By R.L. Bynum

OMAHA, Neb. — North Carolina coach Scott Forbes got his fourth Tar Heels team to the Men’s College World Series, thanks in no small part to working the transfer portal.

Three of his regular position players and two of his starting pitchers transferred to UNC last offseason. Knowing that up to seven regular starters will finish their careers in Omaha, Forbes has already begun luring another talented transfer class while trying to win a national championship.

It’s a juggling act that makes an NCAA run more challenging than in past years. Forbes quipped at Thursday’s press conference that it would take him an hour to discuss the portal thoroughly.

“You embrace it,” said Forbes, whose No. 4-seeded Tar Heels beat Virginia 2–1 in the College World Series opener on Friday. “It’s just like NIL. You can complain about it all you want, but it’s part of the game.”

That portal game started when it opened on June 4 and already includes hundreds of players, according to D1 Baseball. That list will only get bigger since players can add their names until July 2.

Forbes said he has already secured a couple of commitments, and being in Omaha probably holds some sway with players.

“I’ll be on the phone today,” Forbes said. “I actually have a Zoom set up later with a kid that we really, really want. There’s no better time, though, to recruit than when you are in Omaha. We use that to our advantage and try to put together a team that we can get back here with.”

The gems of the 2023 portal for the Tar Heels were former Georgia first baseman Parks Harber, former Quinnipiac right fielder Anthony Donofrio, former Arcadia second baseman Alex Madera, former Elon pitcher Shea Sprague and former Fayetteville Tech pitcher Aidan Haugh.

“The way I look at it is you figure out a way to make your program better, and maybe help your guys,” Forbes said. “With the transfer portal, we’re on it every single day. We’re checking it. We have our own system for the type of kid that we’re looking for. We know what our needs are.”

To keep the program’s momentum going, Forbes will likely need to lure some big transfers since players who have been fixtures in this season’s lineup will be gone.

Harber, Donofrio, Madera, designated hitter Alberto Osuna and shortstop Colby Wilkerson will be out of eligibility. Center fielder Vance Honeycutt is projected to be picked 19th in the draft later this June, and left fielder Casey Cook is also likely to begin his professional career.

“Any time anybody in our program has their last game, whether or not they’re starters, it’s going to be emotional,” said Forbes, kiddingly complaining about being reminded about pending departures. “Why do you have to remind me we’re losing so many of those guys? That’s where the transfer portal can help you.”

The good news for Carolina is that it will have good young talent returning, including four freshmen: third baseman Gavin Gallaher, catcher Luke Stephenson and pitchers Jason DeCaro and Folger Boaz.

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Forbes says that player development of returning players is just as important, noting the improvement right-handed reliever Matthew Matthijs made from his freshman to his sophomore seasons.

“That’s one of the things that I’m really proud of,” Forbes said. “At North Carolina, it’s not our development. The players develop themselves through hard work. But we do feel like we can still get great high school players. They can stay in our program. We’re not going to probably have 20 players off the transfer portal. I don’t think that’s the recipe for our success.”

As the players, including Honeycutt, left the press conference, Forbes smiled and pointed out that, “for the record, he’s a junior.” Honeycutt returned the smile, as his college career will undoubtedly end in Omaha.

It’s unlikely that Forbes can find a center fielder nearly as talented as Honeycutt, but that won’t deter him from trying.

NOTES — Former UNC players in Omaha include Dustin Ackley and Chad Flack. … This is Carolina’s 12th College World Series appearance, with the first in 1960 and the previous Omaha visit in 2018. UNC is 18–23 all-time in the CWS and has never won a game where Mike Fox didn’t either play or coach. … Four of UNC’s last eight wins have come in the last eight bats, with four players driving in game-winning runs. … The 47 wins are the ninth-most in program history. Within reach are the 48 in 2009, 49 in 2019 and 51 in 1990 and 2011. … Karl Ravech, Eduardo Perez, Ben McDonald and Dani Wexelman will be on the ESPN call of Friday’s game.

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Men’s College World Series

At Charles Schwab Field Omaha in Omaha, Neb.
Bracket 1
No. 1 Tennessee (3–0), No. 8 Florida State (2–2), No. 4 North Carolina (1–2), No. 12 Virginia (0–2)
Bracket 2
No. 3 Texas A&M (3–0), Florida (2–2), No. 2 Kentucky (1–2), No. 10 N.C. State (0–2)
Pool play
(All listed times are EDT)
Friday’s results
Game 1: No. 4 North Carolina 3, No. 12 Virginia 2
Game 2: No. 1 Tennessee 12, No. 8 Florida State 11
Saturday’s results
Game 3: No. 2 Kentucky 5, No. 10 N.C. State 4, 10 innings
Game 4: No. 3 Texas A&M 3, Florida 2
Sunday’s results
Game 5: No. 8 Florida State 7, No. 12 Virginia 3; Virginia eliminated
Game 6: No. 1 Tennessee 6, No. 4 North Carolina 1
Monday’s results
Game 7: Florida 5, No. 10 N.C. State 4; N.C. State eliminated
Game 8: No. 3 Texas A&M 5, No. 2 Kentucky 1
Tuesday’s result
Game 9: No. 8 Florida State 9, No. 4 North Carolina 5; North Carolina eliminated
Wednesday’s results
Game 10: Florida 15, No. 2 Kentucky 4; Kentucky eliminated
Game 11: No. 1 Tennessee 7, No. 8 Florida State 2; Florida State eliminated
Game 12: No. 3 Texas A&M 6, Florida 0; Florida eliminated
MCWS Finals
(Best-of-3 series)
No. 1 Tennessee (60–13) vs. No. 3 Texas A&M (53–15)
Game 1: Texas A&M 9, Tennessee 5
Game 2 Tennessee, 4, Texas A&M 1
Game 3: Tennessee 6, Texas A&M 5; Tennessee wins national champinship

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UNC scores

Date(s)	Day/ month	Scores	Opponent (current rank)	Record
	February
14–15	Fri.-Sat.	W, 5–1; W, 8–3; W, 4–2	vs. Texas Tech	3–0
18	Tuesday	W, 12–9	vs. Kansas State	4–0
22–24	Sat.-Mon.	W, 2–0; W, 11–6; W, 6–4	vs. East Carolina (DBAP, CH, G’ville)	7–0
25	Tuesday	W, 7–4	vs. VCU	8–0
26	Wednesday	W, 13–4	vs. N.C. A&T	9–0
28	Friday	W, 16–2	vs. Stony Brook	10–0
	March
1–2	Sat.-Sun.	W, 6–1; W, 9–5	vs. Stony Brook	12–0
4	Tuesday	W, 6–4 (11)	vs. No. 11 Coastal Carolina	13–0
7–9	Fri.-Sun.	L, 13–9; W, 11–1 (7); L, 7–0	vs. Stanford	14–2, 1–2 ACC
11	Tuesday	W, 7–3 (10)	at UNCW	15–2
14, 16	Fri., Sun.	L, 8–7; W, 6–4; L, 5–0	at Louisville	16–4, 2–4
19	Wednesday	L, 5–1	vs. UConn	16–5
21–23	Fri.-Sun.	W, 5–1; L, 3–2; W, 10–0 (7)	at Boston College	18–6, 4–5
25	Tuesday	W, 13–8	vs. South Carolina in Charlotte	19–7
28–30	Fri.-Sun.	W, 2–0; W, 4–2; L, 4–2	vs. Miami	21–7, 6–6
	April
1	Tuesday	W, 11–1 (7)	vs. Gardner-Webb	22–7
3–5	Thur.-Sat.	W, 4–3; L, 9–5; W, 8–7 (14)	vs. Duke	24–8, 8–7
8	Tuesday	W, 12–10	at Elon	25–8
11–13	Fri.-Sun.	W, 11–1 (7); W, 17–1 (7); W, 3–2	vs. Wake Forest	28–8, 11–7
15	Tuesday	W, 14–4 (8)	vs. Charlotte	29–8
18–20	Fri-Sun.	W, 9–6; L, 10–6: W, 7–5	at Virginia Tech	31–9, 13–8
25–27	Fri.-Sun.	W, 15–5; L, 4–2; W, 6–0	at Pittsburgh	33–10, 15–9
29	Tuesday	W, 13–4	vs. George Mason	34–10
30	Wednesday	W, 14–3	vs. Queens	35–10
	May
6	Tuesday	W, 10–1	vs. Campbell	36–10
8–9	Thurs.-Fri.	W, 8–1; L, 8–5	vs. N.C. State	37–11, 16–10
15–17	Thurs.-Sat.	W, 8–3; W, 11–1 (7); L, 5–4	at No. 7 Florida State	39–12, 18–11
		ACC tournament	Durham
23	Friday	Quarterfinal: W, 7–3	Boston College	40–12
24	Saturday	Semifinal: W, 7–5	No. 7 Florida State	41–12
25	Sunday	Final: W, 14–4	No. 14 Clemson	42–12
		Chapel Hill Regional
30	Friday	W, 4–0	Holy Cross	43–12
31	Saturday	W, 11–5	Oklahoma	44–12
	June
1	Sunday	L, 9–5	Oklahoma	44–13
2	Monday	W, 14–4	Oklahoma	45–13
		Chapel Hill Super Regional	Best-of-3 series
6	Friday	W, 18–2	No. 21 Arizona	46–13
7	Saturday	L, 10–8	No. 21 Arizona	46–14
8	Sunday	L, 4–3	No. 21 Arizona	46–15

Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics