Jim Walton earned six letters at Stivers, two in football and four in baseball. He was a four year starter in baseball and one of the best players to ever suit up for the Tigers.
In 1959, Jim finished fourth in the city Class B Summer League, on 22 hits in 56 at bats for a .393 batting average.
In the 1960, Summer League, he hit .304, tied for the league lead in home run with 3, and led the league in RBI’s (15), won/loss record (6-2), and strikeouts (126). In an 11-4 win over Roth, Jim struck out 21. He followed that up by striking out 17 in a 2 hit, 7-0 win over the Greene County Sheriffs (Beavercreek). He also beat Precision Rubber (Kiser) 5-1 on 1 hit and 4 strikeouts.
Stivers sponsored by Hyland Machine, won the Class B American League playoffs in the Summer of 1960 which qualified the team to play in the NABF national tournament in Altoona, PA. The Tigers finished third out of fourteen teams in the tourney. They beat Youngstown (3-2), Chicago (6-5) and Pittsburgh (9-2). Losses were to Baltimore (9-3) and tourney champion Detroit (14-2) led by MVP and future major league all-star Bill Freehan. Jim hit a phenomenal .579 on 11 hits in 19 at bats in Altoona with a won/loss record of 1 and 0.
Jim was also an outstanding football player for Stivers. He played offensive and defensive end, some quarterback and handled the kicking duties. He was Honorable Mention All-City his senior year at offensive end, finishing fifth in receiving and fifth in punting.
After graduating from Stivers, Jim played one year of baseball at Kent State U. He decided to come back to Dayton where he went to work for Standard Register and enrolled at U.D. He earned his BS in business MA in communications and MS in counseling.
Jim worked 23 years at Standard Register. He also worked for E.G.&G. During 5 of his 16 years with EG&G, he was at the Kennedy Space Center and was privileged to attend every shuttle launch from January 1983 to January 1988.
In 1963, while in Charlotte, NC working for Standard Register, Jim met his wife, Susie. They have two daughters, Holly and Ashley, and live in downtown Dayton.
