Tag: Anthony Hall

UNC offers a top-ranked football recruit in Class of 2026

Bill Belichick offered a big-name football recruit from Massachusetts over the weekend.

The North Carolina Tar Heels are suddenly becoming a top destination for college football talent, thanks to their offseason hiring of Bill Belichick.

UNC already has over 20 transfer portal commitments, including six from those who played for North Carolina in 2024, but withdrew. North Carolina has interest from quarterback Jared Curtis, the Class of 2026’s fourth-ranked player, plus talented edge rusher Zavion Griffin-Haynes re-opened his recruitment.

With a continued focus on growing the Tar Heels’ talent pool, Belichick dished out another offer to a top-ranked player in the 2026 recruiting class.

Offensive lineman Anthony Hall, who is Massachusetts’ top-ranked recruit in the 2026 class, received an offer from Belichick and his UNC staff after a weekend visit.

Hall is listed as an interior offensive lineman on his official 247Sports recruiting profile, but his MaxPreps profile lists him as both a guard and defensive tackle.

North Carolina already has three commitments in its 2026 recruiting class: in-state quarterback Zaid Lott, plus a pair of California cornerbacks in Marcellous Ryan and Justin Lewis.

One trend I’m noticing in Belichick’s early recruiting: he’s expanding his reach outside of North Carolina. That’s evident in Belichick’s recent recruiting trip to New Jersey, offering several players from national power Bergen Catholic.

The Tar Heels now also have the ability to land recruits outside of their home state, thanks to Belichick being arguably the greatest football coach to walk this Earth. That’ll happen when you’re an 8-time Super Bowl winner.

Belichick spent 24 seasons coaching the New England Patriots, so he knows Massachusetts well. If he lands a commitment from Hall, expect others from up east to follow.

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Daniel Susac’s two homers down Ducks in Game 1 of the Pac-12 tournament

Daniel Susac’s two-homer day was too much for the Ducks to overcome as they fall 8-6 to Arizona in the Pac-12 tournament opener.

The Oregon Ducks learned a tough lesson in the opening game of the first annual Pac-12 tournament in Scottsdale, Ariz. and that’s when you get runners in scoring position, you have to find a way to score.

Also, giving up two home runs to Arizona’s best hitter isn’t exactly a good formula for winning.

Daniel Susac belted two home runs to help the Wildcats avenge that three-game sweep at PK Park to take an 8-6 win over the Ducks. Now Oregon will have to fight their way out of the loser’s bracket. They’ll face the loser of the Stanford/Arizona State game tomorrow at 9 a.m.

Oregon left two runners on base in the seventh and eighth innings that ended a potential rally. The Ducks scored one in the ninth, but they couldn’t come all the way back.

Arizona took a 3-0 lead, but the Ducks managed to cut into the deficit with run-scoring singles from Colby Shade and Brennen Milone. It was 4-2 Wildcats in the sixth when Anthony Hall crushed a pitch off of the right field foul pole for a three-run homer and the Ducks had a brief 5-4 advantage.

But pitcher RJ Gordon ran out of gas in the seventh, loaded the bases and gave way to the bullpen. Unfortunately, Arizona was able to score two and re-take the lead at 6-5.

Oregon gave itself chance after chance in the late innings, but it could never get that one big hit to get over the hump. Susac’s second homer, which came in the ninth inning, was the two insurance runs Arizona needed. The Ducks scored one run on Drew Cowley’s RBI double, but it wasn’t enough.

Oregon baseball makes history down in the desert

For the first time since coming back in 2009, Oregon baseball went down to Tempe and took a weekend series from ASU.

This is the 13th season since Oregon brought back its baseball program and there are still milestones to be made.

For the first time since the resurrection of the sport, the Ducks went down and took a weekend series at Arizona State. Oregon clinched the series with a 15-5 pounding of the Sun Devils in 100-plus degree heat.

But it’s a dry heat.

The temperature wasn’t the only thing that was hot as the Duck bats were scorching as Oregon scored 15 runs on 18 hits. With the win, the Ducks improved to 31-21 overall and 15-12 overall. They have one none-conference game with Gonzaga before hosting Arizona to end the regular season.

Drew Cowley led the way going 3-for-6 with four RBIs and three runs scored. Colby Shade drove in three runs and Anthony Hall smacked two doubles. Jacob Walsh broke out of his slump with a monster home run.

ASU actually led 1-0 after an inning, but the Ducks broke loose with four runs in the third and five more in the fourth. Oregon was helped out a bit by some shoddy fielding from the Sun Devils.

The highlight of the inning was when Brennan Milone hit a double down the right field line and the throw coming back into the infield got away and Milone advanced to third. But then that throw to third also escaped the third baseman and Milone scored on the “Little League home run.”

Starting pitcher Jace Stoffal pitched well, but he was unable to get through the fifth and didn’t qualify for the win. He went 4 2/3 innings and gave up three runs on seven hit. Logan Mercado was credited with the win, his sixth on the season. He went 2 1/3 innings in relief, giving up two runs on five hits.

Now the Ducks will come back home to face Gonzaga, a team they beat 9-5 in Spokane earlier this year. The game is scheduled for 6 p.m. at PK Park on Tuesday.

Ducks ninth inning rally falls just short in weird game at PK Park

Oregon wasn’t able too overcome Hance Smith’s 7 RBI performance as Cal salvaged one over the weekend with a 9-8 win.

It’s probably safe to say California second baseman Hance Smith is the first Pac-12 player to be robbed of a home run and then hit an inside-the-park grand slam in the same game.

The Golden Bears scored five in the eighth and then had to hang on to dear life in the ninth as they avoided a sweep at the hands of the Ducks with a 9-8 win Sunday afternoon at PK Park.

With the loss, Oregon falls to 28-15 overall and 13-8 in conference play.

The Ducks were up 5-3 going into the eighth inning and they brought in closer Kolby Somers for the six-out save. Unfortunately, things unraveled on Somers quickly. Cal scored one and still had the bases juiced when Smith hit a pop fly down the right field line. Anthony Hall was shaded into the gap and had to sprint to even have a chance at catching the fly ball.

Hall actually over ran the ball as it bounced behind him and he fell to the turf. Meanwhile, Smith was able to circle the bases. Those were RBIs 4-7 for him on the day as he had a sacrifice fly and a two-run single earlier in the contest.

That sacrifice fly was nearly a three-run homer, but Colby Shade was able to reach over the wall and bring it back.

Down 9-6 heading into the ninth inning, Oregon was able to mount a rally that eventually saw the potential winning run reach second base, but not before some fireworks.

It looked like Gavin Grant had swung at strike three, but the first base umpire ruled he checked his swing. That sent California into an uproar and coach Mike Neu was thrown out.

Grant made the most out of his second chance and line one through the legs of Hance Smith and two runs scored. But Tanner Smith grounded out to first to end the game.

Oregon now has prepare for a huge week of baseball as the Ducks and Beavers will meet up for four games, one non-conference contest on Tuesday in Eugene and three Pac-12 games in Corvallis over the weekend.

Oregon cruises past the Bears 8-3 with a five-run first inning

Oregon scored five runs in the first and cruised to an 8-3 win over California at PK Park.

Oregon Ducks baseball coach Mark Wasikowski probably prefers his offense to spread the runs out a bit more, but as long as the Ducks win, it doesn’t matter all that much.

A five-run first inning gave the Ducks the upper hand and Oregon was able to cruise to a relatively easy 8-3 win over California on a blustery day at PK Park. With the win, the Ducks improved to 28-14 overall and 13-7 in conference play.

Oregon starting pitcher Isaac Ayon pitched six solid innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and striking out seven. He earned his third win of the season.

It didn’t look good for Ayon early on as he gave up a lead-off homer and a double in the first inning. But he was able to settle down and held the Bears off the scoreboard other than that home run.

That was all the Oregon offense needed to get to off the deck in the bottom of the first. The Ducks used three doubles and three singles to score five runs and that was more than enough for Ayon.

Cal scored single runs in the second and third. The Ducks scored a run in the second and at the end of three, it was 6-3 Oregon. It stayed that way until the seventh when the Ducks were able to score two insurance runs on Tanner Smith’s single to left that drove in Anthony Hall and Gavin Grant.

The Ducks will go for the sweep Sunday at noon as they will send out Jace Stoffal to the mound. The Bears haven’t announced their starter.

Anthony Hall drives in five to lead Oregon past the Bears 7-2

Oregon’s Anthony Hall drove in five runs with a double and triple to lead the Ducks past Cal 7-2.

The Pac-12 is going to be hard-pressed to find someone other than Anthony Hall to be the conference player of the year.

Oregon’s right-fielder drove in five runs, including a bases-clearing triple in the eighth inning, as the Ducks were able to down California –. Coupled with the Beavers’ 2-1 loss at Utah, Oregon moved to within a game of first place with a 12-7 record and 27-14 overall.

Not only did Hall hit his fifth triple of the season, but he also smacked a two-run double in the sixth to give the Ducks a 3-2 lead. In reality, if it wasn’t windy and raining at PK Park, Hall might have had two home runs.

The win was a nice rebound from a rough week where the Ducks lost a series to Washington State and a mid-week defeat to Oregon State.

It was also pitcher RJ Gordon”s best outing since being named as the permanent Friday night starter. He threw 5 2/3 innings, giving up just two runs and two hits while striking out four.

Closer Kolby Somers earned his eighth save of the season. He came on in the eighth inning with the Ducks up 3-2 and the go-ahead runs on base. But Somers was able to strike out Rodney Green, Jr. to end the threat.

Oregon and Cal will meet up for Game 2 Saturday afternoon at 2:05 p.m. with Isaac Ayon (2-1, 5.33 ERA) on the mound facing the Bears’ Joseph King (3-2, 3.29 ERA).

The big hit eludes Ducks in 4-2 loss to rival Oregon State

Oregon falls to No. 2 Oregon State 4-2 in the first of five meetings between the two rivals.

On every schedule, there are some games that are circled. For the Oregon Ducks baseball team, those circles go around Oregon State.

In the first of five meetings with the Beavers this season, Oregon just couldn’t get that one big hit and OSU was able to come out of PK Park with a 4-2 non-conference win over the Ducks.

Oregon falls to 26-14 overall, while the No. 2 ranked Beavers improved to 33-8. The Ducks will now go back into Pac-12 play as they will host California (20-20, 10-11) for a three-game weekend series.

It’s just one loss, but when it comes against the Beavers, win or lose, it seems to have a little extra meaning. The Ducks had more than a few chances to get on the scoreboard earlier than they were able to. Oregon hit into a couple of double plays and left two runners on in the fifth.

It looked like Jack Scanlon had pulled the Ducks to within 3-2 in the fifth, but Oregon State right fielder Justin Boyd was able to rob Scanlon of a homer.

Oregon finally broke through in the sixth with run-scoring singles from Anthony Hall and Colby Shade. The Ducks had the tieing run on second, but Scanlon flew out to deep center to end the inning.

That was the last time Oregon was able to get a runner in scoring position.

The Ducks and Beavers will meet again May 3 at PK Park for another non-conference game. The two rivals will then play a three-game Pac-12 series that very weekend May 6-8 in Corvallis.

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Kolby Somers earns his seventh save of the year with 5-4 win over Portland

Anthony Hall homers and Kolby Somers shuts the door on the Pilots for the 5-4 win at Portland.

Oregon Ducks baseball coach Mark Wasikowski probably didn’t think he would need his closer to come into the eighth inning to preserve a slim one-run lead considering the last time the Ducks played Portland, they won 18-2.

Kolby Somers was up to the task and earned his seventh save of the season as Oregon defeated the Pilots 5-4. With the win, the Ducks improved to 25-11 on the season and have won six straight.

After six innings of play, it looked like Oregon would cruise as it held a nice 5-0 lead. They scored one in the first and two more in the second. Anthony Hall extended the Ducks’ lead with a mammoth two-run home run in the sixth. It was his ninth homer of the year and the Ducks’ 56th home run as a team, equalling the number of round-trippers they hit last season. The next homer will be a program record.

Once it was 5-0, the Pilots managed to finally cross some runners home. They have threatened numerous times in the early innings, but the Ducks were able to leave runners on base. Portland was able to crack the scoreboard in the seventh with three runs off of reliever Matt Dallas, who just didn’t have it for the first time in quite a while.

Logan Mercado gave up a triple and a double and saw the lead cut to one at 5-4 and that was when Wasikowski went to his closer to shut down the Pilots and get out of Portland with a win.

Now the Ducks will come back home and host Washington State (13-21, 5-13) for a three-game weekend set beginning on Friday at 6 p.m.

Flared up tempers spark Ducks to rally past the Huskies

Oregon rallied late with 5 runs in the eighth inning to defeat the Huskies 8-6.

We saw a lot of this blueprint early this season, but not so much of late.

Oregon’s ability to rally late came back just in time today in Seattle as the Ducks scored five runs in the eighth inning to defeat Washington.

With the win, not only do the Ducks win the series over the Huskies, they’ll now go for the series sweep up on Montlake. Oregon improved to 23-11 overall, winners of four straight and 9-5 in Pac-12 play. Washington falls to 16-17 overall and just 6-11 in conference action.

Washington was able to grab a 5-1 at the end of the fourth inning and that’s when the Ducks woke the bats up. Colby Shade got Oregon back in the game with a two-run homer to left in the fifth.

Washington came up to bat in the bottom of the fifth and this is when tempers got hot. Oregon starter Isaac Ayon, who wasn’t having the best of days, plunked leadoff batter, Johnny Tincher, in the back. He wasn’t thrilled and home plate umpire Brett Terry felt that was enough to eject Ayon out of the game.

The Huskies scored one in the sixth to make it 6-3 and it stayed that way until the eighth. Anthony Hall got the rally started with a triple down the right field line. Sam Novitske singled Hall home and it was 6-4.

Josiah Cromwick continued the rally with a single of his own and then the Huskies gifted Oregon a run when they threw away Gavin Grant sacrifice bunt attempt that saw Novitske score and Cromwick and Grant advance to second and third.

Colby Shade tied the game with a single and moved up to second when the Huskies’ defense wasn’t paying attention. Brennan Milone gave the Ducks the 8-6 lead with a liner to left field that scored two runs.

Logan Mercado, who came in the game when Ayon was ejected, earned the win with his four innings on the mound. He allowed just one unearned run on two hits.

Kolby Somers came on in the ninth and earned his sixth save of the season, his second in less than 24 hours.

Oregon will go for the sweep when the Ducks and Dawgs meet for Game 3 at 2 p.m. on the Pac-12 Network. Jace Stoffal (0-0, 27.00 ERA) will take the mound for the Ducks and he will battle Washington’s Case Matter (0-2, 5.73 ERA).

Ducks power their way to a series opening win in Seattle

Anthony Hall homered and Jacob Walsh drove in four to lead the Ducks to a 7-5 win over Washington late last night.

It’s always fun to beat the Huskies, especially in Seattle.

Anthony Hall belted a two-run homer in the first and Kolby Somers held Washington off in the eighth and the ninth for a 7-5 win over the Dawgs.

Oregon is now 22-11 overall and 8-5 in league play. The Ducks broke a three-game losing streak in Pac-12 action. They are also tied for fourth place with UCLA. Meanwhile, Washington’s struggles continue as they fell to 16-16 overall and 6-10 in conference play.

The Ducks got off to a good start right away in the first off of Huskies starting pitcher Jared Engman. Oregon cracked the scoreboard with a two-run single from Jacob Walsh on an 0-2 pitch. Then two batters later, Hall smashed a homer to right field that might have landed in Puget Sound. It was his eighth home run for the season.

From that point, it was Duck pitcher RJ Gordon, who might have had his best start since being moved to the Friday night spot. Gordon pitched into the sixth inning before being pulled. He gave up three runs and five hits, but more importantly, he kept Washington playing catch-up all night long.

Matt Dallas and Andrew Mosiello came in from the bullpen and pitched the sixth and seventh before Somers was summoned in the eighth and he wriggled out of a huge jam in that inning.

Oregon was up 5-3 and Washinton had runners on second and third with one out. That was when Huskies shortstop Cam Clayton lined out to Somers for out No. 2. Somers then proceeded to hit the next batter, but whiffed Sam Brown to end the threat.

Thankfully, the Ducks scored two insurance runs in the ninth on another two-run single from Walsh because the Huskies got to Somers with two runs and had the tying run at the plate. But Somers wriggled out of the jam and preserved the win.

The two teams are back at it today at 2 p.m. on the Pac-12 Network.