Georgia prep baseball player pulls off gutsy walkoff steal of home in playoffs
While always impressive, walkoff home runs are far from unheard of in the thousands of high school playoff games played across the country annually, but here's a new one: the walkoff steal home.
With two outs and a 1-2 count in the bottom of the 10th inning and a Georgia Class AA state quarterfinal game on the line, Savannah (Ga.) Benedictine Military School coach Kevin Farmer called for senior Mike Huggins to steal home, according to the Savannah Morning News. The speedy shortstop reached the plate just as a breaking ball got away from Lovett catcher Nick Caneliere. Game over. Cadets win, 4-3.
“I’ve never made a call like that to end a game, but there’s always a first time in baseball,” Farmer told the paper after making one of the gutsiest calls you'll ever see. “It was the right strategy at the right time. The pitcher was a lefty, he was throwing a lot of breaking balls, and he was slow to the plate. We’ve been working on the timing with Mike stealing home, and it all came together in that spot.”
If you think there's no coming back from a loss like that, you're right. Benedictine rolled in Game 2 of the series, 6-1, advancing to the state semifinals. Norcross Wesleyan School better update its scouting report.
(h/t USA Today)
