Former Northern Essex star raising profile and catching eyes
Ex-Knight Evan Glew has continued the upward trajectory of his pitching career. The 22 year old southpaw from North Andover has done well enough to even garner some attention from big league scouts. None of this seemed remotely possible just 5 years ago. That’s because, in his fourth year of high school, Glew had yet to make his high school debut. Grades and attendance had made him academically ineligible for three years running. A switch to night school better accommodated his academics and the absence of the migraines that once plagued him allowed for an improvement in his attendance.
Getting on the field proved to be the hard part for Glew, as evident by his performance in his debut season for the North Andover Knights. He was a strikeout machine from the start and only got better as his first season progressed, leading the North Andover Scarlet Knights to state semi-finals.Then a 5th year of high school was granted by MIAA. Once again he dominated, going 10-1 with a E.R.A of 1.29 and compiling over a 100 strikeouts, according to records kept by former teammate Maxwell Guertin. He seemed to prove that the previous year was no fluke and his arm was the real deal.
Still, there were concerns about his ability to handle a college course load after a turbulent academic career in high school. No big schools wanted to risk a scholarship on someone that had only two years of high school ball to his name. Some would have pouted and pitied themselves. But not Glew. He used the rejection for fuel.
In 2016 he enrolled at our fine institution, Northern Essex Community College. His profile continued to grow as he continued to pitch with a chip on his shoulder. He was electric going 9-1 with a ERA of 2.63 and compiling 79 strikeouts in 72 innings pitched. In addition he also recorded 4 saves while pitching in relief, according to the Northern Essex Athletics page. He headlined a dominant pitching staff for the knights as they went all the way to the national finals, before succumbing to perennial contender Texas-Tyler after a valiant battle.
He continued to excite and impress during his second go around at Northern Essex. They seemed to be heading for another finals appearance before being disqualified for a fight that took place during the Regional Finals. It was a sour note for Glew to end his NECC career on, but he was ready to move on to the next stage of his career.
In addition to his on the field dominance, he had also continued his development as an academic weapon during his 2 years at Northern Essex, so well that he not only received an athletic scholarship, but also a partial academic one. As a Franklin Pierce Raven Glew compiled a 5-1 record with an E.R.A of 3.33 and 42 strikeouts in his first season for the Division II powerhouse, per their athletic site.He looks to improve upon that and show that he belongs at the next level during his senior year.
When pondering his future he had had this to say: “Baseball is what I love and know best. It has opened many doors in life for me and I’m very thankful for the game. I plan on playing or coaching for as long as I can.” There started to be whispers of him getting a shot to make a career out of this game. He always knew that he would. The only question was: Would it be as a player or as a coach? It’s starting to look like the playing part is going to last some time after college.
He showed improved velocity, with his fastball starting to touch the low 90s for the first time consistently. Add in a nastily unique 12-7 circle change, and it starts to be more believable that he has legitimate big league stuff. He still has long odds to be able to pitch for a living. There’s no sugarcoating that. He also had long odds to get to where he is now. So succeeding even further would just be keeping with the precedence already set.
