North Carolina will open up the College World Series on Friday afternoon facing rival Virginia. It’s the opening game in Omaha and North Carolina would love to get off to a good start and advance in the winner’s bracket.
And they will turn to freshman Jason DeCaro as the game-one starter.
Manager Scott Forbes made the announcement on Thursday at his pre-College World Series press conference. He also announced that Shea Sprague will start the second game on Sunday against either Florida State or Tennessee in what could be an elimination game.
Aidan Haugh will be available out of the bullpen for either game, adding a bit of a boost to that bullpen which has been really good in the postseason.
#UNC head coach Scott Forbes confirms Jason DeCaro will start tomorrow vs Virginia.
Third starter Aidan Haugh will be available out of the bullpen, with Shea Sprague set for the second game on Sunday.
— Michael Koh (@michaelkohwchl) June 13, 2024
DeCaro is coming off the best start of his career with the Tar Heels so far, allowing just one run, two hits, and two walks in 6.1 innings against West Virginia on Saturday night. The win clinched a spot in the College World Series for the Tar Heels.
Forbes wasn’t shocked that DeCaro pitched the way he did in the Chapel Hill Super Regional.
“Honestly it didn’t surprise me, he is a special kid and ultra competitive,” Forbes said postgame. “Here’s a kid that gave up his senior year in high school and trusted us. We thought doing that would give us a better chance to get him here and little do we know that he would get more draft attention because he pitched so well. But these (the older guys) guys saw right away this freshman class, how talented they were, how many arms we had.”
With North Carolina possibly having games on Tuesday and Wednesday, it will be interesting to see what Forbes does after these first two games if UNC is still alive.
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