North Carolina
Bats awaken, but not enough for North Carolina baseball to overcome FSU in CWS
OMAHA, Neb. — North Carolina baseball finally got the big inning it was looking for throughout the College World Series.
But it wasn’t enough for the Tar Heels to avoid elimination from its first CWS appearance since 2018.
Florida State’s high-powered lineup was simply too much for UNC, as the Seminoles pulled off a 9-5 win before 23,047 at Charles Schwab Field.
FSU took a 7-1 lead into the fifth inning before UNC battled back, scoring four runs in the bottom of the fifth. Three came on a three-run homer from UNC center fielder Vance Honeycutt, his 28th of the season and second of the postseason.
“We battled all year,” UNC coach Scott Forbes said. “Didn’t surprise me we made a run back there. Just didn’t get it done.”
Honeycutt went 3 for 5 with a homer, 3 RBIs and two runs scores in what will likely be his last game in a Tar Heel uniform, A junior, Honeycutt is projected as a first-round draft pick in next month’s MLB amateur draft.
“That’s how this team has been all year,” Honeycutt said. “There’s just no quit. That’s a credit to how we’re trained, how we’re coached and the character of the guys in the locker room.”
With UNC down 3-1, Forbes turned to closer Dalton Pence in the third inning in an attempt to limit the damage and keep the Tar Heels in the game. But Pence got touched up by FSU in the fifth inning, as the Seminoles rallied for four runs against him to take a 7-1 lead.
“He couldn’t get that cutter where he wanted to throw it,” Forbes said. “But man, like golly, talk about a kid, we wouldn’t be here without him, and he’s just human.”
Back-to-back home runs by FSU doom North Carolina in the ninth inning
North Carolina trailed 7-5 in the ninth inning. But with shifting winds gusting 21-38 miles per hour that started blowing out at the ballpark, FSU catcher Jaxson West belted a pitch from UNC reliever Cameron Padgett into wind which carried for an opposite field home run, extending FSU’s lead to 8-5.
FSU leadoff batter Max Williams followed with a towering shot to right field off Padgett, giving FSU a 9-5 lead.
“The first one I thought he got up in that jet stream,” Forbes said. “And then the next one, that guy hit a mistake, that’s what good hitters do. I thought that would have been out anywhere. Obviously, I felt like we were in striking distance.
“But this team, still, they came in talking about the getting the tying run to the plate. The word ‘belief’ is extremely important and having faith. There was no doubt in my mind we get the tying run (to the plate) something crazy was going to happen, unfortunately, it just didn’t.”
North Carolina (48-16) finished its fourth season under Forbes as ACC regular season champions and reached the CWS for the 12th time in program history.
“I’m proud to be the leader of this program,” Forbes said. “But man, these guys, just so thankful they took me along this ride with them.”
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A $2 Powerball ticket turned into a life-changing investment for Richard Kee Jr.
Kee tried his luck on the ticket in January and won the $209.3 million jackpot prize, the second-largest prize won in North Carolina history.
Kee, who lives in Roanoke Rapids, bought the winning ticket from West 10th Mart on West 10th Street in Roanoke Rapids.
Kee chose to remain anonymous for 90 days. North Carolina law dictates a lottery winner of $50 million or more can choose to be anonymous for up to 90 days after claiming the prize.
Kee’s winnings will come through a lump sum payment of $95.3 million and, after required federal and state taxes, took home $68.6 million.
ELLERBE, N.C.. (AP) — Andre The Giant, a towering menace in the wrestling ring but a gentle giant on the movie screen, is being honored with a roadside marker in his beloved adopted small town in North Carolina.
Officials plan to unveil the marker Thursday in Ellerbe, North Carolina, a community of about 1,000 people where the wrestler born Andre Rene Roussimoff lived on a ranch just outside town.
Andre was billed at 7-foot-4 (2.24 meters) and 520 pounds (236 kilograms) during his time wrestling for the WWE in the 1970s and 1980s.
A larger than life villain, Roussimoff was touted as unbeatable until he faced Hulk Hogan in a match in 1987 at WrestleMania III that launched the once regional wrestling company into a nationwide entertainment force.
Later that year, Roussimoff appeared on film as the giant Fezzik in “The Princess Bride.” Fezzik was the gentle-hearted muscle for the antagonist and needed rhymes to remember his instructions.
Roussimoff was born in France. But as he wrestled around the U.S. South he fell in love with the region, buying his North Carolina ranch and raising cattle on his land about 60 miles (97 kilometers) east of Charlotte.
He became a critical part of the Ellerbe community. In 1990, he taped TV and radio spots against a possible low-level radioactive landfill nearby. A pair of his size-26 cowboy boots are kept at a museum.
Roussimoff died in 1993 at age 46 in France where he was visiting for his father’s funeral. They had a service for him there, but his body was cremated and his ashes spread at his beloved ranch.
The Richmond County marker at NC Highway 72 and Old NC Highway 220 simply says “Andre The Giant. 1946-1993. Actor and professional wrestler. Was born Andre Roussimoff. Known for role in The Princess Bride in 1987. Lived nearby.”
North Carolina
NC State’s 2026 Atlantic hurricane forecast calls for an average season with 12 to 15 named storms
North Carolina State University is calling for a fairly average 2026 Atlantic hurricane season similar to recent years.
Researchers predict:
- 12 to 15 named storms (the average between 1994 to 2025 is 15 storms)
- 6 to 9 hurricanes (the average between 1994 to 2025 is 7 storms)
- 2 to 3 major hurricanes (the average between 1994 to 2025 is 4 storms)
The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30. Look for WRAL’s hurricane season outlook airing May 18.
NC State’s forecast was released on Wednesday by Lian Xie, a professor of marine, earth and atmospheric sciences.
Xie and researchers are calling for 1-3 named storms and 1-2 hurricanes in the Caribbean Sea (slightly below recent averages) and 2-5 named storms and 1-2 hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico (near recent averages).
Researchers at Colorado State University released their Atlantic hurricane season outlook earlier this month, pointing to a slightly below-normal year ahead and calling for 13 named storms, six hurricanes and two major hurricanes.
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