I remember running this drill in practice all the time.
A ball is hit to the gap in the outfield. The middle infielders assume the cutoff position. The first baseman goes to the middle of the field if necessary. I was a third baseman, whose job was to stand by third base. I used this time for higher learning by testing if Big League Chew's flavor could last until the end of the drill.
The Florida State softball team ran this play better than my seventh-grade team ever dreamed of. And it was in a live situation for a NCAA national championship.
The precise relay halted Oklahoma's comeback hopes in the first game of the Women's College World Series Championship.
FSU's Relay vs. Oklahoma in WCWS Finals
WHAT A RELAY! ?
? @espn#WCWS x @FSU_Softball pic.twitter.com/vUUtHrH0zB
— NCAA Softball (@NCAASoftball) June 9, 2021
RELATED: Elizabeth Mason's Monster HR Powered FSU to the WCWS Finals
Florida State built an 8-4 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh inning of Game 1 of the WCWS Championship Series. The last thing the Oklahoma Sooners were going to do is lie down in front of the hometown crowd in Oklahoma City.
OU second baseman Tiare Jennings singled up the middle with one out. Designated player Jocelyn Alo laced a double to right-center field.
The Sooners were too aggressive here. Down four runs in the last inning with one out? Jennings came home.
Things worked perfectly for the Seminoles. The ball bounced softly from the warning track to the wall and FSU centerfielder Dani Morgan played it beautifully. She fired to second baseman Sydney Sherrill, the ACC Defensive Player of the Year.
Sherrill caught it, turned and delivered a laser to home plate. Catcher Anna Shelnutt laid the tag on Jennings for the out.
The momentum was vacuumed from Hall of Fame Stadium. The 'Noles secured the victory by making Sooner first baseman Kinzie Hansen pop up to second base.
The dynamite relay wasn't the only stellar defensive play from Florida State.
Kalei Harding's Laser Throw From Right Field
This throw for the out ?#SCtop10 pic.twitter.com/LEY81y2As4
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 9, 2021
In the second inning, right fielder Kalei Harding caught a routine fly ball and launched a bullet to third base to get out a tagging Nicole Mendes. I'm thinking the FSU outfielders and quarterbacks should train together.
The Seminoles are one win away from capturing their second national title in program history.
