Last night, the Wake Forest Baseball team took on their in-state opponent, the High Point Panthers, in the first game played at the David F. Couch Ballpark in over nine months. Despite them narrowly edging out a mid-major in their opening-day contest, the Deacs will certainly take the win.
“You have to find ways to win those close ones,” Head Coach Tom Walter said following last night’s game. “It wasn’t how we drew it up, and it wasn’t pretty, but we’ll take it.”
After sophomore transfer Cam Bagwell retired the Panthers in order in the first inning, the Demon Deacon offense came to play. After Javar Williams led off with a single and Andrew Costello drew a walk, sophomore Dalton Wentz brought home a run on a fielder’s choice.
A few more errant plays from the Panthers and some situational hitting from the Deacs gave Wake a 3-0 lead by the end of the inning. Bagwell, on the other hand, struggled to keep Wake Forest in the game.
Despite cruising through the first three innings, the right-hander ran into some trouble in the fourth. After plunking the leadoff hitter, Christian Smith delivered an RBI double, and Jake McCarter added a 2-run home run, pulling the Panthers within one.
Bagwell finished his evening with 3 earned runs and 3 strikeouts in 4 innings of work.
“Cameron Bagwell didn’t have great stuff today,” Walter said. “I probably made a mistake in pitching him on Saturday in Puerto Rico, but he battled. If those 2 fly balls found gloves, he probably would have only given up one today.”
By the time the sixth rolled around, the Panthers strung together a couple of more runs to tie things up. With Wake Forest now in a vulnerable position, the freshman Costello cashed in again with a two-out triple, giving the Deacs a 6-5 lead. The young outfielder would finish his day with 2 hits, 3 RBI’s, and 2 walks.
Among other standouts from last night, Williams in particular shone against High Point. The junior centerfielder, who has been working vehemently on his development, reached base 4 times and swiped 3 bags. If he can keep up this pace, Williams will most likely lock down that leadoff spot for good.
“The difference in the game offensively was [Williams],” Walter said. “[Williams] with his legs beats that play at home and steals third during the first inning to set us up for a 3-run first.”
The rest of the pitching did what they could to hold down the fort, and there wasn’t much there to complain about. Even with sophomore Nate Whysong making things interesting, freshman southpaw Ryan Bosch closed the door and gave the Deacs their third win of the season.
Obviously, a win is a win in any sense, but there is still work left to be done in the development of this roster. Among other slumping hitters, sluggers Kade Lewis and Dalton Wentz really need to pick things up before conference play begins.
Thankfully for the Deacs, there is some time before improvements become urgent, but they will need to come eventually. Next up for Wake Forest will be a weekend home series against the Siena Saints starting Feb. 20.
