The 2025 Summit League baseball player of the year, Henry Zipay, has returned to Omaha for one final year with the program in 2026.
Before deciding to return, the seventh-year senior left fielder said that there was chatter about him getting drafted, but after the conversations didn’t happen, he opted against entering the transfer portal and to return to Omaha.
“I’ve learned that the grass might not always be greener on the other side, and with a program like Omaha, I kind of felt like I was giving up if I left,” Zipay told Hurrdat Sports. “I haven’t completed what I really wanted to complete with this Omaha program. That’s winning a Summit League championship, going to a Regional, going to a Super Regional and going to the College World Series. So, it just kind of felt like I didn’t do what I need to do to get this program to that championship level, and I kind of felt like I was like turning my back on the program if I left.”
Zipay said the people in Omaha made it an easy decision to stay rather than looking around for other opportunities with his final season of eligibility.
“There was really no thought of me leaving to be honest, because Coach (Evan) Porter just kind of makes you feel like you belong here, and everybody on the team kind of has the same feeling of that,” Zipay said. “I knew a lot of people were going to return. A lot of my really close friends were going to come back for this year, so I didn’t want to leave them in the dust. We can build on relationships, and we already had a really good bond on our team last year, so I think it would have just kind of broke it up a little bit.”
Zipay started his collegiate career at Iowa Western Community College across the river in Council Bluffs, where he spent two seasons before joining East Carolina for a summer and fall. After spending some time in Greenville, N.C., however, the Omaha Westside High School product decided it wasn’t the right fit for him.
Porter recruited him out of high school and junior college, and when Zipay reached out following his departure from East Carolina, the Mavericks’ head coach was still interested.
“I talked to Coach Porter, and I’m grateful that they still wanted me back,” Zipay said. “I talked with him, and honestly, coming back to Omaha was just a no-brainer. My family’s here and it’s kind of just like a homecoming.”
Zipay didn’t play in 2022 then made 18 appearances (with 14 starts) in 2023. He became a regular starter and Summit League All-League second-teamer in 2024 then broke out in a big way in 2025.
Zipay made 48 starts, tying for the league lead with a .384 batting average while also leading the league in on base percentage at .475 and triples with five. He safely reached base in 32 consecutive games at one point during the season en route to earning All-League First Team Summit League Player of the Year honors.
“Last year, I felt like there was a lot of pressure on me going into the season, and I was able to just kind of take the pressure off of myself and just kind of relax and really focus on one day at a time,” Zipay said. “If I had a bad day, I’d move onto the next one, and really just having a short memory of if I had a bad game or a bad play, just really moving onto the next one as quick as possible. I think that really helped me last year, just kind of having a short memory of just when things went bad, it really didn’t matter.”
As for how Zipay’s carrying that momentum into 2026, he said that it’s all about “trusting the process.”
“It would be nice to repeat exactly what happened last year for sure, like statistics-wise, but baseball is just such a hard sport,” Zipay said. “I can’t really expect to do the same exact thing. I certainly am going to give it my all and really try to, but I also am not going to put so much pressure on myself to exceed what I did last year. I’m just going to put my head down and work, and I have confidence that that will have a good result.”
The Mavericks are off to a 1-3 start after suffering a sweep against Arizona State top open the season, but they bounced back to topple Arizona on Monday. Zipay has started all four games while recording five hits including one double, two walks, one RBI and two runs.
Zipay said he’s taking more of a leadership role in 2026, with his age and experience making for a unique dynamic in the clubhouse.
“At this point, the biggest thing for me is just kind of passing down my knowledge to the younger guys,” Zipay said. “This is for sure my last year at Omaha, so I’m in a position where I’m playing with guys that are six and seven years younger than me, which is kind of crazy in college baseball, but just kind of sharing my experiences and my knowledge of the game with them, so that they can kind of take it and take the program and run with it.”
The senior said that he’s gotten better on the field with his plate discipline while also learning the importance of spending time away from the ballpark when possible.
“It’s a hard game mentally to play, and there’s so many ups and downs, and you could get yourself in a hole pretty easily,” Zipay said. “I think that’s a big thing that I’ve been trying to share with a lot of the younger guys, is just like, ‘Hey, you might think that baseball is the biggest thing in the world right now, and that’s not a bad thing, but you’ll soon realize that you need to have a good balance of when it’s OK not to be a baseball player, and really kind of take a deep breath, and spend some time with family and friends.”
Zipay said that he grew up going to the College World Series, Nebraska games and Creighton contests while looking up to those older baseball players. Now, he’s in that position to inspire others, with younger children coming to his games to watch his team play while he represents Omaha.
“It’s always fun to see kids on the side that look up to us as baseball players and kind of want to follow in our footsteps,” Zipay said. “It’s just pretty cool being in Omaha and graduating from a high school here in Omaha. There are people that kind of come up to you all over the place, and it’s just a good talking point. It’s really cool growing up here, and playing for the city that I grew up in.”
Setting a good example for young fans is just part of what Zipay hopes is a memorable and impactful final season in Omaha as he soaks up every moment with the team.
“Since this is my last year, I’m really looking forward to building a lot of good relationships with my teammates and just having fun.” Zipay said.
The Mavericks are in San Diego for the Tony Gwynn Legacy Tournament, though their first game against BYU on Thursday was cancelled because of inclement weather. Instead, Omaha will open against Western Michigan on Friday at 3 p.m. CT before taking on the Broncos again on Saturday at 2.
