By Kenny Burgess
Wire to wire, Wake Forest has been the most dominant and consistent team in college baseball this season. After finishing its regular single with a 52-10 record, and setting a school record in wins, Wake Forest is the No. 1 team in the country as well as the first No.1 overall seed to reach Omaha since 2018. The drought Wake Forest broke this season that is even more impressive is making an appearance in the College World Series since 1955 when it brought home its first and only national title.
Over the past ten years, the Deacons had been anything but a laughingstock but haven’t been the team we’ve seen this year. Most seasons, the Deacons have been hovering around or below .500 and they hadn’t had much success in postseason play. This year, Wake Forest has flipped the script and has been the best team in the country as the pitching has been dominant, and has been equally as dangerous with its batters.
Last season was the stepping stone for Wake Forest’s success as it had an impressive 41-19-1 record and most of the key contributors returned for the new season. Positionally, Wake Forest returned Nick Kurtz, Brock Wilken, Lucas Costello, Adam Cecere, Danny Corona, Tommy Hawke, and Pierce Bennett — that’s eight guys with plenty of proven talent and experience. On the pitching mound, returning are ACC Pitcher of the Year Rhett Lowder, Josh Hartle, and Teddy McGraw — the three likely weekend starters that comprised potentially the best trio in not only the ACC but perhaps the entire country.
The Deacons were also active in the transfer portal and received many key contributions from the guys they brought in. Some of the key additions included catcher Bennett Lee from Tulane, second baseman Justin Johnson from Lafayette, and pitchers Sean Sullivan (Northwestern), Michael Massey (Tulane), and Cole Roland (Dartmouth). Manager Tom Walter was aware of how special his group was heading into this season and saw it as a prime opportunity to be aggressive in the portal.
“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,” Walter said. “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.”
Walter was right as his offense was dominant and had seven players batting around .300. The Deacons are currently led by Kurtz, who is hitting .375 this season and has an absurd OPS of 1.361. Wake’s other top offensive threat is Wilken who leads the team in home runs and RBIs. In the last Super Regional game, Wilkens hit his 70th career home run, which broke the ACC record for most career home runs.
The pitching was equally as impressive. Lowder was named the ACC Pitcher of the Year for the second season in a row after finishing with a 1.92 ERA, 131 strikeouts, and a perfect 15-0 record. Hartle would have been most team’s top pitcher and finished with a dazzling 2.80 ERA, 11 wins, and fanned 131 batters.
This season has been special for the Deacons and they will have a chance to bring home their second-ever national title after a 68-year drought from the tournament. We will see if history repeats itself this time around and if it does, it will truly be a bow on top of a magical season for Wake Forest.
Photo credit: Wake Forest Baseball’s Instagram
