Diamond Heels’ 2024 top hitter, bullpen arm ink professional free agent deals

The 2024 college baseball season was one to remember for the North Carolina Tar Heels.

UNC brought in one of its best recruiting classes in program history. Returning stars took major jumps, players stepped up in wake of injury and – in a year where over half of the ACC made the NCAA Tournament – North Carolina came out on top with a regular-season championship.

The Diamond Heels didn’t win the ACC Baseball Tournament Championship, but advanced even further – to their first College World Series since 2018. UNC was nearly eliminated from its own regional, but roared back against 2023 CWS champs LSU and advanced to host West Virginia, in the Mountaineers’ first-ever Super Regional.

Going back to that recruiting class, which included transfers and incoming freshman, it was an SEC transfer who ended up being North Carolina’s top hitter.

Parks Harber , who came to Chapel Hill from UGA, led the Diamond Heels with a .343 batting average last year. He was also quite the power threat, hitting 20 home runs (one of two UNC players to do so) and driving in 63 runners.

North Carolina’s bullpen was also a major reason it advanced to the CWS, as you could pick literally anyone to come in and shut down the opposition. In this case, we’re talking about Ben Peterson , the 6’3″ started-turned-reliever senior who finished his year with a 3-2 win-loss record and 4.70 earned run average.

The 2024 MLB Draft also came and went, with six Diamond Heels hearing their names called. Peterson and – surprisingly – Harber didn’t hear their names called.

Peterson and Harber will be playing at the next level, though, as they signed free agent contracts on Friday, July 19.

Harber is the latest slugger to join the storied New York Yankees, who gained their nickname “Bronx Bombers” from their ability to hit home runs at a high clip. Peterson joins the San Francisco Giants.

How long will it take before both are in the major leagues?

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