Colson Montgomery One-Ups Fellow Hoosier Kyle Schwarber In Home Run Distance

CHICAGO –– Fans can typically walk Rate Field's concourse without the threat of being hit by home runs, or so it appeared for most of the 2025 season. But two Hoosiers will have fans on the lookout moving forward.

Even when Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber –– who has 325 career homers and is tied for second in MLB with 41 this season –– blasted a 441-foot home run off White Sox pitcher Jonathan Cannon on July 29, it was a bit jarring to see the ball land behind the right field seats.

Kyle Schwarber obliterates this baseball 441 feet 😳 pic.twitter.com/UAsKZRgjVY
— MLB (@MLB) July 30, 2025

Schwarber made a strong submission for the longest home run at Rate Field in 2025, but he was beat by White Sox rookie Colson Montgomery in the first inning of Sunday's 6-4 win over the Cleveland Guardians.

Montgomery connected with an 89.8 mph cutter near the bottom of the strike zone and drove it 452 feet over to right field with an exit velocity of 114.5 mph.

That made for the longest home run at Rate Field this season and the second-longest home run by a White Sox player in 2025, behind Michael A. Taylor's 464-foot home run in Colorado. It's also the longest at the White Sox stadium since Luis Robert Jr.'s 470-foot blast on June 29, 2024 against the Rockies.

Colson Montgomery belts one 452 feet! 😳 pic.twitter.com/GOnqDa4SMw
— MLB (@MLB) August 10, 2025

"It's beautiful, man, just beautiful," White Sox starting pitcher Davis Martin said. "It's something about a lefty swing, man. Sitting on the bench we were in the middle of our in between meeting and you just hear 'crack' and you just see everybody's head rip up and we're just like 'Oh my god, that ball's destroyed.'"

"That was something unthinkable," White Sox second baseman Lenyn Sosa said. "The power that he has to hit the ball that far is unbelievable."

Montgomery said he didn't feel much when it left his bat, though he knew it was gone. When asked if he had seen a home run hit as far as Montgomery's, White Sox manager Will Venable was correct in his assessment.

"That was up there. That was pretty good. Schwarber hit a good one the other day. I thought Colson's one-upped Schwarber there," Venable said. "But yeah, he's got a ton of power, just a really good swing on a really good at-bat."

Coincidentally, the two home runs came from a pair of Hoosiers. Schwarber is among the most accomplished Indiana University graduates in recent decades, leading the Hoosiers to the 2013 College World Series for the only time in program history.

Schwarber was selected to the Indiana Athletics Hall of Fame in 2025, his first year on the ballot. But due to the requirement that all living Hall of Fame inductees attend the ceremonies, Schwarber has deferred his induction this year and will be officially welcomed to the Hall of Fame in a future year when his Major League Baseball schedule permits him to return to Bloomington for the Hall of Fame festivities, per an Indiana Athletics news release.

Montgomery grew up Holland, Ind., the southwest corner of the state, and attended Southridge High School in Huntingburg, Ind. In 27 games as a senior, he hit .338 with nine doubles, seven home runs, 23 RBIs, 41 runs scored, 37 walks and 24 stolen bases and helped the Raiders to the IHSAA Class 3A state title.

Montgomery committed to play baseball at Indiana University under coach Jeff Mercer. But he decided to sign with the White Sox on a $3.027-million signing bonus after being selected with the 22nd overall pick in the first round of the 2021 MLB Draft.

Montgomery's Indiana connection to Schwarber, along hitting a home run 11 feet farther at Rate Field, made for a special moment.

“That’s cool," Montgomery said. "When [Schwarber] hit that, I felt like that was the farthest ball I had ever seen hit. I haven’t played many games here at the Rate, but to do that is pretty cool.”

"When I try to be low effort and not really try to do too much, I feel like good things happen. That was one of the farthest ones I’ve hit in my career so I kind of watched it a little bit too. I just felt like it was a little motivation and kind of momentum for the guys. I wanted to get the guys fired up. I try to not show much emotion but I was trying to get the guys fired up."

Montgomery is on an incredible run in his rookie season, hitting nine home runs in his last 17 games. That puts him in a four-way tie for most home runs in MLB since July 22, along with Schwarber, Julio Rodriguez and Shea Langeliers.

Montgomery hit his first home run in Tampa on July 22 with a torpedo bat, which has a thicker barrel toward the handle and thins out at the end. The 6-foot-3 infielder has long arms, so it suits him well. He broke his last torpedo bat against the Los Angeles Angels on Aug. 1, but fortunately received a new shipment in time to hit another home run on Sunday.

“Once I got it, I felt it was pretty natural. When I had to use a normal bat, I felt like there was too much weight at the end," Montgomery said. "It kind of made me out and around and pull happy, I guess. When I have a Torpedo in my hand, I guess, I feel tight to the ball and can let the ball track a little bit more and I can whip it to the zone faster."

Montgomery's success with the White Sox doesn't necessarily come as a surprise, given his top-prospect status from 2022-24. But considering his struggles in Triple-A to begin the season, which required a trip to Arizona to make physical adjustments and mentally reset, his path to Chicago was longer than expected and followed a unique path.

But now that he's reached the major leagues, there's no looking back.

"I think now I’m just here playing. This is fun. This is why I’m here. This is where I wanted to be and kind of when I got up here it’s all that weight lifted off my shoulders," Montgomery said. "I gave myself, if I had a good game, bad game, I didn’t want to get too high or too low because you never know what’s going to happen. The plan is to win every single night so that’s about it."