Wake Forest has a simple goal for the 2024 season.
“We want to go further than we did last year,” said coach Tom Walter.
That’s not as easy as it may sound. The Demon Deacons had a historic season last year, setting a school record for wins and reaching the College World Series for the first time since 1955. Wake fell just short, losing with a berth in the championship series on the line to finish tied for third in the nation.
Still, third place leaves two big steps yet to take.
“One of the things we talked about was let’s not stand still,” Walter said. “Last year was a great year. It was a magical year, but we have unfinished business. … We didn’t feel like we played our best baseball in Omaha last year.”
Of course, before the team can move forward, it needs to avoid sliding back. Ten Demon Deacons players were drafted last season, setting yet another program record. That left plenty of holes to fill on the roster. Wake returns just 14 letter winners from last season to the 40-man roster. The Deacs return 24.8% of their at-bats from last season and 37.9% of their innings pitched.
Walter said the Deacs began working as soon as the flight back from Omaha touched down, assembling the top transfer portal class in the country, according to D1 Baseball.
Wake added Tennessee ace Chase Burns to the starting rotation. Burns has a fastball that tops out in the 101- to 102-mph range and is considered one of the top pitching prospects in the 2024 MLB Draft.
The incoming transfers also included Wingate infielder Seaver King, considered the top player in Division II last year, St. John’s catcher Tate Ballestero, Maryland righthander David Falco, who has faced the Deacs in the NCAA Tournament each of the last two years, and Ball State infielder Adam Tellier, who won MVP of the MAC Tournament last year.
Combine that with a highly rated freshman recruiting class and Wake Forest finds itself opening the season as the No. 1 team in the nation, yet another first for Walter’s program.
The coach downplayed it, comparing it to getting “most likely to succeed” in high school.
“It is a nice honor and it’s great that your peers feel that way and we certainly don’t take that for granted,” he said, “but it’s not necessarily a good predictor of the kind of season you’ll have. We still have to go out.”
It also paints a target on the Deacs’ backs, something Wake didn’t have to contend with last season.
“I think there are more distractions associated with it,” Walter said of the lofty ranking and expectations of Omaha. “There’s more people talking about it. More people ask you about it. There’s more people pulling at your time. Our coaches were talking about it. I’ve never been asked to be on more podcasts and things like that than I have in the last few weeks. And again, it’s a compliment to our program and where we are, but at the same time it can pull you away from what you really need to do, which is get this team better.”
Underscoring Walter’s concerns, Wake has already experienced something it hadn’t in the previous two seasons — a February loss. The top-ranked Deacs were shocked by UNC Greensboro last Tuesday, falling on the road, 4-3. The loss snapped a 21-game February winning streak for Walter’s Deacs and made it clear that a return to the College World Series was far from a sure thing.
“It’s a disappointing loss,” Walter said. “We have some growing up to do. We’ve got to have better situational at-bats. … It’s a long season, but we aren’t where we want to be right now.”
The Deacs rebounded with a weekend sweep of Dayton and now have one more weekend of nonconference play before opening the ACC schedule with a titanic showdown.
Wake will host Duke on the second weekend of March. The Blue Devils are currently undefeated and ranked No. 12 in the nation by D1 Baseball and No. 13 by Baseball America.
The Deacs and Devils are just two of the half-dozen North Carolina teams currently ranked in the top 25, the most produced by any state — Texas is next with five. The six teams enter the week with a combined 33-7 record.
East Carolina (11 in D1, 15 in Baseball America), NC State (14, 18), North Carolina (17, 17) and Campbell (21, 25), which entered the rankings this week, round out the teams putting the state at the center of the college baseball universe.
And, if Tom Walter has his way, his Demon Deacons will remain there at the end of the season.
