University of North Carolina Athletics
The 2018 Chapel Hill Super Regional Champions
Photo by: Joe Bray
This Day In Tar Heel Baseball History: June 9
June 9, 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 9
For today's version of 'This Day in Recent Carolina Baseball History' we go back to 2006 and 2018 for the first Super Regional win in program history thanks to 11 strikeouts from Andrew Miller and a 5 hit game for Mike Cavasinni, and for our most recent Omaha clincher. Plus a quick hit from 2019.
On June 9, 2006 the Heels took on Alabama in Tuscaloosa to start their series. The Heels had been to one Super before- in 2003- and that also involved going on the road to an SEC school. They lost both games at South Carolina. This team made it very clear very quick that things were going to be different this time around.Â
Alabama starter Wade LeBlanc came into the game with an 11-0 record and went on to pitch 11 years in the majors. But things didn't go too well for him against the Diamond Heels. Mike Cavasinni singled to lead off the game to set the tone, and with 1 out Josh Horton knocked the first pitch he saw out of the park to right to give the Heels a fast 2-0 lead.
Andrew Miller got a strikeout to lead off the bottom of the 1st. He was a little amped up and put the next 2 guys on with a HBP and a walk. But then he settled back in to get a fly out and another strike out to end the inning. He followed that up with a 1-2-3 2nd.
In the 3rd Mike Cavasinni again set the table with a leadoff single. Kyle Shelton tried to bunt him over and the Crimson Tide misplayed it, putting runners on 1st and 2nd. A deep flyball from Josh Horton moved Cavi up to 3rd and Chad Flack singled to bring him home and make it 3-0.
Andrew followed up with a 1-2-3 3rd and a 4th with a pair of strikeouts sandwiched around a 2 out single. In the top of the 5th the Heels made 2 outs in 2 pitches and after a ball Jay Cox hit one down to first that should have gotten Alabama out of the inning in 4 pitches. But an error allowed Jay to reach and then Tim Federowicz made that mistake extra costly with a 2 run blast to left that put the Heels up 5-0.
Andrew struck out the side in the 5th, stranding a 1 out double. In the 6th Benji Johnson drew a leadoff walk but with 2 outs the Heels still only had a runner on 1st. Kyle Shelton surprised the Crimson Tide by bunting behind in the count with 2 down and beat it out for a single.Â
That started a parade of singles. Josh Horton hit one to bring in a run. 6-0. Chad Flack hit one to bring in a run. 7-0. Jay Cox hit one to bring in a run. 8-0. 4 straight 2 out singles put the game pretty much out of reach, starting with the wily move to have Kyle bunt when it wasn't expected.
Alabama finally got a couple runs in the 7th but Andrew finished his day going 7 innings, striking out 11, and allowing only 5 hits and a walk. Both the runs were unearned. He was the best pitcher in the country that year and he lived up to that on the biggest stage he'd pitched on to that point in his life, improving his record to 13-2 on the season.Â
The Heels got the runs right back in the 8th. Reid Fronk got hit by a pitch, Josh Horton walked, and Chad Flack singled to load the bases with nobody out. Jay Cox singled to score Reid and Josh and Tim Federowicz singled to bring in Chad and get the lead to 11-2.
The Crimson Tide got 3 runs to get within 11-5 in the bottom of the 8th after Andrew left but at that point it hardly mattered.
The Heels didn't score in the 9th but one notable thing did happen. Mike Cavasinni singled to get his 5th hit of the game- what a time to register that accomplishment! The first 2 singles were especially important because they led to 2 of the first 3 runs the Heels scored early in the game.
And he must not have been too tired from spending all day on base because then he stole 2nd! It was an epic performance.Â
Jonathan Hovis, the team's only senior, came on for the 9th. He got a couple groundouts before giving up a 2 out single. That brought up future big league All Star Alex Avila, and Jonathan struck him out swinging to get the Heels within a win of their first Omaha appearance since 1989, 17 years earlier.
Mike Cavasinni led the way with his 5 hits, starting the first 2 rallies of the game and scoring 2 runs. Chad Flack had 3 hits, driving in 2 runs and scoring one. Josh Horton (including a home run, 3 RBI, and 3 runs), Tim Federowicz (including a home run, 3 RBI, and a run), Jay Cox (including 3 RBI and a run), and Seth Williams each had a pair of hits. Kyle Shelton also had a single that ignited the Heels rally in the 6th, and scored a run. The win pushed the Heels to 49–13 for the season.
On June 9, 2018 the Heels had a win in their pocket in the Super Regional against Stetson at the Bosh and were hoping to go ahead and clinch their Omaha bid in 2 games.Â
The Heels were the 'road team' and they asserted themselves pretty quickly in the 1st inning. Kyle Datres singled on the first pitch of the game and Michael Busch hit a grounder to move him to 2nd. Cody Roberts doubled to score Kyle and make it 1-0 and Brandon Riley made it back to back doubles and scored Cody to quickly make it a 2-0 lead. Ike Freeman singled to put runners on the corners but the next hitter made an out.
That brought up Zack Gahagan with 2 outs in his final game at the Bosh of a long and productive career. He was aggressive and hit the first pitch he saw to left center for a single to score Brandon and get the lead to 3-0. And then Ashton McGee followed up with a double to bring Zack around and make it 4-0 before the Hatters even got to hit.
Luca Dalatri was on the mound for the Heels and gave up a leadoff double but then he retired the side in order, including a strikeout to end the inning. Stetson got a run back on a solo shot in the 2nd but Luca otherwise avoided trouble thanks to a pair of K's.
In the 3rd Ike Freeman hit a leadoff single and with one out Zack Gahagan singled again to put runners on 1st and 2nd. An Ashton McGee single scored a run to make it 5-1 and got Zack all the way to 3rd, which allowed him to. One around on a Brandon Martorano sac fly to make it 6-1.
The Hatters got a pair of runs in the bottom of the 3rd to get back within 6-3 and still had runners on the corners with 1 out and the tying run at the plate. But Luca came up big with a strikeout and a groundout to avoid any more runs coming in.
Luca was on a strict pitch count since he'd missed most of the season so Caden O'Brien came on with runners on 1st and 2nd and 1 out in the 4th. He proceeded to get a double play from the very first hitter he faced to get out of the inning. Then he followed that up with a 1-2-3 5th, capped by a strikeout.
In the 6th Brandon Martorano hit a leadoff double and aggressiveness paid off again for Kyle Datres, who singled on the first pitch he saw to put runners on the corners. After an out Cody Roberts- who had done this many times in his Tar Heel career- dropped a perfect squeeze to score Brandon and get the lead to 7-3.
Caden got the first out in the inning and then came out after 2 scoreless, hitless innings. He ended up getting the win to go to 6-0 on the season. Brett Daniels came in with a runner on first and got a foul out and a strike out to end the inning in his final appearance at the Bosh after 4 great years as a Tar Heel.
Stetson got a solo home run in the 7th to get back within 7-4 but that was their only base runner and Brett concluded a scoreless 8th with a strikeout.
Brett came back out for the 9th and the Hatters hit a leadoff double but a groundout and a fly out brought them to their last out. It would have been awesome if Brett could have been on the mound for the dog pile when the Heels clinched their Omaha bid but a single brought a run around to make it 7-5 and Josh Hiatt came in to close it. Brett still got the experience of walking off the mound at home for the last time to the great appreciation of the crowd for an outstanding career.Â
The first hitter Josh faced hit a single to put runners on 1st and 2nd and bring the go ahead run to the plate- and remember Stetson was the 'home team' so if they could hit one out that was going to be the end of the game.
For the second day in a row with 2 out in the 9th they hit a ball that came uncomfortably close to doing that- it was a deep shot to center- but Brandon Riley gloved it to send the Heels back to the College World Series for the first time in 5 years.
I basically see the Diamond Heels as having had 3 distinct dynasties over the last couple decades: the 2006-2009 guys, the 2011-2013 guys, and the 2017-2019 guys. Those first 2 phases of teams got to go to Omaha plenty. It will always make me sad though that Adam Pate, Logan Warmoth, Brian Miller, Tyler Lynn, JB Bukauskas, and Jason Morgan didn't get to play in the College World Series. Those guys- both with how good they were at baseball but also with the kind of people they were- played a huge role in getting Carolina Baseball back to what it should be after a patch of a few rough years.
On the other side of the coin I'm thrilled that guys like Zack Gahagan, Kyle Datres, Cody Roberts, Brett Daniels, Hansen Butler, Brandon Riley, Ike Freeman, Michael Busch, Brandon Martorano, Ashton McGee, Luca Dalatri, Austin Bergner, Tyler Baum, Rodney Hutchison, and Josh Hiatt did still end up getting the Omaha experience after the disappointment of 2017. And even if that first group of guys that left after 2017 didn't get to go themselves, the 2018 team never would have gotten to go either without the standard they reset for the program going forward.
Ike Freeman led the way for the Heels with 3 hits, scoring a run. Ashton McGee (including a double and 2 RBI), Zack Gahagan (including an RBI and a run), Kyle Datres (including a run), and Michael Busch each had a pair of hits for the Heels. Cody Roberts doubled, drove in a pair of runs, and scored one and Brandon Riley and Brandon Martorano each had a double and drove in and scored a run.Â
And a quick hit from 2019:
-UNC beat Auburn 2-0 to even up the series thanks to an incredible combined shutout outing by a pair of Austins. Austin Bergner started and struck out 5 and only allowed 4 hits in 4.1 innings. Austin Love came in with a couple runners on base and 1 out in the 5th and was even better. He stranded those guys on base and went 4.2 scoreless innings where he struck out 6 and only allowed a pair of hits and no walks. He got his 8th win of the season.
The Heels scored their pair of runs in the top of the 1st and neither team could do anything for the rest of the day. Michael Busch hit a leadoff single and Aaron Sabato drew a 4 pitch walk to lead off the game. They both moved into scoring position on a balk and Ike Freeman singled them in to make it 2-0. With the way the Austins pitched that day, that was enough.Â
Danny Serretti and Ashton McGee each had a pair of hits for the Heels. Ike Freeman singled and drove in a pair of runs, Michael Busch singled and scored a run, and Caleb Roberts and Dylan Harris each had singles to round out the offense for the Heels. The win made them 46-18 for the season.
June 9
For today's version of 'This Day in Recent Carolina Baseball History' we go back to 2006 and 2018 for the first Super Regional win in program history thanks to 11 strikeouts from Andrew Miller and a 5 hit game for Mike Cavasinni, and for our most recent Omaha clincher. Plus a quick hit from 2019.
On June 9, 2006 the Heels took on Alabama in Tuscaloosa to start their series. The Heels had been to one Super before- in 2003- and that also involved going on the road to an SEC school. They lost both games at South Carolina. This team made it very clear very quick that things were going to be different this time around.Â
Alabama starter Wade LeBlanc came into the game with an 11-0 record and went on to pitch 11 years in the majors. But things didn't go too well for him against the Diamond Heels. Mike Cavasinni singled to lead off the game to set the tone, and with 1 out Josh Horton knocked the first pitch he saw out of the park to right to give the Heels a fast 2-0 lead.
Andrew Miller got a strikeout to lead off the bottom of the 1st. He was a little amped up and put the next 2 guys on with a HBP and a walk. But then he settled back in to get a fly out and another strike out to end the inning. He followed that up with a 1-2-3 2nd.
In the 3rd Mike Cavasinni again set the table with a leadoff single. Kyle Shelton tried to bunt him over and the Crimson Tide misplayed it, putting runners on 1st and 2nd. A deep flyball from Josh Horton moved Cavi up to 3rd and Chad Flack singled to bring him home and make it 3-0.
Andrew followed up with a 1-2-3 3rd and a 4th with a pair of strikeouts sandwiched around a 2 out single. In the top of the 5th the Heels made 2 outs in 2 pitches and after a ball Jay Cox hit one down to first that should have gotten Alabama out of the inning in 4 pitches. But an error allowed Jay to reach and then Tim Federowicz made that mistake extra costly with a 2 run blast to left that put the Heels up 5-0.
Andrew struck out the side in the 5th, stranding a 1 out double. In the 6th Benji Johnson drew a leadoff walk but with 2 outs the Heels still only had a runner on 1st. Kyle Shelton surprised the Crimson Tide by bunting behind in the count with 2 down and beat it out for a single.Â
That started a parade of singles. Josh Horton hit one to bring in a run. 6-0. Chad Flack hit one to bring in a run. 7-0. Jay Cox hit one to bring in a run. 8-0. 4 straight 2 out singles put the game pretty much out of reach, starting with the wily move to have Kyle bunt when it wasn't expected.
Alabama finally got a couple runs in the 7th but Andrew finished his day going 7 innings, striking out 11, and allowing only 5 hits and a walk. Both the runs were unearned. He was the best pitcher in the country that year and he lived up to that on the biggest stage he'd pitched on to that point in his life, improving his record to 13-2 on the season.Â
The Heels got the runs right back in the 8th. Reid Fronk got hit by a pitch, Josh Horton walked, and Chad Flack singled to load the bases with nobody out. Jay Cox singled to score Reid and Josh and Tim Federowicz singled to bring in Chad and get the lead to 11-2.
The Crimson Tide got 3 runs to get within 11-5 in the bottom of the 8th after Andrew left but at that point it hardly mattered.
The Heels didn't score in the 9th but one notable thing did happen. Mike Cavasinni singled to get his 5th hit of the game- what a time to register that accomplishment! The first 2 singles were especially important because they led to 2 of the first 3 runs the Heels scored early in the game.
And he must not have been too tired from spending all day on base because then he stole 2nd! It was an epic performance.Â
Jonathan Hovis, the team's only senior, came on for the 9th. He got a couple groundouts before giving up a 2 out single. That brought up future big league All Star Alex Avila, and Jonathan struck him out swinging to get the Heels within a win of their first Omaha appearance since 1989, 17 years earlier.
Mike Cavasinni led the way with his 5 hits, starting the first 2 rallies of the game and scoring 2 runs. Chad Flack had 3 hits, driving in 2 runs and scoring one. Josh Horton (including a home run, 3 RBI, and 3 runs), Tim Federowicz (including a home run, 3 RBI, and a run), Jay Cox (including 3 RBI and a run), and Seth Williams each had a pair of hits. Kyle Shelton also had a single that ignited the Heels rally in the 6th, and scored a run. The win pushed the Heels to 49–13 for the season.
On June 9, 2018 the Heels had a win in their pocket in the Super Regional against Stetson at the Bosh and were hoping to go ahead and clinch their Omaha bid in 2 games.Â
The Heels were the 'road team' and they asserted themselves pretty quickly in the 1st inning. Kyle Datres singled on the first pitch of the game and Michael Busch hit a grounder to move him to 2nd. Cody Roberts doubled to score Kyle and make it 1-0 and Brandon Riley made it back to back doubles and scored Cody to quickly make it a 2-0 lead. Ike Freeman singled to put runners on the corners but the next hitter made an out.
That brought up Zack Gahagan with 2 outs in his final game at the Bosh of a long and productive career. He was aggressive and hit the first pitch he saw to left center for a single to score Brandon and get the lead to 3-0. And then Ashton McGee followed up with a double to bring Zack around and make it 4-0 before the Hatters even got to hit.
Luca Dalatri was on the mound for the Heels and gave up a leadoff double but then he retired the side in order, including a strikeout to end the inning. Stetson got a run back on a solo shot in the 2nd but Luca otherwise avoided trouble thanks to a pair of K's.
In the 3rd Ike Freeman hit a leadoff single and with one out Zack Gahagan singled again to put runners on 1st and 2nd. An Ashton McGee single scored a run to make it 5-1 and got Zack all the way to 3rd, which allowed him to. One around on a Brandon Martorano sac fly to make it 6-1.
The Hatters got a pair of runs in the bottom of the 3rd to get back within 6-3 and still had runners on the corners with 1 out and the tying run at the plate. But Luca came up big with a strikeout and a groundout to avoid any more runs coming in.
Luca was on a strict pitch count since he'd missed most of the season so Caden O'Brien came on with runners on 1st and 2nd and 1 out in the 4th. He proceeded to get a double play from the very first hitter he faced to get out of the inning. Then he followed that up with a 1-2-3 5th, capped by a strikeout.
In the 6th Brandon Martorano hit a leadoff double and aggressiveness paid off again for Kyle Datres, who singled on the first pitch he saw to put runners on the corners. After an out Cody Roberts- who had done this many times in his Tar Heel career- dropped a perfect squeeze to score Brandon and get the lead to 7-3.
Caden got the first out in the inning and then came out after 2 scoreless, hitless innings. He ended up getting the win to go to 6-0 on the season. Brett Daniels came in with a runner on first and got a foul out and a strike out to end the inning in his final appearance at the Bosh after 4 great years as a Tar Heel.
Stetson got a solo home run in the 7th to get back within 7-4 but that was their only base runner and Brett concluded a scoreless 8th with a strikeout.
Brett came back out for the 9th and the Hatters hit a leadoff double but a groundout and a fly out brought them to their last out. It would have been awesome if Brett could have been on the mound for the dog pile when the Heels clinched their Omaha bid but a single brought a run around to make it 7-5 and Josh Hiatt came in to close it. Brett still got the experience of walking off the mound at home for the last time to the great appreciation of the crowd for an outstanding career.Â
The first hitter Josh faced hit a single to put runners on 1st and 2nd and bring the go ahead run to the plate- and remember Stetson was the 'home team' so if they could hit one out that was going to be the end of the game.
For the second day in a row with 2 out in the 9th they hit a ball that came uncomfortably close to doing that- it was a deep shot to center- but Brandon Riley gloved it to send the Heels back to the College World Series for the first time in 5 years.
I basically see the Diamond Heels as having had 3 distinct dynasties over the last couple decades: the 2006-2009 guys, the 2011-2013 guys, and the 2017-2019 guys. Those first 2 phases of teams got to go to Omaha plenty. It will always make me sad though that Adam Pate, Logan Warmoth, Brian Miller, Tyler Lynn, JB Bukauskas, and Jason Morgan didn't get to play in the College World Series. Those guys- both with how good they were at baseball but also with the kind of people they were- played a huge role in getting Carolina Baseball back to what it should be after a patch of a few rough years.
On the other side of the coin I'm thrilled that guys like Zack Gahagan, Kyle Datres, Cody Roberts, Brett Daniels, Hansen Butler, Brandon Riley, Ike Freeman, Michael Busch, Brandon Martorano, Ashton McGee, Luca Dalatri, Austin Bergner, Tyler Baum, Rodney Hutchison, and Josh Hiatt did still end up getting the Omaha experience after the disappointment of 2017. And even if that first group of guys that left after 2017 didn't get to go themselves, the 2018 team never would have gotten to go either without the standard they reset for the program going forward.
Ike Freeman led the way for the Heels with 3 hits, scoring a run. Ashton McGee (including a double and 2 RBI), Zack Gahagan (including an RBI and a run), Kyle Datres (including a run), and Michael Busch each had a pair of hits for the Heels. Cody Roberts doubled, drove in a pair of runs, and scored one and Brandon Riley and Brandon Martorano each had a double and drove in and scored a run.Â
And a quick hit from 2019:
-UNC beat Auburn 2-0 to even up the series thanks to an incredible combined shutout outing by a pair of Austins. Austin Bergner started and struck out 5 and only allowed 4 hits in 4.1 innings. Austin Love came in with a couple runners on base and 1 out in the 5th and was even better. He stranded those guys on base and went 4.2 scoreless innings where he struck out 6 and only allowed a pair of hits and no walks. He got his 8th win of the season.
The Heels scored their pair of runs in the top of the 1st and neither team could do anything for the rest of the day. Michael Busch hit a leadoff single and Aaron Sabato drew a 4 pitch walk to lead off the game. They both moved into scoring position on a balk and Ike Freeman singled them in to make it 2-0. With the way the Austins pitched that day, that was enough.Â
Danny Serretti and Ashton McGee each had a pair of hits for the Heels. Ike Freeman singled and drove in a pair of runs, Michael Busch singled and scored a run, and Caleb Roberts and Dylan Harris each had singles to round out the offense for the Heels. The win made them 46-18 for the season.
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