Wake Forest Athletics
Deacon Sports Xtra: 2022 Wake Forest Baseball Primer with Coach Walter
2/18/2022 9:00:00 AM | Baseball
“We have a group of kids who are really dedicated to each other and to making this year special. It’s just a lot of good, positive, fun energy to be around.” - head coach Tom Walter
"We had a really talented group of freshmen who played a ton last year and that bodes well for the future," Walter said. "We met with that group in April when we were struggling. We wanted to reassure them to stay the course, believe in the program and continue to believe in each other; because we're going to do great things together.
"From that day forward, those guys have really been committed to each other and to this program. Brock Wilken has been the center of all that, and is the guy people gravitate toward."
It's now a lot of those same players who are the nucleus of the 2022 team that opens up the 2022 season on Friday at 6 p.m. against Lafayette at David F. Couch Ballpark, but also the guys who have taken hold of the leadership role off the field. There's been intentional team building experiences and player-only meetings.
"First and foremost, it's very impressive how they've come together as a team," Walter said. "Certainly last year we weren't without talent. We had injuries, some Covid issues and other things; and just never really pulled it together. But this team has been super intentional about coming together and building the team culture. We did some things in the fall that I thought were really great. We went on a leadership retreat and went to Washington, D.C. in the fall. We've been more intentional on building team culture.
"Last year was disappointing, and our guys have worked hard to make sure that we're ready."
The optimism for Walter begins on the mound with a dynamic weekend starting staff consisting of a pair of proven performers from last season and a local product who turned down immediate millions in the MLB Draft to instead come to Wake Forest.
"I feel really good about our pitching staff," Walter said. "Our weekend rotation is going to be super talented and proven to some degree. We have Rhett Lowder and Teddy McGraw, who have a track record, and then Josh Hartle, who is a freshman, but is so talented.
"But Camden Minacci, Eric Adler and Seth Keener are pushed those three all preseason to be in that rotation. We had five-to-six guys battling for those three spots. It's always a really good thing to have that competition."
Aside from the weekend starters, Walter is thrilled with the overall depth he has on the mound.
"Two of those aforementioned guys move into the bullpen and the other becomes our Tuesday starter," he explained. "I like the way our top six lines up. We have some left-handed options behind those guys with Brennen Oxford, Zach Grace and Jacob Grzebinski, along with Crawford Wade, who pitched some as a freshman last year.
"When you start to line up our pitching staff, you get to 10 or 11 guys we feel pretty good about, which is exciting."
Along with the pitching comes increased focus in the field, jump started by the addition of volunteer assistant Ty Blankmeyer.
"Ty has come in and done a really good job with our infield defense and helped those guys get better," Walter said. "I think our infield defense is going to be a lot more sure than it has in recent years, which is going to be huge for us. We struggled at times defensively last year."
The Deacs scored 6.46 runs a game in 2021, while hitting 91 home runs, the most by any team in the nation at the end of the regular season.
"We've always found ways to score runs," Walter said. "That is something we do pretty naturally, and that should continue with Wilken, Michael Turconi, Brendan Tinsman, Adam Cecere, Pierce Bennett and Lucas Costello. We have a good group of core guys who are coming back that can hit at this level. Then we've added a couple of good freshmen hitters in Danny Corona and Nick Kurtz."
There's definitely a fun, loose vibe around the Wake Forest Baseball practice facility as the Deacs gear up for the start of the 2022 campaign.
"There's lots of reasons to be optimistic about this club," Walter said. "We have to get out there and do it and pull it together.
"We have a group of kids who are really dedicated to each other and to making this year special. It's just a lot of good, positive, fun energy to be around. It helps that all of our programs are winning right now at Wake Forest. It's just a winning mindset and championship mentality. You go up and down the sports at Wake Forest and everyone is having great success. We want to be part of that championship culture."
There's just three weekends of non-conference play before the ACC gauntlet begins, starting with a three-game home series against Florida State starting on March 11.
"We've got to see who can do what before conference play," Walter said. "That's why we have those early games to hopefully settle into our main lineup. You always want a top-12 and right now we have about 16 fighting for those spots. By the time ACC play hits, we're going to be going with our top guys."
