Bill Everly a pioneer in Western Pennsylvania baseball
Carmichaels鈥� Bill Everly is another piece of thread running through the tapestry of Western Pennsylvania baseball.
Everly was a crackerjack right-handed pitcher for Carmichaels High School in early 1990s. He also played basketball and was on the golf team.
Baseball was the sport that he was known for.
鈥淎t the time baseball was the one that I excelled at the most, which made it the most enjoyable,鈥� Everly stated. 鈥淏aseball was the one that got the most focus and attention, but I had a passion for basketball, particularly in basketball season. Basketball was something I played a lot, we would play every night all summer. I still love to play golf to this day.
鈥淚 was an athlete who played golf, I played because at the time I was going to move up from the ninth grade football team I was so small that I would have got killed. As a sophomore I was probably 5-foot-7 and 130 pounds. Golf was something to give me a sport to play in the fall. We had a successful golf team my senior year we tied for the section title with Geibel.鈥�
Basketball was a sport that Everly also enjoyed and the Mikes had a very competitive team.
鈥淚 was fortunate to be on a team that had some good players,鈥� Everly recalled. 鈥淲e had a good team, Chad Lechner was on the team and he and I graduated together and he was the star of the team. I did not play as a sophomore. I broke my ankle in the third game of the season, but I was sixth man off the bench as a junior and got a good bit of time. Then I was the starting point guard as a senior.鈥�
In 1991-92 the Mikes posted a record of 14-8. The following season in 1992-93 they finished 15-9 with a trip to the WPIAL playoffs. Carmichaels beat Riverview in the playoffs 71-53 and then lost to Duquesne 64-38.
Everly had a great relationship with Carmichaels basketball coach Don Williams.
鈥淗e is fantastic,鈥� Everly gushed. 鈥淗e is a role model in my life, he is someone that I learned a lot about playing as a teammate, about self discipline, about pushing yourself beyond where you thought you could go. He was an instrumental coach in my life.鈥�
Everly was a key contributor on some outstanding Carmichaels baseball squads.
鈥淲e had a good group of guys that played together from King Coal Little League all the way up through high school and legion ball,鈥� Everly said. 鈥淲e played well together, we all got along pretty well and we had some talented players. Several guys on the 1993 team went on to play college baseball . Our catcher Tom Ricco was tremendous, he was my catcher from the time I was nine years old.鈥�
The Mikes captured three section titles in the four years that Everly played. In 1992 and 1993 Carmichaels was 26-4 and they were 23-1 in Section 17. In 1993 the Mikes were ousted from the WPIAL playoffs in the semifinals when they lost to Canevin on a controversial call.
鈥淚 remember it well,鈥� Everly stated. 鈥淣obody knew what happened, the ball ended up in the spectators in the lawn chair section and it wasn鈥檛 called out of play and it was a troublesome situation. They called it in play. I was on the mound when it happened. That was a tough one because I pitched our opening playoff game and I threw against Charleroi and I had a no hitter through eight and a third innings, they were seven inning games and after seven the score was tied, we had made a couple of errors and it was a 2-2 tie. I finished nine innings without giving up an earned run. The rules stipulated you were only allowed to throw nine innings, I went and played shortstop, we won that game in 12 innings. Against Canevin it was a 1-1 game through six innings and I had to come out of the game because the rule was you were only allowed to throw 15 innings in a calendar week. They scored in the seventh to win 2-1.鈥�
Everly 鈥� who only threw about 80 mph 鈥� possessed an outstanding curve ball. His high school career record was 12-0, with 1.44 ERA. His career batting average for the Mikes was .326.
鈥淚 always had a very good and respectful relationship with baseball coach Tom McCombs,鈥� Everly said. 鈥淗e was also my golf coach at Carmichaels.鈥�
When Everly graduated from Carmichaels in 1993 he sifted through a few college offers.
鈥淎t that time in my life I was 100 percent sure that I wanted to be an orthopedic surgeon,鈥� Everly explained. 鈥淚 was first and foremost looking at schools that I thought were kind of top tier academically that would give me the best chance to get into medical school.
鈥淚 wanted to play baseball, but there were no Division 1 schools looking at me and no Division 2 scholarship offers. I was happy that anybody was interested in me. I was a 5-foot-9 155 pound kid that threw 80 mph. I had good control and I could get people out. I was a pitcher not a thrower. All of the credit goes to my dad, he was my pitching coach from the time I was three.鈥�
West Virginia Wesleyan offered him a scholarship.
鈥淚t was an academic scholarship with a little bit of money for baseball,鈥� Everly stated. 鈥淚 took advantage and worked my way into being the fourth starter in a four man rotation and then as a sophomore I was number two in the rotation and as a junior and senior I was the number one starter.鈥�
Everly was a four-year starter for the Bobcats and was a force on the WVWC pitching staff that garnered plenty of national recognition. He was one of the leaders on the 1996 and 1997 West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship teams.
In 1997, Everly claimed the WVIAC Pitcher of the Year award and was named first team All-WVIAC. Everly had an earned runs average of 2.50, which was the 19th lowest ERA across the country that season. His career record for the Bobcats was 22-10 with a 2.87 ERA; he recorded 22 complete games in 36 starts. Everly was inducted into the West Virginia Wesleyan College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2013.
鈥淐ontrol was the magic bullet fast forwarding to when I hit a growth spurt between my freshman and sophomore year in college,鈥� Everly said. 鈥淎ll of the sudden I went from throwing 81 mph to 91. Now you have a guy who is throwing 91 who knows how to pitch, I have a good breaking ball and I have good command. That蘑菇视频 what put all together late for me. I graduated high school at 5-9 and I graduated college at 6-1.鈥�
After his outstanding career at WVWC, Everly was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 26th round of the 1997 Major League Baseball Draft.
鈥淚 was actually playing for the Johnstown Steel in the Frontier League when I heard I got drafted,鈥� Everly remembers. 鈥淲e were practicing and one of my coaches called me into his office and told me my dad was on the phone. I picked up to talk to my dad and he asked me how I liked Dodger Blue.
鈥淚 kind of laughed it off, but the next thing I knew I was saying goodbye to my teammates and heading back home to talk to the Dodgers people. It was an unbelievable feeling to get drafted and nothing that I could have ever imagined happening to me. When I was a freshman in high school, I just wanted to play baseball, win titles and have fun with my friends.鈥�
While with the Dodgers organization, Everly tallied a 19-19 record in 189 appearances. The righty logged 306 innings with 189 strikeouts and 54 saves. Through the minors, Everly made the transition from starting pitcher to closer. In 1999 as a member of the San Bernardino Stampede (Class A+), Everly tied the California League and Dodgers Minor League record for saves in a season with 34. He was a California League All Star and won the Rolaids National Minor League Relief Man Award.
鈥淚t was a tough transition to be a reliever, but I was ready for it,鈥� Everly said. 鈥淭he biggest difference was preparation time. As a starter, you had a couple of days to think about your next start, but as a reliever, you never know when you are going to get the call to be in the game. You always have to be ready and I really thrived in those pressure situations.鈥�
Everly retired from baseball after the 2000 season.
鈥淚t came to an end after I finished the season in A ball,鈥� Everly recalled. 鈥淭hey told me they were going to take their money and invest it in a younger guy, I was 26-years old. I was satisfied with my career and I had no regrets鈥�
Everly, 41, resides in Atglen, Pa., with his wife of 19 years Jennifer and their two sons, Christopher and AJ. He has worked for A. Duie Pyle a Northeast regional trucking company for 19 years.
George Von Benko蘑菇视频 鈥淢emory Lane鈥� column appears in the Monday editions of the 蘑菇视频. He also hosts a sports talk show on WMBS-AM radio from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.