High School baseball player’s effort on weird play goes viral

A high school baseball player gave baseball fans a chance to see something that they’d likely never seen before in a Friday game.

Fort Recovery High School defeated Marion Local High School in the Division IV District Championship Game, part of the Ohio High School Athletic Association Championship Tournament. It was an 11-3 win that could have — and should have — been slightly more lopsided. But Marion Local’s center fielder Griffin Burns made a tremendous play. The tremendous play was necessary due to some poor fundamental play from Burns’ teammates.

With one out and nobody on in the sixth inning, Burns charged a ball from center field, while both middle infielders went back to try to track it down. In most situations, the result would be a bloop single. Only, with the second baseman and shortstop both away from second base, none of the other infielders moved over to cover second. That opened up the runner to take second base.

The third baseman did eventually move to cover second base, but couldn’t get there nearly in time. That also created the same problem as before, as nobody else moved to cover third. So, the runner kept going. Eventually, the catcher went to cover third but he also couldn’t get there in time. And, as had happened before, nobody went to cover home, leaving the base unmanned. So, the runner went a weird inside-the-park homer. He’d have to settle for a weird triple.

Because, while nobody was covering home, Burns did keep running in after he picked the ball up, creating a race to home. Both players sprinted for the plate. As the runner went into a head-first slide, Burns lunged and tagged him. And while Burns also fell to the ground, he kept control of the ball. So, the center fielder was credited with an unassisted putout at home plate.

And if you indeed saw the play and thought, “I have never seen anything like that before,” good news. You’re not alone.

[WOSN Sports on X]