Diamond Heels predicted to make College World Series by 247Sports
The 2024 college baseball season begins this week as the Road to Omaha is underway.
For the North Carolina Tar Heels, they are looking to make it back to Omaha for the first time since 2018. UNC had their season end last year in the regionals, falling to Iowa at Indiana State. But during that ending, UNC was without a star player in Vance Honeycutt and he’s now healthy to start this year and ready to lead the Tar Heels.
As we get set for the start of the season, 247Sports has released their preseason projections for the teams that will make it to Omaha and that includes the Tar Heels.
Here is what Robbie Weinstein had to say about it:
No team is perfect, and North Carolina certainly has some pitching questions to address. But the Tar Heels could have an elite lineup full of top-shelf quality as well as real depth. UNC returns seven of nine starters in the field from last season and brought in key transfers Eliot Dix (Longwood), Parks Harber (Georgia) and Anthony Donofrio (Quinnipiac). Dix and Donofrio starred at the mid-major level — Donofrio stole 31 bases last year — whereas Harber was a productive starter-level player in the SEC. Look for key returner Vance Honeycutt to hit for more average, as well.
Elon transfer lefty Shea Sprague needs to pop, as UNC didn’t get much out of its weekend rotation last year. Two of those three starters return. The bullpen appears to be in good shape. Although UNC doesn’t sit at the top of the ACC preseason poll, there are a lot of intriguing pieces here.
The key to this for the Tar Heels will be the rotation and if they can find ways to seal wins late with their bullpen. The pitching staff is the biggest question mark going into this season and if they can figure out a way to pitch well, they should find success this season.
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