The Little League team from Nolensville, Tenn., has been an absolute blast to watch in the Little League World Series. Of course, the team was dubbed "Stella and the Fellas" because of the superstardom that is Stella Weaver.
But one of my favorite moments from the team came in Wednesday's game against California, when they ran a brilliant play on the base paths to steal a run and tie up the game.
With runners on first and third down 3-2 with two outs in the fifth inning, Tennessee's runner on first "tripped" while attempting to steal on a called strike two. It's a well-known play at other levels of the game — when it looks like your batter is in trouble and may strike out anyway, the runner on first purposely seeks to distract the catcher or get in a rundown. Whatever it takes to lull the defense to sleep and allow the runner on third to score.
It worked like a freakin' charm:
#LLWS huge run scored to tie game? Great call by the coaching staff of TN team! Fake fall down. Wow!!!! pic.twitter.com/OjgRIg4Arv
— EM Pierce (@Eric_Pierce5) August 24, 2023
Omg this play!!!! OH he tripped?. #psych !!!? ? #LLWS #trickery #beadog pic.twitter.com/e9IFJG12bT
— katurday_11 (@katurday_11) August 24, 2023
And here's a look from the broadcast:
See that? The runner didn't actually fall over. It was all to get the catcher to throw down to first. The runner on third was able to come home, although the play the plate was certainly close.
The play tied the game at 3-3 late in the game. California would go on to win 5-3 after a clutch Louis Lappe home run to eliminate the Tennessee squad from Williamsport. Still, tt was a terrific run for Weaver, Nash Carter, Luca McCauley and the rest of the Tennessee team, and this play shouldn't go unnoticed.
