Author of Memorable Wildcat Homer Climbing Ranks with Yanks
Author of Memorable Wildcat Homer Climbing Ranks with Yanks
Jul 8, 2022
![Author of Memorable Wildcat Homer Climbing Ranks with Yanks](/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/19-CHAD-BELL.jpg)
Author of Memorable Wildcat Homer Climbing Ranks with Yanks
What ºÚÁÏÍø baseball fan can ever forget the special sports moment
provided by Chad Bell?
After all, he delivered the most dramatic home run in the decade-long history of the
Wildcats baseball program.
In 2016, Bell, then a freshman at ºÚÁÏÍø, smacked a two-run homer with one out in the
ninth inning to take down rival College of Southern Nevada, 11-9, in a tense championship
game in the Region 18 baseball tournament. Bells homer capped a ºÚÁÏÍø comeback from
a 5-0 deficit and sent the Wildcats to the Western District Tournament in Trinidad,
Colo.
Anyone who witnessed the clutch home run realized the enormity of it since it was
the final game in the Northern and Southern Nevada rivalry and it came on the Coyotes
home field.
Man, one of the greatest moments of my life, said Bell in 2016. I knew the wind was
blowing out to left field and most of my hits go to left-center field, so I was just
looking for a fastball over the plate that I could stay on. I thought it had a pretty
good chance of going out.
Once it cleared the left-center-field fence, Bell soaked up the once-in-a-lifetime
moment and saw all of his teammates waiting for him at home plate to begin their championship
celebration. He then chucked his helmet 20 feet into the air before he was mobbed
by his teammates.
It was absolutely breathtaking. When I got home, I could barely breathe, Bell said.
To no surprise to Wildcat fans, Bell is still playing the game he loves. He played
three seasons of NCAA Division I baseball for Louisiana Monroe and was selected by
the New York Yankees in the 19th round of the 2019 Amateur Baseball Draft.
In fact, Bell has continued hitting home runs and has climbed in the Yankees minor
leagues ranks to Double-A Somerset. This summer, he is tied for second on the Somerset
Patriots with 12 homers and has knocked in 34 runs, giving him a real possibility
of eventually wearing pinstripes in New York.
For more on what Bell is thinking and doing for Somerset, read the insightful story
provided by Trentonian reporter Greg Johnson: