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New Head Coach Evan Teter Shapes Bright Future for SHHS Baseball

Photo by Sky Chappell – The new varsity head coach Evan Teter.

The new addition to the Sweet Home Baseball team, head coach Evan Teter, isn’t all that new.

Residing in Sweet Home until he was five, Teter spent most of his childhood years in Florence, Oregon.

Teter spent his early years playing the very sport he’s now coaching. Playing all the way through little league, Teter also played for the varsity team all four years at Siuslaw High School. Junior year however, Teter faced a knee injury, which prevented him from playing. This didn’t stop him, as he used this year to gain coaching experience as a varsity assistant coach.

“I had a roster spot at George Fox University to play college ball. [I] had a second knee injury right at the end of my senior year, and never recovered in time. But coaching has always been my dream,” Teter said, “This spot that I’m at now, that was the goal.”

“I am a Christian. That’s a big part of my life. When I was looking for jobs in college, I was planning on sticking around Newberg. But I saw an opening here for some P.E jobs. I ended up attending a job fair that Sweet Home was at, and they hired me on the spot,” Teter said. He mentioned that at first he didn’t accept the job. For him, he spent a lot of time in prayer stating, “If this is where I’m supposed to be, that the Lord leads me here. I came here, and have never felt this much peace over a decision.”

The very day Teter got the job, he emailed former head coach John Best stating, “I’m coming, anything you need from me, I’m there.” Teter spent last season in a more than familiar spot, being the varsity assistant coach, before being fully hired in November to take the head coach position.

“I think having experience in the program last year, I saw some things that worked, I saw some things that didn’t work. How I do things this year could be adjusted next year if it doesn’t work, but I love these guys,” Teter said. “The big thing is that this is their thing. We’re here to help them, but this is their team and that’s something we’ve talked about.”

With a rich program history, Teter understands that coming off of a one-win season is not living up to what the program once was, but he stated, “Success this year is going to look different than it has in the past. After this year, our goal is to be on that trajectory to get back to what Sweet Home is used to.”

Teter touched on last year’s season (1-20) stating, “When we set goals, I don’t think we were the most realistic with them. So when we didn’t meet them, we got frustrated. I think realistically, for this team, we can be successful now.” Although the team is “rebuilding” losing a head coach, and eight seniors, Teter is more than optimistic about the season.

Along with bringing stability, developing routines, and developing traditions that can be carried on for a while, Teter said, “I’m a younger guy, so this is something I can see myself doing for a long period of time.” Athletic director Dan Tow praised Teter for being a “young guy with a lot of energy that loves to be involved.”

Teter commented on another goal of his, stating, “A really big focus for me is going to be helping develop the youth programs. I recognize that is a huge role in our success up here. All our varsity guys are going to be at the JBO tryouts.”

Along with coaches attending the tryouts as well, Teter is hoping this allows connections between the athletes and coaches to be built early, so that the incoming athletes already have relationships to help build trust off of.

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