UNC Preseason Scrimmage Notes
The Tar Heels held their first spring scrimmage Friday
Just three weeks away from its season opener against Seton Hall, North Carolina took the field Friday at Boshamer Stadium for its first spring scrimmage.
Boshamer Bulletin was on hand for Navy’s 2-1 victory over Blue. Below are a few notes from the six-inning scrimmage.
Play of the day
After failing to put a runner on base over the first three innings, Navy finally broke through against Blue starter Brandon Schaeffer in the top of the fourth, when Mac Horvath hit a leadoff home run to left-center. The ball traveled 395 feet, per UNC’s analytics team, and tied the score at 1.
Five who stood out
Horvath: In his October appearance on the Bosh to the Bigs podcast, Scott Forbes praised Horvath for how well he was running at the time. The sophomore’s improved speed hasn’t been more apparent, though, than it was in the sixth inning Friday, when he legged out an infield single and then scored what proved to be the game-winning run from first on a double by Johnny Castagnozzi. With his 2-for-3 effort Friday, Horvath was the only player with multiple hits.
Schaeffer: Horvath’s homer was the lone blemish in what was otherwise a spectacular start by Schaeffer. The WVU Potomac State College transfer allowed one run on two hits over 3 2/3 innings, striking out three and walking zero. Given how good the lefty has looked this offseason and his strike-throwing ability – 32 of his 45 pitches Friday were strikes – it wouldn’t be surprising to see Schaeffer get the ball on Opening Day.
Max Carlson: A day after Forbes told reporters that Carlson is “back 100%” following right elbow surgery in May, the sophomore drew the start Friday for Navy and turned in an impressive outing, allowing one run on three hits in three innings. In throwing 37 of his 58 pitches for strikes, the righty struck out five and walked two. His fastball sat around 89-90 mph and topped out at 92, and as notable as that was, perhaps his most significant achievement came in the second inning, when he allowed the first two batters to reach via a walk and a double but escaped the jam unscathed by striking out three of the next four hitters.
Kyle Mott: During his appearance on The Sports Objective Podcast last week, Forbes mentioned Mott when asked about which returning pitchers might surprise people in 2022. Mott certainly backed up that claim Friday, not allowing a runner to reach base and striking out one over 1 1/3 shutout innings of relief. The righty topped out at 93.
Davis Palermo: In what’s looking more and more like a sign of things to come, Navy turned to Palermo in the sixth to close out the one-run game, and the righty delivered, tossing a 1-2-3 inning on 11 pitches. The Chapel Hill native also topped out at 93.
Other observations
Vance Honeycutt and Alberto Osuna batted second and third for Blue, and in the bottom of the third, they showed just how lethal they could be hitting back to back in the UNC lineup. After reaching on a one-out single, Honeycutt stole second, and with the second baseman holding him on, Osuna knocked a single through the right side of the infield to drive Honeycutt in for the game’s first run. The entire sequence unfolded in just a few minutes.
Gage Gillian has embarrassed plenty of hitters with his big low-70s curveball, but Castagnozzi did a great job sitting back on the pitch and lacing it down the left-field line for his go-ahead double in the sixth. The ball left the sophomore’s bat at 101 mph.
Outside of Castagnozzi’s double and Horvath’s homer, the only other extra-base hit of the day belonged to Casey Cook – who lined a double into right-center in the second. Where the freshman – who is naturally a second baseman but has gotten some work in the corner outfield spots – fits best defensively is still to be determined, but he looks like he’ll be a valuable contributor this spring.
Although he didn’t have a hit to show for it, Colby Wilkerson put together two of the best plate appearances of the game. The sophomore drew a two-out walk in the second before laying down a great sacrifice bunt in the fifth.
Leading off the top of the sixth, Mikey Madej attempted to reach on a bunt single, but Gillian made a fantastic play ranging to his left to snag the ball before throwing it to first for the out.
Seven pitchers took the mound Friday. Carlson, Shawn Rapp, Nik Pry and Palermo pitched for Navy. Schaeffer, Mott and Gillian threw for Blue and combined for zero walks.