The hidden ball trick is one of the oldest ruses in baseball, but you truly never know when it’ll make a surprise appearance.
The Clemson Tigers successfully deployed the deceptive strategy during Sunday’s regional semifinal tilt against Coastal Carolina during the Clemson Regional Finals of the NCAA’s Division I baseball tournament. The team was stunningly able to get itself out of the inning after using the classic bit of trickery in the second inning against the Chanticleers.
Coastal Carolina had runners on second and third after Clemson secured an out at first base. Third baseman Blake Wright, who had the ball in his glove, walked over to the mound to hand the ball back to the pitcher before nonchalantly walking back to third base.
Of course, he never actually dropped off the ball.
After getting back to his position, he waited until Coastal Carolina’s Dean Mihos stepped off the bag and deftly tagged him for the final out of the inning, leaving Mihos absolutely bewildered.
🚨 Hidden Ball Trick 🚨 pic.twitter.com/du9tGacze1
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 2, 2024
The trickery was pulled off to perfection, and Clemson got themselves out of a tricky situation thanks to one of the oldest tricks in the book, which just about no one saw coming.
Wright’s big defensive play came just moments after he opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning with an RBI single. Clemson scored two runs in the first inning and jumped out to a 6–2 lead by the fifth.
