Taking over a team that had graduated almost all of its talent from an 11-win squad in 2020, Chris Evans knew his first year at Hamlin would be spent re-laying the program’s foundation.

While he inherited a Pied Pipers program that was coming off a stellar 13-year run under former coach Russell Lucas, Evans was essentially starting from scratch with a young, numbers-challenged group that saw injuries exacerbate both issues during a winless campaign last fall.

Despite last year’s struggles, however, Evans is much more optimistic about his team’s chances to compete in Year 2. And he’s looking forward to watching his players tackle that challenge head-on.