FORT MILL – Three Fort Mill baseball players might have missed their senior season, but they will be playing college baseball next season.
Nic Curtis, Patrick Matthews and Dylan Honaker all have signed to play at three different colleges next season. Curtis will be going to Coker University; Matthews will be heading to Florence Darlington Tech and Honaker will attend Shepard University.
Curtis, 18, has been playing baseball since he was 3-years-old and has been on varsity at Fort Mill for the past two years. He played outfield the past two years at Fort Mill, but also is a catcher when he isn’t in the outfield.
Curtis also looked at Methodist University, Belmont-Abbey College and Montreat College. He plans on majoring in nursing or biology with an intent to go into the medical field. He said that Coker University gave him the best opportunity to play.
“They were my only opportunity and I really wanted to play baseball at the next level,” Curtis said.
Matthews, 17, has been playing baseball for 13 years starting when he was a little kid. He was on varsity roughly two and a half seasons, spending the playoffs his sophomore season with the Fort Mill squad. He speaks fondly of the game.
“It is something that makes me happy,” he said. “It is fun.”
A second baseman, Matthews had looked at Francis Marion University as well, but felt Florence Darlington Tech was a better fit for him. He also looked at USC-Sumter as well. Matthews plans on majoring in sports management.
Honaker, 17, will be heading to West Virginia to play at Shepard University. The school is located roughly one hour away from Washington D.C. Honaker, who also wrestled at Fort Mill, said baseball has always been his first sport of choice.
“I didn’t want to wrestle in college,” he said. “I have been playing baseball longer.”
Honaker has been playing baseball since he was 4-years-old and played just one season on varsity – his senior season which was cut short due to the coronavirus. He was cut from the varsity team his junior year, which he said was a motivator to up his game.
Honaker went to a baseball camp at James Madison University and was noticed by coaches with Shepard.
“They saw me there at James Madison and they invited me to a camp of their own,” he said.
The rest was history for Honaker. He had also talked to USC-Lancaster about playing. Shepard is a Division II school. The outfielder said he will be majoring in environmental studies.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
