FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Wake Forest baseball team officially opened fall practice with a three-hour session on Tuesday afternoon at Wake Forest Baseball Park.
The practice marked the first official workout for the Demon Deacons under new head coach Tom Walter.
"I thought the first day couldn’t have gone any better," Walter said. "I was really pleased with their energy level and their attention to detail. I couldn’t have been happier with the effort today."
The team mainly focused on fundamentals during the opening practice. The position players worked on base running and defense, before moving into a batting practice session, while the pitchers worked on fielding their position and threw bullpen sessions.
The Deacs will practice from 3:15-6:30 p.m. Tuesday-Friday and from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Practice times on the weekend are subject to change depending on the Wake Forest football schedule. All practices are open to the public.
Coach Walter said one of the most important things that the team will work on during fall practice is getting acclimated to the new coaching staff.
"We have to get them used to our system," Walter said. "We have a specific plan. It’s going to be a slow process for them to get acclimated to our system. It’s going to be very teaching oriented. We’re going to spend a lot of time going over the X’s and O’s. Sometimes it’s not going to be real exciting to watch practice because we’ll be doing a lot of teaching."
Wake Forest returns 23 players from the 2008 team. The Deacs also feature nine freshmen on the 2009 roster.
Fall practice culminates with the annual Black and Gold World Series. Game one of the series is scheduled for Sunday, October 25 at 12 p.m. The second game will be held on Saturday, October 31, with first pitch to be determined depending on the start time of the Wake Forest football game that day.
The final three games of the series will be held November 1, November 7 and November 8, with each game beginning at 12 p.m. All games of the Black and Gold World Series are free and open to the public.
