Wake Baseball 2021 | Cusick (1st) + Fleming, Seymour, Menendez, Muntz Drafted

[Rocket]

Just remember...

Before the season Walter was talking like not hosting a regional this year would be a disappointment. lol

Yep. Preseason, it sounded like Walter expected this team to be on par with the 2017 team that nearly made it to Omaha. As it stands, we aren't even nearly making the ACC tournament.

Losing key pitchers before the year started certainly hurt but every other facet of our team is underperforming as well. We can't hit, we can't field, and we can't run bases. The lack of fundamentals, more than anything, indicates that the issues aren't likely to fix themselves over time.

Baseball, more than most sports, is mental as well as physical. It sounds like we overthink everything instead of just playing loose. Just go out and play the game. If you're talented, the results take care of themselves.

 

[DiamondDeacs]

I respectfully disagree with Hendricks being the only decent person on the staff. I personally know one of the coaches (It isn't Walter or Cliento) and he is a good guy. Now I can't speak for him on the field/locker room at Wake but outside of that, he's a great dude. I also know being a "good dude" doesn't always translate to being a good coach (which I think he is).

Yes, agreed, Joey Hammond is also a good dude. But he has no real voice or input on that team.

 

[DiamondDeacs]

I respectfully disagree with Hendricks being the only decent person on the staff. I personally know one of the coaches (It isn't Walter or Cliento) and he is a good guy. Now I can't speak for him on the field/locker room at Wake but outside of that, he's a great dude. I also know being a "good dude" doesn't always translate to being a good coach (which I think he is).

And another quick followup Hammond could be a great coach and asset to Wake or another program. But at Wake he does not get to do much other than be a yes man for Cilento and Walter. And he's the most qualified coach out of them all. He should have played in the big leagues. But the two guys ahead of him at his position in the organization were a guy named Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley. Hammond was stuck behind those guys in AAA for five years and never really got a chance, but it's tough when you are behind two perennial big league all stars.

The point is that yes Hammond could be a great coach if he was allowed to actually coach, which he really doesn't get a chance to do here. And yes he is a good guy as well.

 

[CreamyGoodness]

I just don't know why Walter would think that.

Maybe we'd have a few more wins of we didn't hit the COVID patch and if Menendez wasn't out for the year, but we do not have a Omaha talent level team.

That said, there is definitely enough talent on this team to *make* a regional, not necessarily host.

We are relying too heavily on young guys. Our bullpen is comprised of what, like 75% freshmen?

Fielding has been atrocious and our base running has been a spectacle, and not in a good way. I'd say that falls primarily on management.

Everyone loves Walter, and with good reason. I doubt we fire him with a couple years left on his contact but if he doesn't get us to the regionals next year, then I could see Currie making a move.

Sucks all around. Baseball is fun when we are good. I was pumped to go to a lot of games this year, and will still go to the State series, but moreso to drink beer and hang with friends rather than watch baseball.

 

[thatguy2016]

2021 is about as complete of a collapse as one can imagine.

2019 was a disappointing year - we had the ACC POY in Seymour and we had Lanzilli. Both of those guys got All-America level publicity.

The 2019 season ended at the ACC tournament, when the Deacs had a 3-run lead over NCSU entering the 9th inning and appeared headed to the semifinals (and quite possibly the NCAA torunament). Deacs lost the game in a ninth inning that featured:

1. a 150-foot pop-up down the RF line that opened the inning for NCSU as a triple;
2. a couple of double-digit pitch walks;
3. a (naturally) wild pitch; and finally
4. not one, but two runners scoring on an infield hit to give the Pack the lead
5. Deacs stranding Seymour at second after he doubled to lead off the bottom of the ninth

you can look at that inning and say, man, brutal luck. Or, you can look at it and say, too bad someone wasn't on his horse to catch that pop-up that turned into a triple, or at least field it before it went that far; and too bad we can't avoid a WP in a high-leverage situation; and too bad we allow two runners to score on an infield hit; and too bad we can't get the tying run in from second with nobody out.

After multiple years, that type of inning is the norm, not the exception.

 

[rutmanchoo]

2021 is about as complete of a collapse as one can imagine.

2019 was a disappointing year - we had the ACC POY in Seymour and we had Lanzilli. Both of those guys got All-America level publicity.

The 2019 season ended at the ACC tournament, when the Deacs had a 3-run lead over NCSU entering the 9th inning and appeared headed to the semifinals (and quite possibly the NCAA torunament). Deacs lost the game in a ninth inning that featured:

1. a 150-foot pop-up down the RF line that opened the inning for NCSU as a triple;
2. a couple of double-digit pitch walks;
3. a (naturally) wild pitch; and finally
4. not one, but two runners scoring on an infield hit to give the Pack the lead
5. Deacs stranding Seymour at second after he doubled to lead off the bottom of the ninth

you can look at that inning and say, man, brutal luck. Or, you can look at it and say, too bad someone wasn't on his horse to catch that pop-up that turned into a triple, or at least field it before it went that far; and too bad we can't avoid a WP in a high-leverage situation; and too bad we allow two runners to score on an infield hit; and too bad we can't get the tying run in from second with nobody out.

After multiple years, that type of inning is the norm, not the exception.

I will add that IMO Tyler Witt should have started the ninth. I also question Mueller not coming in to play second base in the ninth. State got a cheap infield hit on what looked like a fairly routine grounder, the runner was fast.

 

[DiamondDeacs]

Is it that or just being a bad gameday coach? Because he seems like a good dude but a bad gameday coach.

Gameday and day to day. Go to one of their practices. Especially go in the fall. They don't work on anything. They take BP and take ground balls, that's it. They don't work on situational defense. They don't work on base running. They don't work on pickoffs. They don't work on bunt defense. They don't do PFPs. There is no teaching,, no instruction especially from Cilento unless you are one of his 3-4 favorites. The rest of the hitters on that team have to figure shit out on their own. That's why most of the guys on that team have their own personal hitting coaches. Like I said in another post Fairchild and Aiello used to drive to Apex or Cary or somewhere near Raleigh on off days and even after practice to work on hitting with a coach there because Cilento has no clue. And they do the ridiculous circuit training before practices which can be grueling and causes injuries and wears players out.

 

[morrison2951]

Unimaginable that this team won't even make the ACCT with its talent.

 

[cheeseheads12]

Gameday and day to day. Go to one of their practices. Especially go in the fall. They don't work on anything. They take BP and take ground balls, that's it. They don't work on situational defense. They don't work on base running. They don't work on pickoffs. They don't work on bunt defense. They don't do PFPs. There is no teaching,, no instruction especially from Cilento unless you are one of his 3-4 favorites. The rest of the hitters on that team have to figure shit out on their own. That's why most of the guys on that team have their own personal hitting coaches. Like I said in another post Fairchild and Aiello used to drive to Apex or Cary or somewhere near Raleigh on off days and even after practice to work on hitting with a coach there because Cilento has no clue. And they do the ridiculous circuit training before practices which can be grueling and causes injuries and wears players out.

"science"

 

[Deacs86]

Gameday and day to day. Go to one of their practices. Especially go in the fall. They don't work on anything. They take BP and take ground balls, that's it. They don't work on situational defense. They don't work on base running. They don't work on pickoffs. They don't work on bunt defense. They don't do PFPs. There is no teaching,, no instruction especially from Cilento unless you are one of his 3-4 favorites. The rest of the hitters on that team have to figure shit out on their own. That's why most of the guys on that team have their own personal hitting coaches. Like I said in another post Fairchild and Aiello used to drive to Apex or Cary or somewhere near Raleigh on off days and even after practice to work on hitting with a coach there because Cilento has no clue. And they do the ridiculous circuit training before practices which can be grueling and causes injuries and wears players out.

The infamous go gos and wobbles as they used to call them. Supposed to be 6 sprints, rest and sprint again turned into essentially a long drawn out jog before practice that made you want to go
Home before practice even started. Followed up by doing 1000 sit-ups that everyone used to simply watch the coaches and when they turned away would stop doing them. It was a joke. Kevin Jordan was the fastest on the team by significant margin and would finish dead last every single day. Walter never said a fucking word wonder why.

 

[TheReff]

Unimaginable that this team won't even make the ACCT with its talent.

Whhhhhaaaaaattttttt. But Walter said this team was destined for Omaha!

 

[Shake]

Walter's preseason hype as actually made this very easy for Currie

 

[80deacon]

2021 is about as complete of a collapse as one can imagine.

2019 was a disappointing year - we had the ACC POY in Seymour and we had Lanzilli. Both of those guys got All-America level publicity.

The 2019 season ended at the ACC tournament, when the Deacs had a 3-run lead over NCSU entering the 9th inning and appeared headed to the semifinals (and quite possibly the NCAA torunament). Deacs lost the game in a ninth inning that featured:

1. a 150-foot pop-up down the RF line that opened the inning for NCSU as a triple;
2. a couple of double-digit pitch walks;
3. a (naturally) wild pitch; and finally
4. not one, but two runners scoring on an infield hit to give the Pack the lead
5. Deacs stranding Seymour at second after he doubled to lead off the bottom of the ninth

you can look at that inning and say, man, brutal luck. Or, you can look at it and say, too bad someone wasn't on his horse to catch that pop-up that turned into a triple, or at least field it before it went that far; and too bad we can't avoid a WP in a high-leverage situation; and too bad we allow two runners to score on an infield hit; and too bad we can't get the tying run in from second with nobody out.

After multiple years, that type of inning is the norm, not the exception.

Can you recap the Clemson game, maybe the year before State? I know we were up, I think 3-0 in the 9th. Walter brings in Sellers who gives up back-to-back HRs. Seems WP either tied it or won it, or both....Walter brought in most seasoned weekend starter (Dunshee) and he still blew it.

 

[cheeseheads12]

Can you recap the Clemson game, maybe the year before State? I know we were up, I think 3-0 in the 9th. Walter brings in Sellers who gives up back-to-back HRs. Seems WP either tied it or won it, or both....Walter brought in most seasoned weekend starter (Dunshee) and he still blew it.

You talking about the 2016 ACCT in Durham?

I think we were up like 4-1 late in the game and we bring in Sellers who immediately gives up the lead. Then I believe we lost the game in the bottom of the 9th or 10th on a walk-off wild pitch (classic us). A win would have sent us to the championship game to face FSU I think.

 

[ChrisL68]

You talking about the 2016 ACCT in Durham?

I think we were up like 4-1 late in the game and we bring in Sellers who immediately gives up the lead. Then I believe we lost the game in the bottom of the 9th or 10th on a walk-off wild pitch (classic us). A win would have sent us to the championship game to face FSU I think.

Loves trying to play it cute with his bullpen in critical season defining situations and it almost always backfires. A win in this game likely gets us into the NCAA tourney which is the goal for the season. If Dunshee was available which he obviously was, bring him in the 7th with some margin for error and put the ball in your best pitchers hand. Worry about the finals when you get there.

 

[80deacon]

Yes...and the Clemson FSU game was moved up because of rain and FSU had played extra innings the night before until like midnight?... had used up all their pitchers already? Anyway, IIRC Clemson went on to win the title by beating them something like 18-9....some high score. (IOW, pretty sure we could have beaten them, too)

 

[WFU1977]

His donated kidney is one of the all time best stories ever, and shows he has some real character. However, it is time to sending his, Cliento and the trainer all packing.

 

[TheAbster]

His donated kidney is one of the all time best stories ever, and shows he has some real character. However, it is time to sending his, Cliento and the trainer all packing.

Agreed. I don't know the man and don't question his character. However, I can see his team's performance and it's abysmal and the YouTube press conferences are wearing thin.

 

[80deacon]

Loves trying to play it cute with his bullpen in critical season defining situations and it almost always backfires. A win in this game likely gets us into the NCAA tourney which is the goal for the season. If Dunshee was available which he obviously was, bring him in the 7th with some margin for error and put the ball in your best pitchers hand. Worry about the finals when you get there.

And I can't remember the starters name but Clemson could not hit him! He had a great game. All his pitches had late movement. Seems like he'd been injured and maybe came back. He disappeared next year, being utilized very little. And I think he ultimately transferred. I'll try to look him up.

 

[80deacon]

Drew Leopprich

https://youtu.be/_pSuh8umgdI