Even though Marshall County High School’s Walker Whaley was denied his senior season on the diamond at Joe George Field in Lewisburg because of the COVID-19 pandemic, his proven skills were enough for the coaches at Martin Methodist College, who offered Whaley a baseball scholarship on the RedHawks.

“It feels great that I’m getting to go to the next level to play ball and I’m excited to go play at Martin Methodist, I wanted to go to a four-year school, so it is something I really like,” Whaley said.

“I really don’t like being far from home, it sounds like a baby, but I don’t like it and I’m glad that I will get to be close so my grandparents, my family, and my cousins can all come and watch.”

Whaley comes from some outstanding sports lineage in Lewisburg, beginning with his late father Sean, brother Jack, and sister Austyn, who were all outstanding athletes at MCHS.

“I got some big shoes to follow, Dad, Austyn, and Jack, it’s going to be hard to, but hopefully I can do it,” Whaley said.

In the old days, when a player was able to contribute to the team in a variety of ways, they were labeled as a coveted utility man and Whaley is one of those rare athletes that can play any positon on the field.

That multi-position ability is cherished by baseball coaches, especially in the Little League, Babe Ruth, middle school, and high school levels.

“Utility men are valuable and very hard to find and he could do all those things, when we had a chess move we were going to make we knew who was going to do it, Walker was always going to be part of that,” MCHS baseball coach Mike “Monk” Reese said.

Although Whaley will try out for fulltime position on the field, the Red Hawks’ coaching staff are extremely interested in Whaley’s pitching ability.

“He has come a long ways as a pitcher, he has tremendous upside there,” Reese said. “He is actually still growing, he has a good loose arm and I think once he gets there and all he is focusing on is baseball and gets in to the weight training program they run him through and as he matures I think he can be an outstanding pitcher over there at Martin Methodist and he will be something to talk about.”

Because of his utility ability, Whaley did not get worn out on the mound and although he has much more pitching savvy to develop, his arm is strong and he can throw a very potent curve ball.

“When I was younger I never thought I would go to college as a pitcher,” Whaley said. “I didn’t learn how to pitch until I was 12 or 13 years old, but Mom and Dad got me all these pitching lessons and stuff and I came out here and learned some pitches and just worked hard at it.”

Whaley won the batting award as a 14 and 15 year-old in the Marshall County Babe Ruth League and was a member of the only Babe Ruth League All-Star team to ever play in a World Series in the 2017 season at Lawrenceburg.

“I think all of that made me a better ball player, coming up from Little League to Babe Ruth, and playing up in the all-stars for two years helped out a lot,” Whaley said. “Winning state and going to the World Series I think that made me realize I could do something good with baseball.”

Just like prep players all over the country, Whaley’s senior season was cut off by the pandemic and he said, “It was tough on the seniors, I hate for everybody, not just the seniors, but on everybody, we worked our butts off in the weight room and on the field and I know this was going to be a great year for the Tigers.”

Whaley will get a chance to play some ball and get some more baseball experience this summer as member of one of the newly formed 16-18 year-old Babe Ruth teams and he will also continue coaching for the his longtime Elks’ squad in the 13-15 year-old Babe Ruth division.

“I’m really excited that David (Crane) and Kenneth (Demastus) did that for us, we are all excited and we are all anxious, that is going to be some real good competition playing with the 16-18 year olds, they are all my friends I’ve played with for so long,” Whaley said. “I’ve called some of my friends last night that are on the same team as me and they were asking, when are we going to practice, when are we going to get out on the field, it’s just something we love doing.”

Whaley played for Lewisburg Jewelry, Coble Furniture, Sanders Insurance, Rogers Group, and Michael Wealth Management in the Little League and for the Elks in his three years in Babe Ruth.

He appeared in three state tournaments, winning two, three southeast region tournaments, finishing second once, and in the Babe Ruth World Series.

Whaley finished high school with a 3.2 G.P.A. and wants to study physical education at Martin Methodist and come back and coach for his beloved Tiger baseball team in the future.

“That’s my dream, I love coaching, I coach my little sister and at the Babe Ruth park,” Whaley said. “I won’t ever forget being a Tiger, its family is what it is and I’m one of those guys that always wants to come back.”