BY IVAN SANDERS

STAR STAFF

ivan.sanders@elizabethton.com

A broken leg was not how Evan Perkins envisioned his career as an Elizabethton Cyclone to have come to an end but sometimes the end is sometimes just a beginning as Perkins inked to continue playing baseball as a Walters State Senator.

The fact that former teammate Michael Robinson and the Senators are playing for a World Series has exponentially increased Perkins desire to become a contributing part of the Senators team.

“It feels pretty good,” said Perkins about his signing. “They are an excellent program and are in the JUCO World Series right now and they are doing really good— I am really excited to go there.

“I took a visit down there during the season and it just felt like home there. The coaches were really good to me and treated me like family. It just feels like a perfect fit for me.”

Walters State has consistently produced players who have landed in some prestigious collegiate teams beyond the two-year experience at the Morristown college.

Playing for the Senators gives Perkins the opportunity to be seen by some of the best.

Perkins had this to say about the opportunities that lie ahead saying, “That’s one of the reason’s that I want to go there is because they get people to where they want to go after that two-year program. That’s the main reason I want to go there.”

His high school coach echoed the same sentiments.

“Obviously, it’s an opportunity to get seen by the best colleges in the country and I know that Evan will fit right in with his skill level and knowledge of the game and the fact that he can catch and play infield, they are going to find a place for him to fit in,” said Perkins high school coach Ryan Presnell.

“As evidenced by the recent success of Michael Robinson, we know that Evan is the kind of player that can go down there to what is basically one of the powerhouse JUCO’s in the country and do work.”

Perkins has proved what type of athlete throughout his high school career playing all three major sports offered for boys at the school.

This season, he was part of the football, basketball, and baseball teams that swept the Science Hill Hilltoppers for the first time in all three sports in the same season.

It goes to show the competitive nature of the catcher/infielder.

“The guy has been a contributor for four years and he has bought into what we have been trying to do around here,” Presnell went on to add. “To have the success we have had over the last four years, we have had to do some crazy things at times and he has been there for all of it.

“Definitely a guy that bought in and definitely a guy that produced and definitely a kid that makes you proud of everything that he did in all three sports here.”

Walters State is expected to look at Perkins at both the catcher and infield position.

“They have talked to me about playing both,” Perkins said. “Their catcher is leaving going to ETSU, so I might work a little bit in there and second base some. We will see how it works out.”

With Perkins signing, the Cyclones have sent three baseball players to the collegiate level and it could have been more.

“The crazy thing is we have four seniors this year and three of them are signing to play and Matthew Dailey chose to take another choice in life and he was a Mr. Baseball finalist,” Presnell stated.

“It just goes to show what we are doing with this program and what these young men have built and what a lot of these guys are capable of.”

Perkins went on to add that the job Presnell has done as the head coach has had more far-reaching experiences aside from the sport of baseball.

“He is amazing. He has not only taught me how to be a good baseball player, but he has taught me how to be a man. He is just a great guy all around,” Perkins said about Presnell.