by Wake Forest Athletics | 3 min read

Technology-enabled baseball provides pitchers with key data in real time


WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Fresh off a historic 2023 season, Wake Forest's baseball program has announced a partnership with F5 Sports, Inc. to utilize its pitchLogic smart baseball that provides pitchers with key data and personalized recommendations for improvement in real time.


The MLB-grade leather baseball is embedded with a circuit board full of internal sensors measuring key metrics of a pitch and gives instant feedback on velocity, spin rate, spin axis, horizontal and vertical movement, and arm slot. The pitchLogic app also provides 3D renderings of the ball's release from a pitcher's finger tip and automated video capture. Bluetooth technology connects to the pitchLogic mobile app.


The pitchLogic smart baseball, which has been produced by F5 Sports since 2019, is utilized by members of all MLB organizations, as well as Division I, II, and III colleges, high schools, and youth programs.


"In this era of identifying and understanding metrics, and improving them on the spot, you need a tool that is robust in the data it provides and is easy to use," said Wake Forest head coach Tom Walter, the 2023 Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year. "We look forward to utilizing pitchLogic's technology as it will complement our pitchers' development beyond the work we do with them in our world-class pitching lab."


"Wake Forest has an abundance of talented pitchers, and they are intellectual young men, so I know the smart baseball will help them elevate their game," said Lary Sorensen, an 11-year MLB pitcher who has worked with F5 Sports since 2018 and serves as color commentator for Demon Deacons baseball. "There are only so many hours to practice and perfect your craft as a pitcher, so the immediate feedback on all the key metrics is a definite game-changer."


Wake Forest has been a leader in data-driven pitcher development. With pitchLogic the staff can expand that data-driven approach to throwing outside the lab during other phases of training such as flat ground drills.


In front of record crowds, including a program record four sellouts and national television audiences tallying more than six million fans at the Men's College World Series, ACC Coach of the Year Tom Walter's ball club was ranked in the top-five for the entirety of the 2023 season and the Demon Deacons finished the year with a 54-12 record and earned an ACC regular season title after winning every conference series.


On the mound in 2023, the Demon Deacons were led by ace and MLB First Round Draft Pick Rhett Lowder as he was named the ACC Pitcher of the Year for the second-straight year, and he became Wake Forest's sixth-ever recipient of the Anthony J. McKevlin Award.


Overall as a staff, Wake Forest's pitching staff set school records with 10 shutouts, 779 strikeouts and 12.1 strikeouts per nine innings. The strikeout total ranks as the third most in NCAA history. Lowder (143) and Josh Hartle (140) established the program's top two single-season strikeout totals. The Deacs led the nation in virtually every pitching category (ERA, hits-per-nine innings, WHIP, strikeouts-per-nine innings, strikeout-to-walk ratio and strikeouts).


Over the course of its storied history, Wake Forest baseball has made three trips to the Men's College World Series, won one NCAA title and four ACC Championships.


About F5 Sports, Inc. and pitchLogic®


The pitchLogic system is used by players, coaches, scouts, and instructors at all levels of play from youth leagues to the pros.  Our easy to use and affordable technology makes our platform accessible to every player at every level. We provide players with personalized tips on how to improve every pitch in their arsenal. The video sharing and community aspect of the pitchLogic app allows for engaged interaction with peers, coaches, and scouts. If you want to Level Up your game, join the thousands of others who are using our technology, and let us help you make it to the next level.


Wake Forest University is a combination of world-class academics, unrivaled campus experience, intimate learning environment and Power 5 athletics in a top-growing metro market. A Charter member of the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Demon Deacons have won 56 conference titles and are one of only seven ACC schools to win 10 or more national championships, along with Notre Dame, North Carolina, Virginia, Duke, Syracuse, and Florida State. Additionally, Wake Forest anchors the Winston-Salem and Triad market, which includes 1.3M residents and was ranked as ESPN's seventh-best market from a viewership perspective.
Specifically, since Aug. 1, 2019, Wake Forest has been the fastest growing and hottest brand in the Power 5 (and the ACC), with a 115 percent growth in its fan base during this span. Across the nation, over 2.7 million people now identify as Wake Forest fans, which ranks ninth in the league and ahead of Virginia Tech and just trailing NC State.

Academically, Wake Forest University is a top national academic institution with comprehensive excellence that includes its highly regarded school of medicine, business school, law school and an innovative department of engineering. Additionally, Wake Forest holds campuses across Winston-Salem, Charlotte and Washington, DC – providing academic offerings across the southeast.

Learn more about Wake Forest University at www.wfu.edu and at GoDeacs.com.


Wake Forest Athletics