Brendan Summerhill puts team success above personal stats as Arizona preps for UNC

Other players would kill to go through what Brendan Summerhill considers a slump.

Arizona’s junior right fielder and projected first-round pick is batting .370 for the Super Regional-bound Wildcats. That would rank third in the Big 12 if Summerhill had enough appearances to qualify.

The issue is, he was batting .417 after going 2 for 3 with a home run in his first at-bat back from injury against UT Arlington on April 23. Since then, Summerhill has hit .280. Not bad by any stretch — but not quite up to Summerhill’s expectations for himself.

“He’s been fine,” UA coach Chip Hale said Tuesday after Arizona’s practice in advance of the best-of-three series against North Carolina that begins Friday in Chapel Hill.

“He himself is not happy at all. If you were to ask him, he would tell you he’s struggling.”

Summerhill said as much. But he recognizes that at this point in the season, it’s all about the team.

“It’s been easier (to deal with), especially as the games become more important,” Summerhill 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.

“We’re two wins away from Omaha, six or seven from a national title. That’s where our focus is — winning. If I’m doing well, it’s probably going to give us a good chance to win. But whether I’m myself or not, we’re going to keep at it.”

Handling frustration has been a season-long challenge for Summerhill. Jim Callis of MLB.com reported that Summerhill broke his right hand March 23 at West Virginia by punching a water cooler in the dugout. Summerhill has declined to say how the injury — which kept him out about four weeks — occurred.

Hale said he and others have worked with Summerhill to try to help him get through those frustrating moments. Hale added that Summerhill’s heart is in the right place.

“That’s just maturity and us coaching and trying to bring him along,” Hale said. “He’s a very emotional guy. He wants to do well for the team.

“He feels like sometimes he lets us down. He just has to understand that all anybody on the team is looking for is him to give the best he can every day.”

Summerhill said hitting a home run in his first at-bat back vs. UT Arlington — on the first pitch he saw — might have been detrimental in retrospect.

“That’s something that doesn’t happen a lot,” he said. “Honestly, I think it made ... my head a little big: ‘Oh, I have nothing to feel out. I’ve got it all figured out.’ But the game is so humbling.”

Being injured and unable to participate in baseball activities for several weeks provided its own set of challenges. Summerhill relied on what he called “positive self-talk” to push himself through it.

Once he returned, Summerhill tried to look beyond the outcomes of his at-bats — which, again, have been pretty good. Arizona’s leadoff hitter has a .456 on-base percentage since that game vs. UT Arlington and a .492 season mark.

“I probably wasn’t going to get on base four or five times every game. That’s just the reality of it. I knew that’s how it was going to be,” Summerhill said. “So just sticking with it really, just being super strong. It becomes a challenge — not getting so consumed with the result.

“It’s hard when I’m facing a guy and know I can do damage off of him and I’m not doing what I feel like I could be doing. It’s getting back to the dugout, taking a deep breath and then just getting back out on defense and making sure that’s the most important thing — being where my feet are and playing for the team.”

‘Fantastic’ Tar Heels

How good is North Carolina?

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

The National Collegiate Baseball Writers’ Association is still doing its weekly poll, and the organization voted the 45-13 Tar Heels No. 1 this week.

“Fantastic team,” Hale said. “They just do everything well. The pitchers, you look at their numbers, the ERAs are low. A lot of quality hitters. It’s going to be a great series.”

North Carolina ranks third nationally with a 3.39 ERA. The Tar Heels rank eighth in WHIP (1.23) and ninth in fewest hits allowed per nine innings (7.57).

The staff is led by 6-5, 270-pound right-hander Jake Knapp, a sixth-year graduate-student transfer who missed all of last season because of injury. Knapp is 13-0 with a 1.98 ERA and a 0.83 WHIP. He was named the ACC’s Pitcher of the Year.

Academic All-District

Three Wildcats have received College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honors, and one has a chance to be an Academic All-American.

The three honorees are pitchers Tony Pluta and Casey Hintz, and third baseman Maddox Mihalakis. All just completed their junior years.

Pluta is majoring in aerospace engineering and carries a 3.91 GPA. He previously was named the Big 12’s Baseball Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

Pluta, who has tied the school single-season record with 13 saves, has been nominated for CSC Academic All-American status. The Academic All-American teams will be announced July 1.

Hintz is a business major with a 3.54 GPA. He has a 7-4 record with a 5.29 ERA and 51 strikeouts in 49⅓ innings. Like Pluta, Hintz is a second-time Academic All-District selection.

Mihalakis is majoring in finance and has a 3.50 GPA. He has accumulated career highs in games played (58), runs (36), hits (63), doubles (12), home runs (five) and walks drawn (25) while batting .285 with a .360 on-base percentage.

5 Cats in portal

The transfer portal for baseball opened Monday. Five Arizona players have entered, per D1Baseball’s database: infielder Richie Morales and pitchers Jack Berg, Christian Coppola, Kenan Elarton and Karter Muck.

Morales was a top bench player for the Wildcats before suffering an injury that sidelined him for the season. He has one more year of eligibility thanks to changes made regarding junior-college transfers.

Berg, Coppola, Elarton and Muck combined for 13 appearances and 15⅓ innings. None was able to establish a consistent role.

“It’s tough,” said Hale, who signed the players’ portal paperwork Monday. “They’re still part of this team. This is just the landscape of college sports now (that) we have to deal with. But they have to do what’s best for their careers. ... We always wish them the best.”

As for potential acquisitions for next season, Hale said assistant coach Trip Couch is monitoring the portal even as Arizona prepares for Super Regionals.

“Trip’s constantly recruiting, whether it’s high school, junior college or portal,” Hale said. “We’re always looking at it, evaluating who’s in there right now.”

Photos: Arizona baseball practices before Super Regionals