Walls Aims To Lead Mustangs To OIA Title
By Jack Danilewicz
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Kord Walls has always shifted gears easily - both socially as well as in the athletic arena. The son of a Marine, he has lived in Hawaii, Japan, Oklahoma and North Carolina. He was a football and baseball player since he could remember before he added soccer to the mix prior to his junior year at Kalaheo, eventually being selected as a team captain.
But like any three-sport athlete, he needs to be cut a little slack in those morning hours.
“I’m a little slow in the morning,” laughs Walls, an outfielder for the Mustangs. “I’m the editor of the school paper so I have to be up early and at the school. I usually don’t get home until 7:30 at night.”
Someday Walls would like a chance at anchoring ESPN’s Sports Center (“My goal is to become a sportscaster at a top-notch place like ESPN or Fox,” he says), but that is part of the future, of course. For the present, he’s trying to lead Kalaheo to an Oahu Interscholastic Association Division II baseball title. The Mustangs entered the weekend with a four-game win streak - the longest string of successes for the program in recent memory - and were a half-game behind White Conference leader Waipahu. One of only three seniors in the Mustangs’ lineup along with Alika Kaanapu and Sheldan Kalai, Walls has had a stellar 2008 season so far, highlighted by his performance March 28 against Waialua when he went 3-for-3 at the plate with a triple, four runs scored and four runs driven in. His leadership skills have also been called upon this spring.
“I’ve never been shy,” said Walls, noting that when he decided to get involved with the Kalaheo school newspaper, “I wanted a lead role.”
Added his coach Tim Lierman: “Kord is vocal, and he leads by example. He’s stepped up this year and filled that role.”
Within the Mustangs’ batting order, Walls has settled nicely into the No. 2 spot - just ahead of Richard Preza-Haynes and Kaanapu, the club’s most productive hitters, statistically, according to Lierman.
“He has real good speed once he gets on base, and the top of the order has been really productive,” Lierman said. “He’s been battling through an injury this week, but he’s getting better every day and he’s coming off his best game of the year against Waialua.
Said Walls: “The No. 2 spot has always been my favorite spot to hit. I can do a lot of things there, like move runners up, and Rich (Preza Haynes) and Alika (Kaanapu) can hit to all fields. We can put a lot of runs on the board.”
In fact, the Mustangs, who host Farrington on Friday (3:30 p.m. at Kailua District Park) in their next outing, had tallied 71 runs in their first six White Conference games, an average of 11.5 per game. Those numbers don’t surprise Walls, who stops short of saying Kalaheo has over-achieved this year.
“We thought (before the season started) we could have one of the better teams that Kalaheo has had,” Walls said. “I think we were a little shaky early in the season, but we’re definitely getting there now. We’re relaxed and taking it one game at a time and loving every minute of it. The last three years have been tough - we haven’t fielded a great team over here.”
Walls didn’t have to look far for evidence that change can occur quickly in the sporting world. He was a key member on Kalaheo’s football team last fall when the Mustangs culminated a breakthrough season under second-year coach Chris Mellor with a playoff appearance. The Mustangs had gone just 1-8 the previous season.
“Coach Chris is the best,” Walls said of Mellor. “He didn’t want Kalaheo to be known just for basketball or volleyball. Our season was a testament to the work he’s done and all he has brought to Kalaheo. It was an honor for all of us to play for him.”
From a personal standpoint, the fall was bittersweet for Walls, whose father, Steve, was then completing a second tour of Iraq and was unable to see his son play football for the Mustangs.
“No doubt, my dad has had the biggest impact on me - he’s my role model,” said Kord, whose immediate family also includes his mother, Kim, and younger sister, Katy.“He’s done so much for me.”
Walls would like to continue his baseball career beyond Kalaheo and has been contacting college coaches on the Mainland. Division I Texas Christian is one possibility, as is Central Oklahoma, a DII school.
“It’s always been a dream of mine to play college baseball, but it isn’t easy to get noticed in Hawaii,” said Walls, who owns a 3.0 grade-point-average.
“I love sports. I’m the kind of person that needs to be doing something.”
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