Staff report

PEORIA, Az. — Cobb Hightower, and East Rowan graduate who was the 88th pick in the MLB draft, a third-rounder, officially signed with the San Diego Padres on Wednesday.

A UNC signee, the 19-year-old Hightower, opted to get started in professional baseball right away. He had a sensational career at East Rowan that included two Rowan County Player of the Year Awards, three All-State seasons and at least two NC Player of the Year accolades. He capped his high school career as one of the leaders of a 3A state championship team.

Hightower flew out to Arizona on Sunday to get things started and spent a couple of days dealing with the standard physicals and tests before he officially signed.

San Diego has a rookie-level team in the Arizona Complex League. There are a host of teams in the Phoenix area, so travel isn’t going to be a factor as Hightower gets his pro career started. He is expected to debut on Thursday of next week.

The amount of Hightower’s signing bonus hasn’t been disclosed yet.

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The Baltimore Orioles have signed the rest of their top picks, but there’s been no official word yet of an agreement with first-round center fielder Vance Honeycutt, the UNC star who graduated from Salisbury High. The deadline for signing picks is Aug. 1, so something should be announced soon on that front.