Five things to watch as UNC begins the 2020 college baseball season
After falling one game short of the College World Series, North Carolina’s baseball team wants more.
That’s the mindset every year. But with some key players returning and some talented newcomers, the Tar Heels think they have a chance to be just as good, if not better.
UNC begins its 2020 baseball season against Middle Tennessee on Friday. The Tar Heels’ first 10 games will be in Chapel Hill.
Here are five things to watch as UNC opens up its 2020 season:
1. Returning players using Super Regional loss as motivation
Senior outfielder Dylan Harris said he often thinks about UNC’s loss in the Super Regional round last year. The series was tied 1-1, and the Tar Heels were a win away from their second consecutive College World Series. But Auburn scored 13 runs in the top of the first inning of Game 3 and eventually won 14-7.
The game was basically over before UNC even had a chance to bat.
“It’s really just something that never leaves you,” Harris said. “I really go back and think about it all the time, just how it felt, first inning, and then us fighting back, and it ending the way it did.”
Harris said the returning players are using the loss as motivation this season.
Joey Lancellotti, who will start on Friday, said the same.
“I think this year, every guy that played our team last year definitely has a chip on our shoulder from the way last year ended,” starting pitcher Joey Lancellotti said, “and I think that’s going to give us some extra motivation, and I think that is going to help us in the long run.”
2. Slugger Aaron Sabato to have bigger role
There were few honors freshman designated hitter Aaron Sabato didn’t win in 2019.
He was named Collegiate Baseball Co-National Freshman of the Year, first-team All-America and Freshman All-America, Baseball America and D1 Baseball first-team Freshman All-America and third-team All-America, ACC freshman of the year and first team All-ACC, among other honors.
He led the Tar Heels with a .343 batting average, hit 16 home runs with 83 runs batted in.
As a sophomore, he’s hoping to have that same success. And with leader Michael Busch leaving for professional baseball after last year, Sabato will be counted on more this season.
The key to having another big year, UNC baseball coach Mike Fox said, is making sure Sabato relaxes and doesn’t think too much about the draft. He’s eligible to come out after his junior season, but this year is a critical year for him.
Sabato, who was mostly a designated hitter last year, will play first base full-time this season. He said this offseason he’s tried to improve his defense. Sabato played some first base, but struggled last year. It was his first time playing the position.
“I want to be out there in the last outs,” Sabato said. “I want to be there for my team. I want to make the biggest plays in the biggest situations.”
3. Ace out indefinitely with elbow injury
Starting pitcher Luca Dalatri had elbow surgery after suffering a fracture in his elbow during a recent scrimmage, Fox revealed on Monday.
Dalatri, a senior, has been a starting pitcher since his freshman season. After high school, he was selected in the first round of the MLB draft, but decided to go to UNC.
Unfortunately for Dalatri, he’s dealt with a number of injuries during his time at UNC. He missed three months of his sophomore season with an elbow injury and started in only six games after suffering an injury during his junior year. He missed the rest of the year.
He wanted to have a big year as a senior.
“He was really throwing well in the preseason,” Fox said. “We had a scrimmage a week ago. We had to take him off the field in the first inning, and he had surgery last week. He’s got a small fracture in his right elbow and he had a screw put in, so his status is certainly uncertain for the foreseeable future.”
Dalatri has started 28 games in his three years. He is 10-6 with a 3.12 earned run average. He had the potential to be the Tar Heels No. 1 starter.
4. A new player to watch
Everyone knows Sabato. But if you ask around the clubhouse, one name keeps popping up.
Second baseman Mikey Medej. The 5-11, 165-pound junior, transferred from Northwest Florida State College in Niceville, Fla., where he was the Panhandle Defensive Player of the Year.
He started at Purdue before enrolling at Northwest last season.
“I’ll describe him as a dirtbag from junior college, which is what I came from,” Harris said. “He plays hard, big bat for us this year. I think he’s probably the biggest one to look out for.”
Said starting pitcher Austin Love: “He’s going to be something special this year. Offensively and defensively.”
5. Fox concerned with sign stealing in wake of MLB scandal
Fox was asked on Monday about the Houston Astros’ illegal sign-stealing scandal. He said he was sad to hear about it, and the Tar Heels plan to take action to prevent opposing teams from stealing their signs.
“You’re going to see a difference in the way we call pitches now,” Fox said. “So the runner at second can’t pick up the sign from the catchers because everybody can watch your games now, over and over again. Everybody is trying to gain an advantage and do what they can to win.
“That was certainly at another level, however.”
In 2017, the Astros stole signs using a camera from center field, and relayed the signs to batters by beating on a trash can from the team’s tunnel. The Astros won the 2017 World Series. The scheme was exposed in an article in the Athletic earlier this year.
Fox said he’s always been vigilant about the potential of sign stealing, but even more so now.
“One pitch can decide the game,” Fox said. “So you just have to pay attention.”
Fox said the Tar Heels will use risk cards. There will be a display in the dugout with a random number. The numbers indicate the type of pitch. The infielders and pitchers will look the number for that particular inning. The numbers will change each inning.
“It’s kind of sad it has gone that way, but it is what it is,” Fox said. “When you start getting on television like college baseball has, and people start watching you over and over again, they can pick up tendencies. And some coaches are a little bit more paranoid than others, and I’ve got three assistants that are. That’s why we’re doing that.”
This story was originally published February 14, 2020 at 8:00 AM with the headline "Five things to watch as UNC begins the 2020 college baseball season."
