From staff reports
HANWHA, South Korea – Owen White (Carson) tore his left hamstring during his Korea Baseball Organization regular-season pitching debut.
White was pitching in the third inning and had allowed one run.
The injury occurred while White covering first base as the Hanwha Hawks attempted to turn the difficult 3-6-1 double play.
White already has started rehab, but he will miss at least six weeks of action.
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SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Kane Kepley (South Rowan, UNC) is starting the season in High A ball with the South Bend Cubs, but there’s been a lot of rain in the Midwest. South Bend was washed out for the entire opening weekend.
Kepley was a second-round pick in the 2025 draft and is one of the Cubs’ top 10 prospects.
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FREDERICK, Md. – Baltimore Orioles prospect Vance Honeycutt (Salisbury) has returned to High A ball to start the 2026 season, although that franchise has relocated from Aberdeen to Frederick.
A first-round pic in 2024, Honeycutt got off to a 1-for-8 start on Friday and Saturday, with his first steal and first run batted in. He was rained out on Sunday.
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FORT MYERS, Fla. – Right-handed pitcher Jake Hunter (East Rowan, East Carolina) was signed by the Minnesota Twins as a free agent last summer. He was assigned to the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels, but he’s starting the season on the injured list.
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SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Carson Whisenhunt (Davie, East Carolina) got his first taste of the majors last season with the San Francisco Giants.
The big lefty is starting the season at Triple A Sacramento, but he’ll likely get more opportunities in the big leagues this season. He hasn’t pitched yet in 2026.
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SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Austin Love (West Rowan, UNC) is starting the season in Double A, where she spent all last season. He had quite a bit of success at that level for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2025.
Love has pitched once this season. He allowed a run, but he struck out two. He faced six hitters and got five outs.
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CJ Gray (A.L. Brown), a fifth-round pick in 2025 by the Angels who signed for a substantial bonus, is still in extended spring training. Gray, a right-handed pitcher, likely will be assigned to a team for his pro debut in June.
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SALISBURY, Md. – A third-round pick in 2024, Cobb Hightower (East Rowan) got three hits on opening night for Delmarva, a Carolina League team that will be taking on the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers. Hightower had one hit in his second outing and is 4-for-8 for the season. He’s playing shortstop and leading off.
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FREDERICKSBURG, Va. – Also in the Carolina League is Coy James (Davie), a 2025 draft pick who was the Gatorade Player of the Year for North Carolina.
James is playing with Eli Willits, a young shortstop who was the first pick in the entire draft last summer, so James has made a move from Davie shortstop to pro second baseman. James is batting fifth in the lineup and had a very productive game on Sunday.
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Walker Jenkins, an outfielder who played for South Brunswick High against South Rowan in the 2022 3A state championship series, is rated as the No. 12 prospect in baseball. The Twins drafted him in the first round out of high school in 2023 and signed him. He’s with their Triple A team in St. Paul now and probably will make his MLB debut this season.
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The Kannapolis Cannon Ballers scored 12 runs in the first inning and romped 19-2 on Saturday after dropping their first two games this season to Hill City. The Cannon Ballers weren’t scheduled to play on Easter Sunday. Hickory will play at Kannapolis six days in a row from April 7-12.
