Baseball
Outfielder hitting .466 in first three weeks with Oilmen
Northwest Indiana Oilmen outfielder Zaid Walker has only been with the team for three weeks, playing in just 14 games for the 21-16 Oilmen.
But he made enough of an impression to be one of the starters at Saturday night’s Midwest Collegiate League All-Star game at Oil City Stadium in Whiting.
That’s because he’s hitting .466 in those 14 games.
“I’ve just been reacting to off-speed pitches while expecting fastballs,” Walker said. “And I know that I can’t miss my pitch when I get it. That’s made me more focused at the plate.”
Walker, who graduated from Homewood-Flossmoor this spring, will play at Michigan State next year. He started the summer with a travel team before joining the Oilmen.
“I wanted to face college guys who are a little bit more mature than I am and see where I’m at in relation to them,” he said. “Seeing fastballs and breaking balls at any time in the count has helped me mature as a hitter.”
At one point, Walker went 18-for-27 (.667) over a six-game stretch with the Oilmen. He hopes to replicate that success when he heads to East Lansing in the fall.
“It’s about knowing why I was consistent,” Walker said. “And looking back at my swing in a couple months and knowing what I did here. That’ll help.”
Walker, one of 10 Oilmen playing in the MCL All-Star Game, went 1-for-4 for the MCL West during a 6-3 loss to the MCL East.
The final two innings of the game were handled by Oilmen reliever Pedro Rodriguez, who pitched to his usual catcher, Nate Montgomery. Rodriguez and Montgomery both play at Tusculum University in Tennessee.
The college teammates are living together at the Purdue Northwest dorms this summer and doing internships in the Oilmen’s front office to earn college credit while honing their baseball skills.
Rodriguez has relied heavily on Montgomery’s knowledge of the area. Montgomery is from nearby Geneva in Chicago’s western suburbs, but Rodriguez is from Florida.
“It helped having someone I know here,” Rodriguez said of Montgomery. “Coming out here blind wouldn’t have been as fun.”
Montgomery has been Rodriguez’s tour guide to all the usual summer attractions in Chicago: baseball games at both MLB stadiums, The Bean at Millennium Park and the Ferris wheel on Navy Pier. A trip to Willis Tower is also on the schedule for later.
But they’ll have to hurry: there are just two weeks left in the MCL regular season.
“I just want to make the best out of the rest of the season,” Rodriguez said. “Take it all in and enjoy everything I can.”
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