Diamond Heels Hold First Official Practice

Huddle
University of North Carolina Baseball Practice
Boshamer Stadium
Chapel Hill, NC
Friday, January 26, 2024

Photo by: AINSLEY E. FAUTH

January 26, 2024 | Baseball

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Preparations for the 2024 baseball season ramped up Friday at Boshamer Stadium as UNC took to the diamond for its first official practice of the 2024 season with fourth-year head coach Scott Forbes leading his team through an afternoon of drills and and an intrasquad scrimmage.

The Diamond Heels will have three weeks of practice before hosting Wagner in their season opener on Feb. 16.

"We've been in small groups, so the exciting thing for us is that we'll have our entire team together," Forbes said. "We've only got three weeks before we start, so we've got to utilize our time and cram in as much as we can."

UNC returns 19 lettermen from last year's 36-24 squad that earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament – the program's sixth consecutive and 35th overall appearance – and welcomes two dozen newcomers.

Junior All-America outfielder Vance Honeycutt returns after an injury sidelined him for the final 10 games of 2023 and limited him during the Tar Heels' fall practice sessions.

"He's the best centerfielder in the country," Forbes said. "He's a game changer defensively, and we all know what we can offensively, so why rush [him back]? It's been a process, but he feels great and he's stronger than he's ever been."

Honeycutt hit 37 home runs, stole 48 bases and drove in 100 runs during his first two seasons at Carolina.

Other returning hitters include All-ACC second baseman Jackson Van De Brake, All-ACC Freshman outfielder Casey Cook, and seniors Patrick Alvarez, Johnny Castagnozzi, Alberto Osuna, Hunter Stokely, and Colby Wilkerson.

Weekend starter Jake Knapp returns to lead the UNC pitching staff along with fellow seniors Connor Bovair, Ben Peterson and Matt Poston.

Among the Tar Heels' group of newcomers are seven NCAA transfers: Eliot Dix (Longwood), Anthony Donofrio (Quinnipiac), Ryan Fischer (NJIT), Parks Harber (Georgia), Parker Haskin (Elon), Alex Madera (Aracadia) and Shea Sprague (Elon).

UNC's freshman group was recently ranked as the third-best collection of rookies by D1 Baseball, highlighted by a host of pitchers. Right-handed pitchers Jason DeCaro (No. 28) and Boston Flannery (No. 45), catcher Luke Stevenson (No. 51) and lefty Folger Boaz (No. 149) all ranked inside the top 150 newcomers.

The Tar Heels' 54-game schedule includes 44 games against teams that finished inside the top 65 of the final 2023 RPI rankings, including 25 contests versus teams that reached the postseason.

Scrimmage Recap:

The North Carolina Tar Heels held their first scrimmage of the Spring as the Blue squad took a 7-2 win over Navy in a 7 1/2 inning scrimmage on Friday afternoon on a warm, cloudy day at Boshamer Stadium.

Navy took an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first on Johnny Castagnozzi's 369-foot home run to right center for Navy's only runs of the scrimmage. Blue picked up its first run in the bottom of the second. Gavin Gallaher doubled to right center, then Anthony Donofrio drove him home on a double to left center. Blue tied things up at 2-2 in the third when Casey Cook drilled a 380-foot solo shot to right center.

Blue took the lead for good in the fourth with a pair of solo home runs. Vance Honeycutt hit a long shot to left center that caromed off the fence, allowing Honeycutt to race around the bases for an inside-the-park home run. Two batter later, Parks Harber ripped a 380-foot homer to left center for a 4-2 Blue lead.

Blue scored two more runs in the fifth on a pair of RBI-singles by Anthony Donofrio and Casey Cook to give them a 6-2 lead. Blue scored the last run of the afternoon when Alex Madera scored from third on a fielder's choice for the final 7-2 score.

Donofrio led Blue at the plate by going 3-5 with two RBI and one run scored. Cook was 2-3 with two RBI and one run scored, Harber was 2-3 with one RBI and one run scored, while Madera was 2-5 with one run scored. Castagnozzi was the only Navy batter with multiple base hits as he was 2-4 with two RBI and one run scored.

Eleven pitchers saw action. Jacob Kirby started for Navy with Kyle Percival, Aidan Haugh, Mason Yokum, Matthew Matthijs and Matt Poston throwing in relief. Ryan Hench started for Blue with Hugh Collins, Luke Osteen, Harrison Lewis and Dalton Pence throwing in relief.

Collins hurled 2.0 scoreless, hitless innings, while Lewis and Pence each tossed scoreless, hitless innings with both throwing eight strikes in eleven pitches.

Colby Wilkerson made the defensive play of the day with a great, diving stop from short stop on a sharp grounder that was headed up the middle. He hopped up and threw the batter out at first to end an inning and save a run.

With a wet weekend on tap, the Heels will not scrimmage again until Tuesday.

2024 Season Tickets
Season tickets for the 2024 UNC baseball season are on sale now. Call the UNC Athletics Ticket Office at 919-962-2296 or click here to purchase your tickets. Season tickets start at $125 for general admission, with reserved chairback seating at $190. The Diamond Heels have 34 games scheduled at Boshamer Stadium this season, hosting NCAA Tournament participants Campbell, Charlotte, Coastal Carolina, East Carolina and UNCW in addition to ACC series with Georgia Tech, Louisville, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, and Virginia Tech.

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