By STEVE KRAH
Evan Etchison pitches for Grace College in Winona Lake, Ind., during the school year.
This summer, the 21-year-old right-hander is taking the mound and making memories more than 3,600 miles away as member of the five-team Alaska Baseball League’s Chugiak-Eagle River Chinooks.
“It’s amazing. The views are unreal. The teammates, coaching and Athletes in Action staff are amazing,” says Etchison. “I’m so excited for the rest of the summer. It’s been so fun.”
Etchison, who helped Daleville (Ind.) High School to an Indiana High School Athletic Association Class 1A state title in 2018 and graduated from the Delaware County school in 2020 (a season lost to the COVID-19 pandemic), pitched for the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League’s Xenia (Ohio) Scouts in 2022.
That came about through a connection between Grace head coach Ryan Roth, general manager Jason Lester and field manager Tim Cole.
Like Xenia, Chugiak-Eagle River is affiliated with Athletes In Action — a sports ministry.
When Cole went to lead the team in Alaska and asked Etchison to join him he gladly accepted the invitation.
So far, he has made two mound appearances with four strikeouts in 9 2/3 innings.
A typical day for Etchison begins with a van picking he and teammates up at their host family’s house at around 10:15 a.m. for a gym session at The Alaska Club. There the pitcher can get in a lift and do recovery work if he was on the mound the night before.
Then comes discipleship time when players listen to speakers or share their faith stories.
Next comes a trip to the locker room. If it’s a home game, the players have jobs. They get the field prepared, set up the souvenir shop and set out the signs etc.
Batting practice is two hours before a 6 p.m. game. If the Chinooks are on the road then they go there by van. The farthest drive is about 30 minutes.
Alaska is sometimes called “Land of the Midnight Sun.”
“It’s crazy,” says Etchison. “It think the only time it’s dark is from 1 to 3 a.m. We get home from the game and it feels like it’s (5 p.m.). It’s really almost midnight.
“It definitely took me awhile to get used to it. Our host family is super nice. They provided some blackout curtains for us.”
The Alaska Baseball League uses a unique “sudden death” extra-inning rule.
If a game is tied after nine innings the 10th inning is played as normal.
If it is still tied after that there is a home plate meeting. The home team decides if it wants to hit or play in the field.
The extra inning starts with a runner on first base. If the hitting team score before three outs it wins. If the field team hold the team from scoring it wins.
Says Etchison, “It is an absolutely electric atmosphere because you know someone is winning it that half inning.”
Etchison did not play in the summer of 2021. He worked at a local warehouse and worked out at Grace at night.
“I lost a lot of weight and got in better shape,” says Etchison. “My freshman year we were coming off COVID-19 and I did not have the passion I had in high school. But getting back in a routine and getting after it everyday that summer got me back where I needed to be.
“I found that love and passion for the game again.”
Born and raised in Anderson, Ind., Etchison began pitching with the Jason Stecher-coached Indiana Renegades while still in grade school. He then played for the Indiana Magic, Indiana Eagles and Indiana Prospects. He was with the 18U Prospects in 2020 — the year the COVID-19 pandemic took away his senior season at Daleville.
The Terry Turner-coached Broncos beat University 4-2 in nine innings for the 1A title in 2018. Etchison, then a sophomore, pitched the first seven innings and whiffed nine. He also produced two of his team’s seven hits.
“He just knows the game,” says Etchison, who was a varsity player for Turner from the start of his prep career. “He’s just a great coach. He’ll be straight with you.
“He’s just a great coach.”
During his junior high and high school years, Etchison worked with brothers Michael Earley and Nolan Earley as well as Mike Shirley and Justin Wechsler at The Barn in Lapel, Ind., and played in Shirley’s highs school fall league.
“That’s where I found my love for grinding, working hard and getting better at baseball,” says Etchison.
Also a first baseman in high school, Etchison landed as a pitcher-only at Grace, where he now has two years of remaining eligibility.
“It’s amazing,” says Etchison of playing for Roth. “He’s trying to grow the program which is awesome.”
Roth led the NAIA Crossroads League’s Lancers to a 21-27 record in 2023. That tied the school record for single-season victories.
“What he’s doing is working,” says Etchison. “I can got to him whenever I need to. He listens to me.
“He’ll reason with me. It’s been great.”
Besides head coaching duties, Roth coordinates Lancer hurlers.
“He’s developed my pitching,” says Etchison. “I wanted to get better.
“My first year I added slider and changed my arm mechanics.”
Throwing from a three-quarter overhand arm slot, the 6-foot-2, 235-pound Etchison uses a four-seam fastball, change-up, curveball and slider and sometimes mixes in a two-seamer.
His four-seam topped out at 91 mph at Grace and sat at 86-89.
He throws a “circle” change and 12-to-6 curve.
The righty describes the action on his slider.
“It moves horizontally like a fastball until it gets to the plate then it sweeps or dives,” says Etchison.
In 2023, he made nine mound appearances (all starts) and went 3-0 with two complete games, one shutout, a 4.09 earned run average, 51 stikeouts and 22 walks in 50 2/3 innings. For the second straight year he was named to the all-Crossroads League second team.
In three seasons (2021-23), Etchison has pitched in 36 games (25 starts) and is 7-8 with two saves, 4.56 ERA, 175 K’s and 71 walks in 148 innings.
The Sport Management major and Pre-Law minor has been honored as an NAIA Scholar Athlete in 2022 and 2023.
Evan is the son of Marc and Beth Etchison and older brother of Connor Etchison.
Marc Etchison works at Anderson University and is an assistant football coach at Alexandria-Monroe High School.
Beth Etchison teaches special education at Highland Middle School in Anderson and is a retired volleyball coach. She was head coach at Daleville when Evan was in high school.
Connor Etchison (Alexandra-Monroe Class of 2023) is bound for Grace as a track and field thrower.
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