Staff report

D-I college roundup …

Liberty sophomore Kane Kepley (South Rowan) was part of a record-setting game on Sunday as the Flames crushed Middle Tennessee 25-9 in Murfreesboro.

Liberty (10-13) scored 11 runs in the first inning and 10 runs in the sixth and blasted eight home runs. Kepley launched two of them.

The 5-foot-8, 165-pound Kepley earned a starting job as a freshman in 2023 and played mostly left field. He batted .310 with 44 runs scored and made the All-Freshman team for the Atlantic Sun Conference.

Liberty is competing in Conference USA this season.

Kepley is playing center field as a sophomore, the position he played for South’s 2022 state champs and is batting .341 with five homers, 16 RBIs and 27 runs scored. He’s walked more than he’s struck out and has an on-base percentage of .459. He’s 8-for-8 on stolen bases.

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UNC center fielder Vance Honeycutt (Salisbury) is having a strong junior season and is still projected to be picked early in the first round of the MLB draft that will take place in July during the All-Star break.

The latest mock draft had Honeycutt being selected by the St. Louis Cardinals as the seventh overall pick.

Honeycutt hit a homer and a double with 112 mph exit velocities against Georgia Tech over the weekend.

His three-run homer on Sunday helped the Tar Heels sweep the Yellow Jackets. UNC is 21-4 and 19-0 at home.

For the season, Honeycutt has eight homers, 28 RBIs and a .323 batting average. He walks often and has an on-base percentage of .458. He’s 14-for-16 on steals and is considered one of the best defensive center fielders in college baseball.

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UNC’s Cameron Padgett (East Rowan) had pitched eight innings in seven appearances.

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High Point’s Charlie Klingler (East Rowan) is batting .289 in 24 games.

He has two homers and 21 RBIs for the Panthers (10-14) and was 5-for-12 over the weekend in a series against Richmond.

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Jake Hunter (East Rowan) is 1-2 on the mound for the East Carolina Pirates (16-6). He has a 4.84 ERA and has struck out a batter per inning.

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Nathan Chrismon (South Rowan) has played in 14 games for ECU, mostly as a pinch-runner and defensive replacement in the late innings.

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Freshman Haiden Leffew (South Rowan) had made six mound appearances for a talented Wake Forest team that is likely to have three players taken in the first 10 picks of the MLB draft. The Deacons (16-7) haven’t put it all together yet, but Leffew (1-0) is getting opportunities. He’s pitched in six games, with four starts. He’s struck out 19 in 17 innings.

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N.C. State freshman Chance Mako (East Rowan) has made two relief appearances for the Wolfpack (15-7) and registered his first college strikeout.