Photo by: AJ Henderson - Georgia Southern Athletics
FEATURE: Blake Evans Wraps Up Five Years of Eagle Baseball
5/16/2023 10:30:00 AM | Baseball
The fifth-year senior recounts his time with Eagle Nation
STATESBORO - Eagle fans know Blake Evans very well, or at least one of his various nicknames. People call him "Scooter,' "Scoot," "Mario," "the Lorax," or just simply "Blake." But Evans has been an integral part of the Eagles baseball program since he arrived on campus in the fall of 2019, and his unwavering commitment to Georgia Southern has always been evident.
Evans says he's a simple guy and there's not a whole lot to him. "I just try to play hard," he said when asked to describe himself and his style of play. "I have fun playing the game and I smile a lot. You'll probably never see me without a smile on my face." Evans moved the discussion toward the rest of the team, saying "I love my teammates, love my coaches, and I'm just enjoying my last bits of baseball that I can play."
When asked about his recruitment and what brought the Acworth native down to Statesboro, he laughed a little bit as he recounted the memory. "Honestly, Georgia Southern was my first offer and I took it right there," he said with that aforementioned smile on his face. "The coaches showed a lot of interest in me and they believed that I could play here. That belief they had in me just kind of sealed the deal. I wanted to play baseball at a place where I knew the coaches cared about me. I liked the campus and it seemed like a good fit, and I knew they were talking to JP Tighe too, who I knew, so that helped having Tighe come down because I played against him my whole life."
"It just made the most sense," he ended off his thoughts with. "How could I not come here?"
With the transfer portal affecting collegiate athletics greatly, a lot of people might leave a school if they aren't seeing much playing time. Evans, however, knew good things would come if he stayed in Statesboro. "I had to look myself in the mirror and say right now, I'm not playing at a level where I'm satisfied, and I knew I was not playing for a good reason," he said when asked what drove him to stay. "I knew I had to grow and get better, and I knew I would have to buy into the process. I love this team, my teammates, and the coaches, so it did not make any sense to leave when I could just focus on myself and get better, and find other ways to help the team when I'm not playing."
Continuing on, he said that "Coach and I believed that I would have some good karma staying in the system. I talked with my family a lot, along with travel ball coaches, and everyone told me to stick with it. I just felt like I needed to stay. There's no other place I'd be happier at."
When asked about some of the lessons that have been instilled on him during his time as an Eagle, or lessons that he has learned himself, a big one that stood out was to never take the game for granted. "After starting my whole freshman year, I never thought that I would be benched in my career. It happened, so I grew a lot from it, and it made me into who I am today. I grew a lot as a person and a player, and I learned to never take it for granted. You never know when your next opportunity is going to be."
Continuing from that thought, he also said "Never give up on the process. You just keep work hard and be a good teammate and good things will come your way. Focus on other ways you can help the team like being a good teammate, doing what is asked of you, and work hard."
When asked what he wants to accomplish with this team, Evans gave a very simple but strong answer. "Just finish together and give it all we've got. We have to give it all that we have because for some of us, its all we have left in baseball, and we have a few more games left to play. Seeing the team come together down the stretch is what I'd like to see."
You can catch Evans and the rest of the Georgia Southern baseball team this week for four final home games, starting tonight (Tuesday, May 16) against Jacksonville. From Thursday, May 18, to Saturday, May 20, the Eagles will host JMU, with Saturday being the team's Senior Day celebration.
To listen to more from Evans, you can hear his interview with Danny Reed on the latest episode of the Inside Eagle Nation podcast, out now on all major podcast platforms.
Evans says he's a simple guy and there's not a whole lot to him. "I just try to play hard," he said when asked to describe himself and his style of play. "I have fun playing the game and I smile a lot. You'll probably never see me without a smile on my face." Evans moved the discussion toward the rest of the team, saying "I love my teammates, love my coaches, and I'm just enjoying my last bits of baseball that I can play."
When asked about his recruitment and what brought the Acworth native down to Statesboro, he laughed a little bit as he recounted the memory. "Honestly, Georgia Southern was my first offer and I took it right there," he said with that aforementioned smile on his face. "The coaches showed a lot of interest in me and they believed that I could play here. That belief they had in me just kind of sealed the deal. I wanted to play baseball at a place where I knew the coaches cared about me. I liked the campus and it seemed like a good fit, and I knew they were talking to JP Tighe too, who I knew, so that helped having Tighe come down because I played against him my whole life."
"It just made the most sense," he ended off his thoughts with. "How could I not come here?"
With the transfer portal affecting collegiate athletics greatly, a lot of people might leave a school if they aren't seeing much playing time. Evans, however, knew good things would come if he stayed in Statesboro. "I had to look myself in the mirror and say right now, I'm not playing at a level where I'm satisfied, and I knew I was not playing for a good reason," he said when asked what drove him to stay. "I knew I had to grow and get better, and I knew I would have to buy into the process. I love this team, my teammates, and the coaches, so it did not make any sense to leave when I could just focus on myself and get better, and find other ways to help the team when I'm not playing."
Continuing on, he said that "Coach and I believed that I would have some good karma staying in the system. I talked with my family a lot, along with travel ball coaches, and everyone told me to stick with it. I just felt like I needed to stay. There's no other place I'd be happier at."
When asked about some of the lessons that have been instilled on him during his time as an Eagle, or lessons that he has learned himself, a big one that stood out was to never take the game for granted. "After starting my whole freshman year, I never thought that I would be benched in my career. It happened, so I grew a lot from it, and it made me into who I am today. I grew a lot as a person and a player, and I learned to never take it for granted. You never know when your next opportunity is going to be."
Continuing from that thought, he also said "Never give up on the process. You just keep work hard and be a good teammate and good things will come your way. Focus on other ways you can help the team like being a good teammate, doing what is asked of you, and work hard."
When asked what he wants to accomplish with this team, Evans gave a very simple but strong answer. "Just finish together and give it all we've got. We have to give it all that we have because for some of us, its all we have left in baseball, and we have a few more games left to play. Seeing the team come together down the stretch is what I'd like to see."
You can catch Evans and the rest of the Georgia Southern baseball team this week for four final home games, starting tonight (Tuesday, May 16) against Jacksonville. From Thursday, May 18, to Saturday, May 20, the Eagles will host JMU, with Saturday being the team's Senior Day celebration.
To listen to more from Evans, you can hear his interview with Danny Reed on the latest episode of the Inside Eagle Nation podcast, out now on all major podcast platforms.
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