Profiles

Junior James Walsh aims to play baseball, attend Naval Academy

Ian Smith, staff writer|January 9, 2021

Junior James Walsh stands at the plate ready to receive the pitch.

From attending Nationals games since birth, to hitting home runs in the backyard, to standing at the plate of a nationally televised travel baseball game, junior James Walsh has been associated with the sport since the day he was born. In addition to his love of baseball, Walsh is just as passionate about his love for the Naval Academy. Since a young age, he has wanted to play college baseball while serving in the military.

Walsh has been around the sport of baseball because of his father and his older brother Connor Walsh, a class of ‘20 graduate. Walsh started his journey by simply playing catch with his brother in their backyard. “When James started getting into baseball, we would play catch after school all the time,” Connor Walsh said.

Moving onto his early middle school years, Walsh started playing competitive baseball for the Olney Pirates. “I tried out and made the 11U Pirate team in fifth grade, and from there on I traveled up and down the East Coast playing in tournaments nearly every weekend,” Walsh said.

In addition to learning to play baseball at a young age, he had been interested in serving in the military. Walsh has baseball in his blood, but he also has multiple relatives who have served across several branches of the military. “My father’s brother and brother-in-law both served in the coast Guard, and I have friends who have served in the Air Force,” Walsh said.

Although he has military in his blood, nobody in his family has ever attended the Naval University. Walsh learned to love the Naval Academy and its training in a variety of ways. “When he was younger, James would watch TV and movies that motivated him to become a Navy SEAL,” Connor Walsh said.

Once Walsh reached ninth grade, things started to change and he started to get far more serious. Once you reach high school, college recruiting begins and it ramps up quickly. He saw an opportunity with a new baseball team, the BCC Prospects, where he would receive far more college exposure. “In the spring of our freshman year, James tried out and joined the Prospects and has been with the team ever since,” junior teammate Brady Weiss said.

Walsh is now at the peak of his recruiting process. Currently, he plays catcher and pitches for the school team as well as his travel team, however is looking to serve solely as a catcher in college. “I currently have no official offer from Navy, however I have been in talks with their coaching staff and things are quickly moving in the right direction toward achieving my lifelong goal,” James Walsh said.