UNC Baseball: MLB Draft Signifies 2025 season

The conclusion of the 2025 MLB Draft tells a lot about what kind team UNC had this past season. Not only did catcher Luke Stevenson get selected in the first round by the Seattle Mariners, but three of his teammates did, too. Ace pitcher Jake Knapp went to the Chicago Cubs on top of outfielder Kane Kepley, and relief pitcher Aidan Haugh to the Tampa Bay Rays.

Some may be wondering ... How did this team not make the College World Series?

Well, it's baseball, anything can happen, even until the last inning of the game with two outs — all it takes is one batter to start a rally and then the next, and so on and so forth. But considering the talent on its roster, plus those who were not drafted, Scott Forbes had the pieces to punch a ticket to Omaha to play in what others like to call the "Greatest Show on Dirt."

Then, the Arizona Wildcats happened, and despite North Carolina winning by 18-2 in Game 1 that was not a series defining moment (as a few may have hoped) per results. Arizona won two straight games by the score of 10-8 and 4-3 — close, down to the final innings kind of contests.

Coach Forbes had a few words to share after Game 3 at the Boshamer Stadium:

"First thing I want to do is congratulate Arizona," Carolina head coach Scott Forbes said afterward. "They played tough the whole weekend, obviously. We jumped on them that first game (Friday) but they're a really good team and they're extremely well coached. They found a way to win that game, so I want to congratulate them.

Sports will rip your heart out sometimes, but what I'm thankful for and what our staff is most thankful for is how our players played, how they conducted themselves the entire season. They have nothing at all to hang their heads about. They've represented this university, they've represented our program in an absolute first-class manner."

On a more positive note for North Carolina, D1Baseball projected them to be a part of the College World Series next year. And maybe, if the season goes well, that prediction may very well come true.

That's just speculation in the end, so final scores will tell more of the story. "Sports will rip your heart out sometimes, but what I'm thankful for and what our staff is most thankful for is how our players played, how they conducted themselves the entire season. They have nothing at all to hang their heads about. They've represented this university, they've represented our program in an absolute first-class manner."

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