John Raffel
Sports Scene
Evan Hill will eventually put on the baseball uniform of the Michigan Wolverines, and he hopes to help make the Maize & Blue a force in the Big Ten Conference.
But this spring, the senior left-hander wants to help his Mount Pleasant Oilers contend in the June state championship run.
Coming into the season, Hill was ranked third in the state of Michigan by Michigan Baseball Prospects and eighth by Perfect Game.
Hill has been with the Oilers since his sophomore season, and that year, he was 11-1 with a 0.72 ERA and was named a first team all-state honoree. That season ended when he lost to Grand Rapids West Catholic 2-1 in the 2010 semifinals in eight innings.
He was 4-1 with a 1.70 ERA his junior year before a broken leg cut his season short. He threw a no-hitter against Midland Dow High School and also hit .361.
The broken right leg was sustained early in the season. “I was on a suicide squeeze, so my leg was crushed at the plate,” he said. “I pitched in the state semifinals and lost 1-0. I think I’m 100 percent healed from that.”
In the 1-0 loss to Grand Rapids Christian in the 2011 Division 2 state semifinals, Hill went all seven innings. He allowed one earned run on six hits and two walks and fanned six batters.
Hill played summer baseball for the Diamonds and the CM Stars, helping the latter capture the Palomino World Series in August.
He is off to a promising start for the 2012 high school season.
“I’m under a lot of pressure, with a lot of scouts watching me,” he said. “I just have to keep my head focused. I’m better than what I’ve been doing. I threw against Beal City six innings and we won 4-3. I gave up two earned runs. They’re a good team, but I should have thrown better against them. I couldn’t find my offspeed pitches. I was throwing a lot of fastballs. I have to find my offspeed and I’ll be back to where I want to be.”
If he’s not pitching, Hill plays first base for the Oilers.
Michigan head coach Rich Maloney is looking forward to having Hill join his program.
“Evan’s a great kid from a great family,” Maloney said. “They’ve been very academic. His mom and dad work at Central Michigan University and care about the value of the education. With Evan being such a good student, and his brother goes to the University of Michigan. . . it was a good fit in that regard.”
Hill signed a national letter of intent with Michigan last spring to be a pitcher. “I committed verbally the summer of my sophomore going into my junior year. When we lost the pitching coach at Michigan, I was in a dilemma. They picked up Steve Merriman whom I had worked with. I decided it was Michigan because my brother goes there and it’s close to home. I like the campus. It’s really nice. We have a really good recruiting class, and that helps.”
“From a baseball prospective, he has a nice loose arm and a loose body,” Maloney said. “We’ve had success with guys who have future potential. He’s gritty on the mound. We see him as having a immediate contribution to our program. He fits the bill athletically and academically.”
Hill hit .430 as a sophomore. It went down in his abbreviated junior season.
“This year, I haven’t had the greatest start, I’ve gotten walked a lot,” he said, adding that he hopes to hit in the 400s. “I’ve always been a really good hitter. I never was thinking I’d be the greatest pitcher. I wanted to play outfield. After pitching, my arm would get a little sore, so I started playing first base.”
Hill considers himself to be a contact hitter.
“I hit in the four spot, but I’ve never had a home run in my high school career,” he said. “But I had one of the best slugging percentages on my team as a sophomore. I hit a lot of doubles.”
As a pitcher, Hill figures his strength is his mechanics and the smoothness of his delivery.
“It helps that I’m left-handed and I can throw hard enough to keep hitters off balanced,” he said. “When I can come with a changeup and they think it’s a fastball and they swing right through it. I come back with the fastball and they buckle. I have a good curveball, but it depends if I can spot it or not.”
That factor is what attracted Michigan to Hill. “Adding another left-handed pitcher to our staff, which we have a limited number on, is important to our program. He’s a big part in what we’re trying to do,” Maloney said.
A versatile athlete, Hill also played ice hockey and helped Mount Pleasant to the 2010 state semifinals.
He’s had some pro scouts watching him play on the ball diamond this spring.
“I believe I’ll get drafted, but I don’t have any interest going in the draft unless I get drafted higher than where I’m at now,” Hill said. “I’d have to paid very well now because Michigan is offering me a good education. I plan on going to college unless someone can really persuade me with an offer. You have to stay three years in college once you make that decision.”
But for Hill, the focus right now is trying to help Mount Pleasant enjoy a memorable high school baseball season.
“I think we’re very good,” he said. ‘”We’ve been improving so much in practice. We have so much depth on our team at every position. It’s helped us in every doubleheader. We’re tight knit, since this group has played together eight years. We know each other well. We know if we stay positive we can do some good things.”