have out there, your ability out there and, especially at a place like this, playing in front of all those fans.Â
"That got taken away from me, and really, there was nothing I could do about it. I just learned to take every moment out there and not take it for granted and just enjoy it because you never know when it's your last pitch."
In going 7-0 with a 2.57 ERA as a freshman, Baum primarily served as a midweek starter. He then earned a spot in the weekend rotation before last season, and he became the Tar Heels' Friday starter after Dalatri was diagnosed with his stress reaction.
Baum experienced some success in that role. But he struggled to find consistency.
He eventually moved to the bullpen when Dalatri returned. He made three relief appearances during the NCAA Tournament, and in those, he appeared to regain his confidence. He finished the season 4-1 with a 4.57 ERA.
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"Last year, I had some struggles, some ups and downs," Baum said. "And just working through that in order to get through to the end and build on the end of the last year leading up to this year was big for me."
Bergner also battled inconsistency for much of last season.Â
He proved to be stellar at times, such as when he struck out 12 batters in eight shutout innings against Pittsburgh and struck out 11 in eight innings at NC State. He was also impressive in  retiring 16 consecutive Mississippi State batters in the College World Series. But command issues occasionally hampered him. He finished the season 7-3 with a 4.25 ERA.
Bergner said he never dwelled too much on his performance, though. What pleased him most was how every member of the team bought in and wasn't selfish. The same went for Bergner, who remained focused despite pitching out of the bullpen the first two weeks of the season.Â
"When I got moved to the bullpen at the beginning of the season," Bergner said, "I could've been like, 'Why am I in the bullpen? Why am I not starting?' instead of being ready on Sunday when they called my name out of the bullpen at USF and coming in and shutting that game down and us winning the game. That's something that you can preach, but it's not very valuable if you can't practice it yourself."
Baum embraced a similar attitude. And Dalatri admires both for that.
"It takes a special type of person to be able to deal with that," Dalatri said. "And it takes an even better teammate to not let it affect the team, as well. It's an attribute to the way they're raised, to the people they've become. I just couldn't be prouder of the way they've handled all that."
'Healthy competition'
The thought of him, Bergner and Dalatri at some point comprising UNC's weekend rotation first entered Baum's mind when they arrived as freshmen.Â
It started seeming more possible before last season. But now, it's a reality.
In Carolina's season-opening sweep of Xavier, Dalatri started Friday's game and allowed three runs (one earned) over 2 1/3 innings. Baum started Saturday and allowed two earned runs while striking out seven batters over six innings. Bergner then allowed three runs (two earned) while striking out six over 4 1/3 innings on Sunday.
All three pitchers are expected to assume the same spots in the rotation for this weekend's series against USF – Dalatri will start on Saturday after Friday's game was postponed due to weather, and Baum and Bergner will start the first and second games, respectively, of Sunday's doubleheader. That could very easily change going forward, though.
Caden O'Brien and Joey Lancellotti proved as freshmen last season that they can handle any role. The coaching staff has also been impressed with a few newcomers, including junior college transfer Andrew Grogan and freshman Will Sandy. The latter allowed only one hit across 4 2/3 shutout innings last Friday.
In addition to all that, the Tar Heels don't have a defined closer as of now, and Baum or Bergner could potentially fill that position. But no matter what roles they're in, they figure to be instrumental to the team's success.
"Even though it's the draft year and all of this stuff," Bergner said, "if I take care of what my role is – whether it's out of the bullpen, starter, closer, setup guy, whatever – the draft will handle itself. And that's something my parents have always talked to me about and the coaches, as well. The draft is the draft; I can't control anything that happens in the draft. It's about the team."
Still, a spot in the rotation is what Baum, Bergner and Dalatri have been working toward.
"We're all competing for the same job," Baum said. "But at the end of the day, we're all best friends, as well. So it's healthy competition."
That competitiveness has always existed among them, and each said they've benefitted greatly from it. Now living under the same roof, though, Dalatri said they push one another even more. And that extends beyond their performances on the mound.
It's when they're doing dry work, as was the case last Monday, when Dalatri said he started going through drills about 15 minutes before Bergner, but refused to stop before him. Dalatri said he probably should've made 60 dry throws during that session. Instead, he made about 200.
It's also the case when they're in the weight room or going through conditioning exercises. Dalatri said he completes the 300-yard shuttle run in 49 or 50 seconds when he's paired with Bergner. If he's with anyone else, his time is about five seconds slower.
Dalatri knows things like that are what it will take for each of them – and most importantly, the team – to achieve their goals.
"Pitching on the weekends, it's not easy," Dalatri said. "It's easier to be given the opportunity. It's harder to stay. It's not easy pitching in the ACC and it's not easy facing an ACC lineup three or four times. … To have us three as starters, it's pretty cool. And having us be basically best friends and live together is even cooler to me."Â
