Members of the Diamond Heels met with the media Thursday at Boshamer Stadium to preview the Chapel Hill Regional of the NCAA Tournament, which begins Friday. UNC is the No. 5 overall seed in the tournament field and is hosting VCU, East Carolina and Tennessee this weekend. Carolina will face VCU Friday at 5 p.m., with the Pirates and Volunteers facing off in the day’s first game.
Here’s what starting pitcher Jason DeCaro, infielder Gavin Gallaher and head coach Scott Forbes had to say Thursday:
Jason DeCaro
Image via UNC Athletic Communications/Ainsley E. Fauth
On the postseason atmosphere at Boshamer Stadium: It definitely helps when you’re out there late in a game. If you’re feeling a little tired, you get that kick of adrenaline. It definitely helps. We work all season for this. We work all year for getting our bodies in the right spot to be at our best this time of year. Just trusting in that work and just going out there and having fun.
On his preparation for a postseason start: You can’t really change it up that much. I feel like you have the entire season to get into a good routine, and there’s no reason to switch it up now. I feel like I’m in a really good spot and feel really strong going into this weekend.
On the team’s pitching approach: I feel like we do a good job here of going off of our pitchers’ strengths. We’re not really going into a game just trying to exploit a team’s weakness. We’re gonna use what we have to our strength. Coach [Bryant] Gaines and Coach [Jason] Howell do a great job with preparing us for that and putting us in a really good spot to have success.
Gavin Gallaher
Image via UNC Athletic Communications/Ainsley E. Fauth
On a defining moment for this year’s team: I can think back to the Boston College series. I think that was big for us. We were playing at home. They came in, they just broke into the Top 25. And they took Game 1 from us. It was a good game, back and forth. But losing on Friday night at home is never fun. To come back in Game 2, I can’t remember what the score was, but I think we won pretty good in Game 2. And then Game 3 was really back and forth. Had to grind out a win. I think that showed a lot about this team. You can think back to [Virginia] too. That Game 3 was really big, just showing ourselves that there’s no deficit we can’t come back from. It shows we’re always in the fight. We’ve got the pitching staff that’s gonna keep us in games and we have the offense that can throw up a lot of runs.
On preparing the team’s transfers for a postseason atmosphere: The thing that’s good about these guys that have come in is that most of them have played every single day here. That experience really helps. I go back to the ACC Tournament, playing in the championship game against Georgia Tech. I think there was almost 9,000 people there. That was definitely good experience. At the end of the day though, these guys, they’re experienced at a high level. They’re very confident. I’m very confident in them that the atmosphere is just gonna fuel them.
On being a team captain: For the most part, it’s just some little things. What we’re gonna wear for practice, if we’ve gotta decide on something like that. I have the “honor” to make those decisions. But it’s really more than that when you go behind the scenes. I’ve taken it as paying attention to how guys are doing on the field, and even off the field as well. Making sure everybody’s doing well. Trying to get a sense of how the team’s feeling, to see if maybe we need to do a little less at practice one day. If bodies are tired, things like that. Fortunately, our coaching staff already does such a good job at things like that. The biggest thing is trying to be that “lead by example” guy. When we get out there on the field, doing things the right way and letting others see that. It’s not much of a problem here, which is nice to have.
Scott Forbes
Image via UNC Athletic Communications/Ainsley E. Fauth
On his team’s preparation: This team’s mature. We’ve played good teams all year. Good midweek teams. And I’ve told them: it’s about how we play, it’s not about the opponent. So you have to be careful looking at regionals and who’s in them, and how hard they are “ranked” nationally, regional by regional. I learned so much from 2017 [when UNC was the No. 2 overall seed and was eliminated in the regional round]. I don’t think many people would’ve picked Davidson to win that regional, and they just kicked our tails. So we’re not gonna overlook anybody. All our focus has been on us, number one. Practicing hard, preparing. It’ll stay on us, and we’ll be prepared to play VCU tomorrow at 5:00.
On the perceived difficulty of the regional: I think it’s great. It gets even more fans in here. It’s gonna be more excitement. A lot of people were complaining when we got LSU in 2024 that it was the toughest regional. But I thought it was the toughest ticket, and that’s what I’m wanting here. I want people to pack the seats. That’s what our guys deserve. It’s gonna be hard no matter what, but of course I’m sure it’s a little bit added. But I don’t look at it that way. I look at it more [as] an exciting time for the state of North Carolina.
On if his team feels pressure: We’ve really focused a lot on [former LSU head coach] Skip Bertman and what he talked to his teams about. We started that August 17: vividly imagine what we wanted to do. But also, just focusing on us and what it takes. Accepting those extra butterflies. Fear is a real thing. And Coach Bertman talked about it to his teams all the time, so I’ve been talking about it all year to our guys: use it as a good thing. It can be your biggest ally, as he used to say. So I wouldn’t look at it as any added pressure.
On his pitching strategy this weekend: I feel like we have multiple aces. I feel like Jason DeCaro and Ryan Lynch are both Friday night guys. I know Folger [Boaz’s] numbers aren’t great, but I think he’s a weekend starter in our league. I think he can beat anybody. We’ve got a good bullpen. But when it comes to deciding who’s gonna start which game in a regional, we feel confident in both Jason and Lynch in both scenarios. And most of the time, it becomes what do we feel like is the better matchup vs. who? Even though we feel like they match up good against anybody, and they ain’t gonna be scared against anybody. And that’s why we decided to go Lynch Game 1 against VCU, and DeCaro will go Game 2 against East Carolina or Tennessee.
Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications/Joe Bray
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