Como Blitzball 

This is baseball/Wiffle ball with a splash of impossible-to-hit pitches.

It’s a little-known fact that with eight teams and thirty-two players, Columbia boasts the largest Blitzball league in the nation; and it is managed much like professional sports with contracts, drafts, and free agents; but every league has a story. 

What It Is  

Blitzball is a game for everyone who loves baseball — and everyone who doesn’t. What began as a backyard family-friendly slice of summer fun has become a nationally played sport that includes a World Series played in Tampa, Florida every January.  

“The best thing about Blitzball is that it simplifies all the greatest things about baseball,” says Caden Sartain, one of the COMO League directors. 

A professional Blitzball field looks like a typical baseball field except that it’s about one-third the size. (To check out the COMO field, head to Midway Golf and Games). A team consists of a pitcher and three fielders. One of the biggest differences between baseball or Wiffle ball and Blitzball is that a Blitzball has seventy-two sides. A pitcher has a lot of options with that kind of ball. A game lasts three innings, or about an hour, with pitches no faster than 80 mph., six balls equal a walk, and no umpires allowed. 

Where it All Began 

The COMO Blitzball League began about ten years ago, when brothers Chandler and Caden Sartain were carefree kids, and their neighbor introduced them to the game. They immediately fell in love with it and played whenever they could. A couple of years into playing, the Sartains began to post their games on YouTube. Their channel didn’t get much traction, and the brothers were ready to let it go when one of the videos went viral. That was all they needed.  

In the Community 

While professional sports teams are heavy on competition and wins, the Sartains’ style of Blitzball emphasizes relationships and fun. The game can be played by the young and old, the athletic, and uncoordinated alike. Working with elementary and middle school-age kids in the community is one of their primary goals. 

“A lot of time in youth sports, there is more and more pressure to perform,” Chandler explains, “but at the end of the day, the goal should be to fall in love with the sport and have fun.” Caden agrees and highlights the relationship aspect of the game, adding, “It’s about being with friends and enjoying Blitzball.” 

Games are played at the newly built field at the end of Van Horn Tavern Road. Games are typically played on Sundays but with some players who live out of town — and all of them have jobs — the game schedule is fluid. They hope to have a COMO tournament in the fall, inviting teams from around the country to play and the general mid-Missouri public to watch.  

The Challenges 

The biggest challenge that the Sartains face is time. Blitzball is their passion, and while it does bring in some income from advertisers, Caden is in college, and Chandler must earn a living at a full-time job, which is (conveniently) with the Blitzball company. As directors of the league, it’s their responsibility to handle the business side, plan events, and schedule games. They also do the video editing and content creation for their more creative clips. A twenty-minute clip is the product of roughly fourteen hours of video footage from eight different cameras around the field.

Blitzball has claimed a spot on the national scene, and although it’s not as well-known as other sports that had their beginning in someone’s backyard, it’s well on its way. 

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COMO Blitzball
[email protected] 
YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok: @COMOBlitzballyt