A single swing of the bat can change the course of a game. Filled with many rules, baseball provides jam-packed entertainment for every fan of every age. And this is what happened in the championship game of two high school teams, Hornell and Palmyra-Macedon. A rule dropped on strike three became a reason for the Hornell High School team to lose the finals.
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Thinking they had won, Hornell started celebrating their alleged win. But to their dismay, dropped on strike three rule gave a chance to the opponents to steal the win from Hornell’s hands like sand.
What is a dropped-on-strike three rule in baseball?
According to this rule, when the game is down to the third strike, and the catcher misses out on catching the ball, the hitter on the plate gets the chance to run and score one for the team.
Something like this was seen during the Section V Class B1 Baseball Championship final. In the seventh inning, two outs were already there, and it was down to the third strike. But then Hornell’s catcher dropped the ball, and according to the rule, the umpire did not call it a strike. But Hornell’s high school team did not take note of it and started to celebrate their win. On the other hand, the Pal-Mac batter rounded the bases to score the game-tying and go ahead and eventually took the win home.
Championship ends with two runs scoring on a dropped strike three while the other team is celebrating thinking they won.
Brutal pic.twitter.com/zL8eBsxMvS
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) May 28, 2023
Hornell’s catcher at first tried or thought of tagging the batter but didn’t go ahead with it. Instead, he met up with the pitcher on the mound and started to celebrate their win. However, a few of their team members can be seen realizing the rule and looking for the ball. But as it happened, the ball wasn’t found. Pal Mac’s batter scored, won, and left the Hornell team dumbfounded on the diamond.
The Hornell High School team did not expect a turn of the event
It was probably a mistake on the part of Hornell about not knowing a rule as important as this one. Because not knowing this rule eventually cost them the championship. Hence, baseball fans on Twitter sympathized with the Hornell team for losing the game as badly as they did.
Following are some of the fans’ reactions towards the dropped strike three happening in a High School final:
What a wrong way to lose. Those poor kids. Catcher and team base coaches should have known that rule. Oop
— 👀 Belle, #ProtectICWA #IndigenousCreature #NAVRA (@bellesapepper37) May 28, 2023
But the first celebration didn’t last very long.
— Dennis Timko (@stlfeetdoc) May 28, 2023
Is that the manager arguing? If yes, what would be his point? First base was unoccupied – you can see that in the video. The catcher looks like he's going to throw it and then doesn't. Unreal.
— Frank Borawski (@frankborawski) May 28, 2023
Over-excitement can be a mood killer, and it made the team lose!
Unfortunately a result of an over excited catcher
— MB (@MarkBret71) May 28, 2023
Only a few realized, though!
This was the only guy who knew something wasn't right. pic.twitter.com/csZ0tpW1M9
— James Blake (@nombrechutup) May 28, 2023
Is all of it is catcher’s fault?
Catcher too busy pocketing the ball and tackling teammates. All on him
— TheGreaterDan (@thegreaterdan) May 28, 2023
Great focus by the Pal-Mac, indeed!
Good coaching by Pal-Mac, you play until the whistle or you know it’s called dead ball. Great focus by the players, if I was a base runner I’d be second guessing myself and rubbernecking too much causing a log jam of runners 😂
— Jen (imaginary blue check goes here) (@509RhymeAnimal) May 28, 2023
Do you think players should know about this rule? Also, who do you think was in the right, the catcher who celebrated early or the hitter who ran the bases? Let us know in the comments below!
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Written by
Edited by
Abhishek Kumar