Hendersonville Honeycrisps land new ownership group

The Hendersonville Honeycrips have new owners.

The Old North State League announced Tuesday that the Honeycrisps, the summer collegiate league baseball squad based in Hendersonville, have been purchased by Third Street Sports, LLC, an ownership group made up of childhood friends Kyle Aldridge, Doug Roper III and Brad Morrison.

In their inaugural season earlier this year, the Honeycrisps featured a handful of former Polk County High School standouts. General manager Mark Emery is also a Tryon High graduate and Polk County resident.

“With the Honeycrisps success in their inaugural season, year two looks to be more successful,” Emery said. “Will Lindsey and the whole coaching staff will return, but the most exciting part is the new ownership group. The Third Street Sports owners played baseball at the collegiate level and are bringing their expertise to the mountains. We are looking forward to getting the community involved and having a fun-filled summer of competitive baseball.”

Aldridge and Roper are former high school teammates and college baseball players, and Roper continued his career in the Toronto Blue Jays organization. Aldridge is a CPA, Roper is a banker and the current mayor of Vidalia, Ga, and Morrison owns multiple technology businesses.

“We’re excited to partner with the Hendersonville community in bringing high quality baseball and family entertainment back to historic Berkeley Park next summer,” Aldridge said. ” We can’t wait to showcase the tremendous baseball talent in the area and build on last year’s successful inaugural season. General manager Mark Emery and head coach Will Lindsey have laid the groundwork for a winning team for years to come.”

The Honeycrisps joined the Old North State League in 2022. The season runs through June and July and features teams of college players throughout North Carolina. The Crips play at historic Berkeley Mills Park, dubbed, “The Orchard” by the fans. 

The team reached the league’s Western Division final, with former Polk players Bryson Edwards and Grayson Jones contributing to the Hendersonville offense and Jordan Searcy and Micah Hill seeing time pitching.