'Full plate': From Morton village clerk to fill-in umpire at Peoria Chiefs games
PEORIA — Zo Evans is the consummate fill-in candidate, both on the baseball field and now in the political landscape.
The Morton native and 2007 Peoria Notre Dame High School grad answered the call Aug. 19-21 when the Midwest League needed an umpire for a weekend series between the Peoria Chiefs and Quad Cities at Dozer Park.
The former full-time minor league umpire also answered the call when the Morton needed a village clerk in 2021.
"There was no one on the ballot," said Evans, whose term runs through April of 2025. "By law, Morton had to have the position filled. I was an elected write-in. I only needed two votes to get in.
"There's too many career politicians in politics. It should be just regular people. It should be a service approach. I like being there for people to count on. And the staff at Morton is fantastic. They work so hard. I'm involved in a lot of things and it's because I love these experiences."
More:Chiefs win 1-0 while MWL umpire and Morton native Lorenz Evans is right at home
Evans made his Midwest League umpiring debut at Dozer Park in 2017, worked the All-Star Game and championship series, was promoted to the Florida State League in 2018 and found himself at a crossroads.
"I told myself, 'I've done all I need to do,' " Evans said. "I got a job offer to work (regionally) for my college fraternity and I took it."
The cutest heckler
Now 33, Evans has the things he couldn't have as a full-time pro umpire. Family. He has a wife, step-children and an 18-month-old daughter named Scout.
"I could not have the life I do now when I was in the game," Evans said. "It was one or the other. As a fill-in I can have both. Being able to go out there and enjoy the game, it's a step above college, a totally different game. I'm glad I can re-live it every time.
"And my daughter sits in the grandstand yelling, 'Daddy Daddy Daddy' and I can hear her between pitches."
The saga at Dozer Park
Midwest League umpire Nate Diederich was working the Peoria-Quad Cities series at Dozer Park in mid-August when he suffered a collapsed lung.
Earlier in the week, Diederich had met a young Peoria fan and taught him how to rub mud on the baseballs used for the game. That young fan, Evans said, brought one of those balls back to Diederich while visiting him at OSF.
"I taught him (Diederich) in umpire school," said Evans, referring to his former gig as a teaching umpire at Minor League Baseball Training Academy in Vero Beach, Fla. "Nate had emergency surgery and was discharged on Saturday before I went out to the plate. He has a pump that goes into his chest cavity. He almost died. Lucky he's alive."
So with Diederich unavailable, it was Evans that Major League Baseball operations official Tom Honec called. Evans wasn't available for the Wednesday and Thursday games, so another Peoria-area umpire, Chris Silvestri, took those games. Then Evans finished out the final three of the week.
"I answered the phone and he said, 'So what's your availability in two hours?' " Evans said, laughing. "I've worked about five minor-league games this year, worked two at class-AAA Indy.
"You have to be on the list of former umpires. Got to know how to work the clock and the new rules and all that."
From home plate to full plate
Evans saw the Chiefs, 50-69 on the season as they headed into a series finale at Beloit on Sunday, get swept out of the weekend by Quad Cities.
Then it was back to work as Morton clerk. Oh, and he is also executive director of all 20 area JFL leagues, a role he took over in 2019. And he just joined the Morton girls softball board of directors.
"The JFL is recovering, player participation is up 15% since I took over," Evans said. "The increase in numbers has allowed us to reduce our 8-man football teams to just three. And that might go down to one by the time the season starts. It's growing a lot."
Evans played football and baseball at Notre Dame High School — he was a McDonald's All-American catcher — and he is from a family of umpires, following his father and grandfather onto the diamond and working college games every weekend now.
Officiating is important to him. To that end, Evans has partnered with longtime Peoria high school official Don King — the Illinois High School Association clinician and sports officials assignor — in an effort to recruit more officials at the prep sports level.
More:The IHSA needs officials. This pair from Peoria is doing something about it
"We held a clinic here trying to recruit officials and it seemed like the IHSA didn't care," Evans said.
Evans says 17-year-olds are permitted to work IHSA games on Saturdays, but the cost of gear is an obstacle for them.
Which is another project he's working on: A thrift store for pro, college and amateur officials.
"I see officials everywhere not knowing what's going on and I see big national brands taking advantage of them," Evans said. "Smitty Apparel (Canton, Ohio) has really stepped up its game with its line of items. I'm in the business to help officials, baseball, softball, soccer, NCAA basketball, they'll contact me and ask for gear."
Evans says the prep level is a tough ask for younger officials because an IHSA officials license costs $70, a shirt is $75 and then the pay for a four-hour game is $80.
The final call
Zo Evans is right where he wants to be now.
Instead of driving an MiLB rented car around the Florida State League, he's a husband and father in Morton, a village clerk, a youth football and softball director, and on the front line trying to fix a high school officials shortage.
And he's still an umpire, ready to step in at Dozer Park.
"It's a busy time, a full plate," Evans said. "Everything has fallen into place."
Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men's basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @icetimecleve.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Morton man works as clerk, fill-in umpire at Peoria Chiefs games
