Home › Baseball
Red Bank pitcher picks Vols, likes Raleigh's philosophy
STORY TOOLS
More Baseball
- Hernandez makes a name for himself in Cape Cod league
- Forsythe, Liles play key role in Coastal Plain title
- Farragut pitcher Cooper commits to Ole Miss
Share and Enjoy [?]
Get Reprints
Alan Walden had just been waiting for the right call to come at the right time.
LSU, Kentucky and Auburn wanted the Red Bank High School pitcher. Walden wanted the University of Tennessee.
The 6-foot-3, 180-pound left-hander made it official when he verbally committed to UT coach Todd Raleigh on Saturday.
"I’ve just always been a Tennessee fan," Walden said. "It’s close to home and I wanted to play in the SEC.
"I really like coach Raleigh’s philosophy, the way he does things, and I’ve heard great things about (UT pitching coach) Fred Corral. There’s no place I’d rather be than at UT."
Walden is a senior-to-be at Red Bank and went 8-3 in his junior season with the Lions.
His fastball has been clocked on several occasions in the 91-92 mile-per-hour range.
This is the second commitment from the Chattanooga area Raleigh and his staff have received in the past month.
Ryan Casteel, hard-hitting catcher from Bradley Central and the Chattanooga Times-Free Press Player of the Year in 2008, picked the Vols in May.
"We played ball on the Cyclones together last summer and we’ve known each other and played against each other all through high school," Walden said of Casteel. "He’s a real good friend of mine and we’re hoping to room together when we get up there (in 2009)."
Casteel hit .531 with 12 home runs and 57 RBIs as a junior at Bradley Central.
Walden and Casteel are both heading to the Major League Baseball East Coast Showcase in Lakeland, Fla., at the end of July.
© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
- NCAA clears Warren to play for Vols
- Richt says Georgia offensive line 'very unsettled'
- UT to host reunion for 1998 national championship team
- Five big things the Vols are looking for in final scrimmage
- Saban assistant faces disciplinary action for letter
- Cottam to undergo back surgery, out six to eight weeks
- Strange: Phelps everywhere, and so is the SEC
- Georgia Southern suspends eight for opener against Georgia
- Cooper enjoys smash-mouth football
- Star QB in Indiana picks Kentucky
Please download the latest version of Adobe Flash Player, or enable JavaScript for your browser to view the video player.
Posted by KingsportVol on June 22, 2008 at 2:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Welcome Alan.Throw like hell son.
Posted by ghc_16 on June 22, 2008 at 2:51 p.m. (Suggest removal)
wow...this is exciting 4 me considerin im from red bank.
Posted by GreerVol22 on June 22, 2008 at 9:20 p.m. (Suggest removal)
look on the bright side, he could be somewhere in Loudon wishing he had gone to UT...
Posted by ncvol on June 22, 2008 at 10:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Welcome to UT...Go Vols!
Posted by eduardo on June 22, 2008 at 11:14 p.m. (Suggest removal)
hope you like losing to etsu, mtsu and the like.
Posted by GreerVol22 on June 23, 2008 at 8:27 a.m.
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
Posted by volboy81 on June 23, 2008 at 10:08 a.m. (Suggest removal)
GO LIONS!
GO VOLS!
Posted by Col3_23 on June 24, 2008 at 11:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)
he is definitely not left-handed. hes a righty. and i played ball with him last year at ooltewah. he quit the team then came back three days later. then he left ooltewah to go to red bank this year. I dont like this kid but i guess they really like him. I wish i could say i wish the best of luck to him but its hard for me because he did quit on us. I do hope we do well though even if that does mean does awesome. hopefully he doesnt quit on the vols like he did us at ooltewah
Posted by Col3_23 on June 24, 2008 at 11:14 p.m. (Suggest removal)
actually now that i think about it I think he is a lefty. But that still doesnt dismiss the fact he walked out on us.
Posted by Col3_23 on June 24, 2008 at 11:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)
nope, i looked at pictures i had from last year. he is definitely a right handed pitcher.
If you wanna get a good look at him here is a pic of him on ooltewah's website
http://www.hcschools.org/ohs/athletic...
Posted by Jonesy6 on June 25, 2008 at 11:11 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Col3 first of all he didnt quit on his team he played out a season.Then he transferred at the beginning of the next school year.He is a great person with a wonderful talent that not many other people are blessed with so instead of bashing him let him enjoy what he has earned and wish him the best.Just a grown mans opinion.
Posted by Col3_23 on June 26, 2008 at 9:19 a.m. (Suggest removal)
wait... i dont believe you were on the team were you? he definately quit, then changed his mind and came back 3 days later just like i said and "played out the season". fact of the matter is he shouldnt have been able to play ball at all at red bank this year. he did quit on his team cause things werent going his way. We all knew coach massey wasnt the brightest coach in the world but everyone else was sticking it out. All he wanted to look out for was himself and cared nothing about the team.
And he is a great pitcher, ill give him that. Thats why it ticked me off. because he had a great future at ooltewah and left us.
And if "played out a season" means he didnt play at all, that's false. I have pictures of him pitching last year. Actually, i remember him coming in to relieve for me.
Posted by Col3_23 on June 26, 2008 at 9:39 a.m. (Suggest removal)
and i thought very highly of him up until then. It actually shocked me that he did quit. Hope he does well for the vols because i care more about them than i do some high school crap. and like i said, i just hope he doesnt walk out on them too.
Posted by Jonesy6 on June 26, 2008 at 9:45 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Well no matter what happened at Ooltewah he is a Vol now and i think it is awesome for him and his family so lets get behind him and show him our support.
(Requires free registration.)
Comments are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. You agree not to post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned. Click here for our full user agreement.