In a matter of 90 seconds, a New York high school baseball team experienced joy, confusion, anger, and frustration. For everyone involved, it’s 90 seconds that will be remembered for years to come.
The teams
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- Hornell Senior High School from Hornell, NY - No. 4 seed
- Palmyra-Macedon High School from Palmyra, NY - No. 2 seed
The schools were playing in the Section V Class B1 championship. Both teams wore red jerseys, but Hornell wore gray pants, while Pal-Mac wore white. (That’s helpful to know as you watch the video and decipher who’s who on the field.)
The ending of the game got attention by Sports Illustrated and made ESPN’s Sports Center, garnering millions of views, but unfortunately not for the reasons the team from Hornell would have wanted.
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The scene
Hornell was in the field for the bottom of the seventh inning. They were in the lead 5-4.
Pal-Mac had runners on first and second base but had two outs on them. The count against the Pal-Mac batter was two balls and two strikes.
It’s understandable that nerves would be high, with both teams realizing they were possibly one pitch away from a victory. No one could have guessed what would unfold in the next minute and a half.
⚾ YOU CAN WATCH THE 1:29 VIDEO HERE
⏱️Here’s what the video shows
:00 - With two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Hornell pitcher throws a third strike, but the catcher drops it. The ump signals the strike call. (Even with a runner already on first base, according to the rules, a batter can take off to first on a dropped third strike with two outs. To get the batter out, the catcher must quickly retrieve the ball and tag the opposing player or throw that player out at first.)
:04 - The Pal-Mac batter drops his bat and begins to run to first.
:05 - The Hornell catcher pops up like he might throw, but then tucks the ball in his back pocket. He’s facing away from the ump who indicates the runner’s safe. The runner who had gotten a lead off second base begins running toward third. In the background somewhere, someone is heard yelling “There’s 2 outs!”
:10 - By ten seconds in, the Hornell catcher is in front of the mound with the pitcher, whose arms are raised in celebration.
:13 - More Hornell players join the celebration in the center of the infield. A shout of “There’s 2 outs, there’s 2 outs!” is heard louder in the video.
:14 - A Hornell player in the background appears to be trying to get his teammates’ attention to let them know the play isn’t dead.
:17 - The batter who started the play at first base rounds second base, heading toward third.
:18 - The runner who started at second base, crosses home plate, tying the game. The announcer states: “Oh, wait a minute, Hornell’s gotta pay attention. I’m not sure what’s going on here.”
:20 - The batter who took off on the dropped third strike steps on second base and keeps running.
:25 - The Pal-Mac player, who started on first base, crosses the plate and raises his arms, upon scoring what would be the game-winning run.
:26 - A second later, men who appear to be team managers for Hornell approach the home plate umpire.
:29 - The last batter runs in front of one of the men and takes his final few steps toward home plate.
:31 - Pal-Mac players begin to celebrate. Body language indicates a heated conversation between Hornell coaches and the umpire. The announcer asks “Is this the way it’s going to end?”
:47 - “Pal-Mac’s gonna win it?” said the announcer, with uncertainty, as the other two umpires approach the home plate ump who was still with Hornell coaches.
:59 - The Hornell crew walks away from the three umpires.
1:06 - The umpires walk toward the Pal-Mac team, addressing them with words that can’t be heard on camera.
1:18 - Pal-Mac players begin to celebrate again, after being told they won.
1:20 - The announcer states: “Wow, this has got to be the most bizarre ending I’ve ever seen, and Hornell’s going to lose the championship because of that.”
Below is the full game, with the viral play starting around 2:14:50.
A heartbreaking lesson
While the players learned a heartbreaking and tough lesson about celebrating too soon, many on social media shared in the confusion and weighed in on the blame. Should the umpire have been more clear with the call? Was the last pitch even a strike? Should it have been a dead ball, once players and coaches rushed the field?
The head coach for Hornell told a local media outlet that he would not protest the ending of the game and did not fault the umpires.
“I blame myself a little, maybe I could have gone out and argued it was a dead ball and kept the runner on third and said, ‘Hey it’s tied now, put the runner on third and make them beat us.’ But we can’t blame the umpires, everyone is running on the field and I’m not sure they knew how to handle it either,” Hornell coach Joe Flint reportedly told the Hornell Sun and Wellsville Sun.
The publication wrote that Flint said he hadn’t turned on a TV or computer and that he was meeting with his players individually. He said the catcher, who made an attempt to tag before missing the umpire’s hand motion, was taking the loss particularly hard.
“This won’t go away, I told them 20 years from now, it’s going to bother you, but the sun will come up tomorrow and other things in life will happen that are better,” Flint told the Wellsville Sun. “But we will remember it, we have to own it and always have each other’s back.”
Has your child or a team you coached suffered a tough, unexpected loss? Did a mistake cost them a big game? What advice did you share to help? Share your experience in the comments section below.