'He invites the big moment': Honeycutt walks it off again to open College World Series

OMAHA, Neb. — Casey Cook never had a doubt.

It didn’t matter that junior centerfielder Vance Honeycutt was 0-4 that afternoon. It didn’t matter that senior shortstop Colby Wilkerson had just popped out to the catcher, wasting an opportunity with a runner on third with one out.

None of it did. 

“I think everyone in the dugout knew [Honeycutt] was going to come through,” Cook, the redshirt sophomore left fielder said. “And that's what happened.”

With the winning run 90 feet away in a 2-2 game against No. 12 Virginia on Friday, Honeycutt delivered more walk-off magic for the Tar Heels. Ahead in the count, he reached out for a 77 mph slider on the outside of the plate and roped it past the reaching shortstop’s glove into left field. 

Honeycutt’s late-game heroics delivered the Tar Heels a win in the opening game of the 2024 Men’s College World Series. The victory was UNC’s first in Omaha in 2,190 days and the team’s third walk-off win in seven games. 

“He's shown in his career that he enjoys the big moment,” head coach Scott Forbes said. “He invites the big moment.”

The moment had never been bigger. Like the rest of his teammates, Honeycutt was playing in the first game of his career at Charles Schwab Field. 

But Omaha success runs in the family. His dad, Bob, played 5.6 miles away in Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium as a member of the 1989 UNC baseball team. His advice to his son has been to enjoy the moment and soak it all in. 

With that in mind, Honeycutt is trying to stay present while still focusing on the reason the team is here — to play and to win. 

“At the end of the day, baseball's the number one priority,” Honeycutt said. “So [I’m] just continuing to just focus up on the field.”

He was not having the game he likely hoped for on Friday. After an 0-4 start, Honeycutt strolled to the batter’s box in the ninth with a chance to extend UNC’s stay in the Big O for at least another two days.

Even with two bases open, he knew Virginia wasn’t going to walk him. In fact, head coach Brian O'Connor never even considered it.

Cook was standing on deck and he was having a classic Casey Cook afternoon. 

In his prior at-bat, he singled into left field for his third hit of the game to knot the contest up at two. In O’Connor’s eyes, Cook is the best hitter in the lineup.

With him looming, Virginia had no choice. Honeycutt has provided big hit after big hit for UNC all season, but the Cavaliers had to pitch to him. 

“It's a big-time luxury because you have a tough decision to make,” Forbes said. “And I would have done the same thing.”

Honeycutt is no stranger to this spot. A week earlier, he came to the plate with a chance to win game one of the Chapel Hill Super Regional. On that day, he authored the same story as he did on Friday. 

In these moments, Honeycutt said he leans on the approach given to him by hitting coach Jesse Wierzbicki.

“[I] just take it pitch by pitch,” Honeycutt said. “Honestly, [I] just try to get a good pitch to hit and then just not try to do too much.”

The only difference between this Friday and last? The setting of the celebration.

Rather than launching one over the right field netting at Boshamer Stadium and meeting his teammates at home plate, he settled for a mere single against the Cavaliers.

As the ball hit the grass and senior designated hitter Jackson Van De Brake touched home plate, Honeycutt threw up his finger and waggled it. He clapped his hands as his teammates poured out of the dugout, and watched as they surrounded him in right field and tore off his white and Carolina Blue jersey. 

Cook was one of those teammates. As he met Honeycutt in the outfield, he threw his hands up, batting helmet held up by his right.

He never had a doubt that this moment was going to come, and Honeycutt proved him right once again.

@brendan_lunga18

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