While Sam Walls may be one of the quieter members of the baseball team, coach Elliot Avent and other members of the team said his pitching has been the complete opposite of quiet. Despite injuries, the redshirt junior has become a powerful asset to the team’s Top 10 ranking.

“The first thing I think of when I think of Sam is class,” Avent said. “He’s a good guy. Then I think about a competitor, good work ethic, teammate, winner.”

Though he started the season two weeks late because of injuries, Avent said Walls is one of the best pitchers in the nation.

“The main thing is that he’s a leader,” freshman pitcher Eric Surkamp said. “He’s not really a real vocal guy — he leads by example.”

Surkamp, a starter, said he trusts his closer.

“Being the starter, it’s definitely good to know that you have somebody like him behind you to close down a game if you’re ever in a tough situation,” Surkamp said.

Avent attributes Walls’ success to his consistency in doing the right thing.

“For two years I’ve sat here and watched him help the team and there wasn’t any personal glory for him,” Avent said.

“But he kept going about it the same way every day, and all of a sudden, Sam Walls is one of the top closers in the country. So I think he’s just the perfect example of hard work. Perseverance can lead to good results if you stick with it.”

Walls said he learned about hard work by watching his father run a funeral service.

“I saw how hard he worked, every day, doing a job that not a lot of people would want to do,” Walls said. “He dug graves my whole life, so practicing baseball was always easy. When I was younger he would take me along, I think just showing me what hard work really was.”

Walls started playing baseball when he was five years old with his dad in their backyard in West Virginia. Walls and his two brothers grew up playing whatever was in season.

However, baseball soon became the top priority. Walls played every summer and at Jefferson High School — lettering all four years. He helped lead his team to the state championship every year, and his best baseball memory is winning the championship his freshman year.

“He’s been through it all before,” Surkamp said. “For me being the younger guy, he’s definitely someone I can look up to and follow.”

Walls didn’t see much playing time in his first two years, pitching only 42 innings in three seasons. For someone who felt he started off slow, Walls has made up some time in recent months.

“He’s gone through his own problems,” Avent said.

“He’s gone through injuries, he’s gone through not pitching as well as he’d like to for a couple years and he’s gone through so many things. What he brings more than anything is that, if you do things the right way, over a period of time you’ll have good end results.”

At the beginning of this season, Walls strained his groin and had to miss the first two weeks.

Walls said it didn’t slow him down.

“It didn’t affect my pitching at all,” Walls said. “Mentally it kind of pushed me a little more to make sure I was ready to come back. It helped me focus more on my mechanics.”

Walls said his season goal is to win the College World Series this June in Omaha, Neb., but he added his aspirations for after college are higher.

“Hopefully I get picked up this year, next year, go somewhere and play, try to make it to the majors,” Walls said.

Avent shares those hopes for Walls.

“I’d love to see Sam get drafted very, very high,” Avent said. “He’s persevered.”

Aside from baseball, Surkamp said Walls is the type of teammate people love to have.

“He’s probably one of the nicest guys on the team,” Surkamp said. “He’s always there to talk to if you need to talk to somebody. He’s always there for me. Everybody on the team likes Sam.”