Kansas State University Athletics
A Special – But Strange – Weekend
May 08, 2024 | Baseball, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
It's a sunny, 63-degree late Saturday afternoon, and Brandon and Carrie English are not difficult to find. Brandon wears a gray T-shirt with "ENGLISH" written in black across the back. Underneath the left shoulder it reads "KS #8" and underneath the right shoulder it reads "KU #21." Carrie wears a heather gray sweatshirt with a Powercat on one side and a Jayhawk on the other. Underneath the two logos in black bold print reads: "ENGLISH."
It's 3:07 p.m. First pitch for the second game of the Dillons' Sunflower Showdown between Kansas State and Kansas is less than one hour away in front of a sellout crowd of 2,344 at Tointon Family Stadium. Less than 24 hours before, K-State freshman Nick English hit the go-ahead RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning in a 3-2 victory over Kansas. It was exciting. It was magical. It was the kind of story Nick can tell and retell for years and years… Except Jake, Nick's older brother, is on the other team. Cheer? Or not to cheer? That's the question that faces Brandon and Carrie throughout the weekend series between K-State and Kansas.
"It's a gamut of emotions, right?" Brandon says. "I don't know who to root for. (Friday night), I found myself not cheering because I want both teams to do well. It's 100% fun. It's also no fun at all because you don't want either team to suffer. (On Friday), Jake lined out in the ninth inning and my heart dropped. Nick hit a single in the bottom of the eighth for the go-ahead run, and that made me ecstatic.
"But you feel great for one kid and terrible for the other."
Stories abound as Carrie traces back to the past and circles to present day. Brandon was a catcher at Kansas from 1994-95. Carrie graduated from KU law school. In all, seven members of the English family have attended KU.
But not Nick.
"He's always been a kid who's wanted to pave his own way," Carrie says. "I didn't bat an eye at the fact that he was going to go 45 minutes from KU. He's just killing it and I'm so proud of him, but it's not a surprise that he'd want to pave his own way. That's who he is and how he thinks about the world and how he thinks about life.
"I'm super proud of him."
Jake was the No. 1 catcher in Kansas by Prep Baseball Report and Perfect Game out of Olathe South High School. Jake is a 6-foot-2, 210-pound senior who has been wildly successful at KU. He has played in 123 games with 108 starts. He is the first Jayhawk with double-digit home runs in consecutive seasons since Ryne Price in 2007 and 2008.
"Our family has pretty much been KU all the way through until Nick decided to go to K-State," Jake says. "Dad played at KU, and it was close to home, so that's a big reason why I chose to go to KU."
Nick, a 5-foot-11, 195-pounder, was the 2023 Kansas Gatorade Player of the Year, and the 2023 Rawlings National Catcher of the Year out of Olathe South. Nick, as a freshman at Olathe South, was on pace to play with Jake, a senior, until COVID-19 canceled the 2020 baseball season.
Fast forward. Rather than follow Jake to Lawrence, Nick, who originally was set to play at Texas A&M until a coaching change, opted to head further down I-70 West to Manhattan. This came as Nick played summer league baseball with P.J. Hughes, who happened to be the son of K-State baseball head coach Pete Hughes.
"Nick goes, 'Hey dad, I think I'm going to commit to K-State,'" Brandon says.
"I said, 'Great, what's holding you up?'"
"He said, 'Well, it's not KU.'"
"I said, 'Nick, it's not Missouri. It's going to be fine.'"
Brandon chuckles.
It was shortly after 8 p.m. on Friday that Nick, a right-fielder making his 42nd start of the season, reached the batter's box with two outs, the Wildcats and Jayhawks tied, 2-2, in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Senior right hander Reece Dutton's first pitch was a slider, and Nick lined the ball over the pitcher's mound. The ball bounced just past senior shortstop Callier Cranford and dribbled toward senior center fielder Jon Nett. This allowed K-State junior shortstop Kaelen Culpepper to round third base and head home for the go-ahead run amid cheers at Tointon Family Stadium.
Jake, of course, was catching when Nick was hitting.
"I'll tell you what, I've never been as nervous as I was on the on-deck circle," Nick says. "I've been in big spots before, but nothing like playing my brother, especially with a tie game in the eighth."
Nick sits in a black leather chair inside the K-State coaches' meeting room late Friday night wearing his purple ball cap and white jersey as he talks about the pitch, the hit, and the nerves that went along with coming up big for the Wildcats when they needed it the most.
"This is a day that my family has looked to for years," he says. "It's a bittersweet moment for all of us. I'm happy to play him because I want to beat him, but it's dinner-table bragging rights here."
The brothers are competitive, but they are close.
"They've gotten a lot closer since they've gotten older," Brandon says. "Now they're really, really good friends. As far as talking smack to each other, it's more lighthearted than anything else. They're just really good friends, and that's all a parent can ask for."
Nick smiles while recalling the playful banter between he and Jake as he runs through his at-bats during his first-ever meeting against his older brother's team.
"There was a lot of stuff going on there," Nicks says. "First at-bat, I told him I was stealing on him."
Jake retorts.
"He said that, but I waited for him to steal, and he never did it," Jake says. "I don't know if he didn't get the sign or not, but I was waiting to throw him out."
Saturday, Jake and Kansas blanks K-State, 4-0.
It's 3:06 p.m. Sunday, as Nick walks to the batter's box. Jake stands from his squat, pulls off his mask with his right hand, walks 10 feet into the infield and puts two fingers into the air, emphasizing to his Kansas teammates that there are two outs.
"I wanted him to do good, but when I'm playing against him, I can't really cheer for him," Jake says. "That's part of what made (the series) so fun but also a little bit strange."
We are tied 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh inning. There are runners on second and third with two outs. Facing a 1-1 count against right hander Cooper Moore, Nick English unfurls a mighty swing and the ball travels over the head of first baseman Ben Hartl and bounces five feet in front of a charging right fielder Ty Wisdom. It's a single. The crowd reaches a fever pitch, which it hangs in the air as dance music rises to the sky, as David Bishop darts through home plate and then Chuck Ingram races past Jake English, who awaits a one-hopper from Wisdom in the outfield.
Nick English has put K-State ahead 4-2 in the bottom of the seventh with a 2 RBI single.
K-State goes on to win, 4-2, to capture the Sunflower Showdown over Kansas. The Wildcats take the series 2-1.
"The second game-winner for our freshman, who had some emotional ties in this rivalry with his brother on the other side," K-State head coach Pete Hughes says. "It makes for a really good story. But you have to have a confident kid who can slow the game down in those situations and be able to execute.
"It was pretty awesome."
Jake is proud of his younger brother.
"Me and Nick are super close," Jake says. "It's been awesome. Obviously, as a freshman, you never know. Some guys play a ton, and some guys don't play at all. To see him doing what he's doing as a freshman is pretty surreal."
Seeing both sons on the same baseball diamond is chicken noodle soup for this mother's soul. And it took some careful wardrobe planning.
"It was really hard to think about how I was going to represent both boys. I know that sounds really silly, but it was very important to me," Carrie says. "It was something I'd wake up in the middle of the night wondering how I am going to let the world know that I'm equally proud of both of them in a significant way."
She needed a designer. She found one. Her heather gray sweatshirt arrived weeks ago. The gray T-shirts arrived on Friday.
"To watch the boys, they've worked so hard to get to this place," she says. "I couldn't be prouder of them, and that they're here in Kansas, and that they're representing a great rivalry, and a great Sunflower Showdown. This is really special.
"It's just a really special ride, and I just appreciate all the support we've gotten from the KU and K-State communities. It's a special weekend for us."
It's a sunny, 63-degree late Saturday afternoon, and Brandon and Carrie English are not difficult to find. Brandon wears a gray T-shirt with "ENGLISH" written in black across the back. Underneath the left shoulder it reads "KS #8" and underneath the right shoulder it reads "KU #21." Carrie wears a heather gray sweatshirt with a Powercat on one side and a Jayhawk on the other. Underneath the two logos in black bold print reads: "ENGLISH."
It's 3:07 p.m. First pitch for the second game of the Dillons' Sunflower Showdown between Kansas State and Kansas is less than one hour away in front of a sellout crowd of 2,344 at Tointon Family Stadium. Less than 24 hours before, K-State freshman Nick English hit the go-ahead RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning in a 3-2 victory over Kansas. It was exciting. It was magical. It was the kind of story Nick can tell and retell for years and years… Except Jake, Nick's older brother, is on the other team. Cheer? Or not to cheer? That's the question that faces Brandon and Carrie throughout the weekend series between K-State and Kansas.
"It's a gamut of emotions, right?" Brandon says. "I don't know who to root for. (Friday night), I found myself not cheering because I want both teams to do well. It's 100% fun. It's also no fun at all because you don't want either team to suffer. (On Friday), Jake lined out in the ninth inning and my heart dropped. Nick hit a single in the bottom of the eighth for the go-ahead run, and that made me ecstatic.
"But you feel great for one kid and terrible for the other."
Stories abound as Carrie traces back to the past and circles to present day. Brandon was a catcher at Kansas from 1994-95. Carrie graduated from KU law school. In all, seven members of the English family have attended KU.
But not Nick.
"He's always been a kid who's wanted to pave his own way," Carrie says. "I didn't bat an eye at the fact that he was going to go 45 minutes from KU. He's just killing it and I'm so proud of him, but it's not a surprise that he'd want to pave his own way. That's who he is and how he thinks about the world and how he thinks about life.
"I'm super proud of him."
Jake was the No. 1 catcher in Kansas by Prep Baseball Report and Perfect Game out of Olathe South High School. Jake is a 6-foot-2, 210-pound senior who has been wildly successful at KU. He has played in 123 games with 108 starts. He is the first Jayhawk with double-digit home runs in consecutive seasons since Ryne Price in 2007 and 2008.
"Our family has pretty much been KU all the way through until Nick decided to go to K-State," Jake says. "Dad played at KU, and it was close to home, so that's a big reason why I chose to go to KU."
Nick, a 5-foot-11, 195-pounder, was the 2023 Kansas Gatorade Player of the Year, and the 2023 Rawlings National Catcher of the Year out of Olathe South. Nick, as a freshman at Olathe South, was on pace to play with Jake, a senior, until COVID-19 canceled the 2020 baseball season.
Fast forward. Rather than follow Jake to Lawrence, Nick, who originally was set to play at Texas A&M until a coaching change, opted to head further down I-70 West to Manhattan. This came as Nick played summer league baseball with P.J. Hughes, who happened to be the son of K-State baseball head coach Pete Hughes.
"Nick goes, 'Hey dad, I think I'm going to commit to K-State,'" Brandon says.
"I said, 'Great, what's holding you up?'"
"He said, 'Well, it's not KU.'"
"I said, 'Nick, it's not Missouri. It's going to be fine.'"
Brandon chuckles.
It was shortly after 8 p.m. on Friday that Nick, a right-fielder making his 42nd start of the season, reached the batter's box with two outs, the Wildcats and Jayhawks tied, 2-2, in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Senior right hander Reece Dutton's first pitch was a slider, and Nick lined the ball over the pitcher's mound. The ball bounced just past senior shortstop Callier Cranford and dribbled toward senior center fielder Jon Nett. This allowed K-State junior shortstop Kaelen Culpepper to round third base and head home for the go-ahead run amid cheers at Tointon Family Stadium.
Jake, of course, was catching when Nick was hitting.
"I'll tell you what, I've never been as nervous as I was on the on-deck circle," Nick says. "I've been in big spots before, but nothing like playing my brother, especially with a tie game in the eighth."
Nick sits in a black leather chair inside the K-State coaches' meeting room late Friday night wearing his purple ball cap and white jersey as he talks about the pitch, the hit, and the nerves that went along with coming up big for the Wildcats when they needed it the most.
"This is a day that my family has looked to for years," he says. "It's a bittersweet moment for all of us. I'm happy to play him because I want to beat him, but it's dinner-table bragging rights here."
The brothers are competitive, but they are close.
"They've gotten a lot closer since they've gotten older," Brandon says. "Now they're really, really good friends. As far as talking smack to each other, it's more lighthearted than anything else. They're just really good friends, and that's all a parent can ask for."
Nick smiles while recalling the playful banter between he and Jake as he runs through his at-bats during his first-ever meeting against his older brother's team.
"There was a lot of stuff going on there," Nicks says. "First at-bat, I told him I was stealing on him."
Jake retorts.
"He said that, but I waited for him to steal, and he never did it," Jake says. "I don't know if he didn't get the sign or not, but I was waiting to throw him out."
Saturday, Jake and Kansas blanks K-State, 4-0.
It's 3:06 p.m. Sunday, as Nick walks to the batter's box. Jake stands from his squat, pulls off his mask with his right hand, walks 10 feet into the infield and puts two fingers into the air, emphasizing to his Kansas teammates that there are two outs.
"I wanted him to do good, but when I'm playing against him, I can't really cheer for him," Jake says. "That's part of what made (the series) so fun but also a little bit strange."
We are tied 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh inning. There are runners on second and third with two outs. Facing a 1-1 count against right hander Cooper Moore, Nick English unfurls a mighty swing and the ball travels over the head of first baseman Ben Hartl and bounces five feet in front of a charging right fielder Ty Wisdom. It's a single. The crowd reaches a fever pitch, which it hangs in the air as dance music rises to the sky, as David Bishop darts through home plate and then Chuck Ingram races past Jake English, who awaits a one-hopper from Wisdom in the outfield.
Nick English has put K-State ahead 4-2 in the bottom of the seventh with a 2 RBI single.
K-State goes on to win, 4-2, to capture the Sunflower Showdown over Kansas. The Wildcats take the series 2-1.
"The second game-winner for our freshman, who had some emotional ties in this rivalry with his brother on the other side," K-State head coach Pete Hughes says. "It makes for a really good story. But you have to have a confident kid who can slow the game down in those situations and be able to execute.
"It was pretty awesome."
Jake is proud of his younger brother.
"Me and Nick are super close," Jake says. "It's been awesome. Obviously, as a freshman, you never know. Some guys play a ton, and some guys don't play at all. To see him doing what he's doing as a freshman is pretty surreal."
Seeing both sons on the same baseball diamond is chicken noodle soup for this mother's soul. And it took some careful wardrobe planning.
"It was really hard to think about how I was going to represent both boys. I know that sounds really silly, but it was very important to me," Carrie says. "It was something I'd wake up in the middle of the night wondering how I am going to let the world know that I'm equally proud of both of them in a significant way."
She needed a designer. She found one. Her heather gray sweatshirt arrived weeks ago. The gray T-shirts arrived on Friday.
"To watch the boys, they've worked so hard to get to this place," she says. "I couldn't be prouder of them, and that they're here in Kansas, and that they're representing a great rivalry, and a great Sunflower Showdown. This is really special.
"It's just a really special ride, and I just appreciate all the support we've gotten from the KU and K-State communities. It's a special weekend for us."
Players Mentioned
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