PITTSBURGH — Rest assured, Neil Walker will never forget his professional baseball debut at PNCPark.

The 20-year-old Pine-Richland graduate, the Pirates' first selection in the 2004 amateur drive, made two outs in one inning during the USA's 8-5 victory over the World team in the All-Star Futures Game Sunday at PNCPark.

Walker, hitting .250 with a homer and 15 RBIin 156 at bats with Lynchburg this season, was the only Class A player in the USA's starting lineup.

He led off the bottom of the third inning and bounced out to second base. The next eight USAbatters reached base, though one was cut down after rounding first base too far. Walker ended the five-run inning by popping out to the catcher.

The at-bats were his only two of the game.

"It doesn't matter,"Walker said of his performance. "Just being in this game means everything to me. I'll never forget this experience."

Two years ago, Walker rarely made two outs in the same game, hitting over .600 for Pine-Richland and becoming the WPIAL's first opening-round amateur draft pick since Oakland selected Tim Conroy in 1978.

Walker had played at PNCPark one other time —in an American Legion All-Star Game three years ago.

"There are more people out here on the field now than there were in the stands that day,"Walker said two hours before Sunday's game. "I think there was one newspaper guy there."

Walker's world has changed drastically since his Pine-Richland days, when he was catching high school fastballs behind the plate and frozen footballs in the snow at Hershey during the Rams' state football championship game.

"That was a big stage,"he said of the football title game. "I'm hoping to play on a bigger one."

He did so Sunday, playing in front of 30,000 people at PNCPark.

"These kids got a taste of it today,"USAmanager Gary Carter said. "You can count on most of them being back on a permanent basis.

"Organizations get players of this caliber to the big leagues in a hurry. It may not be right in terms of their development, but they have a lot of money invested in these guys."

Walker views his climb through the Pirates system differently.

"The Pirates like to take their time with prospects,"he said. "I'm going to have to perform to move up."

The switch-hitting catcher hit .301 with 12 homers and 68 RBIat Hickory last year before moving up to Lynchburg late in the season.

Walker suffered a tear in his left wrist while playing in the Arizona Fall League and underwent surgery in December.

"That was a setback,"he admitted. "But I'm healthy nmow and I'm getting back in a groove. I'm fortunate that people saw that and still decided to put me in this (Futures)game.

"Hopefully, I'll play well enough to get to (Class AA)Altoona before the end of the season. If not, maybe I'll start at that level next year."

He knows he'll have to hit to get there.

"Defense always comes first with a catcher, but look at guys like Brian McCann, Joe Mauer, Victor Martinez ... Those are young catchers in the big leagues who are crushing the ball,"he said. "I'm gonna have to do my share of hitting."

Walker's father, Tom, was a pitcher with the Montreal Expos when Carter played there. Carter has been a friend of his family's for years.

"I remember when I was 7, he was working with me on my catching in the yard,"Walker said. "He showed me how to squat and maneuver a little bit. Now he's my manager for a day. It's pretty cool."

"This is the first time I'll see Neil as a professional,"Carter said. "It won't be the last."

Walker was not the only Western Pennsylvania product in the Futures Game. Josh Sharpless, a 24th-round pick by the Pirates in 2003 from Allegheny College and Freedom High School in Beaver County, retired all four batters he faced in Sunday's contest.

Sharpless, 25, faced his first batter in the fifth inning with the bases loaded and two outs, inducing a fly ball to center. He is 3-1 with a 1.46 earned run average this season, compiling 53 strikeouts in 43.1 innings out of the bullpen at Class AAAIndianapolis.

"I'm grateful to have a chance to pitch in this game,"said Sharpless, a replacement for Tom Gorzelanny after the latter was called up to the Pirates recently.

"When they called me to add me to the roster, I called everyone I knew."

Sharpless is averaging 13 strikeouts per every nine innings pitched in his pro career thus far.

Walker and Sharpless both said they had 30 or more friends and family members in the stands Sunday.

Notes: The World Team was represented by 11 countries and territories. ... The Futures Game debuted in 1999, but has already sent 137 players to the big leagues, including 20 to the Major League All-Star Game. Seven of this year's MLBAll-Stars — Lance Berkman, Mark Buehrle, Miguel Cabrera, B.J. Ryan, Alfonso Soriano, Vernon Wells and Barry Zito — are Futures Game alumni.