Nevada Preps Girls Athlete of the Week: Faith Lutheran’s Ava Walker

Faith Lutheran junior pitcher Ava Walker said she wouldn’t describe herself as a strikeout pitcher.

Walker said she trusts her defense to make plays behind her, but when her pitches are working, then “it’s on.”

Walker’s pitches were working last week. She pitched a complete game, allowing just one run with seven strikeouts in the Crusaders’ 4-1 win over Centennial on April 18. For her efforts, she was named Nevada Preps Girls Athlete of the Week.

“Having everyone able to back me up — I was striking out a decent number of people in that game,” Walker said. “I feel like I was pushing myself to do better than what I did previously.”

With Walker in the circle, she helped the Crusaders to three wins last week after they had lost six of their previous seven games.

“Going into the end of the season, they were really important for us because we were on a little bit of a losing streak,” Walker said. “They really brought the momentum back up.”

She had five strikeouts in four innings in a 16-1 win over Rancho on April 17 and struck out seven in a 3-1 complete-game win over Coronado on Thursday.

After recently coming back from a torn labrum in her hip, Walker said the Crusaders’ offensive output has helped her confidence on the mound.

“It’s like night and day. It’s more relaxing. I’m loose,” Walker said. “Then we get better results on the field when everyone is comfortable.”

Faith Lutheran won the Class 5A Southern League title last year to qualify for the state tournament. Walker said that experience, and the Crusaders working their way through their recent struggles, gives her confidence in the team with the playoffs approaching.

“As long as we’re there for each other, to back each other up, and get in a mental mindset where we need to be able to shake off errors or produce runs, I feel like we’re going to finish off pretty well,” Walker said.

Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on Twitter.