By Mike London
Salisbury Post
CHINA GROVE — Odd things happen in baseball, which is why Carson senior Maverick Walters, who has been a tough-to-hit lefty pitcher for a long time, is most famous for a game that he lost.
Walters was on the bump at Staton Field in the second round of the 3A state playoffs last May.
Walters had the game’s only RBI and was shutting out East Rowan 1-0, but he challenged East star Harrison Ailshie with a high fastball leading off the bottom of the seventh. Ailshie got all of it, and his bomb tied the game. The Mustangs went on to win 2-1. Carson’s season ended despite some of the best pitches Walters ever threw.
“I threw a lot of strikes low in the zone that night,” Walters said. “The changeup was really working, The curveball was working. I had my good fastball. But then Harrison got the best of me.”
Ailshie figures to get the best of most pitchers for the next decade or so. In 2027, he’ll either be swinging in the ACC for the Tar Heels or he’ll be playing professionally.
As for the 6-foot-2 Walters, he also has a future. He’ll be a Division I pitcher. He has committed to Charleston Southern, and if he can stay healthy and keeps improving, there’s a chance he’ll pitch beyond college.
Walters can throw 88 and works consistently at 85 and 86, which is high voltage for a high school lefty. He strikes out more than a batter per inning. When he gets ahead in the count with well located fastballs, the 18-year-old’s curve is a deadly weapon that can put hitters away. His changeup has its moments.
Walters is a really athletic guy. He plays in the outfield for the Cougars when he doesn’t pitch and he’s good enough at basketball to start for a loaded Carson squad.
“Maverick is our southpaw, but he’s not that typical southpaw because he’s definitely a power pitcher,” Carson head coach JC Alexander said. “People remember the East game and Maverick was really good that night, but he’s given us a lot of good innings against a lot of good teams for a long time. He’s been a big part of our team for years, not only as a pitcher, but as an outfielder and at the plate. He’s a huge asset. I would describe him as a hard-working guy on the field and in the classroom, and now it’s paid off with a big-time commit.”
Walters has another high school baseball season in front of him, and he is very likely to change the narrative that the best game of his life was a loss. When the spring comes, the Cougars, who surged late in the 2025 season to finish 15-10, will be sending Kendal Sifford, a right-handed Catawba recruit and the reigning South Piedmont Conference and Rowan County Pitcher of the Year — and Walters — out to the mound every Tuesday and Friday in the SPC. West Rowan is expected to be one of the state’s strongest teams and the Ailshie brothers will still be in Granite Quarry, but Carson will be a contender with its 1-2 pitching punch.
“The plan is to have dominant pitching,” Walters said. “In our fall league we’ve focused on our hitting, and that includes me. We’re making some strides there.”
The first time most baseball fans ever heard of Walters was when he was still a student at Gray Stone Day School and came out for the Rowan County American Legion team. He hadn’t turned 14 yet when tryouts started, but he turned some heads.
“I was 14 that summer, pitching to 18-year-olds, and I didn’t make the last Legion cut,” Walters said. “But pitching for Coach (Jim) Gantt, pitching in front of crowds, it was an experience that helped me develop.”
Walters spent summers after that pitching for showcase teams. His most rewarding experiences took place hurling for the South Charlotte Panthers and playing for Kyle Bridges (the former Carson head coach) and Scott Clemons, who has mentored a lot of Rowan youngsters over the years.
The recruiting process in the transfer-portal world can be stressful. Walters enjoyed it at times, hated it at times, but it had a happy ending.
“The Panthers played some big tournaments in Georgia and Florida,” Walters said. “The key tournament for me was down in Fort Myers. I pitched eight innings with eight strikeouts and no walks against a strong team, and I started hearing from more schools. Schools wanted me to come to their camps and visit. Charleston Southern was one of the schools that contacted me. I fell in love with everything about the place. The team, the school, the city. It’s hard to beat.”
A Big South Conference school, Charleston Southern was 31-22 last season.
Potential majors for Walters are radiology or business.
Walters is familiar with the famous East Rowan graduate who went to Charleston Southern and became a ninth-round draft choice in 2005. Bobby Parnell turned 41 a few days ago, but the 102 mph fastballs he once unleashed as the New York Mets closer will always be part of Rowan County baseball lore.
“I actually do know Bobby a little bit,” Walters said. “We’ve had several conversations.”
When he’s not playing basketball or baseball, Walters might be fishing. Living on High Rock Lake, that’s an easy hobby to pursue.
You also might see Walters at Catawba sporting events. His twin sister, Eva Walters, is a Catawba freshman majoring in theatre arts and psychology. Maverick is a solid student, but his sister is a year ahead of him in the education process because he reclassified a grade before he started high school.
“I went to watch Catawba football play last week,” Walters said. “I’m close to my sister. She’s always been at my games, supporting me, so I support her school whenever I can.”
Walters also spends time with girlfriend Campbell Withers, the South Rowan volleyball libero who plays on the back row next to her twin, Cailynn Withers. Campbell ranks fourth in the state in digs.
Carson has a great volleyball team, while South Rowan has a very good one. For Carson’s recent match at South, Walters put on a red shirt. He wants to make it clear, however, that he didn’t sit with South’s zany cheering section.
“The red shirt was all in good fun,” Walters said. “I’m a Cougar, but I had to support the girlfriend.”
