SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Ping! The ball rockets off the barrel of the bat, severing the air on its route toward the gap in right-center field. Jackson Evans uncoils, drops the bat, and explodes out of the batters’ box. His quads work like pistons, motoring him around first base. He’s thinking three, and when he sees that the ball has bounced off the warning track, off the wall, and high into the air, he knows without hesitation he’s going for it. He hits the bag at second like a blur, takes a few more long strides, and then goes airborne before landing on his belly and sliding into the bag. Thwap! The ball hits the glove. The umpire raises his arms to his side and yells “Safe!” A few moments later, on a ball in the dirt, he does it all over again. But this time he only has to travel 90 feet, and when he slides home safely, the Chico State baseball team has a run on the board.
Evans provided Chico State’s baseball fans with numerous aggressive, athletic plays similar to that one during the 2010 season. And on Friday, Evans was provided the news that the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) has recognized him as an Honorable Mention All-American.
Slated to patrol the middle infield once again for the Wildcats in 2011, Evans has also received nods as the NCBWA’s First Team All-Region second baseman and second-team All-West Region honors from both the American Baseball Coaches Association and Daktronics after hitting .360 and leading the Wildcats with five triples and 13 stolen bases.
The junior transfer from Columbia Basin Community College logged 23 multi-hit games in 49 games despite battling a hamstring injury during the middle part of the season. He hit for power with 21 extra-base hits, and speed with his stolen bases and when taking the extra base on a ball in the dir or hit to the outfield.
Evans’ numbers likely would have sparkled even brighter if not for the hamstring injury that cost him two weeks worth of games and forced him to play many more with limited mobility. In the 35 combined games he played before the injury and once he got back to full strength, the left-handed hitter batted .400 with a .572 slugging percentage, drove in 32 runs, and scored 42.
Evans also played solid defense compiling a .963 fielding percentage while starting 44 games at second base and two at third.
Jackson Evans, Jr. - 2B
NCBWA Honorable Mention All-American
NCBWA First Team All-West Region
ABCA/Rawlings Second Team All-West Region
Daktronics Second Team All-West Region