Andrew Walker, a pitcher for the Cowley College baseball team during the 2002-03 seasons, recently returned to the school to work with Tiger assistant coach Darren Burroughs before reporting for spring training in Surprise, Ariz., on March 2.
Walker, nicknamed "Ace," signed a pro contract with the Texas Rangers last Aug. 10, and two days later was in Spokane, Wash., playing for the short season Class A Spokane Indians.
He pitched for the Indians until Sept. 8, then returned home to Prague, Okla., where he has been working out with major league pitchers Kyle Denny and Ryan Franklin. Denny also is from Prague, while Franklin resides in Shawnee, Okla.
He returned to Cowley this past week to fine-tune his mechanics, while Burroughs also has been working with Walker on adding a slider.
"I'm hoping this slider Lefty just showed me will give me an edge and give me more of a strikeout pitch," Walker said.
Walker had great success working with Burroughs during his two years at Cowley. He went 8-0 as a freshman and was drafted in the 20th round by the Los Angeles Dodgers. However, Walker did not sign with the Dodgers and went 9-3 on the mound for the Tigers as a sophomore.
"If Cowley were a four-year college, I would have stayed here in a heartbeat," Walker said. "I call Lefty and (Cowley head baseball coach) Dave (Burroughs) all the time. They are like father figures to me."
After Cowley, Walker went on to play summer ball in Lake Havasu, Ariz., for the Havasu Heat, and went 10-2. After pitching one-hit ball over eight innings in the NBC World Series, Walker was greeted in the parking lot by a scout for the Texas Rangers. The scout also had seen Walker pitch at Cowley, and offered him a chance to sign with the team.
Walker held off on signing with the Rangers until after his junior season at the University of Alabama, where he went 4-1 with a 3.12
earned run average. He is not sure where he will be pitching after
spring training, but is looking forward to the challenge of moving up in
the minor leagues.
"I hope to end the season in high A ball and next year be at double A in
Frisco, Texas, so my parents could come see me play in Oklahoma City,"
Walker said. "It was really weird getting that first paycheck."
Along with being a talented baseball player, Walker also is a promising
young artist. He recently held an art show in his hometown, and is in
the process of doing three murals in Prague. The murals are of the
history of Prague, Jim Thorpe, who is from Prague, and of Prague,
Czechoslovakia, which is the town's sister city.
Walker also painted murals in a Cowley dormitory, and authored the tiger
painting hanging in the Tiger Athletic Hall of Fame room inside W.S.
Scott Auditorium.
"It's pretty neat to be able to play baseball from February to September
and then come back and do art work," Walker said.
After a couple of days in Arkansas City, Walker returned home to Prague
on Wednesday. He plans to come back in a couple of weeks to work with
the coaching staff before leaving Feb. 19 to train in California, where
he has several family members.
