College baseball: Once in the same dugout, Szykowny and Bolden meet again as opponents

Apr. 15—On any other day, Charles Bolden would be cheering for the imposing shortstop stepping into the batter's box.

But not this time. On this breezy, sun-splashed day, Bolden would love nothing more than to see him walk right back to the dugout and have another out flicker up on the scoreboard.

Charlie Szykowny, however, had much different plans.

When the UW-Stout junior dug in at the plate for his third at-bat on April 6, he didn't need long to do some damage. Szykowny launched a home run over the fence at Carson Park, trotted around the bases, and peered into the third-base dugout with a knowing smile on his face.

Three days later, he repeated the feat.

Even if only for a moment or two, Bolden probably wished he hadn't coached him up so well.

"He's got three college home runs, and he's hit two against me," Bolden, UW-Eau Claire's head coach, said with a booming laugh.

He can only laugh about it now, because Bolden played a huge role in getting Szykowny to where he is today. Bolden coached the Palos Heights, Ill., native during his high school days, when Szykowny played for Bolden's travel baseball program.

Once part of the same Midwest Havoc team, now the two are squaring off as rivals in the WIAC.

So far, it's advantage Szykowny.

"It's been interesting with him coaching third base and me playing shortstop, we've been able to talk a little bit during games, a couple of little side comments here and there," Szykowny joked.

It's all in good fun, of course. The two remain close, despite heading off to rival schools. Szykowny, the Blue Devils' starting shortstop, said Bolden is the main reason he's playing college baseball.

But that doesn't mean he can take it easy when their teams go head-to-head. In six games against the Blugolds this season, he's 7 for 19 with two homers and seven RBIs. Stout won all six matchups, too.

"It's getting a little bit of bragging rights, for sure," Szykowny said. "That's kind of cool to do, especially after he taught you some of that."

That stings, Bolden joked.

"Man, oh man, he killed us. Defensively, he made some plays too that took hits away," Bolden said. "On one hand, I'm so mad because I want us to win, obviously. I'm a competitive guy. But on the other hand, he made some great plays so I was proud of him a little bit too."

The two first met when Szykowny was a junior in high school. He was looking for a travel team to play for and landed with the Midwest Havoc, where Bolden was the program president.

Szykowny continued his development with the Havoc, and credited the program with helping him land in Menomonie.

"He's been like a mentor to me throughout my baseball career since then," Szykowny said. "He's the main guy who helped me get to college. He was coaching at (Illinois Institute of Technology) at the time, and they were part of the WIAC then. So without him, I probably wouldn't have ever gotten in contact with Stout."

They bonded over a similar love of the sport, and have remained tight since.

"He's a kid that I'm really close with," Bolden said. "He's always been that kid that stayed after practice to get extra reps. He's always asking questions about baseball, always watching it. With me having that same type of passion and energy for it, we kind of were pulled in with that similar interest. He's a great kid."

Bolden has enjoyed following Szykowny's success — with the exception of when it comes at the Blugolds' expense. There's been plenty of it to go around lately.

Entering Wednesday, the shortstop led Stout with a .400 batting average and a .519 on-base percentage. Both numbers put Szykowny among the conference leaders.

They won't have to worry about taking each other on for the foreseeable future. The Blugolds and Blue Devils aren't scheduled to meet again for the rest of the regular season.

Now they can each pull for the other's success, without it coming at their own detriment.

"Now I can root for him again," Bolden said.