2006 Wake Forest Baseball Team Arrives On Campus
8/24/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Aug. 24, 2005
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Wake Forest baseball team will begin practice in less than a month as the 2005 fall semester got underway Wednesday. Fall baseball practice at Hooks Stadium will begin Sept. 10 and the team's World Series is scheduled to start Oct. 3.
The 11 newcomers include nine freshman and two transfers. Garrett Bullock (LHP/Greenville, NC), Allan Dykstra (1B/San Diego, CA), Joel Ernst (RHP/Loveland, OH), Cory Hindel (C/Tallmadge, OH), Dustin Hood (INF/Nederland, TX), (Nederland HS), Brad Kledzik (RHP/Fairfax Station, VA), Evan Ocheltree (OF/Richmond, VA), Greg Saville (RHP/Vienna, VA) and Tyler Smith (INF/Boca Raton, FL) make up the freshman class.
The two transfers include sophomore Ben Hunter (Cincinnati, OH/Furman) and redshirt sophomore Eric Williams (Carmel, NY/Arizona State).
The Deacs welcome back position players junior 3B Matt Antonelli (.322/5 HR/35 RBI), sophomore SS Andy Goff (.197/2/32), redshirt junior 1B/DH Brendan Enick (.311/5/45), sophomore OF Brett Linnenkohl (.253/4/44), senior OF Casey Sterk (.250/1/24), senior INF Grant Achilles, redshirt junior C Dan Rosaia, junior OF Brian Shust, sophomore C Weldon Woodall and sophomore INF Nathan Frazier.
Wake Forest also returns eight of its 10 pitchers from a year ago, including senior RHP Kyle Young (4-1/3.06 ERA), junior RHP Charlie Mellies (3-5, 4.17), junior RHP Josh Ellis (6-4, 6.15), sophomore LHP Eric Niesen (5-2, 7.43), senior LHP Kip Byrum (3-2, 7.52), sophomore RHP Matt Hammond (3-6, 10.69) and junior LHP Sean Souders (1-0, 8.80). Wake Forest also gets back the services of senior RHP Justin Keadle and redshirt sophomore RHP Andrew Knox. Keadle missed all of 2005 after undergoing Tommy John surgery, while Knox missed most of last season with a torn labrum.
The entire squad of 30 players attended the first official day of classes Wednesday before meeting with the coaching staff. The 2006 Demon Deacons hope to build upon the marked improvement in 2005.
The Deacs not only improved their overall win total by 11 games, but also captured eight more games in league play. In fact, six of Wake Forest's 12 ACC losses were by a single run. In the end, the 11-game improvement in victories was the largest over one season since 1997. That season, Wake Forest won 37 games after winning just 26 in 1996. The school record improvement from one season to the next was 15-games set by the 1949 team which was the runner-up at the College World Series.
The Deacs also picked up their first ACC Tournament victories in three seasons. Wake Forest, which had dropped four straight tournament games from 2002-04, recorded three victories at the 2005 ACC Tournament -- ousting Duke, Maryland and North Carolina. The Demon Deacons were the last remaining team from the state of North Carolina in the tournament.
Wake Forest also picked up its first win in Tallahassee against Florida State in 10 years. The Deacs snapped a 15-game losing streak at FSU with a 12-inning, 13-10 triumph on April 10.
The Demon Deacons defeated #5 Miami, 13-6, on March 19. The victory was the first for Wake Forest over a top five team since April 26, 2002 when the Deacs knocked off #1 Clemson.
-- WakeForestSports.com --
