University of North Carolina Athletics

The Bosh for the Tennessee game
Photo by: Joe Bray
This Day In Tar Heel Baseball History: June 2
June 2, 2020 | Baseball
CHAPEL HILLÂ - North Carolina looks at "On This Day in Tar Heel History", as Tom Jensen shares his memories as an avid Tar Heel fan and regular at Boshamer Stadium.Â
June 2
For today's version of 'This Day in Recent Carolina Baseball History' we go back to 2007, 2018, and 2019 for the most exciting (and for a couple Heels joyfully painful!) game the Heels have ever played against ECU, a winners bracket victory thanks to a big home run by Zack Gahagan, and a regional championship winner against Tennessee. Plus a quick hit from 2006.
On June 2, 2007 the Heels hosted East Carolina in a wild winners bracket game at the Bosh. The game started off normally enough. Alex White threw a 1-2-3 1st and in the bottom half Reid Fronk singled, went to 2nd on a Tim Fedroff grounder, moved to 3rd on a single by Dustin Ackley, and came around to score on a sac fly by Tim Federowicz for a 1-0 lead.
Alex threw a scoreless 2nd but then the 3rd was a bit of a disaster with the Pirates putting 5 runs on the board to go ahead 5-1.
In the bottom of the inning though the Heels fought right back. Tim Fedroff worked a leadoff walk and then back to back errors with Dustin Ackley and Tim Federowicz hitting loaded the bases with nobody out.Â
That brought up Josh Horton in a situation where the Heels needed a big hit, and he delivered with a double to right that brought a couple runs around and cut the deficit to 5-3. Chad Flack followed with a walk to reload the bases and then Seth Williams drew a walk as well to cut the deficit to 5-4. A Garrett Gore FC brought Josh home to tie the game at 5.
After the tough 3rd inning Alex settled back in. He threw a 1-2-3 4th and then when the Pirates got a 1 out single in the 5th he immediately got a double play to end the inning. But ECU got a pair of runs in the 6th to go up 7-5 and Matt Danford came in for Alex to finish the inning.
The hallmark of this day was that the Heels took a lot of punches but they also continuously punched right back. In the bottom of the 6th Reid Fronk worked a full count with 2 outs and then singled to keep the inning going. Tim Fedroff followed with a triple to bring him home and cut the deficit to 7-6.
The key to the Heels' big 3rd inning had been ECU making errors in back to back at bats by Dustin Ackley and Tim Federowicz. In the 6th it happened again. Dusty hit a ball to short that should have been the last out of the inning but it was thrown away, bringing the runner in from 3rd to tie the game at 7. Tim Federowicz hit another one to short that resulted in another error and put runners on 1st and 2nd.
That brought up Josh Horton and after working the count full he again came up with a big hit, singling to center to score Dusty and put the Heels back up 8-7.
But ECU got a run in the 7th to tie it back up and 2 runs in the 8th to go back up 10-8. And the Heels couldn't do anything in the 8th, sending the game on to the 9th with the same score.
I think this is the moment where it really hit me for the first time how hard it is to get to Omaha. We'd had an incredible season and there wasn't a shred of doubt we were one of the best teams in the country. But if you happen to lose the Saturday game in your regional- and this is baseball so there's a perfectly good chance that's going to happen- then you have to win 3 games in 2 days on Sunday and Monday with a depleted pitching staff and most times you just aren't going to be able to pull that off no matter how good you are.Â
It doesn't matter how great you were all season once you get into that situation and I will admit I sat there thinking, man, what a waste to have such a great season and just like that your dreams go poof. But thankfully the players had other ideas.
Rob Wooten came in for the 9th and after a leadoff single he got a pair of strikeouts and a pop out to end the threat and bring the Heels to their last chance.Â
Mike Cavasinni pinch hit to lead off the 9th and drew a walk. Then Seth Williams got walked too. A perfect bunt from Garrett Gore moved them both into scoring position with 1 out.
With Reid Fronk at the plate a wild pitch brought Cavi home and moved Seth to 3rd with the tying run. 10-9. Reid worked a full count and finally singled to bring Seth home and tie the game. 10-10. On the very next pitch Tim Fedroff singled and moved Reid up to 2nd.
That brought up Dustin Ackley with runners on 1st and 2nd and 1 out. He took ball one, then ball two. On the third pitch he singled up the middle, Reid was sent home, and he beat the throw to the plate to give the Heels an 11-10 come from behind win.
Bedlam ensued- one of the wildest postgame celebrations the Heels have ever had. So wild in fact that Rob Wooten's mouth accidentally gashed Reid Fronk's head in the dog pile, costing Rob a tooth and necessitating 5 stitches in the back of Reid's head. My guess is that neither of them minded too much but it was certainly the most carnage I can ever remember in a postgame celebration.
The dramatic come from behind win sent the Heels on to the regional championship game and set them on to the path to the 2nd of what would be 4 straight Omaha appearances. It *is* really hard to make it to the College World Series and this game certainly showed how quickly things can go wrong but the Heels from
2006-2009 were so good they just overcame what they needed to overcome and made it anyway.
Tim Fedroff (including a triple, 2 runs, and an RBI) and Reid Fronk (including 3 runs and an RBI) led the way for the Heels with 3 hits each. Josh Horton (including a double, 3 RBI, and a run), Dustin Ackley (including 2 runs and an RBI), and Garrett Gore each had a pair of hits. Tim Federowicz and Seth Williams each singled and drove in and scored a run, and Chad Flack had a single to round out the hits. Rob Wooten got the win for a scoreless 9th, his 4th of the season.
On June 2, 2018 after a long rain delay the Heels hosted Houston in a winners bracket game at the Bosh. The Cougars were the 'home' team in Chapel Hill. Neither team scored in the 1st, with Luca Dalatri allowing just a 1 out single on the mound for the Heels.
With 2 outs in the 2nd Brandon Martorano walked, bringing Zack Gahagan to the plate. Zack was a steady four year contributor for the Heels. He ended up with almost 200 hits and 150 RBI's for his career. He may have made his biggest contribution on those fronts right here. He worked a full count, and fouled off four balls along the way. Finally on the 10th pitch of the at bat he'd worn the Cougars pitcher down and got something he wanted to hit. He knocked the ball out of the park to left to give the Heels a 2-0 lead.
Luca threw a scoreless bottom of the 2nd and in the top of the 3rd Kyle Datres drew a leadoff walk and stole 2nd base. Michael Busch singled to put runners on the corners, and a on a 1-1 count where Houston perhaps wasn't expecting it Cody Roberts bunted to bring Kyle home and make it 3-0.
Luca threw a scoreless 3rd and then a scoreless 4th. He was consistently allowing the Cougars one base runner per inning but then taking care of business. Finally they got on the board with a solo shot in the 5th to cut the Heels lead to 3-1. Luca finished his day going 5 innings where he allowed just 1 run on 4 hits and a walk. Given that he'd missed most of the season with an injury it was quite an outing.
Brett Daniels came on for the 6th, got an out on the first pitch he threw, and then after allowing a 1 out single got a double play from the next hitter to end the inning.Â
Josh Hiatt came in with runners on 1st and 2nd and no one out in the 7th. A wild pitch immediately moved the tying run into scoring position, but Josh followed that up with a strikeout for the first out of the inning. A passed ball moved the runners up and cut the Heels lead to 3-2.
Next up came the biggest play of Josh Ladowski's career as a Tar Heel. The former star high school quarterback came in to play right field in the bottom of the 7th. The Houston batter hit the ball to right, seemingly deep enough to bring in the run from 3rd and tie the game. But Josh caught the ball and threw a rope home to nail the runner at the plate and send the game on to the 8th inning with the Heels still running ahead.
In the 8th Cody Roberts had an incredible at bat with 1 out. He fouled off 5 pitches on a full count and finally on the 11th pitch of the at bat he drew a walk. A Brandon Riley grounder got him up to 2nd with 2 down. Ike Freeman fell behind 1-2 but then singled through the left side to give the Heels some much needed insurance and make it 4-2.
Josh threw a 1-2-3 8th, then struck out the leadoff hitter in the 9th. The Cougars hit a solo home run to get back to within 4-3. But Josh came back by getting a fly out to center, and then struck out the final Cougar hitter of the game swinging to send the Heels on to the regional championship.
Josh got the save for 3 innings of work where he struck out 4 and only allowed the one hit. It was his 5th of the year. Luca Dalatri got his 2nd win of the season for the 5 solid innings he threw to start the game.
Ike Freeman (including an RBI) and Michael Busch each had a pair of hits for the Heels. Zack Gahagan's game winning 2 run blast ended up being the only extra base hit of the game for the Heels. Kyle Datres and Brandon Martorano each singled and scored a run to round out the hitting for the Heels. Cody Roberts also played a key role in driving in and scoring a run.
On June 2, 2019 the Heels faced off against Tennessee in the regional championship game. They were also closely following developments in Atlanta where Auburn was hoping to eliminate Georgia Tech in their regional championship game. If the Heels won and the Jackets lost, the Heels would get to host a super regional the next weekend, quite a development when their prospects for even hosting a regional had looked pretty hopeless 9 days earlier.
The Heels were the 'road' team at the Bosh and they set the tone pretty quickly. Aaron Sabato and Danny Serretti singled with 1 out in the first and moved up on a passed ball, then an Ike Freeman walk loaded the bases.Â
Ashton McGee worked a full count, fouled a ball off, and then singled up the middle to score Aaron and Danny and give the Heels a 2-0 lead. Dylan Harris followed by singling through the right side to score Ike and make it 3-0. A wild pitch moved the runners up to 2nd and 3rd, and then with 2 outs another wild pitch brought Ashton in to score and make it 4-0 before Tennessee even had a chance to hit.
Austin Bergner was on the bump for the Heels and threw a 1-2-3 1st with a pair of strikeouts before Tennessee got one back in the 2nd. Austin came back with a 1-2-3 3rd before Tennessee got another one in the 4th to cut the Heels lead to 4-2.
Austin threw a scoreless 5th and in the 6th the Heels got a little insurance. Caleb Roberts drew a 1 out walk and with 2 down Michael Busch worked a walk too before Aaron Sabato singled to load the bases. That brought up Danny Serretti and he got ahead 2-0, the Vols got a strike, and then took another couple of balls for an RBI walk that brought Caleb home and got the lead back up to 5-2.
Austin threw a 1-2-3 6th with a pair of strikeouts, then worked around a 1 out double for a scoreless 7th with another pair of strikeouts. He finished his day going 7 innings, striking out 8, and allowing only 4 hits.
Joey Lancellotti came on for the 8th and retired the first two hitters he faced. Tennessee hit a pair of two out singles, but Joey got out of the inning with a groundball to 1st.Â
The 9th followed a similar pattern. Joey got the first 2 outs, but then walked a couple of Vols to make it a little stressful and bring the tying run to the plate. But he struck out the final hitter of the game swinging without even throwing a ball to make the Heels the 2019 Chapel Hill Regional champions.
Joey got his 3rd save of the season and Austin got the win to improve to 6-1 on the year for his stellar outing. Meanwhile Auburn defeated Georgia Tech 4–1 to win the Atlanta Regional, setting up a Super Regionals match in Chapel Hill with the Heels the following weekend.
Dallas Tessar (including a double) and Aaron Sabato (including a run) each had a pair of hits for the Heels. Ashton McGee singled, drove in a pair of runs, and scored one, Danny Serretti singled and drove in and scored a run, and Dylan Harris singled and drove in a run to round out the hitting for the Heels.
And a quick hit from 2006:
-The Heels won the first regional game they hosted at the Bosh in the Mike Fox era by a 15-7 margin over Maine. Jay Cox led the Heels with 3 hits, including a home run and a double, and drove in 5 runs and scored 4 times. Kyle Shelton (including 2 RBI and 2 runs), Chad Flack (including 2 runs and an RBI), Tim Federowicz (including 2 runs), and Mike Cavasinni (including an RBI) each had a pair of hits.Â
Reid Fronk and Seth Williams each drove in and scored a run, Josh Horton scored a pair of runs, Benji Johnson drove in a run, and Bryan Steed scored a run.Â
Matt Danford got his 6th win of the season for 1.2 innings of work in relief. Jonathan Hovis threw a 1-2-3 7th and Tyler Trice pitched the last couple innings to close it out. The win made the Heels 46-13 for the season.Â
June 2
For today's version of 'This Day in Recent Carolina Baseball History' we go back to 2007, 2018, and 2019 for the most exciting (and for a couple Heels joyfully painful!) game the Heels have ever played against ECU, a winners bracket victory thanks to a big home run by Zack Gahagan, and a regional championship winner against Tennessee. Plus a quick hit from 2006.
On June 2, 2007 the Heels hosted East Carolina in a wild winners bracket game at the Bosh. The game started off normally enough. Alex White threw a 1-2-3 1st and in the bottom half Reid Fronk singled, went to 2nd on a Tim Fedroff grounder, moved to 3rd on a single by Dustin Ackley, and came around to score on a sac fly by Tim Federowicz for a 1-0 lead.
Alex threw a scoreless 2nd but then the 3rd was a bit of a disaster with the Pirates putting 5 runs on the board to go ahead 5-1.
In the bottom of the inning though the Heels fought right back. Tim Fedroff worked a leadoff walk and then back to back errors with Dustin Ackley and Tim Federowicz hitting loaded the bases with nobody out.Â
That brought up Josh Horton in a situation where the Heels needed a big hit, and he delivered with a double to right that brought a couple runs around and cut the deficit to 5-3. Chad Flack followed with a walk to reload the bases and then Seth Williams drew a walk as well to cut the deficit to 5-4. A Garrett Gore FC brought Josh home to tie the game at 5.
After the tough 3rd inning Alex settled back in. He threw a 1-2-3 4th and then when the Pirates got a 1 out single in the 5th he immediately got a double play to end the inning. But ECU got a pair of runs in the 6th to go up 7-5 and Matt Danford came in for Alex to finish the inning.
The hallmark of this day was that the Heels took a lot of punches but they also continuously punched right back. In the bottom of the 6th Reid Fronk worked a full count with 2 outs and then singled to keep the inning going. Tim Fedroff followed with a triple to bring him home and cut the deficit to 7-6.
The key to the Heels' big 3rd inning had been ECU making errors in back to back at bats by Dustin Ackley and Tim Federowicz. In the 6th it happened again. Dusty hit a ball to short that should have been the last out of the inning but it was thrown away, bringing the runner in from 3rd to tie the game at 7. Tim Federowicz hit another one to short that resulted in another error and put runners on 1st and 2nd.
That brought up Josh Horton and after working the count full he again came up with a big hit, singling to center to score Dusty and put the Heels back up 8-7.
But ECU got a run in the 7th to tie it back up and 2 runs in the 8th to go back up 10-8. And the Heels couldn't do anything in the 8th, sending the game on to the 9th with the same score.
I think this is the moment where it really hit me for the first time how hard it is to get to Omaha. We'd had an incredible season and there wasn't a shred of doubt we were one of the best teams in the country. But if you happen to lose the Saturday game in your regional- and this is baseball so there's a perfectly good chance that's going to happen- then you have to win 3 games in 2 days on Sunday and Monday with a depleted pitching staff and most times you just aren't going to be able to pull that off no matter how good you are.Â
It doesn't matter how great you were all season once you get into that situation and I will admit I sat there thinking, man, what a waste to have such a great season and just like that your dreams go poof. But thankfully the players had other ideas.
Rob Wooten came in for the 9th and after a leadoff single he got a pair of strikeouts and a pop out to end the threat and bring the Heels to their last chance.Â
Mike Cavasinni pinch hit to lead off the 9th and drew a walk. Then Seth Williams got walked too. A perfect bunt from Garrett Gore moved them both into scoring position with 1 out.
With Reid Fronk at the plate a wild pitch brought Cavi home and moved Seth to 3rd with the tying run. 10-9. Reid worked a full count and finally singled to bring Seth home and tie the game. 10-10. On the very next pitch Tim Fedroff singled and moved Reid up to 2nd.
That brought up Dustin Ackley with runners on 1st and 2nd and 1 out. He took ball one, then ball two. On the third pitch he singled up the middle, Reid was sent home, and he beat the throw to the plate to give the Heels an 11-10 come from behind win.
Bedlam ensued- one of the wildest postgame celebrations the Heels have ever had. So wild in fact that Rob Wooten's mouth accidentally gashed Reid Fronk's head in the dog pile, costing Rob a tooth and necessitating 5 stitches in the back of Reid's head. My guess is that neither of them minded too much but it was certainly the most carnage I can ever remember in a postgame celebration.
The dramatic come from behind win sent the Heels on to the regional championship game and set them on to the path to the 2nd of what would be 4 straight Omaha appearances. It *is* really hard to make it to the College World Series and this game certainly showed how quickly things can go wrong but the Heels from
2006-2009 were so good they just overcame what they needed to overcome and made it anyway.
Tim Fedroff (including a triple, 2 runs, and an RBI) and Reid Fronk (including 3 runs and an RBI) led the way for the Heels with 3 hits each. Josh Horton (including a double, 3 RBI, and a run), Dustin Ackley (including 2 runs and an RBI), and Garrett Gore each had a pair of hits. Tim Federowicz and Seth Williams each singled and drove in and scored a run, and Chad Flack had a single to round out the hits. Rob Wooten got the win for a scoreless 9th, his 4th of the season.
On June 2, 2018 after a long rain delay the Heels hosted Houston in a winners bracket game at the Bosh. The Cougars were the 'home' team in Chapel Hill. Neither team scored in the 1st, with Luca Dalatri allowing just a 1 out single on the mound for the Heels.
With 2 outs in the 2nd Brandon Martorano walked, bringing Zack Gahagan to the plate. Zack was a steady four year contributor for the Heels. He ended up with almost 200 hits and 150 RBI's for his career. He may have made his biggest contribution on those fronts right here. He worked a full count, and fouled off four balls along the way. Finally on the 10th pitch of the at bat he'd worn the Cougars pitcher down and got something he wanted to hit. He knocked the ball out of the park to left to give the Heels a 2-0 lead.
Luca threw a scoreless bottom of the 2nd and in the top of the 3rd Kyle Datres drew a leadoff walk and stole 2nd base. Michael Busch singled to put runners on the corners, and a on a 1-1 count where Houston perhaps wasn't expecting it Cody Roberts bunted to bring Kyle home and make it 3-0.
Luca threw a scoreless 3rd and then a scoreless 4th. He was consistently allowing the Cougars one base runner per inning but then taking care of business. Finally they got on the board with a solo shot in the 5th to cut the Heels lead to 3-1. Luca finished his day going 5 innings where he allowed just 1 run on 4 hits and a walk. Given that he'd missed most of the season with an injury it was quite an outing.
Brett Daniels came on for the 6th, got an out on the first pitch he threw, and then after allowing a 1 out single got a double play from the next hitter to end the inning.Â
Josh Hiatt came in with runners on 1st and 2nd and no one out in the 7th. A wild pitch immediately moved the tying run into scoring position, but Josh followed that up with a strikeout for the first out of the inning. A passed ball moved the runners up and cut the Heels lead to 3-2.
Next up came the biggest play of Josh Ladowski's career as a Tar Heel. The former star high school quarterback came in to play right field in the bottom of the 7th. The Houston batter hit the ball to right, seemingly deep enough to bring in the run from 3rd and tie the game. But Josh caught the ball and threw a rope home to nail the runner at the plate and send the game on to the 8th inning with the Heels still running ahead.
In the 8th Cody Roberts had an incredible at bat with 1 out. He fouled off 5 pitches on a full count and finally on the 11th pitch of the at bat he drew a walk. A Brandon Riley grounder got him up to 2nd with 2 down. Ike Freeman fell behind 1-2 but then singled through the left side to give the Heels some much needed insurance and make it 4-2.
Josh threw a 1-2-3 8th, then struck out the leadoff hitter in the 9th. The Cougars hit a solo home run to get back to within 4-3. But Josh came back by getting a fly out to center, and then struck out the final Cougar hitter of the game swinging to send the Heels on to the regional championship.
Josh got the save for 3 innings of work where he struck out 4 and only allowed the one hit. It was his 5th of the year. Luca Dalatri got his 2nd win of the season for the 5 solid innings he threw to start the game.
Ike Freeman (including an RBI) and Michael Busch each had a pair of hits for the Heels. Zack Gahagan's game winning 2 run blast ended up being the only extra base hit of the game for the Heels. Kyle Datres and Brandon Martorano each singled and scored a run to round out the hitting for the Heels. Cody Roberts also played a key role in driving in and scoring a run.
On June 2, 2019 the Heels faced off against Tennessee in the regional championship game. They were also closely following developments in Atlanta where Auburn was hoping to eliminate Georgia Tech in their regional championship game. If the Heels won and the Jackets lost, the Heels would get to host a super regional the next weekend, quite a development when their prospects for even hosting a regional had looked pretty hopeless 9 days earlier.
The Heels were the 'road' team at the Bosh and they set the tone pretty quickly. Aaron Sabato and Danny Serretti singled with 1 out in the first and moved up on a passed ball, then an Ike Freeman walk loaded the bases.Â
Ashton McGee worked a full count, fouled a ball off, and then singled up the middle to score Aaron and Danny and give the Heels a 2-0 lead. Dylan Harris followed by singling through the right side to score Ike and make it 3-0. A wild pitch moved the runners up to 2nd and 3rd, and then with 2 outs another wild pitch brought Ashton in to score and make it 4-0 before Tennessee even had a chance to hit.
Austin Bergner was on the bump for the Heels and threw a 1-2-3 1st with a pair of strikeouts before Tennessee got one back in the 2nd. Austin came back with a 1-2-3 3rd before Tennessee got another one in the 4th to cut the Heels lead to 4-2.
Austin threw a scoreless 5th and in the 6th the Heels got a little insurance. Caleb Roberts drew a 1 out walk and with 2 down Michael Busch worked a walk too before Aaron Sabato singled to load the bases. That brought up Danny Serretti and he got ahead 2-0, the Vols got a strike, and then took another couple of balls for an RBI walk that brought Caleb home and got the lead back up to 5-2.
Austin threw a 1-2-3 6th with a pair of strikeouts, then worked around a 1 out double for a scoreless 7th with another pair of strikeouts. He finished his day going 7 innings, striking out 8, and allowing only 4 hits.
Joey Lancellotti came on for the 8th and retired the first two hitters he faced. Tennessee hit a pair of two out singles, but Joey got out of the inning with a groundball to 1st.Â
The 9th followed a similar pattern. Joey got the first 2 outs, but then walked a couple of Vols to make it a little stressful and bring the tying run to the plate. But he struck out the final hitter of the game swinging without even throwing a ball to make the Heels the 2019 Chapel Hill Regional champions.
Joey got his 3rd save of the season and Austin got the win to improve to 6-1 on the year for his stellar outing. Meanwhile Auburn defeated Georgia Tech 4–1 to win the Atlanta Regional, setting up a Super Regionals match in Chapel Hill with the Heels the following weekend.
Dallas Tessar (including a double) and Aaron Sabato (including a run) each had a pair of hits for the Heels. Ashton McGee singled, drove in a pair of runs, and scored one, Danny Serretti singled and drove in and scored a run, and Dylan Harris singled and drove in a run to round out the hitting for the Heels.
And a quick hit from 2006:
-The Heels won the first regional game they hosted at the Bosh in the Mike Fox era by a 15-7 margin over Maine. Jay Cox led the Heels with 3 hits, including a home run and a double, and drove in 5 runs and scored 4 times. Kyle Shelton (including 2 RBI and 2 runs), Chad Flack (including 2 runs and an RBI), Tim Federowicz (including 2 runs), and Mike Cavasinni (including an RBI) each had a pair of hits.Â
Reid Fronk and Seth Williams each drove in and scored a run, Josh Horton scored a pair of runs, Benji Johnson drove in a run, and Bryan Steed scored a run.Â
Matt Danford got his 6th win of the season for 1.2 innings of work in relief. Jonathan Hovis threw a 1-2-3 7th and Tyler Trice pitched the last couple innings to close it out. The win made the Heels 46-13 for the season.Â
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