Deacons arrive in Florida
Deacons Travel to Rollins for District 3 Championship Series
6/3/2020 11:18:00 AM | Baseball
This year marks the 65th anniversary of Wake Forest's 1955 College World Series Championship. GoDeacs.com is re-living that journey to the national championship by re-telling the story of each game on the corresponding date. The Deacons started on the road to Omaha with their first game at West Virginia on May 28, 1955. After winning that series, the Deacons advanced to the NCAA District 3 championship series at Rollins College.
WINTER PARK, Fla. - The Wake Forest baseball team arrived by train in Winter Park on June 2 and held a work out to "get the feel of the Florida sun," according to head coach Taylor Sanford.
The Deacons brought 20 players who are all are in good health with the exception of Frank McRae who is favoring his ankle which he twisted against West Virginia earlier in the week.
"I think we'll need him against this Rollins team," said Sanford.
The Deacons are 22-6 on the season after winning the NCAA District 3 semifinal at West Virginia. The Deacons won the best of three series with a 6-5 won on May 31.
Rollins College took two of three games from Alabama over the weekend in the other semifinal. The Tars, under the direction of head coach Joe Justice, finished second at the College World Series in 1954. Rollins has a 21-6 record entering the series.
Game time is set for 3:30 on June 3 at Rollins' Harper-Shepherd Field.
The two teams met once during the regular season. Wake Forest took a 9-2 decision from the Tars in the Dixie Classic in April. Lefty Davis was the winning pitcher for the Deacons and Rollins' righthander Don Tauscher took the loss.
Wake Forest will have five lefthanded hitters in the lineup including centerfielder Luther McKeel (.295), catcher Linwood Holt (.386), third baseman Bill Barnes (.316), second baseman Jack Bryant (.136) and first baseman Bob Waggoner (.146). Holt leads the club with a .380 average and right fielder Tommy Cole is hitting .353. The Deacons will also start shortstop Harold Moore (.266) and left fielder Frank McRae (.301).
Sophomore righthander Jack McGinley will open the series for the Deacons as he did in last week's series at West Virginia. McGinley is 4-2 on the season and threw a complete game in the 5-1 win over the Mountaineers.
Offensively, Wake Forest has averaged nearly eight runs per game in its first 28 games of the season.
"Goodness knows, we need some hitting practice," said Sanford. "Some of the boys who had been carrying us this year with their hitting didn't do much against West Virginia."
Rollins is expected to start its two ace lefthanders against the Demon Deacons. Art Brophy will pitch the first game. On the year, Brophy is 7-2 after losing to Alabama in the District 3 semifinal series. The second game of the series will feature a pair of lefthanders, Lefty Davis (8-1) for the Deacons and Bill Cary for the Tars. Davis was the top pitcher in the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1955.
"Wake Forest is loaded with lefthanded hitters and we have our two lefthanded pitchers ready to go," said Justice. "I think we have a good chance to get past this series and we should be able to go a long way if we get to Omaha again. When you get this far, though, there's very little difference between teams. We're down to the last 16 now. From now on, a team has to rely on a few breaks."
Rollins' line-up includes catcher Don Finnigan, rightfielder Jim Doran, leftfielder Connie Butler, shortstop Nick Vancho, first baseman Bob MacHardy, centerfielder Al Fantuzzi, third baseman Dickie Williams and second baseman Tommy Hulihan.
Sanford was optimistic about Wake Forest's chances against the Tars.
"If the team starts hitting again like it should, I think we'll do all right," said Sanford. "We certainly aren't going down there expecting to lose."
And Sanford doesn't put much stock in Wake Forest's earlier win over Rollins.
"Rollins is much stronger than it was then," said Sanford. "They have three good pitchers in Cary, Tauscher and Brophy."
The Demon Deacons were last in the district finals in 1948 when Wake Forest defeated Notre Dame to move to the final round of the national tournament.
WINTER PARK, Fla. - The Wake Forest baseball team arrived by train in Winter Park on June 2 and held a work out to "get the feel of the Florida sun," according to head coach Taylor Sanford.
The Deacons brought 20 players who are all are in good health with the exception of Frank McRae who is favoring his ankle which he twisted against West Virginia earlier in the week.
"I think we'll need him against this Rollins team," said Sanford.
The Deacons are 22-6 on the season after winning the NCAA District 3 semifinal at West Virginia. The Deacons won the best of three series with a 6-5 won on May 31.
Rollins College took two of three games from Alabama over the weekend in the other semifinal. The Tars, under the direction of head coach Joe Justice, finished second at the College World Series in 1954. Rollins has a 21-6 record entering the series.
Game time is set for 3:30 on June 3 at Rollins' Harper-Shepherd Field.
The two teams met once during the regular season. Wake Forest took a 9-2 decision from the Tars in the Dixie Classic in April. Lefty Davis was the winning pitcher for the Deacons and Rollins' righthander Don Tauscher took the loss.
Wake Forest will have five lefthanded hitters in the lineup including centerfielder Luther McKeel (.295), catcher Linwood Holt (.386), third baseman Bill Barnes (.316), second baseman Jack Bryant (.136) and first baseman Bob Waggoner (.146). Holt leads the club with a .380 average and right fielder Tommy Cole is hitting .353. The Deacons will also start shortstop Harold Moore (.266) and left fielder Frank McRae (.301).
Sophomore righthander Jack McGinley will open the series for the Deacons as he did in last week's series at West Virginia. McGinley is 4-2 on the season and threw a complete game in the 5-1 win over the Mountaineers.
Offensively, Wake Forest has averaged nearly eight runs per game in its first 28 games of the season.
"Goodness knows, we need some hitting practice," said Sanford. "Some of the boys who had been carrying us this year with their hitting didn't do much against West Virginia."
Rollins is expected to start its two ace lefthanders against the Demon Deacons. Art Brophy will pitch the first game. On the year, Brophy is 7-2 after losing to Alabama in the District 3 semifinal series. The second game of the series will feature a pair of lefthanders, Lefty Davis (8-1) for the Deacons and Bill Cary for the Tars. Davis was the top pitcher in the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1955.
"Wake Forest is loaded with lefthanded hitters and we have our two lefthanded pitchers ready to go," said Justice. "I think we have a good chance to get past this series and we should be able to go a long way if we get to Omaha again. When you get this far, though, there's very little difference between teams. We're down to the last 16 now. From now on, a team has to rely on a few breaks."
Rollins' line-up includes catcher Don Finnigan, rightfielder Jim Doran, leftfielder Connie Butler, shortstop Nick Vancho, first baseman Bob MacHardy, centerfielder Al Fantuzzi, third baseman Dickie Williams and second baseman Tommy Hulihan.
Sanford was optimistic about Wake Forest's chances against the Tars.
"If the team starts hitting again like it should, I think we'll do all right," said Sanford. "We certainly aren't going down there expecting to lose."
And Sanford doesn't put much stock in Wake Forest's earlier win over Rollins.
"Rollins is much stronger than it was then," said Sanford. "They have three good pitchers in Cary, Tauscher and Brophy."
The Demon Deacons were last in the district finals in 1948 when Wake Forest defeated Notre Dame to move to the final round of the national tournament.
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