Hartland 12U Team Turns Triple Play

It’s not something you see every day, that’s for sure.

Earlier this month, the Hartland Eagles Blue 12U Travel Team turned a triple play with bases loaded in the fifth inning in a semifinal game against Southfield in the Battle of the Bats tournament in Hartland.

“Triple plays don’t happen very often,” said Andy Auvenshine, who had a hand in the play on June 5. “Everybody was really excited. It was like we’d won the game, but it was only like the fifth inning.”

Hartland led 8-6 in the fifth inning when pitcher Steven Felix and Auvenshine, who was playing second base, accomplished the feat.

A ball was popped up in foul ground near the first base dugout. Felix, first baseman Grant Prinzing and catcher Jack Slavin all converged on the ball. 

“I called it,” Felix said. “Jack ran into me and I still held on.” 

“The runner at second was trying to go to third, but the runner at third didn’t go,” Auvenshine said. “The pitcher threw it to me and I tagged him out.”

“I threw it to second, it was a bad throw, but Auvenshine made a sweet catch and made the tag,” Felix said.

At that point, the crowd caught Auvenshine’s attention.

“Everybody was shouting that he was running home, so I just threw it,” he said.

With no one covering home, the runner at third took off. Felix broke for home plate and got there in time to catch Auvenshine’s throw and tag the runner out.

“It was crazy,” Felix said. “I’ve never been in a triple play. I’ve never even seen one before.”

According to Jerry Glasco, who coaches the team which features players age 12 and under, the crowd went wild.

“People came over from the other three fields to see what was going on,” he said. “In all the years I’ve been involved in youth baseball, I’ve never seen a triple play like that, in that situation. It probably was the difference in winning and not winning that game.”

Hartland ended up with a 9-6 win over Southfield.

The Eagles went on to defeat Garden City by the same score in the championship game.

“That was pretty awesome,” Auvenshine said. “And we were playing against some pretty good competition.”

The Eagles are part of the Hartland Area Youth Athletic Association and they play in the Kensington Valley Baseball and Softball Association.

Later this summer, the team will participate in the American Youth Baseball Hall of Game Invitational Tournament in Cooperstown, NY. 

“We’ll be going the second week of July,” Glasco said. “For the last three years, Hartland has sent its 12U team to the tournament. Teams come in from all over, it’s really nice for the kids.”