Chucks outfielder chasing historic mark

WAUSAU – Steele Walker  has the chance to do something this summer that no other Woodchucks player has done before.

The Chucks outfielder and University of Oklahoma sophomore could finish the season with a.400 batting average, a statistical mark which would place him in  elite company in the Northwoods League history

Only three players have ever hit .400 or better in the wood bat summer collegiate baseball league — La Crosse’s Andrew Knapp  (.400 in 2011), Madison’s John Laprise (.407 in ’13) and Waterloo’s Luis Rivera (.437 in 1995).

The left-hitting Walker has the opportunity to become the fourth thanks in part to a Chucks record 23-game hitting streak earlier this summer.

"People were asking me about the pressure of going after the hitting streak and all that kind of stuff, but really my main focus was just trying to stay relaxed," said Walker, who has reached base safely in 39 straight games entering Monday. "I didn't try and do too much (at the plate). I know that is cliché, but really that is all I was trying to do. I wanted to let the game come to me  I wasn't trying to force anything at all. I was just taking my hits when they came and trying to get a couple knocks every game. It ended up working out pretty well."

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Walker came into Monday and the final week of the regular season, with an NWL-leading .396 batting average. It is the highest for a Chucks player since Josh Smalerfinished the 1994 season with a .391 average.

He is a reason the Chucks are just a half game out of a playoff spot in the NWL South Division with six games left in the schedule.

"I think with Steele it begins with his approach (at the plate). I think he has a very clear idea of who he is and knows what he is looking for up there and he doesn't try to do too much," Chucks coach Dustin Coffman said.

It hasn't been easy for Walker, who exited the Woodchucks locker room roughly a half hour before Thursday’s matchup with Lakeshore and started his trek across the Athletic Park field towards his team’s dugout along the third base line.

It’s a pregame trek the Prosper, Texas, native has made routinely since joining the Chucks in mid-June, but he had a little different pep in his step going into the Bombers game. He was back in the lineup after being held out for three games as a precautionary move after jamming his knee diving for a ball during a loss at Battle Creek, Mich., on July 31.

As someone who isn't used to sitting out a game, including this past year as a freshman outfielder at the University of Oklahoma, Walker found it almost uncomfortable to watch the action from the bench.

"It was tough. I would have to get up (from the bench) and go to out to the bullpen and then back again," said Walker, who went 2-for-4 in his first game back, including a solo home run in the fifth inning. "The games are long. You don't really realize how long they are until you're sitting on the bench. It's weird, you take four of five days off in this league and it feels like eternity because you play so many games."

The hitting streak helped Walker become a name in the NWL this summer. His first name attracts attention in general. He was named after his grandfather's friend, who was a preacher.

"I have two older brothers, Trevor and Sam, and they always are kind of giving me crap because I got the original or unique name," Walker joked.

Both of his  brothers played football at the University of Texas, but Walker gave up football before his senior year in high school due to injury concerns and to focus on baseball. Walker was named the Dallas Morning News player of the year and accepted an offer from Oklahoma. Both of his parents, Ashley and Charlotte, are Texas graduates as well.

Walker played in 59 games for the Sooners this past season as a freshman and started in 56. He finished with a ..290 batting average.

Walker knows it can be challenging for a family with Longhorns ties to now support a Sooner in the rivalry games.

"I feel like on the outside my parents and my brothers are rooting for Oklahoma, but on the inside, they want Texas to pull it out," Walker joked. "They have that burnt-orange blood and are torn. They want to make me feel good, but I'm not sold on them being 'OU' fans yet. i'm trying though, I'm trying."

Tim Johnson: 715-845-0731, or timothy.johnson@gannettwisconsin.com; on Twitter@timmyjo11