It was never in question where Hunter Evans wanted to play college baseball. Once Western Kentucky made an offer, Evans was sold.

The senior catcher for South Warren put pen to paper to make it official Wednesday night at South Warren High School by signing a national letter of intent to play baseball at WKU.

“You always go to games, but you never think, ‘I can go here,’ ” Evans said. “When they offered me, I was shocked and it was really cool and kind of a relief to know you can get an offer, especially in your hometown when everyone can come watch you.”

Evans said very few schools showed as much interest as WKU. He committed to the Hilltoppers over a year ago and said everything from the coaches to the facilities were the selling point.

WKU went 16-39 last year with a 6-24 mark in Conference USA.

“They’re on the up and up,” Evans said. “Western was the first one and in the backyard, so it was a good fit for me.”

Evans joins a handful of Spartans who have gone on to play at WKU. He’ll join current Topper Michael Hicks and Bowling Green High School alum Luke Brown as players from Warren County on the 2019 roster.

“It’s really cool because I played with Luke all summer and played with Michael for those two years,” Evans said. “Going in not knowing anything, it’s a good feeling knowing I can have those people there.”

South Warren baseball coach Chris Gage said the 6-foot-3, 180-pound senior has garnered attention from scouts as a true receiving catcher with skills “off the charts” and a pop time to second already at a Division-I level.

Evans had a .330 batting average as a junior with half of his 33 hits being extra-base hits. He drove in 26 runs and had a .953 on-base plus slugging percentage. South Warren went 19-18 last year and fell to Warren East in the District 14 tournament.

As a sophomore, he batted .347 with 35 hits, 23 RBIs and a .968 OPS.

“I think he’s a Division-I defensive catcher right away,” Gage said. “I don’t usually say that. I think the step from high school to college is tremendous, especially at Division-I. … Hunter can compete right away defensively. He’s very good offensively for a high school player also, but he can always get better at that. Scouts have told me his receiving skills are just off the charts. His pop times to second base are already at a Division-I level.”