Major League Baseball is in its stretch run with less than a week until the start of the playoffs.

While big-league clubs are jockeying for positioning in pennant races, the Midland RockHounds are basking in the glory of their third consecutive Texas League championship.

One of the key contributors to that squad was Wheeling Park and West Virginia University graduate Corey Walter, who saw time as a starter and reliever for the RockHounds, which is a the AA farm club of the Oakland Athletics.

“The whole season was a success,” Walter said. “Not only did we win a championship as a team, but we had a lot of guys move up. So, we had basically a different team and just continued to winning. It was a great year all around.”

The RockHounds became the first team in the Texas League to win three consecutive championships in 91 years. They hoisted the trophy after a 4-1 win over the Northwest Arkansas Naturals, which gave Midland a 3-1 series win.

Walter pitched game two of the series, which was a 6-4 victory. He hurled five shut-out innings, didn’t strike out a batter, but only allowed four hits and a walk to earn the mound win.

“All of the (playoff) games were fun to be a part of and very interesting,” Walter said. “Winning a championship is a great feeling.”

While the title is nice and the ring Walter will receive when he goes back to Arizona for spring training will be cherished, the former Patriot is most excited about the season because of the continued development of his repertoire. The addition of a change up has already paid dividends.

“My goal was to develop a third pitch,” Walter admitted. “I think I’ve come a long way with it. I used it a lot more and it paid off for me.”

Actually, Walter admitted that he really didn’t start using the change up consistently until there were just a couple of months left in the season.

“I started throwing it and I was getting a lot more swings and misses,” Walter confessed. “My strikeouts have gone up since I started using it. It’s been a good pitch for me.”

For the season, Walter finished 3-2 with an impressive 2.15 earned run average. He made 29 appearances and 16 of those were starts. He worked 100 innings.

Walter’s stuff and numbers didn’t translate to a lot of wins because he was lifted before he qualified many times. The A’s had him on an innings limit.

“I knew what I was getting into with the limits,” Walter said. “I knew I wouldn’t get a lot of wins because I wasn’t going super deep.”

Obviously unsure of where he’ll be next season in terms of level, Walter does believe he’s going to continue to get work, primarily, as a starter.

“I am hoping to move up, but it’ll depend on what happens in the offseason with signing guys and who finishes the season in the big leagues,” Walter said. “I hope to be in AAA, but if I’m back in AA, I’ll keep working hard. We had three guys from our team get to the big leagues, so you’re still close.”

Walter is back in the Ohio Valley, catching up with family and friends.

He won’t participate in the Arizona Fall League or anything of the sort after he reached his innings limit for the season.

“I am done for the year,” Walter said. “I’ve really not checked the off-season program schedule yet. I probably have about two months of downtime before resuming (throwing) and starting to get ready for spring training.”

SETH’S SCOOPS

The dynamic brother duo of Al and Bill Glitch won the title at the 32nd annual Sands Electric Company Golf Classic held earlier this month at Belmont Hills Country Club. A total of 28 golfers took part in the event, which forms its teams by random draw.

The Glitch Brothers posted a score of 65, including a 31 on the back 9. They were three shots clear of Jim Mahute and Chris Baugh.

Ted Stupak and Tom Kellas finished third with a 70, while John Pokas and Kurt Frasnelly were fourth at 71. The teams of Bill Mumley and Mike Snively as well as Kelly Rine and Bob Yazrombek finished tied for fifth with a 73.

The closest to the pin winners were Snively, Bill Glitch, Yazrombek and Mahute. The skins game winners were Pokas/Frasnelly, Glitch/Glitch, Ted Ducker/Roy Heidelbach, Rine/Yazrombek, Mahute/Baugh and Stupak/Kellas.

The best-dressed awards went to Kellas and Pokas.

JIM CRESPO of Ellwood City aced the 89-yard fifth hole at Crispin on Sept. 22, utilizing a pitching wedge. His shot was witnessed by Ron Lutz and Mike Lovich.