Before every game, after getting some last-minute guidance from the coaching staff, Arizona’s players gather in a circle in the outfield to psych each other up. But three weeks ago, following a fifth loss in six games, a small addition was made to this pregame ritual.
A toy car.
Introduced by redshirt sophomore outfielder TJ Adams, this tiny automobile would serve as a “prize” for the player of the game and provide motivation for everyone on the team. Seems silly, but you can’t discount its effectiveness.
Arizona won that game at Houston on May 16 and every game since. Each of those eight consecutive victories has included the introduction of a new toy vehicle—it was a helicopter for the Eugene Regional final—and the results speak for themselves.
“It’s kind of like a switch,” shortstop Mason White said. “It kind of turns the team into game mode when you see whatever he brings out. It kind of fires everyone up. And it’s almost like your brain creating a new moment in time. When he shows us the toy of the day, or whatever it is, it kind of just ignites a fire, and everyone’s like, okay, that’s the new goal.”
The Wildcats (42-18) will continue the pregame toy tradition in Chapel Hill for the best-of-3 Super Regionals against No. 5 North Carolina.
“It gives us another reason to get excited, another reason to play,” right fielder Brendan Summerhill said. “It just gives us extra motivation, and it’s fun. It just keeps us loose and keeps us having fun. Because I remember when I was eight years old if I played good I’d get a donut or a toy car. It keeps us young and takes a lot of stress and pressure off of it.”
Adams and reliever Julian Tonghini are in charge of deciding who gets the toy—“when someone does something Julian runs around the dugout and screams ‘you’re on the ballot!’,” White said—but it isn’t based solely on statistics. White earned the fire truck after hitting three home runs in Saturday’s win over Utah Valley, but first baseman Tommy Splaine won a toy in the Big 12 Tournament against West Virginia after making several stellar defensive plays.
“It’s not about performance, it’s about the team,” White said. “It’s about how well did you contribute to winning the baseball game.”
New field, same approach
Arizona has played half its games this season in cavernous Hi Corbett Field, where only 36 home runs (27 for the Wildcats, nine for the opponents) were hit in 30 contests. When they play away from home, though, it’s been a different story.
The UA clubbed 15 homers in three games at the Eugene Regional, including a school-record eight against Utah Valley and six more in the regional final against Cal Poly. The weekend before it crushed five in Globe Life Field, an MLB park, and had six in the final regular season series at Houston.
Up to 74 for the season, Arizona is now only three homers outside of the top 5 in school history. And North Carolina’s Boshamer Stadium is not big, and might play smaller than PK Park with the distance only 355 feet to right-center and 370 to left-center.
That might make swinging for the fences very enticing, but that’s not Arizona’s approach.
“I think we stress all the time hard and low,” coach Chip Hale said. “I say that when you think about hard and low, you’re trying to hit the top of the ball or try and hit the middle of the ball. And the ball is going to go, whether it’s in Eugene or Chapel Hill or here.”
Added White, who has homered 10 times in his last 12 games with 13 of his 19 for the season away from home: “You don’t control the distance of the field, and you don’t control that based on ball fight or any of that. So you just hit. And if the ball goes out, great, it goes out more on the road than here, so it plays our advantage.”
There are a few Wildcats with experience playing at UNC. In 2023, a Boston College team that included Tonghini, catcher Adonys Guzman and pitching coach Kevin Vance went to Chapel Hill and swept a series.
Tonghini finished out two of the wins, earning a save in a 10-inning victory, and Guzman had the go-ahead RBI to complete the sweep.
“Really great environment to pitch in,” Tonghini said. “It’s a lot of fun, great atmosphere, great stadium. They’re a great team, so excited to get down there.”
Summer settling in
Before breaking his hand on March 23 at West Virginia, Summerhill was hitting .409 and led the nation with six triples. He returned after a month to homer on the first pitch he saw, going 3 for 6 with three extra-base hits in a game and a half before suffering a hamstring injury that shelved him another week.
Since coming back full time on May 6, the projected first round pick in the 2025 MLB Draft has hit .277. But he’s also drawn 17 walks in 13 games, leading to 10 runs scored out of the leadoff spot.
“He’s been fine,” Hale said. “He himself is not happy at all. I mean, if you were to ask him, he would tell you he’s struggling, which I told him (Tuesday), it’s not about the average, it’s about the on base percentage for the leadoff hitter.”
Managing his frustrations has been an issue for Summerhill this season. As MLB.com’s Jim Callis reported last month in his mock draft, Summerhill’s broken hand was the result of punching a water cooler at West Virginia. Since returning from the hamstring there have been times, after running out a groundout, that Summerhill has given the appearance that he reinjured himself, but Hale said that’s more been his player showing his displeasure with making an out.
Summerhill was 3 for 14 in the Eugene Regional, hitting his first homer since April 23 and scoring four times. He still thinks he’s not playing as well as he should, but at this point in the season he’s gotten better at focusing on the big picture.
“It’s been easier, especially like as the games become more important,” he said. “All that matters is us scoring more runs. When we do that, my individual performance at the end of the day, it is what it is, we won, and that’s what’s important. And especially now, we’re two wins away from Omaha, I think six or seven from a national title, and that’s where our focus is, is winning. If I’m doing well, I’m doing well, and it’s probably going to give us a good chance to win.”
As the portal turns
The NCAA transfer portal officially opened for college baseball on Monday, and five members of Arizona’s 2025 roster have entered.
Infielder Richie Morales, who played in 55 games the past two seasons with 51 starts, is the most notable departure. He hadn’t played since April 15 because of injury but had some clutch contributions this spring, including the game-winning RBI single in the 16-inning win at West Virginia on March 21.
Despite being a senior, Morales has an extra year of eligibility after the NCAA ruled that players who spent time in junior college could get one more season to play.
Also in the portal are right-handed pitchers Christian Coppola, Kenan Elarton and Karter Muck and lefty Jack Berg. That quartet combined to make 13 appearances (three starts) and throw 13.1 innings but only Coppola, a transfer from Rutgers, saw action in a Big 12 game.
“It’s tough, they’re still part of this team,” Hale said. “This is just the landscape of college sports now we have to deal with, but they have to do what’s best for their careers. They’re not, obviously, here on the current roster. We always with them the best.”
Hale said recruiting coordinator Trip Couch has begun evaluating players—“Trip is constantly recruiting, whether it’s high school, junior college or portal”—but whether the UA will pick up any transfers before done playing remains to be seen.
