Cooper Walls’ circuitous path to winning the Big West’s Pitcher of the Week award on Monday began on a baseball field in Temecula, Calif., about five years ago.
“It’s a great story,” Hawaii baseball coach Rich Hill said of Walls, a right-handed freshman. “He’s a converted catcher.”
A few years ago, Hill, who was the University of San Diego’s head coach at the time, visited former major league third baseman Hank Blalock. “I’ve known Hank and his dad forever from San Diego,” Hill recalled. “I went out to an obscure field to say ‘hi’ to those guys.”
Walls, who was a freshman at La Costa Canyon High at the time, was playing catcher. “You see Cooper throw down to second and it’s ‘wow.’ And then he converted to pitching. He kind of stayed with it.”
Blalock, who coaches travel ball, converted his house into a training center. “Hank built bullpens and batting cages,” Hill said. “He does a lot for the community there in San Diego.”
Hill followed Walls’ prep career, eventually offering a scholarship to UH. “And that’s how it went,” Hill said. “It proves recruiting is an inexact science, and you’ve got to stay with it, and go where they ain’t.”
Walls struggled in his first two UH appearances, relinquishing five runs in 72⁄3 innings. But he pitched four shutout innings of relief against UC Riverside on March 7 to earn his first victory. On Sunday, he pitched a four-hitter over seven scoreless innings in a 1-0 victory over 15th-ranked UC Santa Barbara.
“My first couple outings, it was kind of rough, struggled a little bit,” Walls said. “I finally dialed in.”
Putting his changeup on ice, Walls relied on a fastball, slider, curveball and grit to mystify UCSB. Walls did not allow a runner to advance past second base. He retired eight in a row during a stretch from the fifth through seventh innings.
“The biggest thing with Cooper is trusting his stuff,” UH pitching coach Keith Zuniga said.
Walls said: “For me, it doesn’t matter who’s in the box. It’s just attack. That’s my mentality. Defense really helped me out.”
Hill said Walls has benefited from working with Zuniga and strength/conditioning coach Josh Elms.
“All the credit goes to Cooper for just buying in and developing to the point where he can be a Big West Pitcher of the Week,” Hill said. “That’s hard to do. There are 11 teams. There are a lot of games. Being a pitcher of the week or a hitter of the week is very difficult in the Big West. It’s quite an honor. I’m super proud of him.”
