The latest student-athlete to join Surry Community College’s baseball program measures up to the school’s Knight mascot quite well.
Mount Airy senior Evan Dorsett has not only honed his craft since childhood, but he’s also been a fearless leader on the battlefield (or rather the baseball field) and is the son of royalty.
His father, Jason, is considered royalty as both the current principal of Mount Airy High School and as a former college baseball player with the Methodist Monarchs. Evan inherited his father’s love for the game and will follow in Jason’s footsteps as a college athlete when he joins the Surry Community College Knights next season.
“Starting off at tee ball, I knew I wanted to play baseball as long as I could,” Evan said. “This is the first step to that.”
In addition to calling him dad, Evan said Jason was also his coach, biggest fan and weight room motivator.
“He really put the love of the game in me,” Evan said.
Evan spent his childhood working his way up the baseball ladder. He participated in Cal Ripken Baseball for years. He played with other local standouts such as East Surry seniors Seth Keener and Jefferson Boaz on the Dirtbags. When he got to high school, Evan joined the Carolina Rockies Showcase team based out of Clemmons.
“He’s a great kid with a strong work ethic and the leadership skills that makes everybody else around him better,” said Mount Airy head coach Weston Payne. “He has a bright future.”
Evan’s goal was always to play at the next level, but said that dream began to look more like a reality during the fall of his sophomore year. He developed as both a pitcher and hitter and had, “a great season of travel ball.”
After a year of JV, Evan moved up to varsity for his sophomore season in 2018. Dorsett still managed to make an impact as a sophomore with a number of upperclassmen pitchers on the team.
Mount Airy finished the 2018 season 11-10. This included just the school’s third playoff win of the decade, an 8-6 upset of South Stanly. The Bears were eliminated by the eventual state champions, Murphy.
Evan hit a bump in the road between his sophomore and junior seasons. Somewhere along the way he developed an elbow injury.
“That injury lingered for almost an entire year,” he said.
He had his work cut out for him as the Bears endured a tough gauntlet of competition in 2019. Of 94 teams in the 1A division, Mount Airy had the toughest strength of schedule according to MaxPreps. This included non-conference games against 3A North Forsyth, 2A Wilkes Central and a slew of Western Piedmont 2A Conference teams like North Surry, Surry Central and West Stokes.
In addition to the rough nonconference schedule, the Granite Bears had to contend with two conference teams ranked in the top 10 in the 1A division (No. 2 East Surry and No. 9 South Stokes) and another inside the top 20 (No. 18 North Stokes). The young Bears showed resilience and reached the playoffs as the No. 19 seed in the west.
“He was very vital to our program success these past two years,” Payne said. “He brought a strong presence in the outfield, was a key cog in the middle of our order, and also brought a strong leadership presence within a young team.”
Evan and the Bears went on the road and upset No. 14 Mountain Island Charter in the first round. Then, Mount Airy shocked the world by upsetting a tournament favorite, No. 3 Cherryville, on the road. Cherryville won 19 games that year and held a perfect 15-0 conference record.
The Bears miraculous run to the Sweet 16 ended at the hands of Queen’s Grant, a 1A charter school.
Evan ended up having his elbow surgically repaired. It was a long road to recovery, one which he was told he might never be the same after. But he carefully rehabbed it and was able to return to 100 percent. So much so that he feels comfortable moving forward pitching and hitting.
Overcoming his injury made the arrival of the 2020 season, his senior season, that much sweeter. The Bears thought they had something special going into this season and that was confirmed after the first week.
“We expected a strong season for him this spring,” Payne said. “He had worked extremely hard during the fall/winter to put himself in position to build upon last season, and help carry this team to high expectations for us.”
The season began on March 2 with an 11-0 mercy rule win over Elkin. Dorsett was walked twice and singled once in three plate appearances. On the mound, he and Jackson Ferris combined for a shutout. The Bears and Elks met again four days later and Mount Airy won 12-5.
The next night, Mount Airy took on its toughest challenge to date at West Wilkes High School. West Wilkes’ Sixth Annual Blackhawk Baseball Early Season Test (BEST for short).
The Blackhawks had never lost in the BEST tournament coming into 2020. In what Evan called a program-defining win, the Bears defeated the 2A baseball powerhouse 5-4. Evan didn’t pitch that game, but he did have two hits. This includes an RBI double in the third inning
“It was the beginning of the season but it felt like a playoff game,” Evan said. “Mount Airy hasn’t usually been a baseball school, but we wanted to make it that. To go out and beat West Wilkes at home was huge. That win and the Cherryville win were the two biggest highlights of my career.”
Mount Airy went on to defeat Surry Central the next week, 6-4. Dorsett pitched 3.2 innings and had seven strikeouts. The Bears dropped their first game of the year to North Surry later that week.
That would unfortunately be his final high school game. Millions of high school student-athletes nationwide, Evan included, were left wanting more after COVID-19 put an end to the spring sports season.
“I absolutely love not being at school — it’s like a long summer. But it kills me not being there playing baseball. We returned so many starters and the younger guys were all a year better. We were definitely thinking we could win conference and have a lot better showing in the playoffs,” he said.
He may still have more chances to play with his lifelong teammates in a showcase game during the summer. After signing a National Letter of Intent, Evan said players usually don’t compete in showcase ball. However, Evan said that, due to COVID-19 cancelling most of the spring high school season, coaches of the Rockies as well as other showcase teams around the state are hoping to set up a few tournaments over the summer for seniors.
Evan doesn’t have a set plan for his life after Surry Community College. He mentioned studying Meteorology at Virginia Tech, where he was accepted but chose to attend Surry. He’s open to playing baseball after SCC, but wants to wait and see how everything progresses over the next two years.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com