“It’s a new thing I’m starting up — going to have to wear them every game now after I hit two triples,” Evans said. “I didn’t have anything else clean really. So I just put them on.”
Arrows pitcher Kyle Elam had a lot to say about the outcome as well. He kept Triad’s normally loud bats quiet with 12 fly balls and two hits to help lead unbeaten Tecumseh to a 9-0 nonconference victory.
“It’s not my win, it’s the team’s win,” said Elam, a senior who has pitched mostly as a reliever. “I gave it my best, and it happens to be they couldn’t hit what I had.”
Elam (1-0) went the distance and needed only one strikeout with an error-free defense behind him.
“He threw a lot of strikes for us, and that’s all we really need him to do because our infield and outfield were pretty solid out there,” Evans said.
Evans led off the first inning for Tecumseh (5-0) with triple to deep center and scored on a Bubba Cantrell grounder to first. With two runners on in the fifth, Evans tripled to deep left-center and flew around the bases again for a 3-0 lead. He ran around the apparent tag by Triad (5-1) third baseman Marshall O’Brien as the umpire yelled that the tag was missed.
“I’m going to be honest … he did tag me. He tagged me right there,” Evans said as he pointed to his side.
The 3-0 lead and Evans’ triples were the only hits Triad starter Ryan Davis allowed through five innings. But a fielding error to start the sixth and a throwing error on a stolen base were more than Davis and reliever Jacob Watkins could overcome in the Arrows’ six-run sixth. Jake Nicewaner had an RBI double for the Arrows, Alex High an RBI single and Evans a sacrifice fly for his third RBI.
“In high school baseball one thing can lead to a lot of runs,” Arrows coach Roger Culbertson said. “We put the ball in play, and when you do that it’s tough to make a lot of plays at the high school level.”
Triad was a district finalist last year and with most of its roster back, including ace pitcher Doug Lowe, has high hopes for this season. For that reason, the Cardinals are playing up against a lot of Central Buckeye Conference teams on the nonconference part of their schedule.
“To be the best you’ve got to beat the best,” Triad coach Will Nichols said. “And we’ve got to rise up to these better teams and beat them because these are the kind of teams you’re going to see come tournament time. But overall I’ve been pleased with the way we’ve been playing.”
About the Author