Deacon Sports Xtra: Wake Forest Baseball Program Update- Fall Ball, Culture Development and 2023 Season Outlook
12/13/2022 8:40:00 AM | Baseball
Make Them Feel You.
After a team retreat in Summerfield and a group journey through the book "Legacy" by James Kerr, the Wake Forest Baseball team was left to their own devices to search for their 'why' as they enter the 2023 season.
For the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team detailed in Kerr's book, it was their desire to leave the jersey in a better place than what they inherited.
"We really kind of delved into that book and the center of their team culture is who they are and their why," Wake Forest coach Tom Walter said. "Why do we do this? For them, their team culture was to leave the jersey in a better place. When you hand the jersey to the next guy, it's set in a better place. Leave your legacy."
"We went on a retreat to Ken Miller's place again in Summerfield, which was awesome."
It was at that retreat where the Deacs started talking about their 'why,' as they return from a 41-win season and 2022 NCAA Tournament appearance. Wake Forest brings back a talented and experienced squad that should project in the top-10 in the preseason polls.
"We had a blast and did a lot of the same activities we did a year ago," Walter said. "We talked about the book as it relates to our team "why" and who we are and what we want to do. We broke up into four different groups and the team workshopped it. Each group brought their ideas forward and then had a group discussion about that.
"We brought everybody back together again on campus a few days later and the guys landed on "Make Them Feel You" as our team 'why,' and I love it."
Make Them Feel You.
"Obviously we want our opponent to feel us. How intentional we are and how competitive we are, and how we deal with adversity and how we just keep competing," Walter explained. "We're the team that just keeps coming after you. But this also translates to having your teammates feel you. They need to know that they're important to you and your life and that you care about them.
"And make sure the umpire feels us. Our professionalism. How we respect the game. Make sure the fans feel you. Make sure your professors feel you. It's an all-encompassing term that really applies to all aspects of life."
After a 21-game improvement from 2021 to 2022, Walter sees the vast majority of his team return for what could be a special run in 2023.
He bolstered their chances with some key additions in the transfer portal, including catcher Bennett Lee (Tulane), shortstop Justin Johnson (Lafayette), and pitchers Sean Sullivan (Northwestern), Michael Massey (Tulane) and Cole Roland (Dartmouth).
"We had some scholarship money available," Walter explained. "We had a couple guys signed in the draft and incoming recruits that signed in the draft so we had some money pop up, which was part of it. The other part of it is, quite honestly, we feel like we have a chance to be pretty good this year. It's almost like that team in the free agency market when you think you can be pretty good, and you can add a couple pieces that maybe put you over the hump and give you a chance to be really, really good."
The Deacs are coming off a successful fall of practices, with a pair of exhibitions — traveling to face Tennessee in Knoxville while hosting George Washington, playing double-digit innings against each team. The Vols won 57 games and were ranked in the top-10 nearly the entire 2022 season.
"It went pretty well," Walter said of the fall workouts. "I thought we got out of the fall what we needed. Positionally, we had some guys out. We were just a little short-handed positionally. On the mound, a couple of our guys didn't pitch much.
"I liked the energy we had in the fall. I liked the work that guys did and I think we're at a pretty good place. I like our team culture and our health is trending the right way.
"We played pretty well at Tennessee. We had one bad inning where we gave up six runs, but the other 16 and a half innings, I thought we played pretty well. And then against George Washington, we did what we were supposed to do."
In addition to going 18 innings against a great college baseball team, the Deacs also were able to enjoy some team bonding on their trip to Knoxville.
"We left on Friday, practiced on Saturday, played on Sunday kind of thing," Walter explained. "Those trips in the fall are great, because we noticed when we travel in the spring, between games, school work, pregame work, scouting report meetings and video review— there's not a lot of time for camaraderie.
"In a fall trip, there's just a lot more time where they can kind of hang out with one another and really get to know each other on a deeper level, which I think is great."
Last year saw the Demon Deacons make significant strides at the plate, in the field and on the mound. Batting averages, home runs and power numbers spiked while earned run averages and errors committed plummeted. With the core of that team returning and several key transfers added, 2023 looms as a season of opportunity for Wake Forest Baseball.
"I think we all realize that we're as good as anybody in the country," Walter said. "And I don't say that lightly. Talent wise, I feel like our guys know they can beat anybody. This doesn't mean we will, and we've obviously got to go out there and play well. And we've obviously got a lot of work to do before the season, but we're in a position to do that.
"But I think from a talent perspective, our guys are confident right now and they feel good about our club and our ability to go out there and compete. I think Tennessee was a good validation of that. We've got some really good pieces in this club."
There's more than one set of expectations, Walter further explained. It's more than just believing Wake Forest Baseball has a chance to win a lot of games, potentially host an NCAA Regional and play for a chance to advance to Omaha — individual players are also going to put the finishing touches on their pre-MLB Draft resume.
"We've talked about it a good bit," Walter said. "There's two parts of that expectation really — it's the interesting dichotomy of baseball. We're expected to be a top 10-team and a team that has the ability to go to Omaha. That's somewhere this program hasn't gone since 1955.
"But number two, we've got these high draft expectations for several of our guys. We're having our pro meetings right now, where the pro teams come in and meet with our guys on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and we've got anywhere from two to five teams in here twice a week. Some of these teams are meeting with 10 of our guys, which is unheard of most years. It's normally just four or five. Now they're coming in and want to meet with 10 of our guys, which is uncharted territory."
To manage these expectations, Walter is relying on a little bit of help from his friends.
"I asked Randolph Childress to come in and speak to our team," Walter said. "He lived it here. And then we brought in Dave Odom to come in and speak to our guys and talked about it. I'm going to ask Bobby Muuss and Dave Clawson to speak to them. I want our guys to hear from people other than us about how to manage these things. And I think the best way to do it is to do it head on, not pretend like it doesn't exist. Let's talk about it.
"I feel like the solution is pretty simple. It's a matter of just investing yourself into the team, not worrying about your statistics. To me, the only way to address it is to do it head on and be super transparent and intentional about dealing with it."
Wake Forest begins the 2023 season by hosting Youngstown State and Illinois Feb. 17-19, with the opening contest taking place at 4 p.m. against the Penguins at The Couch. The Deacs will wrap up the first weekend of play with a doubleheader, facing both teams Sunday, Feb. 19 starting at 8:30 a.m.
