A South Jersey High School Baseball Team Finished Their 4-3 Win With An Incredibly Well-Sold Hidden Ball Trick

So Delsea Regional High School from South Jersey was in a little bit of a pickle on Friday night when they were only up 1 with two runners on in the last inning. A single ties it up and a double likely gives Audubon the lead. And then they broke out my favorite play in all of baseball, that seems to come up once maybe twice a year in some random high school game: the fake pickoff to 2nd, fake ball goes into centerfield, kid tries to advance to 3rd, pitcher tags out the runner and ends the game play.

Now, before we get into the execution of it, I want to say this. Good play, feel bad for the kid that fell for it, but that Audubon 3rd base coach (usually the head coach in high school?) stole the show. My man is damn near across the other foul line by the time the umpire hits everyone with the out call. He watched the whole thing unfold and said fuck it, time to shake hands boys, before the game was even over.

I can't decide if I think he's showing up the kid by letting the entire crowd know that he didn't fall for it, or if he's just trying to get back to the locker room ASAP to take off those ugly yellow pants. I mean, yellow pants is a tough move in general, but to go down on a hidden ball trick with yellow pants is kind of embarrassing.

Anyways, I love the execution from Delsea. The fake pickoff / dive is one thing, but the aftermath as the chaos ensued really sold it. The 2nd baseman pointing and screaming where the ball is (but isn't), while the shortstop stumbles around trying to get to it quick.

Perfection, boys.

Now can we please get some footage of a time where this play didn't work? We always see the success stories, but there has to be examples of running this play in the last inning and the kid just walks back to the bag and double birds the SS and 2nd baseman that just dirtied up their uniforms for nothing. This play can't have a 100.0% success rate.

Also, does anyone do it not to end the game? Or is this a game-clincher only type of play?