Grant's Wallsten picks EIU

Gerik Wallsten went East. Way East.

Eastern is next.

The 2008 Grant graduate and some buddies made a road trip to New Hampshire and Boston earlier this summer. Part of their fun was watching former teammate Kyle Stroup pitch in a scrimmage featuring unsigned draft picks of the Boston Red Sox. The game happened to be played at Fenway Park, where the hard-throwing Stroup, who was selected in the 50th round in June, evidently made quite an impression.

"It was pretty cool," said Wallsten, who was Stroup's catcher for three varsity seasons and who calls the Red Sox his favorite team other than the Cubs. "He pitched 2 innings, had 4 strikeouts, didn't give up any hits and struck out their first-round pick. He did phenomenal."

It wouldn't be a stretch to say Wallsten has the potential to be drafted too someday.

After completing a stellar career at Grant, he signed a national letter of intent with Eastern Illinois University, which competes at the NCAA Division I level. A 5-foot-11, 205-pounder who's been a catcher since he arrived at Grant, Wallsten batted .421 his senior year, after hitting .412 as a junior. The two-time all-North Suburban Conference selection was exceptionally durable behind the plate, where he also showed off a strong arm.

"What attracted me the most (about EIU) is that I'm almost - almost - guaranteed to start as a freshman," Wallsten said. "That was a big deal to me because I don't think I could sit on the bench for a whole season."

Illinois, Illinois-Chicago and Villanova were among the schools last fall and winter that expressed interest in Wallsten, he said. He was never offered a scholarship, however. Eastern Illinois saw him play in the spring.

"They were looking for a defensive catcher," said Wallsten, who's also honed his catching skills with the Kenosha Indians the last four years. "They wanted someone to handle their pitching staff. They saw the presence I had on the field and they were like, 'This is the guy for us.'"

Besides putting up good numbers on the baseball field, Wallsten did likewise in the classroom. He boasted a 3.9 GPA (4.0 scale) and scored a 27 on his ACT. His academic ambitions are to major in either biology or kinesiology and minor in business. He's considering becoming an orthopedic surgeon.

"I'm hoping I won't have to do that, though," Wallsten said. "I'm hoping to play (professional) baseball."

In the spring, head coach Jim Schmitz led EIU (27-30) to the Ohio Valley Conference tournament championship and the Panthers' first berth in the NCAA Tournament since 1999. Wallsten will be eligible to be drafted again after his junior year.

"Three years from now," he said, "I'm hoping my name gets called in the draft."

If so, another road trip might be in order.