Summit League Baseball Reached an Epic Peak Over the Weekend

“I assumed our story was epic, you understand. You and me. Spanning years and continents. Lives ruined and blood shed. Epic.”

During the last decade or two, web meme-speak has watered down the phrase epic to a synonym of superior, however with an exaggerated grandeur not fairly captured by merely saying, “That’s superior!” As a result of superior itself has been watered down over time, and now not actually implies one thing awe-inspiring, however as a substitute one thing extra akin to “cool.” And now, because of the fleeting nature of web tendencies, the phrase epic is now outdated meme-speak at that, solely utilized by cringe olds, too self-obsessed to note that nobody talks like that anymore.

However close to the tip of the second season of Veronica Mars, when Logan Echolls (quoted above) bemoans the best way his relationship with Veronica has seemingly fizzled out, he’s utilizing the extra conventional, literary definition of epic (rather less Homer Simpson and a bit of extra Homer’s The Iliad). Epic poems are rhythmic, lyrical narratives, identified for his or her huge size and fantastical foes. Veronica instantly pushes again in opposition to Logan’s romanticized notion of epic love. Epic shouldn’t be an aspirational modifier for one’s love story. Usually, epic narratives are fairly disagreeable for everybody with direct involvement, however they make for excellent tv. And baseball video games.

Late Saturday afternoon, the College of Northern Colorado Bears earned a walk-off win in opposition to the College of St. Thomas Tommies in a 21-inning epic at Koch Diamond in St. Paul, Minnesota. It was the longest sport in Summit League historical past and the eighth-longest sport by innings in Division I historical past.

However the sharp-eyed amongst you could have seen an odd element within the sport’s description, except for the final oddity of its going 21 innings. To grasp how the Bears have been in a position to win in a walk-off on the Tommies’ dwelling area, we’ve to go all the best way again to March, when the primary unhealthy omen befell the season collection between these two groups.

St. Thomas was scheduled to journey to Greeley, Colorado to play a three-game weekend collection in opposition to the Bears beginning on Friday, March 13. However that Friday’s sport was banged on account of poor air high quality attributable to wildfires in close by Nebraska. An act of God on Friday the thirteenth? Ominous.

For the reason that sport was a part of convention play between the 2 Summit League groups, they agreed to make it up as a part of a four-game set this previous weekend in Minnesota. Thus, in Sport 1 of a doubleheader scheduled for Friday, the Bears would play as the house crew whereas on the highway. Nonetheless confused about how Northern Colorado gained as the house crew in a sport that ended on Saturday? Completely affordable. As a result of except you’re a resident of the Midwest or Mike Trout ranges of enthusiastic concerning the climate, you could not know that on Friday afternoon, Minnesota was coping with thunder, hail, and the small matter of a twister touching down in Rochester (about an hour’s drive southeast of St. Paul). Initially scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m. native time, the sport didn’t get going till 4:00 p.m., at which level the decision had already been made to play only one sport on Friday and a doubleheader Saturday, with the collection finale on Sunday. However because the adage goes, if you wish to make God chuckle, inform Him your plans.

As soon as it truly started, the sport itself was … a multitude. Nothing in comparison with the injury attributable to the twister, however this was not a cleanly performed sport. Heart fielder Tanner Recchio received the offense rolling for the Tommies by completely embodying his character’s archetype. The crew’s chief in walks and stolen bases, he labored a free move in opposition to Northern Colorado starter Brayden Olson, then swiped second. Subsequent, proper fielder Owen Bond, who owns the very best batting common on the Tommies (.337 initially of play on Friday), dropped a single into left area to place runners on the corners. A security squeeze from second baseman Matthew Maulik scored Recchio and allowed Bond to advance to second.

The inning wore on as Bond went to 3rd on a handed ball by Bears catcher Zeke Minic, St. Thomas first baseman Joe Roder reached on a fielding error by Northern Colorado third baseman Brandon Sanchez, and Bond plated a second run for the Tommies. Roder moved up a base on Minic’s second handed ball of the inning, however Olson received out of the inning earlier than Roder may advance additional.

However it’s not a battle with out each side touchdown blows, so after St. Thomas starter Reece Wagner received Bears second baseman Brett Barber to floor out, left fielder Jaden Stone received on with a single to left-center. Getting into the collection, Stone was contemporary off being named Kwik Star Peak Performer of the Week after slashing .615/.667/.846 over Northern Colorado’s earlier 4 video games. He superior to second when shortstop Logan Pruski reached on a throwing error by Roder. Wagner then received middle fielder Mason Griffin to fly out, and simply when he thought he’d escaped the inning unscathed, Bears first baseman Jake Bullard popped up a 3-2 pitch to shallow proper. Maulik ranged again to make the catch, however the ball ricocheted off his glove; he stumbled for a number of steps earlier than recovering. With each Stone and Pruski working on the pitch, Stone scored from second, however as soon as Maulik regained his steadiness, he was in a position to fireplace dwelling and get the third out on Pruski trying to attain from first.

After one inning, the Tommies led 2-1 each when it comes to runs scored and errors dedicated, with the Bears holding a 2-0 lead in handed balls. The 2 groups continued to grapple on this style with neither touchdown a knockout punch. As an alternative, they raced to manage dying by a thousand cuts.

The Bears tied the sport at two within the backside of the third on an RBI double from Stone. The Tommies retook the lead, scoring two within the prime of the fourth on a two-run triple from Bond. Northern Colorado answered within the backside of the body when Sanchez reached on a groundball misplayed by Maulik for his second error of the sport. Sanchez superior to second on a groundout and third on a handed ball by St. Thomas catcher Terek Verhage. Bears DH Easton Bryant then singled Sanchez dwelling to tug again inside one.

With two errors on his stat line by 4 innings, Maulik got here out of the sport. The printed commentators alluded to a possible again harm on a diving play within the second after seeing Maulik stretching within the dugout between innings. Maulik, the Tommies’ three-hole hitter, has the second-best batting common within the beginning lineup, and he’s tied for the crew lead in dwelling runs with 4. Maybe if the Tommies had been in a position to maintain Maulik’s bat within the lineup, this sport might have reached a conclusion with no need fairly so many innings.

Down 4-3, the Bears evened issues up within the backside of the fifth. Barber walked, Stone was hit by a pitch, and Pruski doubled in Barber from second. The rating held till the underside of the seventh, when Stone walked to chase Wagner from the sport. With Zak Endres now pitching for the Tommies, Pruski logged his second RBI double in as many plate appearances. That is the place I inform you that Pruski leads the Bears in slugging share. Surprising, proper?

The Tommies did not reply within the eighth, in order that they entered the ninth needing a run to tie. Bond led off with a stroll and stole second, mirroring the best way Recchio began the scoring for St. Thomas again within the first. After Chris Knowles (within the sport for Maulik) popped out, Bond took third on Minic’s third handed ball of the sport. With one out and a runner now on third, Roder’s fly ball to proper area was sufficient to tie the sport; a scoreless backside of the ninth from Endres despatched it to extras.

After an uneventful tenth, the sport was suspended on account of darkness as Koch Diamond doesn’t have lights. The in a single day pause in play supplied each head coaches a novel alternative to reset their technique. Heading into the Eleventh inning on Saturday, each groups opted to throw a bulk reliever with some spot beginning expertise as they launched into a journey of unknowable size, with a minimum of another sport to play following the present one’s conclusion. (Someday between first pitch on Friday and the sport’s suspension, each crew’s social media accounts stopped mentioning the fourth sport initially deliberate for the weekend collection, and now each crew’s schedules listing it as canceled.)

Resuming play at 1:00 p.m. native time on Saturday, Trevor Landen toed the rubber for the Bears within the prime of the Eleventh. Within the backside half of the inning, Sam Stockman took the mound for the Tommies. Each epic wants a minimum of one hero, and the performances turned in by Landen and Stockman put every of them solidly within the working. The pair went toe-to-toe producing twin stat strains of 8 2/3 innings pitched with simply two earned runs allowed. That was greater than both skipper may have anticipated, on condition that Landen had to this point within the season posted an 8.15 ERA over 38 2/3 innings and Stockman’s ERA sat at 6.86 over 21 innings. To not point out that neither coach most likely predicted the sport would final an extra 11 innings when Landen and Stockman entered the sport.

Stockman additionally has this play to his identify within the backside of the 18th.

Received em pic.twitter.com/YNb4NUobII

— St. Thomas Baseball (@TommieBase) April 18, 2026

Neither crew scored on Saturday till the nineteenth. Within the prime half of the body, Tommies catalyst Recchio labored a one-out stroll, then once more stole second. In some unspecified time in the future in a single day, the Bears remembered they didn’t truly need to pitch to the Tommies’ two-hole hitter and took to giving Bond the Bonds remedy by deliberately strolling him each time he stepped within the batter’s field. Bond’s third intentional stroll of the day put runners on first and second. With Evan Raabe pinch-hitting for Knowles in Maulik’s spot within the order, Recchio stole third to place runners on the corners. Raabe struck out, however Roder plated Recchio and Bond on a double to left-center. With Landen at 137 pitches, Logan Borboa got here in and struck out catcher Sean Marlow to finish the inning.

It’s value noting that Marlow was the Tommies’ third catcher of the sport. Verhage, the beginning catcher, was pinch-hit for within the eighth inning, when this most likely nonetheless felt like a traditional sport to St. Thomas head coach Chris Olean. Third baseman Max Berrisford changed Verhage behind the dish. Then, within the subsequent half inning, after Berrisford reached on a single, Marlow entered as a pinch-runner and promptly stole second.

Anyway, again to the nineteenth. Now trailing by two, the Bears answered instantly within the backside of the inning. Stone led off with a single, and he was changed at first by Pruski, who grounded right into a fielder’s alternative. With one out, Pruski scored from first on a double from Bullard, who superior to 3rd on a handed ball from Marlow. Sanchez singled to attain Bullard and finish Stockman’s outing. With Nolan Kemp now pitching for St. Thomas, Minic hit a fly ball to proper area that landed in Bond’s glove to finish the inning.

The seven-all tie held by the twentieth. Then, within the prime of the twenty first, Recchio led off with a single as a substitute of a stroll, however nonetheless stole second not lengthy after reaching first. For the reason that intentional stroll bit them within the nineteenth, the Bears resumed pitching to Bond within the twenty first and received him to fly out to left. Recchio was now completely within the collective head of Northern Colorado’s pitching workers, on condition that he’d been wreaking havoc on the basepaths for some indeterminate length now that this sport exists solely in some wrinkled fold of the space-time continuum. In consequence, Recchio took third when Borboa airmailed a pickoff try into middle area. Borboa recovered to strike out Raabe, however strike three caromed off Minic up the primary bottom line. He received a hand on it rapidly, inflicting Recchio to carry at third, however then bobbled the ball, briefly dropping it between his legs and stopping a throw to first to get the hustling Raabe, who reached on the dropped third strike. The Tommies let each Borboa and Minic off the hook, although. Roder grounded right into a double play, ending the scoring risk and sending the sport to the underside of the twenty first.

Nonetheless on the mound, Kemp issued a pair of one-out walks to middle fielder Ethan Mooser, who entered the sport for protection within the prime of the twentieth, and Bullard to place runners on first and second. Sanchez then struck out to convey up Minic with two outs. Mooser and Bullard efficiently executed a double steal earlier than Minic additionally walked. As Minic jogged to first, a area mic picked up a spectator yelling, “21 innings of this! Brutal!”

The bases have been loaded for Brien Kenny, who was 0-for-3 with a hit-by-pitch and a stroll in 5 plate appearances since coming into the sport within the Eleventh as a pinch-hitter for Ethan Sanchez. Earlier than Kenny dug in, Bears head coach Mike Anderson referred to as timeout and huddled up close to third base with Kenny and the baserunners to speak technique.

When play resumed, the primary pitch from Kemp was a ball that the 5-foot-8 Marlow needed to stretch to reel in. The second pitch missed exterior. Feeling the stress, Kemp went to his 3-0 fastball a pitch early and secured a referred to as strike. Kenny fouled again the following pitch to even the depend.

Only one strike stood between this sport and the twenty second inning. Kemp got here set and paused for a beat, however he was interrupted earlier than he may decide up his leg to start his supply. First base umpire Kirk Rall referred to as a balk. Mooser scored from third for a Bears balk-off win.

The NCAA balk rule is an unbelievable juxtaposition of precision and opacity. It begins with a listing of detailed and particular pitcher actions that undoubtedly qualify as a balk. That listing is adopted by an open-ended clause stating that any movement that isn’t a part of the pitcher’s typical supply could be interpreted as an try and deceive the runner, and thus, referred to as a balk. The phrasing of the rule leaves the door open fairly huge for umpires to implement the rule as they see match.

Luckily, there’s video of the alleged balk, so we are able to all choose for ourselves whether or not Rall took Destiny into his personal arms or merely conformed to Destiny’s twisted humorousness.

The balk that ended the 21 inning sport.

— Sickos Committee (@sickoscommittee.org) 2026-04-18T23:08:54.377Z

After watching the balk clip a number of occasions, evaluating it to Kemp’s movement earlier within the plate look, combing by just a few of his highlights on Instagram, then re-watching the balk clip a number of extra occasions, I’m nonetheless uncertain. The rock-step is a part of Kemp’s typical movement, even with runners on, and the commentators on the published say that Rall appeared to suggest the decision stemmed from one thing Kemp did along with his entrance shoulder, which isn’t seen within the digicam angle circulating on social media. The printed did supply one further angle, this time from the entrance, and when you actually lock in, a small shoulder shrug on Kemp’s glove arm is sort of discernible. However none of his different pitches are proven from this angle, so this too, could possibly be a part of his typical movement. Kemp actually regarded baffled by the decision.

All of that stated, the very best epics not often ship clear-cut classes, with uncomplicated characters simply categorised pretty much as good and evil. These sorts of absolutes belong in fairytales for youngsters, whereas this sport wandered a minimum of three circles deep in Dante’s depiction of Hell.

And the narrative didn’t finish when the sport did both. Sport 2 of the collection began 40 minutes later. Right here’s a collection of factual statements concerning the second sport of the collection that depict the numerous methods by which the wreckage from Sport 1 carried into the remainder of the weekend. After catching all 21 innings of Sport 1, Minic caught the primary 5 innings of Sport 2. After logging 4 handed balls in Sport 1, he let two runs rating on handed balls in Sport 2. St. Thomas received seven innings from its beginning pitcher, which means it solely wanted one reliever within the second sport. Conversely, Northern Colorado’s starter confronted 4 batters, allowed three runs, and was faraway from the second sport with out recording an out, inflicting the Bears to make use of 4 pitchers. They hit 4 Tommie batters within the course of. Maulik remained on the bench for St. Thomas. Within the prime of the ninth, with the Tommies on the cusp of closing out an 11-3 victory, play was suspended on account of darkness.

Sport 2 resumed at 11:30 a.m. native time on Sunday, and St. Thomas secured the win with out additional drama. Sport 3 commenced shortly thereafter, and since these groups proved themselves incapable of taking part in a traditional, regulation sport this weekend, this one wanted 10 innings to achieve a decisive conclusion.

Between the 2 groups, the ultimate sport of the collection required innings from 11 pitchers, together with 5 who threw in Sport 1. 4 of the “contemporary” pitchers (together with Lucas Stone, Jaden’s youthful brother) mixed to hit 5 batters. Bears catcher Mac Dawsey was one of many batters beaned. He stayed within the sport and caught one other 2 1/3 innings, however Minic took over throughout a pitching change in sixth, bringing his complete innings caught on the weekend to 30 2/3. Maulik pinch-ran for DH Lucas McNellis within the seventh. It was his first look for the Tommies because the fourth inning of Sport 1, however he was changed within the lineup earlier than getting an opportunity to hit. The Bears are off till Friday, however the Tommies play once more on Tuesday in Milwaukee.

Smaller faculty baseball applications like Northern Colorado and St. Thomas are at all times ripe with the weather of excellent storytelling, however not often does the style veer into the identical territory as Beowulf and La Cleopatra. For example of the same old fare, the Tommies are back-to-back Summit League champions. They first joined the convention in 2021, making the leap immediately from Division III. Usually, that isn’t allowed, however St. Thomas acquired a waiver as a result of it was kicked out of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Convention for being so good that different colleges have been threatening to take their ball and go dwelling.

You additionally get tales just like the Vavra household. Tanner Vavra is the assistant coach at St. Thomas. Tanner and his two youthful brothers, Terrin Vavra and Trey Vavra, all performed professional ball, and most just lately, Terrin suited up for Group Czechia within the WBC and hit a three-run dwelling run in opposition to Korea. Their father, Joe Vavra, can also be on the St. Thomas teaching workers as a volunteer director of program growth, a place he’s greater than certified for after teaching within the majors with the Tigers and Twins.

Northern Colorado has its circle of relatives connections throughout the teaching ranks. Brothers Shane Opitz and Casey Opitz function this system’s assistant coach and director of catching efficiency, respectively. The Colorado natives, just like the Vavras, are a baseball household. Shane performed 9 minor league seasons as an Eleventh-round decide of the Blue Jays in 2010. Casey was an eighth-round decide by the Cubs in 2021, and although he started the 2026 season on the Improvement Listing, he was activated to the membership’s Triple-A affiliate three days earlier than the beginning of the collection in St. Paul. The Cubs additionally drafted the oldest Opitz brother (Jake) again in 2008.

Then there are the smaller particulars that add refined notes of richness to a narrative. Particulars that say one thing with out truly saying the factor. Like how Northern Colorado is rostering 4 Ethans, three Jakes, three Logans, two Masons, and two Macs, whereas St. Thomas rosters three Nolans, three Maxes, two Owens, two Evans, and every crew has an Easton. All these repeating names suggest both a scarcity of range or a mystical nominative determinism amongst faculty baseball gamers.

Once more, there are at all times loads of unusual and great narratives kicking round faculty baseball. However this previous weekend, the Summit League delivered an epic battle and a cautionary story. Even when lots of the particular motives and conclusions from the collection stay very a lot open to interpretation, it’s clear that persisting in taking part in baseball regardless of the reasonably insistent warnings of each a wildfire and a twister is a nasty concept.