Academy’s Lauren Evans posts eye-popping stats
By Kyle LoJacono
Jerry English has spent half a lifetime coaching high school softball.
The veteran skipper, who is in his second season leading the Academy at the Lakes program, has seen many talented players in his 30 years coaching, but junior shortstop Lauren Evans is different from anyone else.
“If you put a list of the 10 things you look for in a good player, some of the best have eight checkmarks or seven,” English said. “Most have some weakness. Lauren has a perfect score.”
The 6-foot, University of South Florida commit started playing T-ball and baseball at age 7 because they didn’t have a softball program at the Land O’ Lakes Little League at the time.
“Then I moved to softball,” Evans said. “I had to pick between soccer, basketball or softball, and I chose softball and stuck with it.”
The decision has worked out of Evans, who is hitting .600 with a .694 on-base percentage, 24 runs, 15 RBI and 11 steals this season. She uses a simple mindset when stepping to the plate.
“I always tell myself don’t focus on numbers, don’t focus on stats, just try to put the ball in play and make hard contact and drive the ball,” Evans said. “That’s really what I’m thinking every time I’m up. I don’t try to think it would be really nice to hit a home run here because we’d win the game. I just think get on base and let the team do what we know how to do.”
The opposition has taken notice of Evans eye-popping numbers, so she rarely gets good pitches to hit. Pitchers will often intentionally walk her multiple times in a game as to not risk the slugger’s power.
“Either way is fine for me if I walk or hit it,” Evans said. “I’m still getting on base. I don’t really mind. Sometimes it does bother me because I do like to hit, but if they walk me I can’t really do anything about it.”
She did enter the season feeling some stress after posting a .652 batting average with 44 RBI, 33 runs and four home runs as a sophomore.
“Last year was the best year I’ve ever had,” Evans said. “There’s a lot of pressure. It’s still a team, but we all rely on each other. So there’s pressure to do well and stay up there, but there’s pressure from the school as well because so many teams are doing so well. Hopefully we can keep that up.”
—Follow Kyle LoJacono on Twitter: @Kyle_Laker
