SI

Watch: Division-III Baseball Player Goes Headlong Into Tarp for Amazing Catch

You have to put it all on the line when you’re facing elimination. 

Dan Gartland

Watch: Division-III Baseball Player Goes Headlong Into Tarp for Amazing Catch
Watch: Division-III Baseball Player Goes Headlong Into Tarp for Amazing Catch /

When you’re staring down the prospect of your season ending, you have to put everything on the line. That’s just what Randolph-Macon second baseman Jeff Butler did in a Division III College World Series elimination game against Texas-Tyler. 

Trailing by two runs in the top of the ninth, Butler tracked down a flyball in foul territory and dived into the tarp to make the play.

Butler’s effort wasn’t enough to inspire a Randolph-Macon rally in the bottom of the ninth, though. Texas-Tyler’s Alexander Masotto struck out the side in order to advance to the championship series. Texas-Tyler then won a doubleheader against Texas Lutheran to win the national title. 

Published
Dan Gartland
DAN GARTLAND

Dan Gartland is the writer and editor of Sports Illustrated’s flagship daily newsletter, SI:AM, covering everything an educated sports fan needs to know. He joined the SI staff in 2014, having previously been published on Deadspin and Slate. Gartland, a graduate of Fordham University, is a former Sports Jeopardy! champion (Season 1, Episode 5).

Home/MLB