The Diamond Heels’ season came to an end in heartbreaking fashion Sunday, as Carolina fell to Arkansas on a walk-off single in Game 2 of the Super Regionals and lost, 4-3. UNC had taken the lead with a run in the top of the 9th, but gave up a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning.
Heartbreak.#GoHeels x @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/FmYFsWlfEA
— Carolina Baseball (@DiamondHeels) June 12, 2022
“What a year for these guys… and for our team,” head coach Scott Forbes said afterward. “Nobody on the outside had expectations, or thought that they would get anywhere. They did.”
The game was twice interrupted by weather delays due to lightning in the area. The delays nearly totaled three hours, and stopped the game in the 2nd and 8th innings. Both times, the diamond at Boshamer Stadium stayed dry.
“It was definitely tough,” said freshman outfielder Vance Honeycutt. “You don’t want to stop. We were just focused on coming out and playing. And I feel like we played hard, but we just didn’t come out on top.”
The Razorbacks, batting as the home team, scored runs in the fourth and fifth innings to take a 2-0 lead, while the Arkansas pitching kept UNC’s bats at bay. It looked like Carolina’s season might end in sleepy fashion until the top of the seventh, when the Tar Heels played small ball to score two runs and tie the game.
Mikey Madej and Tomas Frick reached on a single and hit by pitch, before both advancing on a sacrifice bunt by Johnny Castagnozzi. Madej then scored on an RBI groundout, and Frick came in on a wild pitch.
Arkansas threatened in the bottom of the inning, with a man on second base and two outs. The Razorbacks’ Brady Slavens then sent a ball into center field which looked to be a go-ahead single, only to be robbed by a diving Honeycutt. It marked the second consecutive weekend a Honeycutt web gem took runs off the board.
UNC’s breakthrough came in the top of the ninth, as Frick led off the inning with a double and then scored on a two-out, RBI single from Patrick Alvarez, in for Colby Wilkerson as a defensive replacement. Alvarez’s hit gave Carolina its first lead of the Super Regional.
Unfortunately, that lead didn’t last long, as Arkansas loaded the bases before Davis Palermo recorded a single out in the bottom of the ninth. Palermo was into his fourth inning of work, and gave up the tying run on an RBI fielder’s choice before being lifted for Caden O’Brien. With one out and the infield in, O’Brien gave up a sharp single to Slavens into right field, walking the Tar Heels off.
“It’s just baseball,” said shortstop Danny Serretti, fighting through tears. “It’ll rip your heart out. You can feel on top of the world 30 minutes ago, and then feel like garbage now.”
Forbes then lent Serretti, who in all likelihood just completed his final year in Chapel Hill, a towel to wipe his eyes.
The Tar Heels were playing the game without the services of starting third baseman Mac Horvath, who had to be hospitalized for an emergency appendectomy Saturday night. Castagnozzi started at third base in his place.
“This is what you work for, to play in a game like that,” Forbes said. “And I know how badly he missed it. But credit to our guys who still gave us a chance to win that game without one of our best players.”
Having just completed his second season as head coach, Forbes reflected back on the 2022 season as a whole. It was a campaign which saw Carolina likely out of the NCAA Tournament in April, only for the team to win 19 of 24 games to end the season and win the ACC Tournament. However, he said his strongest memories come away from the diamond.
“I’ve coached a long time, and the relationships… that’s what it’s about,” he said. “I firmly believe that the wins will take care of themselves if you build those relationships. That’s what I’ll take the most.”
Featured image via The News & Observer/Robert Willett
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