Washington Twp. pitcher Nick Evangelista putting injury behind him

Nick Evangelista couldn't pitch last season.

He still believes he became a better pitcher.

He sat out his junior year at Washington Township with an injury to his right shoulder. He sat and watched as the Minutemen labored through a difficult season, losing a series of close games en route to a 12-14 record.

"That was really bad," Evangelista said. "Just sitting there and watching it happen, and knowing I couldn't help in any way, it was really tough."

Evangelista is back for his senior season.

Not coincidentally, Washington Township is back, too - sitting at No. 6 in The Inquirer preseason Top 25, poised to compete in the Olympic American and South Jersey Group 4 races.

"Losing Nick last year was a huge blow to our pitching staff and our team," Washington Township coach Bill Alvaro Jr. said. "Nick is a true team leader and has worked extremely hard to come back and have a great senior season."

Evangelista, a hard-throwing and clever righthander, made an immediate impact on the Washington Township program as a young player.

He appeared in 22 games as a freshman and sophomore. He was 5-1 with five saves. He fashioned a 3.38 ERA with 55 strikeouts in 58 innings.

That's impressive work for a young player at any level, and especially notable given the Minutemen's caliber of competition.

Evangelista said he was hoping for a strong junior season when he developed some soreness in his right shoulder in late winter and early spring. He tried pitching in the team's first two scrimmages but had to shut it down as the pain "just kept getting worse."

Evangelista said he didn't need surgery. But he had to rest his arm and undergo extensive physical rehabilitation to try to rebuild his strength and flexibility.

He missed all of his junior season in high school and all of his summer schedule in travel baseball. He played football for the Minutemen in the fall, so it wasn't until winter workouts that he was able to start to gauge his recovery.

"At first I still wasn't sure," Evangelista said. "But I felt strong. So far, so good."

Evangelista said the entire program is determined to bounce back from last season.

"It's in the back of everyone's mind," said Evangelista, who hopes to continue his baseball career next year, likely at a junior college. "It's something that's made us all work so hard. We all want to give our all because we were so upset by the way things went last year."

Evangelista believes he's among the most determined players on the team, with extra motivation because of his missing his junior season.

But he also believes his injury might have a side benefit.

"I think being injured helped me become a better pitcher," Evangelista said. "It made me realize what to do and what not to do, how to warm up properly, how to take care of my arm. It made me a smarter player."

panastasia@phillynews.com

@PhilAnastasia

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