Fort Worth, Texas — UNC junior Vance Honeycutt was selected 22nd overall by the Baltimore Orioles in the first round of the 2024 Major League Baseball Draft on Sunday.

Honeycutt is the first Tar Heel to be drafted in the first round since Aaron Sabato was selected 27th overall by the Minnesota Twins in 2020. He is the first UNC player to be drafted inside the top 25 since Logan Warmoth was drafted 22nd by Toronto and J.B. Bukauskas went 15th overall to Houston in 2017.

With Honeycutt’s selection, Carolina has amassed 25 first-round picks, including 12 since 2006. In addition, UNC has now had 17 players selected in the primary June Draft, tied for fifth-most among all NCAA institutions.

Honeycutt turned in another record-breaking season as a junior in 2024, helping to lead the Tar Heels back to the College World Series for the first time since 2018. The Salisbury, N.C. native, Honeycutt was named First Team All-America in 2024 by four organizations and was named to the ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove Team. He tied for the ACC lead in home runs with a program record of 28 while also leading the league in runs (88).

Honeycutt finished the season with a career-best .318 batting average with 70 RBIs while posting the third-highest single-season slugging percentage (.714) in program history.

He produced his second career 20-20 season and became the first 60-70 Power 5 conference player in NCAA history, with 65 home runs and 76 stolen bases.

NC State’s Jacob Cozart Selected 48th Overall By Cleveland Guardians in 2024 MLB Draft

NC State catcher Jacob Cozart was selected 48th overall in the 2024 Major League Baseball Draft by the Cleveland Guardians on Sunday night. With his selection in the second round of the 2024 Draft, he becomes the 22nd player in program history drafted in the top two rounds.

Cozart, who was named NC State’s 47th All-American in program history this season, appeared in all 61 games with 60 starts in 2024. The Buster Posey Award finalist made 53 starts at catcher and seven as the designated hitter in a standout junior season, batting .305 with 19 home runs, 60 runs scored, 54 RBI, 134 total bases and a .601 slugging percentage. Cozart’s 52 walks ranked first on the roster and finished second in NC State single-season program history.

The High Point native notched First Team All-ACC honors, Perfect Game Second Team All-America accolades and Third Team All-America honors from both Baseball America and D1Baseball in his final season with the Pack. Cozart logged 20 multi-hit games and 14 multi-RBI efforts in 2024.

Cozart started all eight games in NC State’s fourth trip to the Men’s College World Series in program history, leading the Pack with a .553 on-base percentage in the NCAA Tournament. He batted .393 with four runs scored, 11 hits, three homers and six RBI during the Wolfpack’s run to Omaha.

Defensively, Cozart sported a .994 fielding percentage and threw out 14 of 42 runners attempting to steal this season. He ranked first among all ACC catchers during the regular season with 13 runners caught stealing.

Cozart earned Second Team All-ACC honors in 2023, batting .301 with 10 homers, 14 doubles, two triples, 42 RBI and 107 total bases. He led all NC State batters with 21 runs scored, 16 extra-base hits, 25 RBI and 62 total bases in ACC play.

Cozart made 52 appearances with 42 starts behind the plate as a freshman in 2022, logging nine multi-RBI outings and nine multi-hit games.

Cozart’s selection marks the 128th player selected in the MLB Draft under NC State head coach Elliott Avent. He’s the 12th position player drafted from NC State since 2020 and the 30th in the past 11 years.

The Wolfpack had five MLB Draft selections in this past year’s draft, highlighted by LuJames Groover III’s selection at No. 48 overall in the 2023 MLB Draft. The Pack’s five draft selections in 2023 marked the sixth time since 2014 the Wolfpack had at least five players picked in a single draft.

Jonathan Santucci Selected on Day One of the 2024 MLB Draft

Duke left-hander Jonathan Santucci was selected on Sunday as the MLB First-year Player Draft began in Arlington. Santucci becomes the first Blue Devil selected on day one of the MLB Draft since Bryce Jarvis was taken in the first round by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2020.

Santucci, a left-handed pitcher from Leominster, Mass., was drafted in the second round with the No. 46 overall pick by the New York Mets. With the selection on Monday, Duke’s total of selections in the MLB Draft moves to 97 all-time and 42 under head coach Chris Pollard.

Jonathan Santucci – New York Mets – Round: 2; Pick: 46

Duke’s Friday night ace for the previous two seasons, Santucci overcame multiple injuries throughout his sophomore and junior campaigns. The Leominster, Mass., native was stellar in 2024, earning a nod on the All-ACC First Team and finding himself of the midseason Golden Spikes Watch List. Santucci started all 13 games he appeared in last season, tallying a 6-1 record on the mound with a 3.31 ERA. He worked a career-high 58 innings and struck out 90 batters, while holding opponents to a .188 batting average against. In just his second and third starts of the season, Santucci produced back-to-back outings of 10-plus strikeouts, including a career-high 14-strikeout performance against Akron (3/1). The lefty also toted a six-inning performance, a new career high for innings worked, against Florida State in April. In his career, Santucci has posted a 10-6 record on the bump, holding a 3.86 ERA in 27 starts. He has recorded 128.1 innings of work, striking out 198 and holding opponents to a .208 average against in a Blue Devils uniform.

Wake Forest Makes History on Day 1 of the 2024 MLB Draft

For the second-straight year, the Wake Forest baseball program had at least two players selected in the first round of the MLB Draft, marking the first time the Deacs have done so in back-to-back years in program history.

Chase Burns (2nd overall to the Cincinnati Reds), Nick Kurtz (4th overall to the Oakland Athletics) and Seaver King (10th to the Washington Nationals) became just the second set of teammates all-time to go in the top 10 of the first round in MLB Draft history.

“I couldn’t be more proud of Chase Burns, Nick Kurtz and Seaver King,” head coach Tom Walter said. “Today was the culmination of a lot of hard work and sacrifice. These guys have helped transform Wake Baseball into a destination program and a program known for player development. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for these transformational Deacs.”

Additionally, Wake Forest is one of just five programs with two players selected within the first five picks.

The draft continues Monday with rounds 3-10 and concludes on Tuesday with rounds 11-20. There will be no live television coverage on the second and third days, but MLB.com will stream the final 17 rounds.

Source: wralsportsfan.com