Fox, Tar Heels Ready to Begin 2020 Season

2020 Carolina Baseball Media Day Quotes

Head Coach Mike Fox
On the outside expectations for his team
"We like expectations. This is where we want to be. I like our team a lot, I like their attitude and their demeanor. They've worked really hard and they've got good chemistry. We're very untested, we're very unknown in places all over the field and I think that makes the start of the season really exciting. We're excited to get started."

On his starting pitcher for opening day
"Joey Lancellotti is starting Friday. Will Sandy will go Saturday and right now Sunday is to be announced. With our pitching we lost 47 starts from last year with all of the players that we lost. I think we have a chance to be good on the mound, but it will be down to guys like Joey [Lancellotti] which will be a little bit different for him. Max Alba unfortunately took a line drive off his hand in a scrimmage a week ago; he was in the mix to be a starter for us, and still is, but his health is a question mark which is why we're to be announced for Sunday."

On Gianluca Dalatri's recovery from injury last season
"Unfortunately, Gianluca [Dalatri] had a setback. He was really throwing well in the preseason but in a scrimmage a week ago we had to take him off the field in the first inning. He had surgery last week (2/7/20) for a small fracture in his right elbow where he had to have a screw put in. His status is certainly uncertain for the foreseeable future."

On keeping the team focused
"I just tell them to relax and not think about the draft, try to eliminate the other outside noise that people are telling them. I tell them to just enjoy being here, enjoy college baseball, that's the message to everyone knowing that they all have high expectations for themselves."

On what he is most excited about going into this season
"For me it's seeing these players compete against another uniform. We're the sport that prepares the longest before opening day, we've been going since August so they're just anxious to start competing. I like the intangibles we have but we're unproven on the mound. Fortunately, we have Austin Love, we know what he can do when we bring him into the game. We're going to keep him in the bullpen but we've been starting him as well. What excites me is how we're going to mesh and how we're going to figure out the pieces."

On Aaron Sabato's ability at the plate
"Our number one goal is to get him up there with someone on first base. We want Aaron Sabato up there with at least a chance to swing the bat. I think it's going to be a key to have some protection around him. I'm not sure where we are going to hit him yet, but we need some high on-base percentage guys in front of him."

On his team's defensive growth
"We should be much better defensively. That's what I'm most excited for actually. Patrick [Alvarez] over there at third and Mikey [Madej] at second, they can really pick it. They have played really well for us at those positions and we have outfielders that can really cover some ground. Angel Zarate has turned himself into a really, really good defensive outfielder; he is one of our fastest players. No matter what, you still win with pitching and defense so we're going to start with that because hitting has been difficult."

On his message to the young players
"I hope the message is coming from the locker room. Coming from the Sabatos, the (Danny) Serrettis and the (Dylan) Harris's. I hope it's coming from them because I can go up to players and say you earned it, go out there and enjoy it, we believe in you and we trust you. I tell our players you'll know if I believe in you and trust you when you look up there and see your name in the lineup. Hopefully their teammates can help them as much or more than I am."

On his player's hard work paying off
"I think Patrick Alvarez is one of the toughest players we got. He doesn't take a pitch off and Mikey [Madej] is the same way. These guys have worked. Austin Elliott, out of the pen, has red-shirted and we haven't red-shirted a lot of players here for various reasons, but those kids that stay here and work, I'm a big believer that those kids get rewarded at some point for it and I'm thinking and hoping that we're going to see that this season."

Austin Love, Sophomore RHP

On the outlook for this season
"Everything is good. I really like our chances this year because we have a chance to be really good. Our freshmen coming in have a lot of good arms and there are a lot of really good hitters. Our defense has a good chance to be special with a lot of new guys coming in who have a chance to start."

On his role preparing new pitchers to pitch at this level
"Freshmen don't realize how tough it is to pitch in the ACC and against all these good teams we play. I'm trying to help them all the time with the ins and outs on how to prepare and stay focused. The competition is a big step up and every player you're going to face each day is going to be a really good hitter."

On what he is most excited about with this year's team
"The chance to see what our new guys can do. They have all been really good in our scrimmages so it will be a lot of fun to watch."

Aaron Sabato, Sophomore First Baseman

On what he focused on in the off-season
"My defense has definitely been a main thing. I don't want to be limited on the field. I want to be able to play in the 8th and 9th inning. Last year sometimes I would get pulled just for defensive purposes because I was new to the position and I wasn't playing it every day. That's been more of what I've taken personally. I want to be out there in the last outs, I want to be there for my team, and I want to make the big plays in the biggest situations and so being out there and working on the defense this fall with the coaches has been a huge part of my game."

On tuning out the noise
"It's just stuff that comes with the game. It's kind of like how Coach says if you have a good game or you have a bad game you don't want to ride the highs or dip in the lows. You want to stay even-keeled. You try not to read about it, obviously, some of the stuff is really cool and because I want to do this for my whole life; it's one of the things that I've learned through. People will always support you and people will always have bad things to say, so you just try to tune it all out and really just focus on yourself."

On goals set for himself
"I'm just trying to win the national championship for the University of North Carolina. That's really the biggest thing, whatever happens…coming here, day in and day out, working for my team is by far the biggest thing on my mind. Being so close last year to getting to Omaha is not something I want to feel again. I definitely want to be playing in Omaha with all of my teammates."

On what he's most excited about for this year's team
"I'm excited about the way we can pitch and play defense. Hitting is all situational, so for our team pitching and defense-wise the way that we've shown ourselves this fall and this preseason is really going to shock a lot of teams."

Joey Lancellotti, Junior Pitcher

On having a starting role this year
"I actually had a bigger adjustment coming from high school to college. I was always a starter before college, so I thought a starter was where I found myself and when I got to college I was like 'Oh, now I have to learn how to get up and ready to go in the 8th inning real quick and be ready to go.' Then, I got accustomed to closing pretty quickly and I felt really comfortable doing that. Now, I just feel I'm kind of going back to my roots. I think if I was able to adjust there I'll be able to adjust back."

On Omaha being the goal
"That's all everyone here wants. Not even just to make it to Omaha, but obviously to win the national championship and we fell just short (of getting there) last year. We know how awesome 2018 was and I think it goes back to the 2017 team that had a tough loss to Davidson. I remember, I wasn't here for that, but so many of the older guys used that from the year before to push them in 2018. I think we can do the same thing this year. We all know how badly that hurt to go home early and not get to go there last year and I think it's going to leave a little chip on our shoulder this year. It's definitely going to help us out."

Danny Serretti, Sophomore Shortstop
On what he is most excited for this season
"Our team. I really like our team. We've got a lot of new guys, but guys who are gritty. I think we're going to have a different team than last year, but we're going to compete and it's going to be fun."

On excitement about the start of baseball season
"It's awesome. It's been a long wait. We've been going at it since August, so all the hard work is going to come to fruition in a few days."

On what the start of the baseball season is like
"I'd say just exciting. We know that we have a good team here. We're prepared, so I think that's the biggest thing for us. We just have to trust that everything we've done is going to work out, and go win some games."

On what he likes about this team
"I like the new faces. I like our pitching. I think our defense is going to be super solid. Offensively, we're going to attack guys. We're going to have a lot of guys who are going to be able to get on base, and we have a lot of guys who are going to hit it over the fence, as well."

On the team's leadership
"We've got Dallas Tessar, he's probably the most vocal leader on the team. He keeps everyone in check. Then Aaron Sabato leads by example, just seeing him work every day. A lot of the new faces see how they work and they know what works here and what's going to help them succeed."

On expectations in Chapel Hill
"I think any UNC team has a certain expectation. Coach [Mike] Fox instills that into our team, so we expect to win almost every game and expect to compete for a spot at Omaha. Those are just the expectations of UNC baseball, so we're up for the challenge."

Dylan Harris, Senior Outfielder

On having a lot of new players
"I think it's going to make our upperclassmen have to step up a lot more, and we have a good group of upperclassmen this year. I'm having to step up my role by speaking more. I try to lead by example, but I have to talk more to let them know what they need to do better. I have to let them know what's coming with these games because the pressure is going to be high, especially in games two and three with a crowd out there. I think just calming the younger guys down is the biggest thing."

On what he is most excited for this season
"We've got a lot of good competition in the ACC this year. Right now, I think everybody thinks we lost a lot of people, and I think we're going to surprise a lot of people. I think we have a chance to be just as good as last year. We have a lot of young talent and a lot of returners coming back. Our pitching staff is still amazing, and in hitting we're still going to be tough outs and be able to hit the ball out of the park."

On what the team needs to work on most in the first few games
"Going off of our scrimmages, if we throw strikes and play defense, we're going to be in every game. That's probably the biggest thing for us right now."

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Players Mentioned

Max Alba

Patrick Alvarez

Gianluca Dalatri

Austin Elliott

Dylan Harris

Joey Lancellotti

Austin Love

Aaron Sabato

Will Sandy

Danny Serretti

Dallas Tessar

Angel Zarate

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