Even though it is still a week away from opening day, the energy is starting to feel real already at David F. Couch Ballpark for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons.
The Demon Deacons have spent the past two weekends participating in intrasquad scrimmages to prepare the team for the start of the season on Feb. 14, when Long Island University makes the trip to Winston-Salem, North Carolina. These scrimmages have allowed the team to get live reps ahead of the season at game speed.
Junior outfielder Jack Winnay and his teammates are excited with what they’ve seen from the team so far in these scrimmages.
“I thought they went well. I think they always get better as we get closer to the season because the energy starts to feel really real,” said Winnay. “The pitchers looked great, we had a lot of great at-bats, and you can tell guys are just getting fired up.”
Winnay, along with a host of other players, had strong performances for the Deacs in the batter’s box the past two weekends. Junior outfielder Ethan Conrad, a Marist transfer, went 3 for 3 with a home run, two stolen bases and two runs during the scrimmage on Jan. 31. Sophomore DH Javar Williams hit four home runs across both weekends and senior outfielder Chris Katz had a standout performance on Jan. 31, going 1 for 2 with a home run and three RBIs.
The pitching showed great promise during the scrimmages as well. Though the Deacs don’t boast a Friday starter like Chase Burns or Rhett Lowder this year, junior pitcher Logan Lunceford, a Missouri transfer, feels the Deacs have an incredibly deep pitching staff this year.
“As far as Mizzou, or really any college team that I know of, no staff has ever been this deep,” said Lunceford. “This is a really special staff, and the amount of guys we can run out there on a Friday night, Saturday night, Sunday, even the midweek is unbelievable.”
Lunceford himself had a strong preseason, pitching a total of 8 1/3 innings in which he posted two hits, one run and 13 strikeouts. Junior pitcher Joe Ariola pitched seven innings across the scrimmages, posting three hits, zero runs and 15 strikeouts. Sophomore pitcher Matthew Dallas, a Tennessee transfer, had a strong outing on Feb. 1, as well, posting four perfect innings in which he struck out five.
After the first weekend of scrimmages, coach Tom Walter was pleased with what he had seen from his team so far. Walter was particularly impressed by the positional and pitching depth his team boasts this year. The biggest thing that Walter emphasized was the health of his team going into the season.
With opening day right around the corner, the Demon Deacons are looking to build on the energy brewing at the Couch over the past two weekends of preseason scrimmages.
