Abraham Aims for Success at Trinity College

Now that his fine high school baseball career is officially in the books Evan Abraham can finally focus his mind and energy on the road ahead--and that is precisely what he plans to do.

The Brentwood School varsity team went from worst to first this season thanks in large part to the key contributions of its co-captain, a lifelong Palisadian who grew up playing in the Palisades Pony Baseball Association. 

Abraham's steady play in the field, on the mound and at the plate have earned him All-League first team honors for the second straight season and helped the Eagles to an 18-3 record and into the quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section Division 6 playoffs. 

"I'm proud of my team and the way we've played," Abraham said. "We really came together throughout the season and everyone played a part in our success."  

As a senior pitcher and shortstop, Abraham won his team's Most Valuable Player Award and made the Delphic League first team after batting .367 and slugging .667 with 22 hits, 27 RBIs, 19 runs and nine stolen bases. On the mound, he posted an 8-2 record with a 2.88 earned run average and 67 strikeouts in 56 innings pitched. 

"Evan was the sparkplug for our offense and defense and he has a bright future at the next level," Brentwood Coach Greg Fowble said. "He has matured quite a bit and become a leader. He has definitely been a clutch hitter."

Abraham's leadership was never more evident than on Senior Day against rival Windward on May 12--a game the Eagles needed to win to finish undefeated in league and clinch the outright title. He had a double, three RBIs, a stolen base, two runs and pitched a one-hitter with four strikeouts in an 11-1 victory.

In April, Abraham threw 12 strikeouts in a five-inning shutout of Kilpatrick. The right-hander's arsenal is made of four pitches--a fastball, changeup, curve and fork ball. 

"I've worked hard this year to develop all of my pitches, especially the split-finger fastball," Abraham said. "A key to being a winning pitcher is learning to trust your stuff."

Abraham began playing tee-ball at the age of five and played in the PPBA from Pinto through Pony, winning the World Series as an 8-year-old with the Red Sox, playing for the Bronco All-Star squad that placed 13th in Cooperstown, New York, and winning the West LA League as a 14-year-old with Pali Blue. He has honed his skills further the last three years on his Playa Vista Orioles club team. 

A four-year varsity player, Abraham was a shortstop and relief pitcher as a ninth-grader and became the starting shortstop as a 10th-grader. The Eagles' first baseman during Evan's first two years with the program was his older brother Michael, now a sophomore at Vanderbilt.

Abraham was a first-team All-Alpha League pick as a junior and was named Most Valuable Player of the Mike Morrow Tournament in San Diego, batting .666 with nine RBIs and pitching a complete game with nine strikeouts in the Division 1A final, an 11-6 victory over Tri-City Christian.

"I've learned a lot here [at Brentwood] and there's so much I'm going to remember," he said. "It's gone by so fast."

Now Abraham is headed for Hartford, Connecticut to play ball for Trinity College, which posted an NCAA-best record of 45-1 on its way to capturing the Division III national championship in 2008. Trinity coaches took notice of Abraham during a Team 1 West Showcase at Vanguard University. 

"I made my recruiting visit and I really liked it," said Abraham, who attended Carlthorp Elementary School in Santa Monica before switching to Brentwood. "It's going to be an adjustment but I should see some innings. I think this is the best option for me academically and athletically and I'm looking forward to it." 

Abraham is a Palisadian through and through. His father Steve lives in the Highlands and his mother Leslie resides in the Riviera neighborhood. Evan has a four-year-old sister Sadie and three younger brothers who are following in his footsteps. Ten-year-olds Aaron and Hunter both play in the PPBA Mustang Division (Hunter's Cardinals even faced Aaron's Orioles in the first round of the playoffs this season) and 6-year-old Caden plays in the Santa Monica Little League's 7-8 division.