[ad_1]
The North Carolina native and Tar Heel star is looking to win his program’s first national championship.
The homegrown talent rose to prominence in his first season as a starter and, while not yet qualified, has already attracted interest as a potential No. 1 draft pick.
No, I’m not talking about Drake May. This particular Tar Heel is across from his football team’s practice facility and has batting practice at Boshammer Stadium.
His name is Vance Honeycutt. And he just might become the next big thing in college baseball.
it was not supposed to be like this. Last summer, Diamond’s Heels Vance honeycut, which thrilled his fans, was different than the first person Carolina scouts had their eyes on.
Unfortunately, the time Honeycut hit its stride coincided with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. But while Carolina’s recruitment of Honeycutt was on hold, reports head coach Scott Forbes got in the interim were more than promising.
“He got bigger, faster, stronger,” said Forbes. “Due to COVID we didn’t get to see him. We weren’t allowed to go out and see. But then we heard that this kid might be better than we originally thought. I thought he was going to be a utility player.”
Could he be a first-round draft pick as a utility player? In retrospect, it seems doubtful. Upon arriving at Chapel Hill, Honeycutt quickly put the idea aside, and in his first two games as a Tar Heel, he hit three home runs.
His best moment with the team came on the home stretch of the season. In his final 23 games, Honeycutt hit 15 home runs in just 82 at-bats, posting a ridiculous 1.535 OPS (anything over 1.000 is considered elite), and set off a summer surge that saw Carolina win the ACC Tournament. took the lead. Honeycutt was named tournament MVP after he hit two more home runs in his game of the championship against North Carolina State.
It’s been quite a week for the Salisbury, North Carolina native who grew up being a North Carolina fan.
“I played well, so I knew I had a chance,” Honeycutt said. “We knew that if we wanted to have a regional tournament, we had to play well. We came out and swung well all weekend and pitched well all weekend. [And] Beating the states at the end was definitely good.
Honeycutt’s glorious tale of Salisbury High seems like it was made for the big screen. The hometown hero was a multi-year letterman as both a shortstop in baseball and a quarterback in football, who helped the baseball team win his 2A state championship in 2021. This was the season before she starred in Diamond Heels. As previously mentioned, he grew up a Carolina fan. As such, he accepted the scholarship offer almost immediately.
“I’m done,” he said.
Honeycutt’s postseason success has allowed Carolina to host both regional and super-regional NCAA tournaments. This was almost unthinkable when the team was down on his 23-17 record in late April.
However, UNC failed to reach Omaha, losing two games to Arkansas in the Super Regional, and the final loss was a walk-off. For Forbes, who has just entered his second season as head coach, the loss still hurts.
“I’m probably one of those people who hates losing more than winning,” he said. “So I can’t say it’s over. You have to deal with it.
“Going to Omaha is not easy.
Forbes’ philosophy is very similar to his sophomore center fielder. He’s already earned accolades from national publications for his five-tool prowess. Honeycutt said his ability to stay grounded, even during his season-changing streak, was what kept the bat humming.
“If you think about it like that, it won’t work,” he said. “You have to be on every pitch in the box. We were talking about it at our meeting the other day. Then you look ahead and you might be 0-2 or behind the dugout.”
“He’s a humble kid,” Forbes said of Honeycutt. “He was raised right. He’s one of our hardest workers.[ing] By example. And that’s exactly what a guy like Vance needs. When your best players are your hardest workers, it becomes easier for you as a coach.
It may be his maturity beyond the age of 19 that makes him considered a potential No. 1 pick in the 2024 MLB Draft. Or maybe it’s his ability to hit 400-foot home runs. They are helpful too.
“Any kid would know about it,” Forbes said of the hype surrounding his young talent. I’m in the locker room with some of the very best players in the team, and I remind the players: last year is over.”
Carolina is ranked 12th in D1 Baseball’s preseason rankings, with similar placements in other publication polls. In that regard, the 2023 season is already different than 2022, when Carolina was not ranked at all in preseason. It’s no exaggeration to say that Honeycutt and Diamond Heels don’t sneak up on anyone in the spring.
“We talk about it all the time. It doesn’t matter where we are. You’re going to have to win the game,” Honeycutt said. But this year it’s not an option.People know us.At the end of the day, we have to play well and win big games.To be an exciting team. I think we’re going to win a lot of ball games.”
The Diamond Heels will have their first chance to face Seton Hall on February 17th. It will be their first game at Boshammer Stadium since their loss to the Razorbacks.
The game wasn’t quite what Salisbury’s Slugger (trademark pending) envisioned. But this new year, Vance Honeycutt has his eyes set on completing that final chapter with one accomplishment Carolina has been unable to achieve in recent years: finding the bottom of the dog pile in Omaha. .
Featured image by UNC Athletic Communications/Jeffrey A. Camarati
Chapelboro.com does not charge a subscription fee. You can directly support your local journalism efforts here. Want to learn more about what you’ve seen in Chapelboro? Sign up for our bi-weekly newsletter for free local news and community information.
Related
[ad_2]
Source link
