WAKE FOREST — Wake Forest’s baseball team swept Millbrook at home Wednesday, April 27 to win its second NAC 6 conference title.

The Cougars defeated the Wildcats by mercy rule in both games. In the first match-up, Wake Forest won 15-2 on the road. In the second, the Cougars took down the Wildcats 13-3 at home.

This is Carlos Varela’s first season as a head coach in high school baseball and he got to celebrate the end of the regular season with a conference title. He gave all the credit to the players who helped the team accomplish this feat.

“It’s all about the young men who have been here four or three years to accomplish this big goal,” Varela said. “They have done everything I have asked them to do. They have done a tremendous job buying into the program and working their tail off this season.”

The last time Wake Forest won a conference title was 2018. Josh Wilson, who is a senior for the Cougars, was in eighth grade at the time, but his older brother, Kyle, was a junior at the time. He said it’s cool to win a conference championship of his own after watching his brother bring home a title four years ago.

“It’s exciting to get this conference title,” Wilson said. “My older brother won it in his junior year. So it’s really awesome to join him as another conference winner at Wake Forest.”

In the first game against Millbrook, Wake Forest took an early 3-0 lead, but the Wildcats slowly chipped away to cut the deficit to 3-2 by the fourth inning.

In the top of the fifth, the Cougars broke off seven runs to go ahead 10-2. Then, Wake Forest extended its advantage to 15-2 after scoring five more runs in the top of the sixth to end the game by mercy rule.

Cooper Allen was the player of the game for Wake Forest with four hits, three RBIs and a run. The junior also got the save on the mound in the final two innings by striking out five batters and allowing no hits.

In the second game, Wake Forest went ahead 5-0 after scoring three runs in the bottom of the first inning and two in the second. However, Millbrook scored three runs in the top of the third to make it 5-3.

The Cougars added one more run in the bottom of the fourth off an Ivan Perez single RBI. Then in the bottom of the fifth, Wake Forest ran away with the game and ended the night on mercy rule with seven runs.

“Nobody wins the game in the first or second inning,” Varela said. “We compete throughout the game. It’s like a boxing fight. You throw some jabs and then you get the knockout punch. The guys executed the little things to keep Millbrook on their heels. These young men have done an incredible job with that this year. I’m extremely proud of them.”

Wilson hit a home run in the first inning against Millbrook. As a team, the Cougars tallied 11 hits, 12 RBIs and 13 runs. Luke Stevenson also hit a home run for Wake Forest in the fifth inning.

A big contributor at the plate for the Cougars was senior Peyton Wooten, who had a hit, an RBI and scored two runs. Wilson said it was great to see everyone stepping up on the team’s final home game of the regular season.

“I saw a lot of confidence in us tonight,” Wilson said. “We had some seniors play who don’t usually get a lot of playing time on the field. There weren’t any nerves going into the game. They played really well and I’m proud of them.”

With the win, Wake Forest finished the regular season 18-3 overall and won the NAC 6 conference with a 9-1 record. The 18 wins in a single season is the most by Wake Forest in over 20 years. Varela said this team has the potential to make even more history if they stay focused on the next game.

“We play against ourselves,” Varela said. “We’re going to look at the little things we didn’t execute. Every single situation is a learning situation.”

Wake Forest will host its first playoff game Tuesday, May 10. If they have a first round bye, the Cougars will play in the second round May 13.