Darren Honeysett setting his sights high as he prepares for his senior season

Junior baseball player Darren Honeysett has set the bar high as he prepares for his senior year on the baseball diamond next season. With the standout numbers he put up this year, Honeysett looks to improve this off-season and be a leader for Central next year.

After beginning college at Monterey Peninsula College in California, the Canadian native transferred over to Central. Honeysett is a business major with a minor in sports business.

As of April 25, Honeysett is batting .358 with 7 home runs and 35 RBIs. Honeysett has been at the top of almost every GNAC stat category, right behind his mentor, senior Kasey Bielec.

“It is a mindset to try to be successful,” Honeysett said. “I worked hard to get here, but at the same time I didn’t know I would have this much success. I just fought everyday to try to make this team and be part of Wildcat baseball.”

Honeysett said he was surprised at the amount of success he had hitting this year. Coming to a new school is a big transition since he’s facing teams and players he had never seen before. It can be tough to know what to expect in a brand new setting but Honeysett settled in perfectly.

A powerful mentorship

Honeysett admires Bielec. Bielec was the leader on the baseball team this year and a role model to many players. While breaking into a new team is not easy having someone to look up to makes it a lot easier.

“Kasey Bielec has been big,” Honeysett said. “Just the way he goes about things. He is older than most guys on the team and older than me. On the field, it has been great to see how he takes every at-bat important and how he carries himself on and off the field for this program. I want to improve on that next year.”

Like many young baseball players, Honeysett dreamed of playing in college. He got a taste of it at a junior college straight out of high school. Coming to Central was the final piece of that goal.

“Playing baseball at Central is an opportunity, really,” Honeysett said. “I always dreamed of NCAA Sports and I got an opportunity here, and I am so grateful that they wanted me. It is a good fit and I am happy to be here.”

Coming into this season, head coach Desi Storey knew Honeysett would have a solid year on the diamond. Having Honeysett on the team has been everything Storey wanted.

“All around, having Honeysett on the team has been great,” Storey said. “He has played excellent defense in the field. On the offensive side, obviously he has been huge for us because–not just the fact that he is batting .360 plus–but he has seven home runs for us and a number of those came in key moments of games to help us win those games. It has been huge.”

Honeysett played two years of college baseball at Monterey Peninsula College. Playing junior college baseball gave Honeysett the chance to develop and turn himself into a standout NCAA baseball player. The head coach at Monterey Peninsula Daniel Phillips is very proud to have coached Honeysett for two years.

“Darren was great in the program here at Monterey Peninsula,” Phillips said. “He was a dedicated student athlete and was extremely committed to his teammates and was a good leader. He was the type of player that made me look forward to coming out to practice each day.”

All the success Honeysett is seeing does not surprise Phillips one bit.

“He is a great athlete with a beautiful left-handed swing,” Phillips said. “Honeysett had an outstanding freshman season for us, and I expected him to have another huge season as a sophomore. That did not happen; he had a tough sophomore season and struggled at times. But in baseball you need a large sample of at bats and games to establish how good a player is. Honeysett’s natural ability and work ethic is awesome.”

New horizons

Transferring to Central from a junior college was a big transition for Honeysett. Central is a bigger school and a brand new setting. There are major differences between a junior college and a university that Honeysett had to handle while preparing for a big year on the diamond.

“At a junior college, everybody knows your name, and you know everybody in your classes,” Honeysett said.  “Everybody is a lot older here and a bit more mature. We are more involved in athletics here..”

Playing baseball in sunny California was no drag for Honeysett.

“Playing baseball there was great,” Honeysett said. “Everyday is 75 degree weather; [you can] go to the beach on off days and that was great.”

Getting far in sports is a difficult task and takes lots of support. Honeysett says he would not be here if he did not have all the support growing up from his family and coaches.

“Family is number one,” Honeysett said. “If it wasn’t for them, I couldn’t be playing. Coaches for bringing me here and giving me the opportunity to play and cut some money off my tuition bill. Family for me is a big one.”

Growing up in Canada, Honeysett grew up playing hockey. He played until he left for college at age 18.

“I always called myself a hockey player,” Honeysett said. “When I got to California I wanted to start surfing. I was on the beach, and my buddy and me just picked up boards and started going in the water everyday.”

Honeysett had a standout junior year on the baseball field this year at Central. Next year as a senior, there is no doubt that he will continue to do great things.