The caption on Evan Wilde’s Instagram post thanking Niagara University after his final season said it all.
“Started as a pitcher, finished as … not a pitcher.”
In what felt like the blink of an eye, the 6-foot-7, 225-pound hurler-turned-infielder was on his way back home reflecting on a memorable end to his collegiate career.
After getting off to a rocky start on the mound, going 0-1 with a 10.00 earned run average in six appearances with the Purple Eagles, he finished the spring as a hitter only, collecting a .250 batting average with six home runs and 17 runs batted in as a first baseman.
“It’s not exactly what I was expecting, for certain,” Wilde laughed in a conversation with Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast. “It’s been a bit of a wild ride.”
Enduring numerous highs and lows over the course of his college baseball journey, the Airdrie native says he’s grateful for the opportunities he’s received while rekindling his love for the game.
EARLY COLLEGE SUCCESS
With his tall frame and solid repertoire on the mound, Wilde received plenty of attention from baseball coaches growing up.
He made his way through Little League in his hometown before suiting up with the Calgary Bandits and Cubs, even being named to Baseball Alberta’s Canada Cup team in 2018.
The Bert Church High School grad’s first collegiate stop came in 2019-2020, where he went 3-0 with a 1.27 ERA in eight appearances for Cloud County Community College before the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted his season.
He returned for his sophomore season, going 4-4 with a 6.23 ERA in 15 appearances, striking out 76 in more than 60 innings of work, earning a commitment to Niagara.
The southpaw was also part of the inaugural Sylvan Lake Gulls team in the abbreviated 2021 Western Canadian Baseball League campaign, going 1-1 with a 6.75 ERA in nine games, including pitching seven innings of a combined no-hitter with Brett Higgins and Zane Pollon.
UNDER THE KNIFE
Wilde’s workhorse mentality served him well in his first season with the Purple Eagles.
He tied the school’s single-season record for appearances with 15 and leading the team in strikeouts with 67 while amassing a 2-8 record and an 8.00 ERA.
However, Wilde was sidelined for the entire 2023 campaign as he recuperated from Tommy John surgery.
Returning proved to be difficult, as he went 1-0 with a 6.23 ERA in eight appearances for the Purple Eagles in 2024.
“It’s tough, man,” he said. “It’s very frustrating to feel like you’re putting in all this work and not returning to the point you want … some guys have better success at it than others.”
In an effort to get in a few more games and fine-tune his pitches, he headed back to his home province to suit up for the West Coast League’s Edmonton Riverhawks that summer.
Near the end of the season, the pitchers were allowed to take a couple of hacks for batting practice.
While he hadn’t swung a bat since before his surgery, Wilde says he hit one hard enough that he had to take a step back and wonder a bit.
AN UNEXPECTED AUDITION
Fast-forward to the fall at Niagara, and Wilde once again found himself in the batter’s box.
It was before official team practices were allowed to start, but he and a few other players were out hitting and throwing, getting loose for the real thing.
Ready to finish for the day, Wilde says he was convinced by teammate Vinny Mauro to take a few more swings.
“I just ended up hitting them out to centre field and off the scoreboard,” he laughed. “Vinny’s looking at me and he’s like, ‘You might want to talk to Spat (Niagara head coach Matt Spatafora) about that.’”
It didn’t take long for the Purple Eagles dugout boss saw the budding two-way player in action.
“I do it again the next day and Spatty pulls and sees me hitting some taters out there,” Wilde recalled.
“He’s like, ‘Yeah, that was your tryout, you’re in.’”
After starting first baseman Shawn Cameron went down with a season-ending injury in mid-March, the door was opened for Wilde to see more playing time.
Hitting ninth as the designated hitter, he made his hitter-only debut for the Purple Eagles on March 21 against Mount St. Mary’s.
It went better than Wilde could have even expected, going 2-for-5 with a solo home run in a 14-11 victory.
“Honestly, I couldn’t believe it,” he said about rounding the bases in the fifth inning. “I knew it right off the bat, too. I was just out there trying to have fun and be aggressive.”
While a teammate’s injury isn’t how he wanted to make a name for himself, Wilde said he wanted to make the most of the opportunity in his final season of college baseball.
UNFORGETTABLE DAY
Wilde put an exclamation point on his season as a batter only on May 16 against Canisius.
He hit a double in the second inning, a triple in the third, and a home run to lead off the fifth, coming back up in the sixth with a chance for the cycle.
“Going into that fourth at-bat, I knew all I needed was a single,” he said. “I won’t lie, I got a little nervous and struck out twice.”
He almost didn’t get another at-bat, as he was due up fourth in the top of the ninth inning.
After Jason Green grounded out, Jacob Brooks was hit by a pitch and Nate Milk walked, setting the stage for Wilde to accomplish the cycle.
Trying to simplify his approach and just put the bat on the ball after the two previous punchouts, he turned on a Clifton Genge offering and pulled it into right field for an RBI single.
“I’m just thankful I got that last at-bat as it was close,” Wilde said. “Had we grounded into a double-play, I wouldn’t have got that at-bat … I’m glad it worked out the way it did.”
The Purple Eagles won the game 17-12 as part of a three-game sweep over Canisius.
CHECKMATE
Less than a week later, Niagara’s season – and Wilde’s post-secondary career – was over thanks to a 10-5 loss to Quinnipac University in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) tournament.
After what was ultimately six years of college, he’s grateful for what he was able to experience and the friends he made along the way.
Wilde says his surgery gave him a renewed perspective where he wanted to be a leader and provide more guidance to the younger players.
In his final season, the 24-year-old noticed how some showed up with a ton of talent but didn’t necessarily know what to do with it or understand the work that goes into getting to the next level, which is something Wilde had seen over his collegiate career.
“Just because I didn’t get drafted and play pro ball myself doesn’t mean I haven’t been around that level of talent and knowing how those guys work and what it takes to be that guy to get there,” he says. “They might not realize how much effort or commitment it truly takes.”
For now, he’s back at home looking for research-based jobs to put his biology degree to good use and plans to apply for medical school again.
Wilde says he also wouldn’t be surprised to find himself on the field again as a coach at some point, where he will be able to share his knowledge and experiences with the next generation of athletes.
“I think it’s a great game – it mimics life,” he says. “I had a coach early in my life describe it as ‘baseball is chess on grass, only the pieces can fail,’ and it’s a very good way of describing the game.”
As it turns out, just like a chess piece, Wilde’s move from pitcher to first baseman provided the checkmate to a great collegiate baseball career.
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