OLEAN, N.Y. — At a young age, Evan Threehouse had heard all about his father’s baseball career.
Matt Threehouse was a three-year ace for Olean High in the 1980s. He went on to star at the University of South Carolina from 1989 to 1993. Look in the South Carolina record book and you’ll find his name — third on the Gamecocks’ career strikeouts list and tied for seventh in career wins.
“People always told me how good he was,” Evan said, “and I just wanted to be like him.”
That meant dominating opposing hitters, racking up strikeouts and leading Olean High to wins. Consider it done.
A stellar junior season culminated with Big 30 Player of the Year honors for Evan Threehouse. He’s the first Olean player to win the Bill Husband Memorial Award in its 10-year history.
“This was one of my goals for the year, and I tried to work as hard as I could in the offseason,” he said.
Threehouse couldn’t have been much better for the Huskies, who went 20-3 and won their first Section 6 title in 14 years. As the ace of a shut-down pitching staff, he went 6-1 with a microscopic 0.89 ERA. The 6-foot-2 right-hander struck out 91 batters in 47 1/3 innings. And as Olean’s cleanup hitter, he batted .423 and drove in a team-high 32 runs.
As for dad, Matt Threehouse, Olean’s head coach, had a front-row seat for his son’s success.
“My dad was probably one of the best pitchers to come out of Olean,” said Evan Threehouse. “I always joke around I’m better than him, but I know deep down that I could never match him. He definitely pushes me to my limits to help me get better. I definitely give a lot of credit to him.”
Evan Threehouse wanted to be like his dad. And Matt Threehouse wanted his son to be like him.
“I guess I was hoping that he wanted to be a pitcher because I felt that there was a lot that I could teach him,” the 45-year-old father and coach said. “If he was willing to put the time in, I definitely thought I could help him succeed in that area.”
Longtime Wellsville skipper Denny Miles has coached against both father and son. Early this season, he watched Evan Threehouse strike out 15 in a 10-1 Olean win over his Lions.
“I used to have nightmares worrying about Matt. Now I have nightmares worrying about Evan,” Miles said. “His dad has taught him well.”
Watching his son pitch, Matt Threehouse sees a version of himself on the mound.
“I had a similar build at that time — tall and thin,” the 1988 OHS graduate said. “We work together very well as far as how we set hitters up. It’s kind of fun to go back and be able to go back through it all over again, this time getting to watch as coach and dad.”
What separates Evan Threehouse from the rest? Start with a blistering fastball that he can consistently throw 85-86 mph. He even touched 89 a few times this season. But his curveball, slider and changeup keep hitters guessing.
“He played with us last year as a sophomore, and he was very good,” Matt Threehouse said. “But the one thing that he needed to work on was getting command of his secondary pitches. He really worked hard in the winter and early this spring to do that so we didn’t have to rely on his fastball as much. He’s got a very good fastball, but, of course, it doesn’t matter how hard you throw. If that’s all you’ve got, it’s just a matter of time before the hitters start getting some timing on you.
“Usually you don’t see pitchers that have command of four pitches. Evan’s a rarity in that case. … I will say that he’s much further along than I was at his age as far as the different pitches that he throws. … Maybe I threw a little bit harder than he did at that age. But he is definitely a more refined pitcher than I was.”
In evaluating Evan Threehouse’s season, the coach could pinpoint only three “bad” innings. After all, he allowed only six earned runs all year.
Highlights included a no-hitter against perennial power Fredonia and then a four-hit shutout against the Hillbillies that gave Olean the CCAA West I title outright.
“He’s a phenomenal pitcher,” said Fredonia coach Vince Gullo. “I wish I could fast-forward and see where he is in four years.”
Threehouse’s only loss was a 2-0 walk-off defeat by Hamburg in the Section 6 overall Class A final. He threw 120 pitches that night, but the Huskies fell in eight innings and just missed a first-ever state tournament berth.
Olean, which boasted a team ERA of 1.54, had its top three pitchers named to the Big 30 All-Star Team, with junior Jake Cavana and sophomore Garrett Boldt joining Threehouse.
“With those three, we really had the pitching depth to make a very long run in the playoffs, and it didn’t work out for us,” Matt Threehouse said.
“We were hoping to go to states,” Evan Threehouse said, “but we’re going to try to get better in the offseason and come back next year and try to meet our goal.”
His individual goals are namely improving his accuracy and increasing his velocity through weight lifting.
“There’s still a lot of work to be done, a lot of room to get better,” he said.
