NEW PALESTINE — When the 2019 baseball season began, the New Palestine Dragons had plenty of questions about their team.
Their No. 1 pitcher was not one of them.
New Palestine has a luxury no other team in Hancock County has. The Dragons boast the defending county player of the year in senior pitcher and first baseman Jack Walker.
After years of waiting behind a slew of strong upperclassmen pitchers, 2019 is finally Walker’s year.
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“It’s exciting, for sure. Ever since I was a freshman, I’ve had the mentality of I’m the best player on the field, nobody is going to beat me,” Walker said. “That’s what you need in order to succeed. I think coming up there, Game 1 Friday nights, being the ace, that gives me that much more confidence that nobody is going to be able to stop me.”
That confidence transfers over to the rest of his team.
Coming into the season, Walker was ranked the No. 9 2019 prospect in Indiana by Prep Baseball Report. He’s signed with Indiana University to play baseball, and so far this year, he’s been the first-game starter in each Friday night doubleheader for New Palestine.
“I think it’s a luxury to have. We don’t take it for granted, because we’ve been blessed to have some good pitchers in our program,” New Palestine coach Shawn Lyons said. “But if we have to have a shutdown guy and Jack pitches up to his potential, then we’re going to be in the ballgame. I think confidence grows from starting pitching. When he’s out there, confidence kind of goes up a notch. He’s got to step up. It’s a little different when you’re a senior.”
His senior year has started much different from the 2018 season. Last year, the Dragons started 16-0, rising to the top of the state rankings before injuries slowed them down.
This spring, it was an 0-3 start. Heading into Monday night’s conference doubleheader against county rival Mt. Vernon, the Dragons are 5-5, with a 3-1 mark in the Hoosier Heritage Conference.
Like his team, Walker’s numbers aren’t as eye-popping as a year ago, either.
He hit .443 with 40 RBIs, notching 18 doubles and two home runs. He went 6-0 on the mound with a 1.94 ERA, striking out 77 batters in 39.2 innings while walking 41.
Through 10 games this spring, the senior is hitting .333 with seven RBIs. He has four doubles and two triples. He’s 1-1 on the mound, with a 3.41 ERA. He has 19 strikeouts and 12 walks in 12.1 innings.
The numbers may be a bit down, but they are still strong. Walker is confident in his ability and comfortable in the spotlight. Despite the Top 10 prospect ranking and being the defending player of the year, he doesn’t feel any extra expectations.
“I wouldn’t say there’s any pressure. I’m kind of loose as it is when it comes to playing,” Walker said. “I just go out there and play and do my job. Knowing that when I’m up there on the mound, that those eight guys behind me are going to be able to do their job, I have all the trust in the world in them that if I do my job, they’re going to back me up and do their job.”
That’s a key factor for Walker. A role player on the New Palestine basketball team, he’s in the spotlight on the baseball team.
But he’s got a strong group alongside him with a lot of depth in the field and at the plate. They are still putting some of the pieces together and figuring out the pitching rotation and the daily lineup.
They bounced back from a disappointing home loss to Whiteland with a big payback win against Cathedral this week, a 4-3 victory against the team that eliminated the Dragons in the sectional championship last year. Walker came on in the seventh inning and struck out three straight batters to seal the win.
“I think the target is on his back. He knows that, but it was on his back last year,” Lyons said. “We’re going to pick him up. I told Jack this: It’s not Jack Walker High School; it’s New Palestine High School. He just has to do his job, not put too much pressure on himself. If he does that, he’ll be fine; he’ll have a good year for us. He needs to work hard and try to set a good example for our younger players that look up to him, and he doesn’t even know it.”
Walker is focused on this season, and he has big goals for the rest of the spring for his team. But he’s also got an eye on the future, too.
His college choice has been set for a while. He’s been in contact with several MLB teams and talked with different scouts, and he took part in a showcase for all 30 pro teams this winter. The 6-foot-6 lefty was throwing as high as 92 miles per hour in the fall, and expects to be in the 88 to 90 range most of the time.
He has high hopes for the future — “I’m not saying I’m going to get drafted, but that would be an awesome feeling,” he said — and that starts right now.
Taking that next step, getting a sectional title at New Palestine, is something he’s striving for. The senior said he thinks his team could make a deep tournament run after coming within a few outs of getting past the state runner-up last season.
He hopes to become a back-to-back Hancock County Player of the Year, along with aiming for all-conference and all-state honors.
“I think that’s something that’s achievable,” Walker said. “I’m not afraid to talk about it, but I definitely want to go for Player of the Year. I don’t see there being a better two-way player that can throw it and hit it. I think that’s something that if I play to my ability, I’ll be able to accomplish.”