Sports > March 27, 2008

By Jeff Merski | Senior writer

Although the baseball season is still relatively young, an important piece of the team is in its twilight. Gene Hooks Stadium, located on South Campus adjacent to Faculty Drive, was opened in 1981 as the home for the Deacon baseball team. However, this season marks its last year hosting the Diamond Deacs, with the team planning to move to Ernie Shore Field, which is next to BB&T Field, in time for the start of the 2009 season.

click to enlarge

(Kelly Makepeace/Old Gold & Black)

The current stadium, which has a capacity of 2,500 with metal bleachers, is a facility that leaves much to be desired in terms of infrastructure. The stadium holds only a home clubhouse that can easily get crowded, especially with 34 players currently on the baseball team’s roster. The visiting team has to go off-site to have a locker-room facility, which means that players’ equipment is often left around the dugout instead of inside a clubhouse.

“It feels like home here (Hooks Stadium) but we definitely need improvements here,” junior outfielder Evan Ocheltree said. “It’s definitely outdated compared to some of the other facilities in the ACC.”

For fans, the current facility lacks any bathrooms inside the stadium and lacks a lot of sheltered areas, leading to the handicapped room to become quite crowded on rainy days. However, “The Hook,” as the stadium is often referred to by players and coaches, will be missed.

“I’m very excited (about the move to Ernie Shore Field), but at the same time I’ve sad,” Ocheltree said. “You look around, you have the holly bushes out there and everything.”

The move to Ernie Shore Field will offer the Deacons quite a few luxuries that they do not currently enjoy at Hooks. The most notable of these is the fact that Hooks does not have lights, meaning games must be in the afternoons.

“The lights are huge for us because of the time constraints we have in the afternoon,” Head Coach Rick Rembielak said.

“Our guys are rushed coming from class out to the field. Practically half our guys cannot be here for batting practice because they have classes.”

As it stands currently, several players need to adjust their academic schedules in order for classes to be taken in the morning.

“We have to take early morning classes to be done by noon or 1 p.m.,” Ocheltree said.

“A lot of guys take labs, so it will make their course schedule a lot easier and less demanding.”

Beyond classes, it affects some players in the form that they often come straight to practice or games from class, meaning some have to skip lunch.

“A lot of times, guys aren’t able to eat lunch because coming from class, they’re changing and getting out to the field,” Rembielak said.

“It’ll be nice to get something to eat before the game,” sophomore pitcher Alex Wiesner said.

Additionally, the team hopes that by playing night games, the community will become more involved.

“We do get a good Winston-Salem fanbase here, but on a Friday mid-afternoon for a big ACC series, you have too many people at work,” Ocheltree said. “With games on Friday and Saturday nights, even weeknights, people can bring out their kids.”

In regards to facilities, the field will offer clubhouses for both teams, an expanded pressbox area plus actual seats instead of bleachers for fans.

“There will be a place where we can study, have more space and overall have a better feeling,” Wiesner said about the new locker room for the Deacs.

Eventually, there are plans to make the stadium feel more like campus.

“The facility structure is there, we just need to get it the Wake Forest way – the colors, the scheme, kind of like what happened at (BB&T Field),” Rembielak said.

The one component that is missing to Ernie Shore Field are hitting cages. Currently, Hooks Stadium has an outdoor cage down the first base line and an indoor cage below the stands on the third base line. However, other facility updates will come as needed.

“I’m not worried about seating color or the outfield fence. It’s ready to go – the lights, the playing surface,” Rembielak said.

Additionally, Rembielak said that the move to Ernie Shore will help with recruiting.

“That was a major factor with them,” he said. “They thought that it was a nice addition to the program. We’re talking about coming in here and getting better each year and this is another ingredient to that.”

According to Athletic Director Ron Wellman, the land currently occupied by Hooks Stadium will be used by the golf teams to expand their practice facility, which is adjacent to the baseball stadium.

“Our current practice facility does not meet the standards of today’s college golf practice facilities,” Wellman said in the January 2008 to wakeforestsports.com.

“With additional property being developed as a golf practice facility, we will have one of the best practice complexes in the country.”