Stirring Testimony Nothing But Strikes

Stirring Testimony Nothing But Strikes

MARK APPEL HAS LONG BEEN ACCUSTOMED TO CROWDS BROUGHT ABOUT THROUGH HIS SUBLIME ATHLETIC TALENTS.

A high school pitching sensation in Northern California. A record smashing All-American at Stanford University. The Pac-12 Scholar Athlete of the Year. The glory boy of the 2013 Major League Baseball Draft. His celebrated meteoric rise was followed by a well chronicled descent and premature exit from the game by age 26. The cheers were silenced well before he anticipated. Yet Appel has maintained a life-balance buoyed by his Christian beliefs. So when he was welcomed into Cemo Auditorium to meet the St. Thomas chapter of Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Appel brought a ninth inning, bases loaded, 3-2 pitch-type intent, a delivery as clear and direct as if the World Series outcome were at stake.