Home run interrupts interview with member of 1955 Wake Forest baseball national champion team
During the second inning of Saturday’s game between Wake Forest and Stanford, ESPN’s Dani Wexelman was interviewing a member of the Demon Deacons’ 1955 College World Series-winning team. It was an interesting look at history as he looked back on that team, one of the best in program history.
Mid-interview, though, the Wake Forest bats began to wake up.
As Bob Koontz was talking about the history of that 1955 team — and which members of the team are no longer alive — Brock Wilken turned on a Joey Dixon fastball and sent it to the left field stands. That tied things up at 1-1 in the bottom of the second inning as Wake Forest got on the board.
That 1955 Wake Forest team is the lone title in program history. The Demon Deacons are hoping to get back to the mountaintop this year, though, as the No. 1 overall seed. They brought a 52-10 overall record and a 22-7 mark in ACC play into Saturday’s game, their first of the College World Series.
In fact, as Wake Forest tries to keep its historic season going, pitcher Rhett Lowder said the Deacons are playing with a chip on their shoulder as they get started in Omaha. A No. 1 seed hasn’t won the title since 1999, which is why Wake Forest needs to stay the course.
“Yeah, they said that there’s the No. 1 seed curse to get here, but then we got here,” Lowder said. “It kind of doesn’t really matter the seeding anymore. Everyone is going to be good, so if we play a good, clean game, that’s all we can really do. If we don’t play great, then it’s going to be a tough road ahead. Everyone is pretty good here.”
Despite what happened earlier in the year, though, the Demon Deacons realize everyone is starting over in the CWS. Even Wilken, whose home run Saturday added to his record-setting season, said the records and rankings go out the window once teams get to Charles Schwab Field.
It’s a level playing field, and Wilken said Wake Forest has to play its game.
“That ranking means something until you get here, those rankings mean nothing anymore,” Wilken began. “It’s just about who goes out, plays the loosest and has the most fun. That team is more than likely going to win. We just have to keep playing our brand of baseball, and we’ll be all right.”