“I competed against well over a dozen draftees and I can say with confidence that there were very few players that I was as impressed with as I was with Walker Martin. He was smooth defensively, had a quick release and had good range. From a hitting standpoint, he was aggressive, hit the ball hard, and looked very comfortable in any count. As you can imagine, we threw a heavy mix of changeups, curveballs and cutters to him and he stayed back while adjusting well to the different speeds and trajectories. In my seven-plus years coaching here in Colorado, I haven’t seen another player as talented as him.”

Dan Markoya

Head Coach head coach at Basalt High

Athletic Excellence

At the time of his selection, the 6-foot-3, 205-pound senior shortstop had led the Reds to a 28-0 record and the Class 3A state final. Martin batted .636 with 20 home runs, 74 RBI and 32 walks entering the title game, scoring 62 runs with an on-base percentage of .723 and a slugging percentage of 1.662. Ranked as the nation’s No. 36 recruit in the Class of 2023 by Perfect Game, he homered in nine straight games during one stretch this spring.

Academic Achievement

Martin has maintained a weighted 3.53 GPA in the classroom. He has signed a National Letter of Intent to play baseball on scholarship at the University of Arkansas this fall, but is projected as an early-round selection in July’s Major League Baseball draft.

Exemplary Character

A football standout who was the state’s Class 3A Player of the Year as a quarterback in 2022, Martin also volunteers locally for a community cleanup day through his church and instructs youth baseball players at a barn his family built.