Deacons Begin Fall Baseball on Friday
9/25/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Sept. 25, 2003
Winston-Salem, N.C. -- The Wake Forest baseball team officially begins its preparation for the 2004 season with its first fall practice on Friday at Hooks Stadium.
The Demon Deacons will conduct a pair of afternoon intrasquad games on Saturday and Sunday at Hooks Stadium to start their regular routine of intrasquad games on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday afternoons.
George Greer begins his 17th season as Wake Forest head coach. Two everyday starters, junior shortstop Ben Ingold and sophomore catcher Steven Malinowski, return from last year.
However, the Deacons will get a major boost as fifth-year senior second baseman Nick Blue and redshirt sophomore catcher Ryder Mathias both return from injuries. Blue, a second team All-ACC pick as a junior in 2002, received a medical redshirt last year recovering from shoulder surgery. Mathias, who also underwent shoulder surgery, saw some action but never recovered to 100 percent during the year.
Other familiar faces wearing old gold and black this fall will be seniors Steve LeFaivre, Doug Riepe and Brad Scioletti. All three saw significant time as underclassmen.
Junior lefty Tim Morley headlines a talented group of seven returning pitchers. Senior Indy Wilkinson, juniors Brian Bach and Daniel Davidson and sophomores Kirby Wedekind and Kyle Young were key parts of a young Deacon pitching staff in 2003 and return with higher expectations in 2004.
Greer welcomes 10 newcomers to the team this year including seven freshmen: Matt Antonelli (INF, Peabody, Mass.), Josh Ellis (RHP, Lexington, Ky.), Andrew Knox (RHP, Fort Myers, Fla.), Lee Land (3B/RHP, Durham, N.C.), Charlie Mellies (RHP, Clifton, Va.), Brian Shust (OF, Long Grove, Ill.) and Sean Souders (LHP, Berekley, Calif.).
Three transfers figure to play important roles for the Deacons this spring. The first is right-handed pitcher Justin Keadle from Cypress Junior College in California who led the Cape Cod League in strikeouts for much of the summer. Another California junior college transfer is Matt Miller, out of Modesto JC, who is penciled into the center field position. The third is junior catcher J.B. Tucker who joins the Deacons from Mississippi State where he hit .312 in 35 games for the Bulldogs last year. He homered against LSU in the SEC Tournament.
Fall practice will continue through October 30.
