Don’t tell anybody that I’ve actually been enjoying college baseball as the playoffs are doing what playoffs do — sending the inferior teams home while the best go to Omaha. Well, “enjoying” is only a half-truth because I don’t watch any entire game. Even with the pitch clock the games are soooooooOOOOOOOooooooo looooOOOOooong.
I happened to be watching Clemson vs. Florida because of what was at stake. Clemson was in a must-win situation and the game was well into extra innings when a possible game-winning hit from Florida sailed into the outfield.
Potential outcome #1: The outfielder misses and Florida wins, series ends.
Potential outcome #2: He catches the ball, the game continues and gives Clemson another at-bat to try scoring.
The outfielder tracks the ball as he’s running towards the wall. It’s clearly not a home run so the guy has GOT to make the catch to be a hero for Clemson. Take a look and you can decide if this play is one of the best in college baseball this season.
The way he cradles the ball against his body in an all-out effort to save his team from elimination, a jump and not even landing till he bounces off the outfield wall, it’s a thing of beauty and a great example of skill and athleticism!
What a catch.
The game was in the 13th inning and to say things were tense is an understatement. There were even 2 Clemson coaches that got ejected after one their own players hit a home run in one of those extra innings. Bizarre. So what does ESPN do? Switch coverage to pre-game for a Major League Baseball matchup… as if anyone needed a fresh reminder that money has ruined sports (maybe not entirely, but close!) and ESPN sucks.
Clemson lost a few innings later but that outfielder’s catch will probably be remembered for a long time by anyone who saw it, especially Clemson fans.
-Out of the Wilderness
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