Wake Forest Athletics
Taking Notice
5/28/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 28, 2002
by Stan Cotten
Wake Forest's final home baseball game of the season came and went on May 12th as the 3rd-ranked Demon Deacons polished off visiting Virginia Commonwealth. It was a textbook Wake win. Kyle Sleeth pitched and won - again. The Deacons hit a couple of home runs on the launch pad-like Gene Hooks Stadium diamond. Dave Bush got his zillionth career save with 2 1/3 perfect innings. And prior to the first pitch, the infield was watered down by head coach George Greer.
Say what?
Yes George Greer, the winningest coach in Wake Forest history, in any sport, put the final touches on the game field before the start of the first inning pretty much like he does every game. It's not that he has to. He just does. And about half the time he also drags the infield before it's watered (to the theme music from Hawaii Five-O) . I asked him about it a few weeks ago, and he pretty much just shrugged it off. No big deal.
But think about it. Can you imagine the stir Skip Prosser would cause by pushing the broom across the Joel Coliseum parquet between the national anthem and tip-off? Or what about Jim Grobe lining the field at Groves Stadium prior to kickoff with Georgia Tech? You'll never see those things happen, although I'm convinced that both Prosser and Grobe would oblige if asked. But it will never be.
Yet, Greer waters on. And hardly anyone notices.
If you ask me that's where the Wake Forest baseball team is - plugging along ranked third in the nation and stacking up wins like next winter's firewood. And nobody notices. Oh, the polls do. But the Demon Deacons have won three out of the last four ACC titles and have pounded this season's opposition to date. And Wake is a lock for another NCAA Tournament berth. But the water cooler chat is about this or that. Is Tim Duncan really the most valuable player in the NBA? Did you hear Mike Dunleavy is leaving Duke?
Wake Forest baseball? Probably not.
But it doesn't outwardly seem to affect the Deacs. They have gotten used to winning quietly. They seem to know they're going to win. Just like George Greer knows he's going to water the field. Wake's best chance at rattling some cages will be a berth in the College World Series. The recent blurb in Sports Illustrated was a start, but nothing screams like a win. Especially if it's in Omaha.
Cotten Briefs...
- Wake Forest head football coach Jim Grobe was a hit at the recent National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Awards weekend. Grobe spoke to state and national winners at the annual affair in Salisbury and made a big impression. Grobe's stock is on the rise after forging a winning record in his first season with the Deacs. And the press is taking notice.
- While at the NSSA awards I was approached my more than one East Carolina fan that gave fair warning that the Pirates have circled Sept. 7 on their calendars. ECU fans are still smarting from Wake's "upset" win at Greenville to start last season.
- Grobe and his staff will get to shed some new light - literally - on the program when fall camp begins in mere weeks. The old lighting around the football practice fields has been taken away, making room for six new huge light stanchions. The future is guaranteed to be brighter.
- The addition of WHLQ-FM 102.5 in the Raleigh area is a welcome and much-needed addition to the Wake Forest ISP Sports Network. We look forward to our association with the station and its service to Wake Forest fans in that area. WHLQ will carry all football and basketball games in addition to Deacon SportsPage and the Rose Furniture Daily Deacon Quiz.
- Kudos to Coach Skip Prosser and his staff for recent recruiting victories including verbal commitments from two in-state junior stars. Perhaps the local commitment will help fill the spattering of empty seats at the Deacs' home games.
