Unassisted Triple Play!

Will turned his second career unassisted triple play last night, providing a bright spot in an otherwise humdrum loss in Powder Springs. The unassisted triple play is the rarest play in baseball, even more rare than a perfect game...hundreds of times more rare than a hole in one in golf.

With little John Fulton pitching, the leadoff hitter in the fifth inning reached on an error, and hit the lineup's cleanup hitter, putting Powder Spring’s two best players on base. This brought up third-baseman Danny, who had singled home a run in the third.

On a one ball - one strike pitch, Danny lined the ball up the middle, high and to the left-field side of second base. Will moved to his left and reached high to snag the liner for the first out. Both runners had taken large leads before the pitch, and were well off the bags when Will made the catch...but they weren't stealing on the pitch.

In the dugout, my first thought was which runner should Will pick off base. But Will didn't hesitate...his momentum was taking him toward second base, and he quickly stepped on the bag for the second out. Facing first base, Will had a perfect view of the runner caught halfway between first and second. Later Coach White said Will's eyes were open wide at this point. Will accelerated and easily ran down the runner, tagging him out for the unassisted triple play, quite similar to the triple play turned by the Braves Rafael Furcal a few years ago.

Will then turned right and ran off the field to the third base dugout, tossing the ball on the mound as he passed. It was a cool night, with dew starting to form, so the base umpire instinctively picked up the ball to keep it dry. I walked out and retrieved the ball, to put on Will’s shelf next to his first triple play ball, turned almost six years ago on October 6, 2000.

The rest of the game was forgettable, as the young Longhorns were sloppy at the plate and in the field. Both Bradford and John Fulton pitched admirably...with Bradford only allowing two earned runs in three innings, and JF tossing two shutout innings.

Will caught another line drive playing shortstop, but saw his consecutive at-bats with a hit streak end at eleven straight, and his consecutive plate appearances reaching base streak ended at fourteen.