John Anthony Walters '16 Recruiting Profile

I am John Anthony Walters, a 6 ft. 1 in. / 165 lb. right-hand hitting Short-Stop for Tustin High, a CIF Div I school in my junior year and have been a starting varsity player since my freshman year. I am confident in a team leadership role, which is a natural for my position. I do understand the importance of hard work, but what I enjoy most is being a part of something special. My first 2 years I played for Bishop Amat High School, where I won a D-III CIF championship as a sophomore.  Physically, I see all my hard work in the gym starting to pay off, but it seems like my natural physical development will come in the next year or so.  My defensive skills have become one of my strengths, improving my range, gaining arm strength and better footwork.  My core strength program has made me quicker and more explosive. I also have been running on speed treadmills and reached my top speed it 21MPH. I hit for average and I hit to all fields with line-drive trajectory and gap power. In my last 2 seasons I have batted really well in the playoffs.

It has been a busy summer off-season, playing a good amount of games. I performed well in the Milwaukee Brewers Area Code Team Tryouts and have been playing Scout Ball with the So Cal Oakland A’s since my freshman year. I'll continue to work hard in both physical and skills training with my coaches to improve speed and power.  I work with Eric Martins on my Infield and hitting, a MLB Scout in the Oakland A’s organization, a well-respected Infield and hitting instructor.

I am a natural leader, and I work hard to earn my teammates respect. Playing college baseball at the highest level is my dream. After winning a CIF championship, I understand to win you must trust your teammates 100%. I never understood this until this last year. Our Championship run was started by a blowout game, were we won 11-0. Our next 3 games, including the championship game we came back in the 6th inning to win. Having absolute trust in each other as a team to have great at bats, great pitching and focus defensively down the stretch I will never forget and was the most amazing experience I have ever felt. I am working as hard in the classroom as I am on the field.

I am excited about the college experience and if presented with an opportunity to receive a great education and play baseball, I am open to getting away to a new parts of the country. My dream is to play at the D-I, level, and I truly believe I can accomplish my goal.  I will continue working hard and do everything in my power to turn that dream into reality!  Thank you for your interest in me as a student-athlete and I hope we have opportunity to meet one day.