It has been far from a summer of spontaneous Jersey Shore trips for Luke Billings. As an incoming freshman to the Wake Forest University baseball program, his schedule is pretty much pre-determined.
And busy.
“Our days have been super packed,” Billings said in mid-July. “Today was actually one of our lighter days. I had both my (online) classes at 9:25 and 12:40. From there we went straight to the field, did our throwing and then arm care. From there we went to our lift, and then we had our running and conditioning. From there we hopped on a zoom call and learned this new thing about flex pro, which helps with more strength; helps prevent getting Tommy John.”
After that was a lighter day.
But no complaints.
“It’s really fun,” Billings said. “I like it so much better than just sitting at home.”
The recent Robbinsville High grad reported with other first-year commits July 8 in order to become acclimated to the program and campus. It began the second phase of a journey that started midway through his freshman year when he gave Wake Forest a verbal commitment.
“It kind of feels surreal a little bit,” Billings said. “I’m so excited to finally be here, especially after waiting three-and-a-half years. To finally get on campus is so fun.”
An obvious pitching talent at a young age, Billings began his college search early and made sure that wherever he chose needed to be as strong academically as athletically.
Billings’ interest was sparked when an older teammate on his travel team was recruited by the Deacons. He began researching schools and talked to Boston College, Duke and Wake.
“They were all kind of similar, I liked the academics,” said Billings, who finished high school with a 4.25 weighted grade point average. “There were many calls back and forth figuring out what I wanted to do.
“The academics were very good and the ACC is a good conference. There’s other good sports, so it’s a good atmosphere. And that was also around when they started with their Pitching Lab, which was the main attraction for me.”
Asked what gave him confidence in a freshman who had yet to pitch a high school game, Wake head coach Tom Walter said, “Luke is a tremendous athlete who hasn’t yet focused all his attention on being an elite pitcher. I can’t wait to see what he looks like in a year.”
After committing, Billings had a long time to change his mind, but remained a loyal Demon Deacon.
“He knows they essentially took a chance on a freshman in high school and he hasn’t wavered from that,” Ravens coach Mike Kinsella said. “Hats off to him to stay committed after they offered him. He could have gone to a bunch of different places. College baseball is insane now, especially at those schools. He could have decommitted and gone to another spot.”
And yet it never crossed his mind.
“I just got more and more fired up,” Billings said. “Everything kept falling into place, they continued to improve, they figured out more about pitching, there was more information.”
After committing, all Billings had to worry about was showcasing his ability in high school, but it wasn’t easy. A talented two-sport athlete, he suffered a bone spur injury in his toe during a basketball game his junior season. Billings tried returning too soon and it pushed his entire routine back.
After forging a 2.51 ERA and striking out 62 in more than 47 innings as a sophomore, Billings was one of the most watched CVC players entering his junior year.
But things just weren’t right
He only pitched more than 24 innings with a 2.30 ERA and 26 strikeouts. Solid stats for most, but not a Division I commit.
“I was a little upset with being injured because it just sucks,” Billings said. “Going through the year I knew I had to take my time and make sure I got healthy. That was the most important thing.
“I had to stop throwing for a while. Usually my ramp-up is close to four or five months to actually get to the right percentage throwing wise. That put a big decline in that. I had to restart everything at the beginning of the season. I was starting off fresh, my arm wasn’t in very good shape. I tried pushing it a little too much and it wasn’t worth it.”
Through it all, Billings remained unfazed and continued to be a good teammate.
“I’ve never seen him get bothered by things,” Kinsella said. “He’s pretty even keeled. He doesn’t pitch with much emotion, which is wild to me, but for him it works. I’ve never seen him upset. He pitches bad games and you’d never know. He was very good at the maturity part of being a high school baseball player, which I know his parents helped with.”
Inside, however, Billings’ competitive pride was churning. His first order of business was to reluctantly give up basketball, which was not easy as he sat in the bleachers knowing he could help the team last winter. But he spent that time working himself back into baseball shape and had an outstanding senior season, going 2-0 with a 0.56 ERA and 59 strikeouts in more than 37 innings. Billings pitched against all the Ravens best opponents and his no-decisions were a result of little run support.
“The only thing on his mind was redemption,” Kinsella said. “He understood that junior year there were a lot of expectations and he didn’t live up to them. This year he was truly focused. The minute we started doing off-season work in December I could tell he was different. Not doing basketball was a good decision and it showed. He was dominant.”
Watching from afar in North Carolina, Walter was impressed and forecasted that his issues will only make Billings better.
“Luke has had some adversity in his athletic career, to which he has responded to in a big way,” the Wake coach said. “For me, how you respond when things don’t go well is as big a predictor of future success as any other trait.”
Billings could not totally escape misfortune, however. In the midst of pitching a gem against Hopewell Valley in the regular-season finale, he suffered a pulled hamstring trying to run out a ground ball. That sidelined him for the state tournament and Robbinsville fell in the sectional semifinals.
“I was really upset about that,” Billings said. “I could tell something was off with my body and motion. My front flexibility started getting stiffer. My motion was kind of off, it was kind of wrong. My last two outings I wasn’t 100 percent, something just felt off. Then it finally popped. I went through a lot of rehab the last few months and my left hamstring is actually stronger now.”
Billings has been given instructions on what to do heading into the fall season, with Walter saying “Gaining strength and learning to move properly will be the primary goals for Luke’s summer.”
Since reporting to Wake, Billings hasn’t done much throwing yet. There have been numerous doctor’s appointments and ultrasounds. The program began ramping up near the end of July.
“We didn’t throw much at first, it was like 40 throws at 50 percent from 60 feet,” he said. “It will take a while. We’re not actually gonna throw until September. That will be our first bullpen.”
“We’ve talked to all the coaches a lot. I got a throwing program from them. I’m kind of making sure my body is in the correct shape. Most importantly this summer was about being healthy.”
Nothing has been said about any of the freshmen’s roles yet, as that will be determined during the fall season. Billings knows the challenge to gain a spot is huge, as he joins a school with one of the top pitching programs in the nation.
In 2023, when it fell in the College World Series to eventual champion LSU, the Deacons led the nation in earned run average (2.84) and strikeouts-per-nine innings rate (12.2). Wake’s Rhett Lowder was the two time ACC Pitcher of the Year.
This past month, right-hander Chase Burns, the ACC Pitcher of the Year, became the highest draft pick in school history when Cincinnati made him the second pick in the MLB draft. He highlighted six players drafted from Wake, including four pitchers.
Much of the Deacons pitching success is traced back to its vaunted Pitching Lab, which was unveiled in Winston-Salem in 2019.
“I’ve been in it twice so far,” Billings said. “As I was getting recruited and committed, I came down here and used it. It’s pretty cool.
“They basically figure out how you move. They hook these different balls on you, they’re sensors, and hook it up to a TV. There’s 15 big cameras around you. They can basically capture your movement, your patterns, how you throw. There’s so much data with it I don’t even know all of it. They do a lot of tests. They’ll test our numbers and see where we actually are and what we can do to improve.”
Asked if he felt like he was in a sci-fi movie while hooked up, Billings laughed and said “It was pretty cool. Basically I was only in my underwear, so it’s pretty funny.”
Kinsella feels the Pitching Lab and Billings were made for each other.
“I know Luke’s work ethic and he will take full advantage of going to that place,” Kinsella said. “As much as they will use him, he will use them to get better.”
Billings stands at 6-foot-3 and his goal is to add 25 pounds of muscle and bulk up to 230. Other than that, he is healthy and ready to go.
“Is it gonna be easy?” Kinsella asked. “Absolutely not. He’s gonna be a freshman in college at a Power Five school. But I haven’t coached a kid who works as hard as Luke. That’s why it’s a good fit. I think he’s gonna do really good things at Wake.”
After a four-year wait, it’s time to find out just how good.
Recent Robbinsville High School grad Luke Billings shows his effort on the mound during a recent game. Billings had a 0.56 ERA and 59 strikeouts in more than 37 innings.,
