Head Baseball Coach Reece Honeycutt celebrates 100th win at RCC
Feb 26, 2020Head Baseball Coach Reece Honeycutt celebrated HIS 100TH win at Rockingham Community College Saturday, with a 17-1 victory in the second game of a double-header.
Honeycutt, in his fifth season here, drives to and from Iredell County every Tuesday through Friday and on game days. Back home, he owns a baseball facility and has travel teams.
Several years ago, his nephew, Kane Sutten, had been recruited to play at RCC, so Honeycutt came to watch him play. During his visits, he became friends with the college’s athletic director.
When Coach Jake Loye left mid-summer in 2015, Honeycutt approached the athletic director about becoming RCC’s assistant coach.
“I really wanted to get some college coaching experience,” Honeycutt said. “He asked me if I’d be interested in being head coach.”
Honeycutt jumped at the chance.
“I put a lot of effort into coaching. I don’t do the glamorous things; it’s an awesome hobby,” Honeycutt said.
Head Coach Reece Honeycutt and his baseball team celebrate HIS 100TH win.
Over the years, he has had four assistant coaches, including Will Greene as the pitching coach for the past two years. Now Honeycutt coaches the pitching, and his nephew, who also lives in Iredell County, is back on campus as batting coach.
“I’m a good coach and a good manager, but I’ve always been the recruiter. That’s my hitch, getting kids up here,” Honeycutt said. “Many people don’t realize where Rockingham Community College is … they think it’s near the beach. But then they come visit.”
And those recruitment efforts are what led to HIS 100 wins in such a short period of time.
“From what I’ve gathered talking to other coaches, most get it in year six or seven,” Honeycutt said. “But we won 33 games last year, and in the four full seasons, we won 20 or more games.”
Last year’s 33 wins were the most wins in a season in RCC’s history. The Eagles had back-to-back Region X and District D titles in 2018 and 2019. And Honeycutt was named Coach of the Year in Region X and District D, and ABCA Region Coach of the Year the past two seasons.
