Braves pick Walden in 43rd round

The 43rd round of major league baseball's annual player draft was about 40 rounds later than Alan Walden once had been projected.

But the recent Red Bank High School graduate didn't really expect a pro team to call him this week, much less the Atlanta Braves.

"I didn't expect to get drafted at all," the right-handed pitcher said. "Only throwing seven innings my senior season and then having surgery, I felt I wouldn't be much help if going to the pros."

The 6-foot-2, 160-pound Walden endured a series of setbacks after clocking 94 mph early in the high school season. He split the thumb on his pitching hand and was sidelined while it healed. Then he suffered a fracture behind his elbow that required surgery in mid-May.

"I figured he was going to get drafted from what I had heard from difference sources," said Jamie Tricoglou, one of Red Bank's pitching coaches along with Alan Walden Sr.

Walden, who has signed with the University of Tennessee, had told most of the scouts that he wanted at least third-round money.

"There will be some money left over and I think he has a shot at signing for what he wants, especially if he comes back throwing the way he was when he got hurt," said Tricoglou, who pitched at Cleveland State and Kennesaw State before getting drafted in the sixth round by the Colorado Rockies in 2001.

Walden has two more weeks of recovery from the surgery before he can being throwing.

"Once I get healthy, I'll throw for them and then they'll make an offer," he said.

Walden had planned to enroll at UT for the second summer school session. Those plans have been put on hold, especially with Vols coach Todd Raleigh firing pitching coach Fred Corral.

"I didn't know about that until (Corral) called me," Walden said. "Honestly, that got me down some. I was really close to him. I have been talking with him for a year. It worries me that he's gone. I'll talk it over with my parents about what's best for me career-wise. I definitely have some things to think about."

But he stopped short of saying he would listen even more to the Braves.

"Not necessarily," he responded. "I'm not going to throw away that kind of scholarship. I could go to Tennessee and get bigger and stronger, and I'm sure they'll bring in another good pitching coach. But the Braves? Money talks. Baseball is what I want to do with my life. If I do go to the Braves, I still will have school paid for. Basically it comes down to whether or not the Braves want me enough to keep me from going to Tennessee."

Two other Red Bank players went undrafted. Pitcher Hunter Adkins had an idea of what money he was looking at from a signing bonus (probably fourth- or fifth-round money) and told scouts he was going to follow through on a scholarship he signed with Middle Tennessee State.

Former Lions outfielder and leadoff man Jacob Fabry had finished his career at East Tennessee State. He plans to attend a Braves tryout next week and will sign as a free agent if offered a contract. Otherwise, he'll probably look into the independent leagues.