10-11 All-Stars Overcame Bizarre Double Play

Jep Penny Field in the West Deptford Little League complex has seen hundreds of games over the years, playing host to long home runs, walk-off wins and great defensive plays.

Yet, it is unlikely the field has ever provided the backdrop for a play exactly like the one that took place in the bottom of the second Monday night.

The West Deptford 10-11 All-Stars were taking on Swedesboro-Woolwich, and were looking to break the game open in the early going. The team led 1-0 and had loaded the bases on a hit, walk and hit batter. There was just one out and the hard-hitting Adrian Mason was coming to the plate.

What happened next was a play that only instant replay could have resolved.

Mason smoked a low line drive up the middle that appeared to hit off the mound. The ball kicked high into the air and right into the third baseman’s glove. The third baseman fired home to get what looked to be ruled a force out by the home plate ump.

Coaches for Swedesboro-Woolwich then instructed their catcher to throw the ball to third base and tag the runner, with the belief that the ball hit off their pitcher’s foot and not the mound, and so the runners could be tagged out for advancing on a ball that never touched the ground.

The two umpires met for a brief discussion and agreed with the Swedesboro-Woolwich staff and called the base runner out at third.

So, if you are scoring at home, that is a 1-5-2-5 double play.

The play had more than one person scratching their head and opinions differed on what the ball actually hit when it went up the middle.

“It was bizarre, to say the least,” said West Deptford manager Gus Knestaut. “You don’t see plays like that happen all the time. I thought it hit the mound, because the kid didn’t seem to be hurt too much. He said it hit his foot, but I think it hit the mound first, then hit his foot.”

A deeper look into the play gives insight that the umpires themselves may have been thrown off a bit by the strange play.

When the ball came off of Mason’s bat and kicked off the pitcher/mound and then bounced into the third baseman’s glove, no “out” call was made to signify the ball was caught in the air. With no “out” call made, the runners made the right move and continued to run to the next base. Had there been an “out” call, the runners would have had a chance to retreat back to their original bases.

Furthermore, the home plate umpire signified an “out” when the ball was thrown to home plate. That is a call that would only be accurate if the ball was hit on the ground and there was a force play at the plate. With the ball being caught in the air there was no force play to be made and therefore no signal should have been made at the plate.

Despite the fact that way the play unfolded may not have been accurate, it would be hard to find much fault any call made on the play, due to how hard the ball was hit up the middle. A matter of inches can separate the bottom of a cleat with the top of the pitcher’s mound and even 20/20 vision doesn’t assure a person will be able to see exactly where the ball hit.

And thankfully for West Deptford, the play did not come back to haunt it, as the team won on a walk-off walk in the bottom of the sixth.

The play does go to show you, though, that whether you are watching a Major League Baseball game or just are checking in on your town’s Little League team, each game provides the opportunity for fans to see something they have never seen before.

And in the case of the 1-5-2-5 double play, something they may never see again.