ANN ARBOR – Jon Evans has been around Ann Arbor Skyline baseball players and knows the talent is there within the program.
Now, the Redford native is hopeful he can build the program into a Division 1 power after being named the head coach of the varsity team last week.
Evans worked at the Michigan Sports Academy baseball and softball training facility in Saline for the past five years where he developed relationships with Skyline players.
It was there when Evans realized the potential the Eagles could have as a team and decided to take on the challenge.
Evans will now get the chance to build on those relationships and help Skyline take the next step as a program.
“I’ve yet to have a family that I don’t like from Skyline,” Evans told MLive Tuesday afternoon. “Every kid is great, they work hard, they’re good kids, they come from good families and they’re good people. That makes me more excited than anything to get to work with a bunch of good families and good kids.”
Evans never had his sights set on becoming a baseball coach.
After graduating from Garden City High School, Evans then moved on to play college baseball at Defiance College in Ohio, but injuries forced him to step away from the playing field.
He then transferred back to Eastern Michigan University but was uncertain his future with the game he loved.
It wasn’t until Evans began coaching the junior varsity team at his former high school Garden City where he developed a love for coaching.
“Before that, it’d been a thought in my head, but I never really thought it’d actually happen until then,” Evans said.
Evans became the varsity coach at Garden City in 2019, leading the team to a 23-6-1 record. He also served as the coach in 2020, but the team was unable to play due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
After the Skyline position became open, Evans applied and was selected to be the new leader of the team, which has already paid dividends.
“It was a blessing,” Evans said of earning the position. "It’s a big school, it’s got a good, solid foundation for the program, coach (Frank) Garcia did a great job, and the parent support is unbelievable.
“The amount of parents that have already reached out and offered to help with the transition and get me up to speed on everything that’s been going on with the program has been unbelievable. I’ve been blown away with all the support I’ve gotten.”
The Ann Arbor area has had success in baseball with Saline and Ann Arbor Pioneer each winning state titles and having multiple state finals appearances in the past two decades.
While the Eagles haven’t had the same success as those programs, Evans said he believes the program isn’t far off.
“There’s a lot of potential at Skyline,” he said. "Having coached in the area a very long time at MSA, even if I haven’t worked with every kid from Saline or Pioneer, I’ve seen a lot of the kids play and I really don’t think there’s a big talent gap between those schools and Skyline.
“If we work hard and don’t view ourselves as that underdog, I think there’s a real good chance for success as long as we put that work in.”
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October 28, 2020 at 07:00PM
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New Skyline baseball coach aims to build program into traditional power - MLive.com
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