UNC Summer Recap
Eric Grintz, Dalton Pence highlight top performers
An eventful summer for the North Carolina baseball team peaked last Thursday, when Tomas Frick, Mac Horvath and Will Sandy, along with the rest of their Bourne Braves teammates, captured the Cape Cod League Championship.
In doing so, the trio became the first Tar Heels to achieve the feat since Kyle Datres in 2017. They didn’t get much time to celebrate, though; with UNC’s 2022-23 school year kicking off Monday, they returned to campus with 18 other Tar Heels who are looking to build off their own experiences in various summer leagues across the country.
Here’s a look at how all 21 players performed with their respective teams.
Cape Cod League
Nelson Berkwich, Bourne Braves
An incoming transfer from Vanderbilt, Berkwich went 1-0 with a 1.96 ERA, a 0.82 WHIP and an 18:4 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 18 1/3 innings over five games (one start). The lefty’s lone start came in his last outing of the summer, when he allowed two runs on four hits while striking out three and walking one.
Connor Bovair, Chatham Anglers
Bovair allowed two runs over 1 1/3 innings of relief in his Chatham debut, but those turned out to be the only runs that he gave up en route to a 2.25 ERA in eight innings over five games. His most impressive outing came on June 29, when he struck out four and walked zero over three shutout innings against Orleans.
Johnny Castagnozzi, Chatham Anglers
Castagnozzi spent his second straight summer in Chatham, where he hit .164/.281/.236 with one homer, two RBIs, two stolen bases, eight walks and 27 strikeouts. Most of his playing time came at third base, but he also saw action at first and second.
Tomas Frick, Bourne Braves
Frick batted .128/.212/.170 with a triple and five walks compared to 12 strikeouts in 17 regular-season games before going 3-for-12 with a homer, three RBIs and three walks in the playoffs. His three-run homer in Bourne’s first playoff game against Falmouth proved instrumental in a 6-5 win.
Mac Horvath, Bourne Braves
Horvath missed the first few weeks of the regular season while recovering from his appendectomy on June 11. The rising junior, however, made the most of his time with the Braves, batting .250/.299/.514 with six homers, tied for the third most on the Cape; 15 RBIs and eight stolen bases in just 18 regular-season games. He then went 6-for-24 with a double, a homer and four stolen bases in seven playoff games.
Ben Peterson, Chatham Anglers
An incoming transfer from Florida SouthWestern State College, Peterson posted a 5.52 ERA in 14 2/3 innings over five appearances. The righty flashed stellar stuff in striking out 17 and walking two. In his final outing on July 29, he allowed one run (unearned) on four hits while striking out five and walking zero in three innings, drawing a rave review from D1Baseball’s Aaron Fitt.
Will Sandy, Bourne Braves
Over his first three games (one start), Sandy surrendered 10 runs (eight earned) over seven innings. The lefty, however, settled in from there, registering a 1.93 ERA in 14 innings over his last five games. That included a strong outing on July 31 in which he gave up one run on four hits while striking out three and walking one over a summer-high four innings.
Hunter Stokely, Harwich Mariners
Stokely slashed .187/.316/.333 with two homers, 17 RBIs and 12 walks compared to 25 strikeouts in 24 regular-season games. He then went 1-for-9 in two playoff games. Most of his production came during an impressive nine-game stretch in which he went 10-for-33 with both of his homers and 12 RBIs.
Colby Wilkerson, Cotuit Kettleers
Wilkerson hit .240/.345/.260 with six RBIs, three stolen bases and eight walks compared to 12 strikeouts in 14 games with the Northwoods League’s Rochester Honkers. He then signed with the Kettleers on July 11 and batted .222/.222/.296 with two doubles, three RBIs and eight strikeouts compared to zero walks in nine games.
Coastal Plain League
Patrick Alvarez, Holly Springs Salamanders
Alvarez slashed .186/.324/.203 with nine RBIs, five stolen bases and 11 walks compared to 14 strikeouts in 20 games. He finished the summer strong, going 7-for-22 with three multi-hit efforts in his final six games. Most notably, he primarily played right field (14 games) after spending most of his first three seasons at UNC in the infield.
Eric Grintz, High Point-Thomasville HiToms
No Tar Heel hitter put together a better summer than Grintz, who hit an astounding .415/.524/.756 with five homers, 11 doubles, a triple, 24 RBIs and four stolen bases in 25 games. He also drew 18 walks while striking out just six times. As notable as his offensive numbers are, the fact that Grintz — who has only played catcher over his first three seasons at UNC — started his last two games in right field might be the biggest takeaway from his summer.
Reece Holbrook, Lexington County Blowfish
Holbrook hit .214/.241/.214 with three stolen bases and 11 strikeouts compared to one walk in eight games.
Alberto Osuna, Holly Springs Salamanders
After blasting 20 homers this spring, Osuna led Holly Springs with six dingers in 27 games. He also notched 19 RBIs and two stolen bases while hitting .223/.324/.447 with 12 walks and 37 strikeouts. In the field, he made just one error on 153 total chances at first base.
Dalton Pence, Forest City Owls
Pence missed his entire true freshman season while recovering from Tommy John surgery, but the left-hander made up for lost time this summer, posting a CPL-best 0.88 ERA and a 0.83 WHIP while striking out 35 and walking nine in 41 innings over eight games (seven starts). For his efforts, Pence earned the start for the West in the CPL All-Star Game, where he allowed one hit over two scoreless innings.
Carson Starnes, Lexington County Blowfish
Starnes also put together a strong summer on the mound, registering a 3.45 ERA while striking out 40 and walking 15 in 47 innings over 10 games (seven starts). The righty joined Pence at the CPL All-Star Game, where he struck out one in one perfect inning of relief.
Northwoods League
Dylan King, La Crosse Loggers
King hit .232/.396/.304 with a homer, 10 RBIs and 15 walks compared to 16 strikeouts in 23 games. He committed just one error on 201 total chances behind the plate.
Alex Ritzer, Rochester Honkers
Coming off an injury-plagued true freshman season, Ritzer got off to a slow start, but he hit .329 (17-for-43) over his last 14 games to finish the summer with a .247/.377/.260 slash line and 15 stolen bases over 45 games. The most impressive part of his closing stretch: he tallied 12 walks compared to 10 strikeouts. He primarily played second base, but has also saw time at shortstop and in center field.
New England Collegiate Baseball League
Joe Jaconski, Mystic Schooners
Jaconski posted a .190/.260/.198 slash line to go along with five RBIs, two stolen bases and 10 walks compared to 25 strikeouts in 34 regular-season games. He mostly played second base, but he also played first base, third base, shortstop, center field and right field.
Justin Szestowicki, Ocean State Waves
Szestowicki batted .104/.170/.167 with a homer, four RBIs, four stolen bases and four walks compared to 18 strikeouts in 17 games.
Florida Collegiate Summer League
Alden Segui, Sanford River Rats
Segui made only one appearance this summer, back on June 4, when he allowed two runs on four hits and one walk while striking out three in two innings of relief.
USA Baseball
Vance Honeycutt, Collegiate National Team
Competing in the U.S. Collegiate National Team Training Camp series, Honeycutt went 1-for-16 with two stolen bases and two walks compared to seven strikeouts in five games. He also recorded an outfield assist.
The rising sophomore had planned to join the Bourne Braves, but he ultimately took the rest of the summer off to rehab a hamstring injury that he sustained in Collegiate National Team Training Camp.
