Thinking Big: Wake Forest Has Sights Set On Omaha Entering 2023 Season

Image credit: Wake Forest coach Tom Walter (Photo courtesy of Wake Forest)

Tom Walter has had his fair share of high-quality teams and players in his 13-year tenure as Wake Forest coach. 

Forty-four players have been drafted during his time in Winston-Salem—including first-rounders Ryan Cusick (2021), Jared Shuster (2020) and Will Craig (2016)—with plenty more on the way. 

However, one thing has eluded Wake Forest since 1955: an appearance in the College World Series. Armed with his deepest and most talented squad yet, Walter and the 2023 Demon Deacons are in prime position to return to Omaha.

By all accounts, 2022 was a great season for Wake Forest. The team made its first regionals appearance since 2017 and won at least 40 games for the first time since that same year. They led the Atlantic Coast Conference with a .425 on-base percentage and finished second with 561 runs and 122 home runs.

On the other side of the ball, ace righthander Rhett Lowder won the ACC pitcher of the year award. But after getting knocked out by Maryland in the College Park Regional, Wake Forest players had a sour taste in their mouths and the feeling that there was a lot of unfinished business.

 

Walter is excited about the makeup of this year’s team.

“Starting with our talent, we’re super talented in all phases of the game,” Walter said. “Offensively, we really like our lineup, starting pitching, bullpen depth, defense. I think we’ve got talent in all phases of the game.”

Wake Forest has a loaded lineup core of third baseman Brock Wilken, first baseman Nick Kurtz, outfielder Tommy Hawke, do-it-all utilityman Pierce Bennett and veteran corner outfielder Adam Cecere. 

While the lineup is headlined by the likes of Wilken and Kurtz, the difference-makers and missing pieces to the Omaha puzzle will come in the form of their supporting cast. 

“Tommy Hawke, I don’t know if there’s going to be a better leadoff hitter in the country than him,” Walter said. “He’s just a big-time gamer, competitor.” 

Behind the plate, junior Tulane transfer Bennett Lee is another player who could be a potential difference-maker. He hit .320 in his freshman and sophomore seasons with more than 30 extra-base hits. 

“He’s another guy I’d put in that X-factor bucket,” Walter said. “His leadership skills are off the charts, and he can really, really catch.” 

The most underrated piece of the Deacs’ offense is burly first baseman and DH Jake Reinisch. He hit an impressive .318 last season with 14 doubles, 8 home runs, 50 RBIs and a lofty OBP of .467. 

“He’s one of those guys who gives you a great at-bat every single time, and he’s a guy who can really hit and is a key cog in our lineup.” 

Infielders Danny Corona (.267 last season with five homers) and Lafayette transfer Justin Johnson (.337 in the Coastal Plain League last summer) will round out the Deacons on the dirt. 

On the mound, Wake Forest’s rotation will be able to go toe to toe with any team in the country. Star righthander Lowder, a potential top-15 overall draft pick, will lead the way, with sophomore lefthander Josh Hartle, a preseason High School All-American in 2021 who made it to campus, likely manning the Saturday role. 

On Sundays, the Demon Deacons will turn to another potential Day One draft selection in righthander Teddy McGraw, who Walter said has “as good of stuff as anybody in the country.” 

The electrifying Camden Minacci and his power fastball will hold down the back end of the bullpen, while lefthander Sean Sullivan will be used in a variety of roles. 

“He’s going to be a Swiss Army Knife,” Walter said. “He’s one of our best arms, and us getting him the ball in as many leverage situations as we can will be the key. He’s a guy where, if you’re down a run and put him in, you stay down a run and give us a chance to win a ballgame.”  

Two other key members from last year’s pitching staff, righthanders Seth Keener and Reed Mascolo, are also back. Between last year’s group of contributors on the mound, additions in the transfer portal like Michael Massey and Cole Roland, and a strong freshman class headlined by lefthander Joe Ariola, whom Walter said “threw the ball really well against Tennessee in our fall scrimmage with good stuff,” Wake Forest has ample depth on the pitching staff.

“We’re 12 or 13 deep on the mound in terms of guys we feel good about not only from a stuff perspective, but also a pitchability perspective,” Walter said. 

 

While many in the college baseball world would describe Wake Forest’s rotation as a three-headed monster, Walter has a three-headed monster of his own, courtesy of the program’s state-of-the-art pitching lab and instructors. Mike McFarren is Wake Forest’s pitching lab coordinator, while Dr. Kristen Nicholson serves as biomechanist and Corey Muscara is the pitching coach. 

“Our pitching lab has really become actionable in the last year or so,” Walter said, “and we’re just starting to see the benefits of the development. That three-headed monster has been integral in pulling all the pieces together. Not only are our guys moving better, not only is their stuff better, but they’re throwing more strikes, we have better pitch design plans, and better pitch execution plans.”

The buzz around this year’s club is the most a team has received in Walter’s time at Wake Forest, which dates back to 2010. While that’s nice to see, the veteran coach is cognizant to not get lost in the noise.

“There’s a lot of people who are predicting us to do a lot of really great things, which is nice,” Walter said. “I’ve told our guys (that) they’ve earned that, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to win. We still have to go out there and play well, play together, and we still have to go out there and be the best version of ourselves as a team. 

“How we fold our individual goals into team success is going to determine how good we are.” 

One of the biggest determining factors in how deep a team plays into the NCAA Tournament is its leadership. It starts at the top with the coaching staff, but having a handful of players in the locker room who are de facto captains and can get the rest of the team to buy in are key. 

Walter recognizes that, and in Winston-Salem they have put an extra emphasis on building a strong team culture. 

“We’ve spent a lot of time making sure it’s a team-first, brotherhood mentality,” he said. “That team culture is led first and foremost by our seniors Adam Cecere and Pierce Bennett. With those two guys at the top of the pecking order, at least from an age perspective, they’ve really done a great job galvanizing this team.” 

From a leadership perspective, it does not stop at the top.

“Rhett Lowder and Brock Wilken, Teddy McGraw and Camden Minacci certainly have done a really great job taking leadership roles in their own right and leading by example. I’m super proud of our team culture.” 

While a star-studded and immensely talented roster, hype from the media and high expectations for this year’s team might add unnecessary pressure for some, Walter and his 2023 club are facing it head-on, are ready to compete at a high level and aren’t shying away from anything.

“We’ve been direct and up-front about (the expectations). I’m always of the mindset of: Let’s address the elephant in the room and face it head-on.”