Former Highland standout playing with the Grays this summer, partly to honor former coach

POCATELLO — It has been a little over a year since former Highland Rams multi-sport star Kaulana “Lana” Alvarico put pen to paper on his commitment to play baseball at Treasure Valley Community College.

Following a freshman season in which he batted .250 with 10 stolen bases — on 11 attempts — Alvarico returned home for the summer. And given the choice between finding a summer job and putting on a Gate City Grays uniform, he chose the latter.

After helping the Grays sweep the Brigham Peaches in a doubleheader — winning both games by mercy rule, outscoring the Peaches 30-2 — Alvarico reflected on seeing Gate City games as a child. He also talked about the memory of his former coach at Highland High School, Lynn VanEvery, who died on June 4.

“Being on the other side of it gives me a lot to play for, especially losing my coach, Lynn VanEvery up at Highland,” he said. “I’m just super thankful that I have the opportunity to come out and play every day. Why not give your all, leave it all out there on the field, since he can’t be out here. I just want to leave it all out there for him.”

Alvarico and the Grays look to use their dominance performance against the Peaches to catapult themselves into a difficult week of games, at the Logan Royals and a doubleheader with the Hyrum Hornets.

“We know that we’re a couple innings away from being a dangerous team, and getting back up in the leaderboard in the conference and bringing back the conference title,” Alvarico said.

For baseball fans who have not attended a Grays game yet this season but plan to, Alvarico is easy to find. He is the only player in a Grays uniform who sings a wood bat. He does so because the college conference he plays in with TVCC, the Northwest Athletic Conference (NWAC), is a wood bat-only league.

“My coach out at Treasure Valley was like, ‘You’re coming back (to TVCC), so you might as well use woody,'” Alvarico said. “And I honestly think it’s better for me, too: it’s a little bit smaller of a barrel, so it’s going to have me using good barrel control. And I like hitting with woody, I think it sounds awesome.”

Alvarico and his wood bat appeared in 27 games with the Chuks this season, but finished 11th on the team with nine runs scored in those limited chances. He was also second on the team with 10 stolen bases, while being caught just once, helping Treasure Valley to bounce back from a rough 2025 season.

The Chukars went 9-34 two years ago, finishing in last place in the NWAC Eastern Conference. This year, the club went 23-27, coming one win shy of a playoff appearance.

“We definitely changed the culture, and we’ll have a chip on our shoulder heading into next year,” Alvarico said of his college team.

Getting summer at-bats was an easy choice for the college sophomore-to be. And not just to help himself, or playing an even bigger role in the Chukars taking another step forward next season. For Alvarico, wearing a Grays uniform is special. Now, he gets to soak up the energy from massive Gate City home crowds, and he is the one little kids hound for autographs.

“It is really cool, it’s awesome,” he said. “With the community that comes out here, it’s awesome to see everybody and all that support.”

The Grays’ next home game will be Friday, when they play two against the Hornets (9-3). Game one of the doubleheader is scheduled for 6 p.m., with the second game to follow.