Kent Walton's first memories of baseball go back to him trying his hardest to keep up with his older brother, Kyle, and his neighborhood friends when they would play wiffle ball in the backyard.
"I remember I would always beg to be on one of their teams," Walton said. "After awhile they would usually give in and let me play with them, but I remember I always had a hard time keeping up."
Although it was not easy, and maybe because he had to work at it so hard, Walton believes that he can trace his love of the game back to his first memories of baseball as he tried to keep up with his older brother and friends.
"He may not admit it now, but I always thought he could stay up with us older guys when he was young despite the fact that he was a lot smaller than us," said Kyle Walton about his younger brother Kent.
"Kent was willing to put in the extra time needed to improve his game at a young age," Kyle added. "I remember watching him hit in the batting cage in our backyard all by himself sometimes even back when he was only 10 or 11."
Kyle is no stranger to baseball himself as he too is currently playing at the collegiate level for Cal State San Bernardino as a first baseman/designated hitter. There is just a little over 18 months that separate Kyle and Kent. The Walton family resides in Yucaipa, Calif., which helps because they are a baseball-oriented family in an area where baseball is played year-around.
"I grew up in a really, really good baseball town," Walton said. "My brother did really well in high school, and I always wanted to follow in his footsteps. It also helped that my parents and family supported me 100 percent."
What also helped catapult Walton's career was the fact that he hit over .500 his senior season and set a new school record with 59 hits. He also proved his versatility as an athlete when he was named as an all-county defensive back.
But even before he ever reached high school Kent's brother Kyle remembers how despite being one of the smaller kids in his under-12 baseball leagues but he could still smash the ball just as hard as anyone.
"It is all a tribute to his great work ethic," Kyle said. "He hasn't always been the fastest or strongest but has been willing to work at it just as much as the next player."
Kent has carried his strong work ethic with him to BYU, and it has shown on the field as he lead the team with 78 hits this last season while also leading the team in doubles (17) and tying for the team lead in RBIs (45).
"The one thing that sticks out the most to me about Kent since he has been here at BYU is how his speed has improved," BYU hitting coach Ryan Roberts said. "That can be directly credited to his hard work. He is also able to push the other guys on the team to higher levels with his strong work ethic."
To add to what Kent has had on his plate here at BYU, he was asked by the coaching staff to fill a defensive hole this past season and moved from playing the outfield to second base.
A position change from the outfield to the infield forces a player to act faster as he has less time to react to a ball hit at him. This forces a player to increase his lateral speed in order to make the necessary stops.
"The biggest change was the speed of the game," Kent said on his change from the outfield grass to the infield dirt. "You have less time to react to the balls that are coming at you, but in the end I feel that I was able to handle the adjustment pretty well."
His defensive numbers prove that he handled the move well as he had a .928 fielding percentage and only committed 15 errors in 109 attempted put-outs.
"Kent is a true utility player," Kyle Walton said of his little brother's play at BYU. "He truly has five tools. I was not surprised at all to hear how well he did as an infielder this year as he played it for the first time ever."
Kent helped BYU to a second-place Mountain West Conference finish this past season. The team went 37-20 overall, which included wins over league-leading TCU, Pac-10 power Washington and the Big 12's Missouri.
A highlight that is looked to by BYU fans from this last season as possible the best moment was a Cougar victory over TCU on the road. That game saw a great team effort and also great individual performances. Senior Jesse Craig pitched a complete game shutout, and senior Apana Nakayama capped the game off with a solo homerun in the top of the ninth to seal the victory.
"That was just an amazing game for the whole team," Kent said. "It was packed with great individual performances and collective efforts."
Kent has played the last two summers in the Southern California Collegiate Baseball Association's wood bat league. He has played with the Palm Springs Power both years. He had a really special thing happen in the summer of 2006 as he was picked to play on the exact same summer team as his brother Kyle. This was the first time that the brothers were able to play together on a truly competitive baseball team.
"It was the first time that I ever played with him in a real competitive league since we have been older," Kent said. "It was an experience that I wouldn't change for the world because I learned a lot about baseball through my brother."
There were little things that Kent was able to pick-up on through talking with his brother and other guys around him.
"It was fun because we got to spend a lot of time together that summer," Kyle said of playing on the same summer league team as his brother. "I felt that I could give him another point of view when it came to baseball. He was able to learn lots of little things and ways to gain mental edges that summer we spent together. It was a lot of fun."
Kent looks forward with anticipation to the coming 2008 season for the Cougars and the possibility of playing on a bigger stage than he has ever been on at BYU.
"As a team this upcoming year we really want to make the NCAA tournament," Kent said. "We really have the talent as a team, and I hope we are not overlooked like we have been these last couple of years."
Kent also is very open to the possibility of continuing his playing career on the professional level one day. It is clear that not only his brother but also Coach Roberts feel he is very capable of playing at that high of a level.
"I can see him (Kent) going in the first 20 rounds of the Major League draft, and I honestly look forward to watching him play in the years to come," Kent's brother Kyle said on his future.
"I could easily see him playing at the next level," Coach Roberts added. "He may not be your major power hitter, but I can still see him being a solid .300 hitter and stealing 30 bases a year with a professional club one day."
Kent has obviously come a long way from his days of trying to keep up with his older brother in the backyard, but he hopes that his career will only grow from what he has done, and will do this season, here at BYU.