CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — There were occasions during North Carolina’s workouts in the fall when slugger Mac Horvath shifted over to center field, testing himself at the position where teammate Vance Honeycutt has become one of college baseball’s defensive sensations.
Those preseason moments had Horvath making sure to check with Honeycutt for certain details and tidbits about playing that prominent spot in the outfield, and the information shared then has resurfaced recently as particularly pertinent due to Honeycutt’s lower-body injury.
“I did play a little bit of center in the fall,” Horvath said Monday at Boshamer Stadium. “And so I kind of asked him a few times when I was out there, just like where to position myself on certain guys, power hitters versus guys with not as much power. Just kind of learning from him, it was definitely helpful.”
Horvath continued that he hopes he doesn’t have to further tap into Honeycutt’s knowledge of center field as the Tar Heels enter the postseason this week.
UNC (33-21) opens the ACC Tournament against Georgia Tech (30-25) on Tuesday afternoon at Durham Bulls Athletic Par. The seventh-seeded Tar Heels and 11th-seeded Yellow Jackets are in Pool B of the pool play format, along with second-seeded Virginia, and while Carolina coach Scott Forbes said Monday that his team has cleared the 26 player suspensions after the May 9 dustup with Gardner-Webb — one game served per suspended player as mandated by the NCAA — Honeycutt’s status remains in an uncertain day-to-day mode. The stud sophomore has missed UNC’s last four games, all of them losses on the road.
“He may not be available today, but he could be available tomorrow,” Forbes said Monday. “So we’re just waiting to see. … Sometimes the only healer is rest, and that’s where we are as of today.”
The Tar Heels used freshman standout Casey Cook in right field, the All-ACC second-teamer Horvath in center field, and Patrick Alvarez (back from a hand…
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