Air Force Falcons baseball team captain Walker Zapp has been named the 2026 Preseason All-Mountain West catcher, according to an announcement from Mountain West Conference officials. This is the first time Zapp, a senior, has received preseason all-conference recognition in his career.
Head coach Mike Kazlausky praised Zapp’s leadership and contributions on and off the field. “Cadet Zapp is our captain, our leader, and our field general behind the plate,” Kazlausky said. “As our catcher, he sets the tone for our team every day. Congratulations to him on his preseason honor, it is well deserved, but more importantly he is an even better person than he is a baseball player.”
In the 2025 season, Zapp was one of the key offensive players for Air Force. He achieved a .330 batting average with 65 hits that included 18 doubles, five triples, and seven home runs. He also recorded 43 runs batted in (RBIs) and eight stolen bases over the course of the season. In games against Mountain West opponents specifically, Zapp had 37 hits and drove in 26 runs.
Defensively, Zapp maintained a .970 fielding percentage as catcher while starting all 51 games in which he appeared. He threw out 11 attempted base stealers and made 35 assists during the season.
Kazlausky added: “We have bigger plans for Cadet Zapp. He will take the lessons he learned on the friendly fields of strife and use them to propel himself towards not only becoming an elite Air Force pilot, but an exceptional Air Force officer and leader of character.”
Zapp joins other student-athletes from schools across the conference on this year’s Preseason All-Conference Team.
