Scott Forbes: North Carolina lineup can cause some problems despite lost production

With college baseball season right around the corner, coaches like Scott Forbes at North Carolina are meeting with various media folks around the country to discuss their upcoming season.

Forbes met with D1Baseball’s Daron Vaught to discuss things, particularly after losing some key pieces from a squad that went to Omaha.

The North Carolina skipper knows he has a lot to replace.

“Thankfully Jackson Van De Brake getting the appeal and being able to play was a big deal, not just for on the field but for our locker room,” Forbes said. “Never seen him look this good. Physical, weighing in at 205, as strong as he’s been. He’s an All-ACC player that got off to a rough start. Gavin (Gallaher) hopped in and it just kind of happened that way. But he still played for us, had a lot of at-bats. You look at two years, he’s got a lot of experience under his belt. Finished strong in Omaha.”

He’s not the only returning player who will have a big impact. There’s one guy who wasn’t part of last year’s run but certainly would have been had he been healthy.

“We’ve got Hunter Stokely back, who had to redshirt last year, which was a blow to us, that big, left-handed bat, broke his hand,” Forbes said. “But a Gold Glover at first, too, which is underappreciated. He can really defend. I think he’s capable of hitting 15 home runs.”

Replacing the power will be tough

There’s one area that North Carolina manager Scott Forbes knows will be tough to replace from last year’s squad.

“At the end of the day you know the power is the one thing that’s like, OK, we’re probably not going to replace that,” Forbes said. “You’ve got Parks Harber, Alberto Osuna, Vance Honeycutt, Casey Cook, Anthony Donofrio could leave the yard at any time.

“But we do feel like the guys we got out of the portal, Sam Angelo‘s as good of a hitter we’ve had come in here in a long time. He’s older, he’s physical. The best hitter in Division III baseball the last two years. And those guys can play.”

The infield should have the look of a veteran group, with a handful of returning players set to man the bases there.

“We could have a veteran infield with Gavin, (Alex) Madera, Van De Brake, Stokely. Then you’ve got Angelo, who also can play first base,” Forbes said. “You’ve got Luke (Stevenson), who’s in my opinion the best catcher in the country, has a chance to be an extremely high draft pick. He’s gotten better. He was good last year, but when you see him and look at his body, his work ethic, he looks as good as I’ve ever seen him. We have even more catching depth this year with a transfer from Liberty that played every day. He’s physical, he can really hit. We’ve got to find a way to get him in there, but it allows Luke not to catch every inning of every game.”

The outfield is a question mark

Forbes is quick to point out there is one spot that is very up in the air going into the season.

“The outfield was what we lost, obviously,” he said. “You lost left, center and right. We’ve got an unbelievable center fielder, two center fielders really off the portal that I’ve been so excited about.

“Kane Kepley from Liberty, he’s just a heck of a player. And he’s as good a center fielder as you’ll find, in my opinion. Been doing this a long time. And even with that being said he’s not going to get to some balls that Vance got to.

“But you’ve got Tyson Bass who is neat for me. It’s not just neat for me because he came from North Carolina-Wesleyan, but he was their version of Vance Honeycutt at that level. Hit 20-plus home runs every year, steals bases, has speed. And again, this is his fifth year playing college baseball.

“Then Rom Kellis has kind of moved to that forefront to potentially play left, the junior college transfer that can really hit. He can also catch. Gives us more depth.”

North Carolina will have to play differently

The one thing that Forbes knows, even acknowledging that there are still players pushing for roles, is that his team will have to be prepared to win a little differently in 2025.

The power might not quite be there, which will force the team to make up for it in other areas.

That should be no problem for North Carolina, Forbes said.

“I think the lineup can cause some problems for some opponents, and that’s how I look at it,” he said. “”We might have to play the game a little different at times, but I think we have a little more power than the outside people think, which I’m excited about. We have some big-time speed and stolen base potential.

“So when you look at that, the age factor is the age factor. Every team’s different, but you’ve got guys that have played full seasons that we can put in a lineup at really 10-deep. Then you add in a couple really good other transfers and freshmen and returners, we feel pretty good about our depth.”