From staff reports

Vance Honeycutt’s numbers are looking a lot better after a great weekend.

Honeycutt (Salisbury, UNC) was nearing 100 plate appearances for his pro career when he finally launched his first homer, but he got that burden off his back on Sunday as the Aberdeen IronBirds, Baltimore’s advanced Class A farm team, finished a weekend series with a one-sided victory.

Honeycutt hit a solo homer in the sixth.

Nine games into this season, Honeycutt’s batting average has jumped to .310. That comes with an impressive .487 OBP because he’s been hit by a pitch once and he averages a walk per game. He’s struck out 13 times.

Honeycutt is 9-for-29 with one double, one triple and one homer. He has five steals in six attempts. He’s scored eight runs, while knocking in three. He’s played right field and center field, and after a couple of games at leadoff, he’s been moved back to the middle of the lineup.

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While he didn’t get the win, Owen White (Carson) had his third straight strong start for the Charlotte Knights on Sunday.

White threw five scoreless innings against a Jacksonville team that had seen him only five days earlier. White walked four, struck out two and allowed two hits. The best thing about the 69-pitch outing was he got seven ground-ball outs. The Knights turned two double plays behind him.

White produced five swings-and-misses and got eight called strikes.

While White is 0-1 with two no-decisions in three starts, everything has been positive. Opposing hitters are batting .192 against him and he hasn’t allowed any homers. He appears to have established himself as one of the rocks in Charlotte’s pitching rotation, and an opportunity with the struggling Chicago White Sox could happen this season if White can maintain this level of success.

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Baseball card collectors will be happy to know that San Diego Padres prospect Cobb Hightower (East Rowan) has his first card in the 2025 Bowman set. He was a third-round pick out of the high school ranks last summer.