The funny thing about Mack Evans and Brody Burch’s signing ceremony, where Evans signed with College of Southern Idaho baseball and Burch signed with Idaho State track on Friday evening, is that only a couple years ago, both were mapping entirely different trajectories for their lives.

As a sophomore, Evans was planning on playing college basketball. Across his whole career, Burch excelled as a baseball player. Both went different directions with their sports careers. Somehow, it led them to the Be A Dude Academy on Friday evening, celebrating the next chapters in their lives.

“It’s very exciting,” Evans said. “Having an opportunity to sign with one of my best friends is a great experience. I’m just excited for the future for both of us.”

“It’s definitely been one of my goals to try and run at the next level — either run or play baseball,” Burch said. “So to sign and have that one next step forward, and especially to share it with Mack, it’s such a special moment because we’ve been close teammates growing up.”

Both Evans and Burch played irreplaceable roles on this spring’s Pocatello baseball team, which captured the program’s first state championship in more than a decade. For the season, Evans batted a sizzling .433, and in the Thunder’s state semifinal win over defending champion Bishop Kelly, he laced a walk-off single up the middle, paving the way to the title game. In that game, Burch tossed the final three innings — after flying from Boise, where he won a state title in the 800-meter dash just an hour earlier.

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That last accomplishment earned Burch a hefty dose of media attention: From Jomboy Media, a national baseball outlet, from USA Today, from local television stations, from this newspaper itself. Thing is, Burch has never been particularly outspoken, never one to revel in the spotlight, even when he’s earned it. “It’s definitely different,” Burch said, “going from not really having anything to a lot of people wanting to hear about it. It’s exciting. It’s fun to talk to different people.”

Burch only earned the opportunity by being electric on the track in the first place. He earned a district and state title in the 800, winning each of his final four races of the season. He also made an appearance at the state meet with his 4x400 and sprint medley relay teams. Thing is, he’s always projected as a college baseball player too. So he had to make a decision: Which sport did he want to pursue in college? “It was a hard decision at first,” Burch said.

“I had some interest from some junior colleges around here,” Burch said, referring to baseball. “I think the big thing for me was just kinda seeing what had like a better future and a better outlook for me. And I kinda just saw it more on track for me.”

What’s interesting is this: When he was younger, Burch thought about the possibility of running track in college. Then he started getting what he figured were spam letters from college programs.

“And then once I finally started communicating with coaches more,” Burch said, “it kinda hits you, like wow, the dream is kinda becoming more of a reality.”

It took some time for that moment to hit Evans too. When he became a high schooler, he dreamt of playing college basketball. So he hooped for two years. Then he delivered a solid sophomore season of baseball. That earned him an invite to the Baseball Northwest championships in Medford, Oregon, where a couple programs showed interest.

The first, Evans says, was “a solid program.”

“And it kinda just hit me from that point on,” Evans said, “that I can be that guy, that I can go and do big things in this sport.”

Has he ever. He starred as one of the best players on a state championship team, playing meaningful innings as a pitcher and an outfielder. This spring, he recorded hits in all but two of the Thunder’s 22 games — and in one of those contests, it was because he accepted two walks. Good luck finding a more reliable hitter around this area.

Evans, though, committed to CSI last summer. He delivered on that commitment, but in the year that followed, whispers swirled that he was earning more attention from other schools. People wondered if Evans would really sign with the Golden Eagles’ program. “So just being able to clear up all those false rumors, I guess,” Evans said, “it’s a relief.”