Brad Evans

Honestly, I am not sure where to begin but I just wanted everyone to know that the baseball community lost a great young man this week, Brad Evans. I will post a link to the article in a public newspaper rather than describing what happened myself because I do not have all the facts.
http://www.fayobserver.com/articles/2010/11/16/1048284?sac=Sports

I would rather focus on paying respects to a young man I had the pleasure of knowing and coaching for two years. Brad played two years with me and Coach Paul Edge on the Carolina Lakemonsters. When I took this past summer off from coaching he played with Coach Ray Allen. He was a switch hitting utility player who played all over the field for us. He always gave me everything he had out on the field. There were weekends where he had participated in a football camp during the week, then attended a baseball workout and then would come play in a tournament. He would go all out as long as he could. I never forced him to play any certain amount of innings. I would just tell him to let me know when he needed a break. He was always honest with me and he would ask to sit when he was out of gas. A few innings later he was begging me to get back in there. He loved baseball. He loved being around the guys. His fellow players loved playing along side him.

Brad played at a small school, Hobbton. Being from a small school with a limited roster Brad often felt the need to try and carry the team on his shoulders. After a few instances of trying to "do too much", Brad and I talked about his approach. I let him know that it was OK to lean on his teammates when needed and to trust that they will pick him up when he needed them. I told him that it was honorable to want to be a leader, stand on your own two feet and to carry more than your fair share so to speak but that he did not have to do it all by himself all the time. After getting comfortable with the team Brad became an awesome teammate.

I did not know Brad well outside of baseball. Because most of these non-school related teams pull players from all over, as coaches, we are not around many of them in their home communities. Certainly we keep in touch via email, workouts, tournaments, etc. but we do not get to see them much outside the world of baseball. What I can say, however, is that when I was around Brad Evans he was an intelligent, respectful, hard-nosed and dedicated young man and a tremendous athlete with unlimited potential in sports and in life. It pains me to know that he will not get the chance to reach that potential.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the family, coaches, teammates and friends of Brad. I have a 17 year old student athlete of my own and I do not know what I would do if I lost him. My world would be destroyed. As a coach and mentor I wish there was something I could have done to prevent this tragedy. As coaches we come in contact with so many young people throughout the years. It is difficult to keep up with them all. But we always want and wish for the best for all of them. We want them to live their dreams. We do all that we can do on a limited basis to help them achieve their baseball goals and try to help them become better men. Although in many ways they are more of a blessing to us than we are to them. I was proud to have coached Brad Evans. Players like Brad are why guys like me have a passion for baseball and a passion for coaching. I don't know what else to say. It's a tragedy and a shame.

 

My heart goes out to his family and I am praying that they will find peace.

 

Our Prayers are with his family, friends and classmates.

 

What a sad situation. My heart goes out to the Evans family. I can't imagine what caused this for a young man that seemed to have everything in control. But I must say, it made me hug my boys this morning

 

This was very sad news when I was told of this. Ken described Brad perfectly in the 1st post. His dad, Dan is a very good man as well, and my heart is breaking thinking of them having to deal with this. I hope they can find peace somehow during this time.

 

Sad news

Thoughts and prayers to the family.

 

Wow-I followed the Lakemonsters around a bit this summer, and although I didnt know Brad, I knew who he was. It truely is sad and a terrible loss, here this kid who had everything going for him on the outside with school and sports, etc- life in general was troubled on the inside. My thoughts and prayers go out to the family, coaches, teammates and friends of Brad.
I can't imagine as a parent of a high school senior myself-having to deal with something like this. Life isnt suppose to deal us situations we cant handle, but sometimes I wonder.

 

My heart goes out to his family. They are in my prayers.

 

Prayers with the family.

and by the way, Hobbton won tonight 35-0. I believe I have adopted them as one of my favorites in the high school playoffs now.