LJ baseball: Something you may never see

LJ catcher Charlie Martin, wearing

a cast on his right arm, which 

underwent surgery, takes a sip

of Pink Edition Red Bull

during the fifth inning April 2.

Seagulls fly above.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

In the top of the fourth inning Wed., April 2, something happened I had never heard of.

Jon Angel Aguirre, a second baseman for Brawley facing La Jolla, was awarded third base after stealing second.

Huh?

As Rick Eveleth, handling the P.A. system for La Jolla, explained it to the crowd, Aguirre had the tag applied (by Viking second baseman Joseph Crudo) even though there wasn't a play.

"Safety" was the reason given for the call.

La Jolla head coach Gary Frank later shed some light on the incident:

"The rule in high school baseball is, no player can fake a tag on a baserunner if they do not have the baseball. The reason behind the rule is often times, a runner who is approaching a base will be slowing themselves down as they approach the base if they feel there is not going to be a throw to that base."

Frank went on to explain: "If a fielder fakes a tag, that runner...may end up trying to slide at the last possible instant, and may injure themselves on the base, or might even roll an ankle (or hyperextend a knee), because they weren't preparing to slide."

The coach elaborated, "So when Crudo faked that tag, the umpire called interference, and awarded the runner third base."

Professional players, Frank reminds us, "still today" use the play "to trick the runners into sliding, and keep them from being able to possibly take an extra base."

So there it is, straight from the horse's mouth.

Aguirre, the runner in the game with the Wildcats, scored from third on a sacrifice fly by the next batter, and Brawley scored four runs in the inning, on the Wildcats' way to a 13-4 win in the Lions Tournament.