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Home Plate Umpire Did Not Cost North Carolina Baseball Despite Poor Optics Of Deleted Facebook Photo

admin June 23, 2026

A North Carolina batter walks back to the dugout at the College World Series.

North Carolina baseball fans are crying bias after a blowout loss in the national title game. A deleted photo of home plate umpire Billy Van Raaphorst created poor optics. It was not the reason for the College World Series outcome.

Defeat can instead be attributed to mental mistakes, a depleted pitching staff, and an inability to make consistent contact at the dish.

The Tar Heels lost the game, 13-2. An umpire, no matter how poor, does not account for 11 runs.

North Carolina baseball fans circulate photo of home plate umpire.

The image was snagged from Van Raaphorst’s Facebook account. He is seen in October of 2010 donning an Oklahoma Sooners shirt.

Looking back at his Facebook account today, the image is gone. Assuming the original photo is real, it appears the umpire deleted the post following criticism.

The Tar Heels were unhappy with the strike zone throughout the night. It led Van Raaphorst to warn the dugout in the seventh frame. There were bigger issues on North Carolina’s end, however.

Firstly, the Tar Heels couldn’t hit, at least not consistently. While they racked up 10 hits on the night, none went for extra bases, and they were unable to string singles together to push runs across the plate.

Many immediately blamed the strike zone for the inconsistency. The final stats, however, suggest that the game was evenly called.

UNC batters struck out 11 times, one less than the Sooners. They also left six runners on base, which were two less than Oklahoma.

The Sooners, instead, took advantage of their opportunities. The offense stayed hot against a decimated staff, hitting two homers and a pair of doubles.

UNC head coach Scott Forbes wouldn’t pitch ace Jason DeCaro, who started in Game 1. He instead turned to freshman Jackson Rose.

In Game 2, starter Ryan Lynch left with an injury, forcing the Tar Heels to use top reliever Caden Glauber for the final five innings in an elimination scenario. While Glauber returned briefly in Game 3, his stuff wasn’t the same on no rest. He walked a batter and gave up a hit before being removed from the mound.

Down arguably their top three arms, North Carolina was forced to piece together a plan with eight pitchers. Obviously, it didn’t work. There weren’t many other options, though.

Scott Forbes would not blame officiating.

“Oklahoma made us pay,” he said after the game. “We walked too many, but none of these guys were trying to walk anybody. Globe, we knew, was going to be a short stint, maybe 15 pitches. Everybody went out there, they gave it all they had, we just ran out of gas.”

Forbes congratulated the Sooners for “earning it.” The Tar Heels, meanwhile, did all they could to lose the game.

A baserunning mistake in the second inning ran North Carolina out of a scoring chance. Not only did it wipe out a run, but it ended a threat with men in scoring position.

At the time of the gaffe, the score was 2-0. Rather than cut into the deficit, the Tar Heels remained scoreless. Momentum was lost and the Sooners’ lead continued to grow.

There were plenty of instances of missed calls on both ends. One helped North Carolina plate its first run of the game.

Strike zone at College World Series during a North Carolina at-bat.

In the end, Oklahoma was the better team. The home plate umpire did not dictate the end result. The Sooners deserved to win, and they did.

At this point, it’s sour grapes with the program being shut out from a national championship for the 13th time in Omaha.

The post Home Plate Umpire Did Not Cost North Carolina Baseball Despite Poor Optics Of Deleted Facebook Photo appeared first on BroBible.



Home Plate Umpire Did Not Cost North Carolina Baseball Despite Poor Optics Of Deleted Facebook Photo
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