EBENSBURG, Pa. (WTAJ)– Former professional baseball player Neil Walker visited Holy Name Catholic Church Saturday afternoon to speak and do a meet and greet.

“He’s somebody who used to have mass at PNC Park,” Father Brian Warchola of Holy Name Catholic Church said. “Who used to have priests come and help share the faith to so many individuals and I thought to myself, be a great idea to have him come and talk at Holy Name Perish.”

Walker spoke for around thirty minutes and took questions from the crowd, about everything from playing tea ball as a kid, to how he has leaned on his faith throughout his life.

“You know when you get into especially professional baseball you have a lot of decisions, you have a lot of tough decisions that come along with being a professional and growing as a man,” Walker said. “The faith and the foundation that I learned from a young age growing up in the catholic church is something that is really important to me.”

Originally playing for the Altoona Curve before he became a star Pirate’s second baseman, Walker said the area is really important to him and that he loves to visit whenever he can.

“I really enjoyed my time in Altoona, that was a transition time for me as far as my career and also growing up as a man,” Walker said. “But also, I was two hours away from home so certainly a lot of great memories from this area.”

Walker is now a member of the Pirates’ broadcast team, as he is getting ready soon to head to spring training for a busy season of announcing ahead.