When Stanhope Elmore needed someone to step up and start at catcher this season, the Mustangs turned to one of their veterans.
Colton Walls, who is signed to play baseball and football at Troy this upcoming year, had some of the most experience behind the plate as he played catcher as a kid growing up. So he took on the responsibility and made the move from third base to catcher.
In the process, he completely dominated in the field, at the plate, and on the mound as Stanhope Elmore reached the AHSAA Class 6A semifinals for the first time since 2006.
Walls hit .491 with 17 doubles, five home runs and 43 RBIs. On the mound, he had an 8-0 record with a 1.20 earned run average and struck out 66 batters compared to nine walks. In the field, he had a .980 fielding percentage.
For his success, he has been named the 2023 All-Elmore County Baseball Player of the Year.
“His versatility was one of the key factors to the team’s success all season long,” Stanhope coach DK Shuman said. “For him to put up those kinds of numbers hitting in the 3-hole against the level of competition we played alone is a testament to his ability, but for him to have the same level of success on the mound shows how versatile of a ball player he is.”
When Walls moved to catcher, it not only helped out the team but it helped him out as a player both at the plate and in the field.
Walls already pitched and hit for the Mustangs, so he was used to seeing pitches and understood the strike zone. But when he got behind the plate, he was able to understand the strike zone even better both as a hitter and catcher.
He also learned the different umpires and how they called pitches, and he was able to use that to his advantage. That showed as he struck out only 10 times on the year and was able to work a .601 on-base percentage. He was walked 22 times and hit by pitch another 12 times. That was due to him understanding the zones and understanding pitch sequences.
“Playing catcher helped him gain a better understanding of how pitchers attack hitters based on strengths and weaknesses,” Shuman said. “That also helped in his approach and on the mound. It helped how he attacked hitters and helped identify holes in opposing batter’s swing and timings.”
Another thing that helped lead to his success at the plate was the talent around him. It was no secret he was surrounded with talent in the lineup. The first four batters in Stanhope Elmore’s lineup were all signed or committed to play at a high-level junior college or a Division I school.
All four batters — Walls, Zach Stevens, Chase Williams and Evan Duncan — all hit over .300 and had a combined 19 home runs. That made it to where nobody could pitch around Walls. Duncan hit behind him and had 12 extra base hits and 42 RBIs.
“I had a lot of protection in the lineup,” Walls said. “It’s always good to have players around you that can scare the other team. Anytime Chase, Zach or Evan stepped up to the plate, they could hit the ball out of the park. That made pitchers have to pitch to me this year and that helped me out.”
When it came to his success on the mound, it was basic. Walls threw strikes.
He gave up only 16 free bases this season and that came from nine walks and seven hits by pitch.
Every time Walls took the mound, his approach was just to hit his spots and throw strikes. He said if he could do that, he knew opposing players would make normal high school batter mistakes.
So he filled up the zone as best he could with his high velocity and dangerous breaking balls, and hitters had trouble catching up to the ball.
He struck out 66 batters in 52.2 innings, and allowed only 28 hits during that same span. He had a .147 batting average against him and had a WHIP of 0.70.
“He’s always thrown strikes,” Shuman said. “He’s done a good job of working ahead in counts and being competitive around the zone. He improved both his breaking ball and his changeup, and he got more confident in throwing them in any count. His ability to throw those pitches kept hitters off balanced and always guessing up there.”
