After dream season at Wake Forest, ex-Belen Jesuit catcher starts over at Stetson

Whiff, whiff, whiff, whiff.

Miami Hurricanes closer Andrew Walters had just fanned four straight Wake Forest batters. That’s when Gio Cueto -- a Wake Forest catcher who had once dreamed of playing for his hometown Hurricanes – stepped to the plate.

“I was going against the greatest closer in college baseball, and he had just struck out our four-through-seven hitters,” Cueto said. “I told myself, ‘OK, I’m not going to try to swing hard.’

“I relaxed myself, and I focused on taking the shortest swing possible.”

After taking two balls and a strike, Cueto got a low-and-in 97-mph fastball.

“I was going to let (Walters’ fastball) provide the power,” said Cueto, a right-handed hitter. “I ran into the pitch, and it took off down the left-field line.

“I hammered the ball, but I didn’t realize it was gone until I was three or four steps down the line.”

His parents, Jose Cueto and Thayluma Palma, knew. They were there in Winston-Salem, North Carolina as Wake Forest won that game 4-1 to complete the Demon Deacons’ first-ever three-game sweep over Miami.

Cueto started all three games as Wake outscored Miami by a total of 19-2. Cueto went 2-for-7 with four runs scored in those three games.

When Cueto saw his Cuban-born parents after the Sunday finale in which he had hit his homer, his father was crying tears of joy, saying how proud he was of his son.

It was emotional because Cueto had wanted to sign with Miami out of Belen Jesuit high school … but he never got an offer.

“Miami is the dream school for everyone from the 305,” Cueto said. “Before the series, my father had told me, ‘Let Miami know what they missed out on,’ and that’s what I did.”

The Miami series turned out to be Cueto’s personal highlight for 2023.

But he was also part of a historic Wake Forest season as the Deacons went all the way to the College World Series semifinals. It was Wake’s first CWS appearance of any kind since 1955.

Wake Forest (54-12) finished with the most wins by an ACC team since 2013. The Deacons also broke program records for overall wins, ACC wins, ACC series wins, regular-season wins and playoff wins.

Cueto played in 32 games, including 22 starts, batting .192 with four doubles and two homers, including the one against Miami.

Once the playoffs started, Wake went exclusively with starter Bennett Lee, who had returned from a fractured finger.

After the season, Cueto put his name into the transfer portal.

“I knew my time was done at Wake but leaving was still the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do,” Cueto said. “I left a piece of myself at Wake, but I’m at peace with it.

“I made a lot of close friends there, and I still keep in touch with those guys. Those relationships are not going away.”

Once his name was in the transfer portal, Cueto got a call from FIU … but not Miami.

Instead, he settled on Stetson, where he won the starting catching job with his performance this past fall.

“At Stetson, I think I can play every day,” said Cueto, who is majoring in Finance and has two seasons of eligibility remaining. “I can show what I can do.”

Stetson coach Steve Trimper said Cueto is set to be the starter when the 2024 season opens on Feb. 16 against visiting West Virginia.

“Gio gives us the experience we need on defense,” Trimper said. “He loves to control the game, picking runners off the bases.

“Offensively, his bat has a chance to be special. He has power, and he can hit to all fields. He will hit in the middle of our lineup.”

Unfortunately for Cueto, Miami is not on Stetson’s 2024 schedule.

But there’s always a chance the teams could meet in an NCAA regional …