MATT DAUGHERTY/The Kearney CourierKearney High’s Kyle Evans takes a swing at a pitch during a game earlier this season. He had three hits Monday, May 12, as the Bulldogs won a Class 3 District 16 semifinal game against Platte County.
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Evans does it all against Platte County
Baseball team advances to district title game
By Scott Tittrington
ST. JOSEPH — When the starting pitcher collects as many hits at the plate as he allows on the mound, the odds are pretty good it’s been a successful evening.
Kearney High senior Kyle Evans won’t argue that, especially after single-handedly taking care of Platte County on Monday, May 12, in the semifinals of the Class 3 District 16 baseball tournament.
Evans got the party started with a leadoff double in the top of the first inning, and never stopped inflicting pain on the Pirates, finishing 3-for-3 at the plate and tossing three-hit ball over six innings as the Bulldogs secured a 7-2 victory at Phil Welch Stadium in St. Joseph.
“I felt really good coming into tonight. It was like nothing else,” Evans said. “I know that if we lose, we go home. If we win, we move on. My senior year, I just want to keep moving on to the end.”
For the second straight postseason game, third-seeded Kearney (15-10) did anything but resemble the ballclub that struggled throughout the closing stretch of the regular season. The Bulldogs got clutch early hitting, a strong performance on the mound and played an almost flawless game in the field.
Of course, it seemed as if they really only needed one player to be “on” against the second-seeded Pirates, and Evans was up to the task.
His leadoff two-bagger helped Kearney — and himself — to a quick 2-0 lead, he added an RBI double in the second to help push the margin to 4-0, and for good measure, his RBI triple in the fifth made it 7-0.
Meanwhile, the left-hander was even better on the mound, surrendering just two singles and a double while striking out 10. Add in the two comebackers he took care of in the field, and Evans accounted for almost four innings worth of outs all by himself.
“A fabulous job,” said Kearney coach Jeff Parks succinctly. “Platte County is always one of the top teams in this area. They always hit the ball well. Kyle did a great job keeping them off-balance. He hit his spots. It was his best performance of the season, at the right time.”
Jake Hai chipped in two hits for the Bulldogs, who advanced to Wednesday’s district title game and a date with fourth-seeded Savannah. The Savages upset defending state champion and top-seeded St. Joseph Benton 6-4 earlier Monday.
“We would have been glad to see Benton,” Parks said. “We’re just glad to be playing in the championship game.”
Sports editor Scott Tittrington can be reached at 389-6632 or scotttittrington@npgco.com.
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Kearney High senior Kyle Evans won’t argue that, especially after single-handedly taking care of Platte County on Monday, May 12, in the semifinals of the Class 3 District 16 baseball tournament.
Evans got the party started with a leadoff double in the top of the first inning, and never stopped inflicting pain on the Pirates, finishing 3-for-3 at the plate and tossing three-hit ball over six innings as the Bulldogs secured a 7-2 victory at Phil Welch Stadium in St. Joseph.
“I felt really good coming into tonight. It was like nothing else,” Evans said. “I know that if we lose, we go home. If we win, we move on. My senior year, I just want to keep moving on to the end.”
For the second straight postseason game, third-seeded Kearney (15-10) did anything but resemble the ballclub that struggled throughout the closing stretch of the regular season. The Bulldogs got clutch early hitting, a strong performance on the mound and played an almost flawless game in the field.
Of course, it seemed as if they really only needed one player to be “on” against the second-seeded Pirates, and Evans was up to the task.
His leadoff two-bagger helped Kearney — and himself — to a quick 2-0 lead, he added an RBI double in the second to help push the margin to 4-0, and for good measure, his RBI triple in the fifth made it 7-0.
Meanwhile, the left-hander was even better on the mound, surrendering just two singles and a double while striking out 10. Add in the two comebackers he took care of in the field, and Evans accounted for almost four innings worth of outs all by himself.
“A fabulous job,” said Kearney coach Jeff Parks succinctly. “Platte County is always one of the top teams in this area. They always hit the ball well. Kyle did a great job keeping them off-balance. He hit his spots. It was his best performance of the season, at the right time.”
Jake Hai chipped in two hits for the Bulldogs, who advanced to Wednesday’s district title game and a date with fourth-seeded Savannah. The Savages upset defending state champion and top-seeded St. Joseph Benton 6-4 earlier Monday.
“We would have been glad to see Benton,” Parks said. “We’re just glad to be playing in the championship game.”
Sports editor Scott Tittrington can be reached at 389-6632 or scotttittrington@npgco.com.