Wake Forest Athletics
Walter Optimistic for Upcoming Campaign
2/12/2021 9:00:00 AM | Baseball
Wake Forest opens the new season next Friday against Northeastern at home.
With a COVID-shortened 2020 MLB Draft leading several professional prospects back to Winston-Salem for another season, Demon Deacon coach Tom Walter believes Wake Forest may be heading into 2021 with the most complete team of his tenure.
Wake Forest is a program that's been known in recent years for its prolific bats, but Walter's optimism for the upcoming campaign comes from what he's seeing on the mound.
"This is certainly the most talented pitching staff we've had by far," he said. "The 2017 team set the bar from during my time here, that team had Parker Dunshee at the front, who won 11 games, and Griffin Roberts in the back who kind of locked it down. But we certainly love this pitching staff and the depth it offers."
That aforementioned 2017 Demon Deacons squad pushed eventual College World Series Champions Florida to the brink in the Gainesville Super Regional, extending that series to a third game after a dramatic walk-off home run courtesy of catcher Ben Breazeale.
In 2021, Walter has four starting pitchers in the running for three weekend starting spots: Ryan Cusick, Antonio Menendez, William Fleming and Shane Smith. Smith served as the closer in last year's shortened season, going 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA in just five appearances. The Deacs played just 18 games before the season was canceled because of COVID-19.
"We're seeing more velocity than they've ever seen before," Walter said of his staff. "We had a scrimmage on Saturday and I don't think we had a pitcher throw that day who was below 94, and we had seven pitchers go that day. They've seen more velocity than ever before, which will only help (our batters). We're going to see great arms in this league."
It's still yet to be determined who among those four will be the marquee Friday night starter, and whoever doesn't make the weekend rotation will be the mid-week starter, Walter said. The bullpen is more deep and talented than in previous seasons, according to the 12-year Wake Forest skipper.
"Based on talent and what I've seen in scrimmages, this is absolutely, 100 percent, our best bullpen, the best Tuesday starter and the best pitching depth we've had in my time here," Walter said. "We have guys who might not travel who in years past might have been great Tuesday night starters. That's the depth and talent that this pitching staff has. It's exciting."
This is where the Pitching Lab and facility upgrades like the Chris Hurd Player Development Center are starting to pay dividends. Wake Forest Baseball was voted the best in the ACC and fourth in the nation in terms of player development facilities, according to a poll conducted by Baseball America earlier this year.
"Because of the facilities we've built and the pitching lab, we've certainly been able to recruit a higher-caliber pitcher," Walter said. "That's part of it. And coming off the success in 2016, '17 and '19, we're recruiting a better caliber of pitcher. And then the second part of it is the pitching lab."
(Pitching coach) John Hendricks has done a great job. He's got a great understanding of the pitching lab and how to use it effectively without overwhelming the guys with the information. He has a great feel for what an athletic and repeatable delivery looks like and has done a great job of meshing those two worlds. There's a lot of great analytical coaches, and there's a lot of great delivery coaches. John is great at both. We're starting to see the results of not just the pitching lab, but John's great work."
But don't be fooled, 'Rake Forest' will be back in 2021. The Deacs return a murderer's row in the middle of the lineup and will surely smack the ball all around (and out of) David F. Couch Ballpark this season.
"We're obviously excited about our offense too," Walter said. "Anytime you return (Chris) Lanzilli, (Bobby) Seymour and (Shane) Muntz as four-year starters — the last full season that those guys played, Seymour won ACC Player of the Year with 92 RBIs (in 2019) and if he hadn't won it, Lanzilli would have.
"And Muntz, in the five hole, led the ACC in OPS. You have those three guys in the middle, then have a proven guy who can hit in front of them in Michael Turconi. Then you have Brendan Tinsman and Michael Ludowig behind them, along with young guys like Adam Cecere and Brock Wilkin, who we're super excited about."
The program has laid out what Walter described as 'strict' protocols, and have been able to make it through both fall and the start of spring practices unscathed in terms of the pandemic.
"I'm grateful to the Wake Forest administration for everything they've done to get our guys on the field," Walter said. "We had a mostly normal fall in terms of practice. We had to go through some COVID protocols to get going, but we got all of our work in there. The same in the spring. We came back a little later than normal, but the Wake Forest folks have done a great job of keeping us on the field."
The Demon Deacons begin the season ranked No. 17 in the nation by D1 Baseball and have received some buzz as a team who has the potential to make a run all the way to the College World Series in Omaha. Individually, Cusick and Seymour have received national recognition, garnering preseason All-American honors from multiple outlets.
"It's good," Walter said. "Expectations are a good thing. I'd hate to go into a season with no expectations. No matter what the expectations are outside the program, our expectations inside the program are always higher."
The Deacs begin their season a week from today at David F. Couch Ballpark against non-conference opponent Northeastern at 4:00 p.m. Following the three-game set, the team will welcome Coastal Carolina to Winston-Salem on Feb. 23 before opening ACC play three days later versus Notre Dame.
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