UNC Baseball: Tar Heels ranked No. 14 in Perfect Game Preseason Poll
Fans of the UNC baseball program are excited to get 2024 started after a strong 2023 season. The Tar Heels went 36-24 overall and 14-14 in ACC play last season. Sophomore centerfielder Vance Honeycutt emerged as a star in college baseball with a .257 batting average, 12 home runs and 43 RBIs. Honeycutt also had an OPS of .910 and stole 19 bases in 2023. Led by Honeycutt, the UNC baseball program was ranked 14th to start the season in Perfect Game's preseason poll.
The Diamond Heels are 14th in the first preseason poll of the new year. pic.twitter.com/XzbtCd2tWy
— Carolina Baseball (@DiamondHeels) January 5, 2024
North Carolina is one of five teams ranked in the preseason poll joining Wake Forest, NC State, Clemson and Duke. Wake Forest opened as the #1 team in the country after reaching the College World Series a season ago. The UNC baseball program made it to the Terre Haute Regional before losing to the Iowa Hawkeyes 6-5 in 13 innings.
Heading into the new season, Honeycutt is viewed as a potential All-American player for the Diamond Heels. He is seen by many as one of the best prospects in the upcoming MLB Draft in July of 2024 and will look to prove that he is healthy and can produce at the level we saw during his freshman season in Chapel Hill two years ago.
There are plenty of new faces on this year's squad, but there are also a lot of potential things to like about this team. If the new faces can replace some of the key veterans the team lost from a season ago, this could be a group that no one will want to face come tournament time.
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