WF BASE: Trio of Demon Deacons Garner All-ACC Honors

[Kelly Quinlan]

Cusick, Seymour and Wilken receive conference recognition after stellar performances during the 2021 season.


GREENSBORO, N.C. - Ryan Cusick. Bobby Seymour and Brock Wilken were named to the 2021 All-Atlantic Coast Conference baseball teams, as voted on by the ACC coaches and announced by the league this afternoon.


Cusick led the trio as a Second Team honoree, while Seymour and Wilken landed on the Third Team. Additionally, Wilken earned a spot on the All-Freshman squad.

This marks the first All-ACC postseason accolade for Cusick and Wilken, while Seymour earns the second honor of his collegiate career after receiving the ACC Player of the Year award and First Team All-ACC honors in 2019.

The All-ACC Demon Deacons

Ryan Cusick (Second Team)
2021 Season Highlights

• Made 12 starts on the mound, tossing 70.0 innings and earning three wins with an ERA of 4.24
• Tallied a career-high 108 K's, the eighth-most strikeouts in a single campaign by a Demon Deacon
• Posted the highest strikeout per-nine innings mark in the ACC (13.89), also good for 10th in the nation
• Struck out at least 10 batters in six of his starts
• Gave up zero earned runs in starts against Georgia Tech (March 19), Florida State (March 26) and Duke (April 16)
• Struck out a season-best 12 batters against Notre Dame (Feb. 27) and Florida State (March 26)
• Did not walk a single batter while punching out nine against NC State (April 30)
• Pitched a season-high 7.1 innings in Wake Forest's 6-1 win versus Pitt on May 20
• Conceded a season-low two hits at Florida State (March 26)
• On April 20, Cusick earned his first career ACC Pitcher of the Week accolade for his performance in Wake Forest's 11-0 shutout victory at Duke. Cusick picked up his second win of 2021 after not allowing more than one hit in any inning while fanning a pair of batters in four separate frames.
• Preseason All-American by Baseball America (Second Team) and Perfect Game (Third Team)

Career Highlights

• In just 158 innings, Cusick has struck out 206 batters in his career. He reached the 200 mark against Pitt with his fourth punch out of the game in the top of the fifth inning.
• Holds a career strikeout per nine innings mark of 11.73, the third highest in program history
• Posted 10 victories in 35 appearances (28 starts)

Bobby Seymour (Third Team)
2021 Season Highlights

• Appeared and started in all 47 games, leading the Deacs in batting average (.302), home runs (21), RBIs (55), hits (54), runs scored (43), slugging percentage (.709), on-base percentage (.400) and walks (28)
• Launched the second-most home runs in the nation
• Finished with the third-most RBIs and the fourth-best slugging percentage in the ACC
• Tallied 127 bases, good for second in the conference
• In a month span (April 11-May 11), batted .400 with 26 hits, 35 RBIs, 15 HRs, five doubles, 26 runs scored, six walks and 1.169 slugging percentage
• Became the 28th player in program history to amass 200 career hits in the first game of Wake Forest's doubleheader at Clemson with a single in the fourth inning
• Knocked in three hits in seven games - Northeastern (Feb. 20), Florida State (March 28), Western Carolina (April 20), Davidson (April 27), NC State (April 30), NC State (May 2) and Coastal Carolina (May 18)
• Hit a career-high tying two home runs in six contests - Florida State (March 28), Virginia Tech (April 11), Davidson (April 27), NC State (April 30), NC State (May 1) and Belmont (May 9)
• Tallied a season-high five RBIs against Florida State (March 28) and Western Carolina (April 20)
• Preseason All-American by three outlets - Perfect Game (First Team), D1 Baseball (Second Team) and Baseball America (Second Team)

Career Highlights

• Ended career in the Old Gold & Black tied for 21st for the most hits in program history (223), the sixth-most career RBIs (190) and 10th-most HRs (38).
• Became the seventh ACC Player of the Year in Wake Forest history in 2019, putting up one of the top offensive seasons in program history with an NCAA-best 92 RBIs, the most since 2008
• Appeared in 176 career games, making 174 starts
• Holds a career batting average of .321 with 223 hits, 45 doubles, 38 HRs, 190 RBIs, 135 runs scored, a slugging percentage of .550, and an on-base percentage of .393

Brock Wilken (Third Team & All-Freshman)
2021 Season Highlights

• Appeared and started in all 47 games at third base, tallying a batting average of .279, 17 home runs, 44 RBIs, 41 runs scored, 11 doubles, a slugging percentage of .617 and an on-base percentage of .365.
• At the top of the Wake Forest record book for most home runs by a freshman, tying a 20-year-old record with his solo shot on Friday, May 21. Additionally, his 44 RBIs are tied for the 10th-most by a freshman in program history
• His 17 home runs were the most by a true freshman in the nation and ranked third overall in the conference and ninth nationally
• Finished ninth in the ACC in RBIs and slugging percentage
• Hit a game-winning, three-run home run in his first collegiate game against Northeastern on Feb. 19
• Strung together his best performance of the season against Florida State on March 27, hitting two home runs with six RBIs to lead Wake Forest to an 8-7 victory
• Also hit two home runs against Appalachian State on March 30
• Registered a trio of hits in four games - Notre Dame (Feb. 27), Georgia Tech (March 19), Appalachian State (March 30) and Davidson (April 27)
• Went on an 11-game hit streak from March 27-April 13
• Tied for a team-best 16 multi-hit performances

Full 2021 All-ACC Teams
Player of the Year – Matheu Nelson, Florida State, R-So., C
Defensive Player of the Year – Sal Frelick, Boston College, Jr., OF
Pitcher of the Year – Parker Messick, Florida State, R-Fr., LHP
Freshman of the Year – Parker Messick, Florida State, R-Fr., LHP
Coach of the Year – Link Jarrett, Notre Dame

First Team All-ACC
Sal Frelick, Boston College, Jr., OF
Luke Gold, Boston College, So., 3B
Cody Morissette, Boston College, Jr., 2B
Parker Messick, Florida State, R-Fr., SP
Matheu Nelson, Florida State, R-So., C
Luke Waddell, Georgia Tech, Jr., SS
Henry Davis, Louisville, So., C
Carson Palmquist, Miami, Fr., RP
Austin Love, North Carolina, So., SP
Jonny Butler, NC State, Jr., OF
Terrell Tatum, NC State, Jr., DH
Jose Torres, NC State, R-Fr., SS
John Michael Bertrand, Notre Dame, Gr., SP
Niko Kavadas, Notre Dame, Sr., 1B
Andrew Abbott, Virginia, Sr., SP
Gavin Cross, Virginia Tech, Fr., OF

Second Team All-ACC
Emmet Sheehan, Boston College, Jr., SP
Caden Grice, Clemson, Fr., 1B
James Parker, Clemson, R-So., SS
Joey Loperfido, Duke, Sr., OF
Brant Hurter, Georgia Tech, R-Jr., SP
Cooper Bowman, Louisville, So., 2B
Adrian Del Castillo, Miami, So., C
Christian Del Castillo, Miami, R-Jr., OF
Anthony Vilar, Miami, So., 2B
Justice Thompson, North Carolina, So., OF
Tyler McDonough, NC State, So., OF
Austin Murr, NC State, Jr., 1B
Tanner Kohlhepp, Notre Dame, So., RP
Carter Putz, Notre Dame, Jr., DH
Zack Gelof, Virginia, Jr., 3B
Ryan Cusick, Wake Forest, So., SP

Third Team
RJ Schreck, Duke, Jr., OF
Robby Martin, Florida State, So., OF
Bryce Hubbart, Florida State, R-Fr., SP
Justyn Henry-Malloy, Georgia Tech, So., 3B
Kevin Parada, Georgia Tech, Fr., C
Alex Binelas, Louisville, So., 1B
Christian Knapczyk, Louisville, Fr., SS
Reid Johnston, NC State, Jr., SP
Evan Justice, NC State, Jr., RP
Sky Duff, Pitt, So., OF
Nico Popa, Pitt, Sr., OF
Mitch Myers, Pitt, Jr., SP
David Yanni, Pitt, Sr., 2B
Kyle Teel, Virginia, Fr., DH
Bobby Seymour, Wake Forest, Jr., 1B
Brock Wilken, Wake Forest, Fr., 3B

All-Freshman Team
Mack Anglin, Clemson, SP
Caden Grice, Clemson, 1B
Bryce Hubbart, Florida State, SP
Parker Messick, Florida State, SP
Kevin Parada, Georgia Tech, C
Christian Knapczyk, Louisville, SS
Yohandy Morales, Miami, 3B
Carson Palmquist, Miami, RP
Jose Torres, NC State, SS
Kyle Teel, Virginia, DH
Gavin Cross, Virginia Tech, OF
Brock Wilken, Wake Forest, 3B