UNC baseball tests out its depth early in wins against Longwood and Winthrop

With each early-season win, the young No. 24 North Carolina baseball team is gaining confidence in its depth all over the diamond.

UNC picked up wins in each of its midweek games on Tuesday and Wednesday, routing Longwood 16-1 and defeating Winthrop 7-3. It’s the first time in almost two years the team has played back-to-back midweek games — a task that can especially take a physical toll on pitchers.

“I thought our pitchers did a good job of picking each other up,” head coach Scott Forbes said. “With our bullpen depth, we decided to make a change — and they all threw well.”

Sophomore pitcher Connor Bovair played especially well against Longwood, tossing for 4.2 innings and allowing only three hits on 74 total pitches.

Bovair's mental preparation coming into the season was key to staying ready in the bullpen, regardless of how many innings he’d pitch.

“(Bovair’s) looked really good filling up the strike zone,” sophomore catcher Tomas Frick said. “Sometimes in the fall he pitched a little timid, and I think he knew that. I love his mentality.”

Frick himself took care of business against Longwood at bat, most notably by hitting a grand slam to center field in the sixth inning. Oddly enough, the Greenville, S.C. native sometimes gets teased by his coaches for not being able to land a homer.

“I guess I just have no power to pull side,” Frick said. “Every time I pull it, people give me crap for it. Growing up, I’ve always been a gap to gap hitter and I take pride in that. When I hit the ball right center, I know I’m going good.”

Forbes added that while Frick’s struggles with pull hitting aren’t completely fixed, there have been notable improvements in his abilities at bat.

“(Frick’s) much stronger, so his bat speed’s quicker,” Forbes said. “He’s worked hard on being a little more patient. He’s always been able to hit any kind of fastball. I knew it was a matter of time before he got on the board.”

Frick, who now has 11 hits on the season, is just one of several offensive threats on the team.

Sophomore infielder Johnny Castagnozzi leads the team with 14 hits, while first-year Vance Honeycutt has hit a team-high five homers this season.

“We can produce runs,” Forbes said. “We have nine guys that are capable of hitting 10 home runs if they play every day.”

Honeycutt also leads the team in runs with 15. Part of the reason why he’s been able to reach home plate so many times is his blazing speed, accounting for 10 of the team’s 18 stolen bases so far this year.

Even beyond the numbers, you could see it against the Winthrop Eagles on Wednesday — there were numerous instances where a Winthrop pitcher zinged the ball to first base in hopes of picking him off.

It never worked. Honeycutt finished the game with two stolen bases and two runs.

“He’s the fastest player I’ve coached,” Forbes said. “And I’ve coached some fast ones. It’s just electric. If you don’t walk him, he’ll hit a double or a home run.”

Coming off an emotional, triumphant victory over East Carolina this past weekend, the polished Diamond Heels have built upon that momentum by sweeping their midweek games.

Sure, there were some hiccups — most notably registering zero hits in the final four innings at bat against Winthrop. But a win is a win, and the team will have plenty of opportunities in the coming weeks to familiarize themselves with its lineups on both sides of the ball.

“Anytime you get out there and keep playing, it’s better than practice day,” junior pitcher Nik Pry said. “Those are good too, but we love going out and playing.”

@danielhwei

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