Athletics Department. Men's Baseball Records
RG21.2
/repositories/2/resources/2223
Z. Smith Reynolds Library Special Collections and Archives
English
1.5
Linear Feet
1 document box, 1 half-document box, 1 oversize box
1896
2023
1896-2023
The Athletics Department's Men's Baseball Records documents the historical and current activities of the Wake Forest Demon Deacons intercollegiate baseball team. The team was established in 1891 during its first season of intercollegiate play. Wake Forest has played under the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) since 1953. This collection contains media guides, posters, schedules, and materials related to coaching staff and team alumni.
Common abbreviations found in this collection are the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA), and the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).
Collection Overview
The Wake Forest University Men's Baseball Team played it's first intercollegiate game in Raleigh, North Carolina against UNC Chapel Hill in 1891. Since then the team has grown into a successful intercollegiate athletics program. This collection documents the historical and current activities of the Demon Deacons Men's Baseball team. Materials in this collection include game programs and posters, as well as athlete certificates, newspaper articles, schedules, and promotional materials.
Biographical / Historical
The Wake Forest University Men's Baseball Team played it's first intercollegiate game in Raleigh, North Carolina against UNC Chapel Hill in 1891. Wake Forest beat Chapel Hill 10-7. The following year, Wake Forest faced Chapel Hill again as well as a team from Oak Ridge, NC. Prior to the formation of organizing bodies such as the NCAA and the ACC, schools would hire professional players who were non-students to play in intercollegiate matches. By 1894, Wake Forest had added Trinity College (now Duke University) to it's schedule lineup.
As intercollegiate sporting competitions became popular, student participation in football and baseball began facing opposition from college faculty and the Board of Trustees. College administrators, trustees, and faculty were concerned with the interest in sports taking precedence over academics. Football was determined to be too barbaric and was banned by the trustees and faculty in 1895 and the baseball team had it's number of games decreased. It was also decided that baseball players had to be enrolled and active students in order to play.
In 1904, G. W. Paschal hired Jim Crozier as the first dedicated trainer for the baseball team. Crozier would eventially become the Director of Physical Culture as well as the coach of other teams. The following years saw growing interest in baseball, and significant land purchases by the college allowed for dedicated space for baseball, track, and football to be played.
Similar to other sports, baseball was canceled during World War II but was revived in 1946 after a three-year hiatus. Following the war, the Demon Deacons baseball team experienced several successful seasons. In 1951, the team was selected to represent the United States at the Pan-American Games, earning a silver medal. The team made its first NCAA Baseball Championship appearance in 1947 and won the College World Series in 1955, coached by Taylor Sanford. That season, the team had a record of 28-7.
The Demon Deacons have made at least 16 appearances in the championships, won 3 conference championships (1949, 1955, 2023) and produced dozens of MLB players. 2 former Deacons have been inducted into the COllege Baseball Hall of Fame, Charlie Teague (2010) and former player, coach, and athletics director, Gene Hooks (2025). Tom Walter is the current head coach of the Demon Deacons Baseball Team and has achieved over 450 wins during is 15 year tenure at Wake Forest.
Sources:
- <part>The History of Wake Forest University, Volume II, 1865-1905</part>. Available in
[Digital Collections] .
- <part>The History of Wake Forest University, Volume III, 1967-1983</part>. Available in
[Digital Collections]- .
- "The History of Wake Forest University, Volume IV, 1943-1967. Available in
[Digital Collections]
- <part>The History of Wake Forest University, Volume V, 1967-1983</part>. Available in
[Digital Collections]
Preferred Citation
Athletics Department. Men's Baseball Records (RG 21.2), Z. Smith Reynolds Library Special Collections and Archives, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, USA.
Access Restrictions
This collection is open to researchers.
Copyright notice
The nature of the WFU Z. Smith Reynolds Library Special Collections and Archives means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. The Archives and Special Collections of ZSR Library claims only physical ownership of most materials. The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to the U.S. Copyright Law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged is arranged into two series: Series 1. Administrative and operational files, and Series 2. Publications.
Series 1. Administrative files include materials and records that document season-to-season operational activities of the Demon Deacons Men's Baseball team.
Series 2. Publications, include published materials such as media guides and game day programs.
Related Materials
Related collections and items available at Z. Smith Reynolds Library that document the Demon Deacons Men's Baseball Team include:
[University Photograph Collection (RG10.1)][Vertical Files (RG15)][University Archives Artifacts Collection (RG14)]
Publications/repositories/2/archival_objects/198346Season media guide/repositories/2/archival_objects/198347199931Season media guide/repositories/2/archival_objects/198348200132Season media guide/repositories/2/archival_objects/198349200333Season media guides/repositories/2/archival_objects/1983502005200834-7Season materials/repositories/2/archival_objects/198351ACC Baseball Championship promotional brochure/repositories/2/archival_objects/1983542003116Accounts, schedules, and notes/repositories/2/archival_objects/198355189611"Charmed Season: Deacons of 1955 remember sweetness of march to NCAA title," <part>Omaha World-Hearld</part> article by John Dell, photocopy/repositories/2/archival_objects/1983522000113"NC State, Wake Forest have baseball tradition on Easter weekend," <part>Winston-Salem Journal</part> online article by Tom Foreman, Jr./repositories/2/archival_objects/1983532023 April118Newspaper clippings of ACC Championship/repositories/2/archival_objects/198364199922Newspaper clipping photocopies of 1955 season/repositories/2/archival_objects/198363195514Schedule, scores, and season notes/repositories/2/archival_objects/198367189712Scorebooks/repositories/2/archival_objects/1983681974197715Season statistics and newspaper clipping photocopies of 1949 season/repositories/2/archival_objects/198370194913Wake Forest College Baseball Pan-American Games representative, commemorative book/repositories/2/archival_objects/1983722001114-15Coach and student-athlete materials/repositories/2/archival_objects/198369American Baseball Coaches All-Region Baseball Team certificates/repositories/2/archival_objects/1983561998110Holt, Linwood: All-American Baseball Team certificate/repositories/2/archival_objects/198359195523Kowilcik, Christopher (Chris): All-America Baseball Team certificate/repositories/2/archival_objects/198358199223Martin, Wayne: All-American Baseball Team certificate/repositories/2/archival_objects/198360196323NCAA Baseball Writers Association All-America Team certificates/repositories/2/archival_objects/1983621998111-12Scripture, Bill: All-America Baseball Team certificate/repositories/2/archival_objects/198361196323Walter Rabb Player of the Year Awards/repositories/2/archival_objects/198373198116Marketing and promotional materials/repositories/2/archival_objects/198371Dugout Cookout announcement mailer/repositories/2/archival_objects/1983572003 April117NCAA tournament ticket sales poster/repositories/2/archival_objects/198365199921Pocket schedules/repositories/2/archival_objects/1983661987200917-9Season schedule, poster/repositories/2/archival_objects/205445202412Team poster with season schedule and player autographs/repositories/2/archival_objects/205444202311