North Carolina State University Athletics
TIM PEELER: After Waiting Patiently, Walls Gets His Chance
3/15/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 15, 2006
BY TIM PEELER
RALEIGH - Sam Walls has waited patiently for his chance to be an impact player for NC State's baseball team.
The native of Kearneysville, W. Va., came in with a recruiting class that included pitchers Joey Devine and Jason Duncan and outfielder Matt Camp and has watched as each of them played big roles in getting the Wolfpack to three consecutive NCAA appearances.
Walls' career, however, has been relatively quiet so far, as he pitched just 42 innings in his first three seasons. That has changed dramatically for the redshirt junior right-hander in the last six weeks, now that he has established himself as the Wolfpack's new closer.
It's a position that was redefined by Devine as a three-time first-team All-ACC performer. And one that Wolfpack coaches tried to keep low-key for fear that anyone who finished a game might find themselves in the difficult spot of replacing Devine, who set the NC State career record with 36 saves in three years before being taken in the first-round of last year's draft by the Atlanta Braves.
Walls spent the fall and the early part of the season in late-inning relief with transfers Ammer Cabrera, who came in from Florida International, and Joel Brookens, who arrived from George Washington, looking to contribute to the Wolfpack bullpen.
"Coming into the season, I wasn't really trying to get a certain role," Walls said. "I knew we had enough pitchers for late in the game. I didn't really think anyone had to be the `closer.' So I just went out and worked on what I thought would make me the most successful pitcher I could be.
"Mostly, I have worked on throwing strikes and to have my pitches working so I could be successful."
And that he has been. He picked up his first career save on Feb. 25 in a 3-2 win over Penn State and got his second the next day against UNC-Wilmington. Heading into Wednesday's 4 p.m. game against UNC-Greensboro, Walls has four saves and one win in eight appearances this season and a team-best 0.60 earned run aveage in 15 innings.
He was spectacular in last weekend's ACC-opening series against Boston College, picking up two saves and a win in the three-game sweep. His one-inning outing in the first game of that series, in which he preserved a 2-1 win, wowed a Major League scout who was at the game.
"In the inning I saw him pitch, his breaking ball was unhittable," said the scout. "I don't know if it's a slider or a cutter; it looked more like a slider to me. But Boston College had no chance against it.
"From what I have seen, he has a better breaking ball than Joey Devine. The way he pitched in the inning I saw, he could have pitched at Double A."
Not surprisingly, Wolfpack coach Elliott Avent has been thrilled with the way Walls has stepped into the difficult role.
"We had a lot of options for closer," Avent said. "But we weren't throwing that word around too much because we didn't want anyone to think they had to follow Joey Devin and do things the way Joey did them. But Sam has actually been just as effective for us as Joey was. In some ways, he's been more effective.
"He just does things differently."
Walls relies on his 90 mile-an-hour cut fastball to get outs. But he also has a fastball that reaches the low-to-mid-90s, a circle change-up and a devastating curve ball that reaches the upper-80s.
"He has been so effective for us," Avent said. "He throws strikes. He comes in and challenges people right off the bat. He holds runners on effectively and handles the bunting game.
"He has all the tools you want from a guy in that position when the game is on the line."
And, perhaps more importantly, he has the confidence needed in a closer, something he developed by watching Devine for three years.
"Watching Joey, the thing I took most from it was how he would go into each game, no matter what the situation, he knew he was better than who he was facing," Walls said. "He went in with the attitude: `I am coming with my best stuff - you have to beat me." Then, the few times he did get beat, he erased it the next day. That is something that you don't see too much in college baseball. The next day, he was the most confident guy on the field, no matter what happened."
Obviously, that's not an easy thing to develop, especially for someone who has pitched regularly for only one season over the last three years.
Walls sat out his first season at NC State as a medical redshirt after having surgery. He pitched only four innings as a red-shirt freshman. Last year, he pitched effectively as a middle-of-the-week starter and middle reliever. In six starts and eight relief appearances, he compiled a 4-0 record with a 2.61 ERA.
But he had two successful summers as a starter in the wooden-bat Shenandoah Valley League, and returned to campus in the fall at peak form.
"I feel like I have that attitude where when I come into the game, I know I can beat any hitter out there." Walls said. "I am going out not trying to do too much, just make pitches. I just want to stay within my game."
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
