Olympic Champion Throws Out Nationals First Pitch, Suffers Season-Ending Injury

Croix Bethune threw out the first pitch for a Washington Nationals this week and apparently suffered a season-ending injury.

Aug 28, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Olympic gold medalist swimmer Tori Huske and Washington Spirit soccer players Casey Krueger, Croix Bethune and Hal Hershfelt pose for a photo with their medals before a game between the Washington Nationals and the New York Yankees at Nationals Park. / Rafael Suanes-Imagn Images

Baseball is known for its somewhat unusual injuries.

For instance, Houston Astros third baseman has been dealing with an elbow issue for about a month after he slept wrong in a Tampa hotel room. Another Astros player, Lance McCullers Jr., had to push back a start by a day after he suffered an elbow injury when a champagne cork hit it.

Oakland’s James Kaprielian once lacerated his right middle finger after it hit the wall while he was putting on a shirt.

But, a ceremonial first pitch is typically a safe space — until Aug. 28 at a Washington Nationals game.

The Nats were celebrating their local Olympians, including Croix Bethune, who played for the gold-medal winning U.S. Women’s National Team. Bethune is local by her profession, as she plays for the National Women’s Soccer League’s Washington Spirit.

It was Bethune who was given the honor of throwing out the first pitch. By all accounts, everything went fine.

Then, the 23-year-old rookie didn’t make the team’s road trip to San Diego the following week. An announcement was next. The Spirit disclosed that Bethune would be out for the season with a torn meniscus.

How did she tear it? As strange as it may sound, her coach, Jonatan Giráldez, said that the injury was caused by her first pitch.

“She had a problem making the first pitch the other day [at] the baseball game,” Giráldez told reporters, according to Pro Soccer Wire. “We will report about exactly what she has, but she is not going to be available this season. It’s bad, bad news, but in the end, it’s part of life. We have to keep going.”

It is bad news. Bethune had become one of the top rookies in the league. Before the injury, the midfielder had already tied the NWSL rookie single-season record for most assists (10) and was a rookie of the year favorite. She was the No. 3 overall pick in this year’s NWSL Draft.

Now, the budding star will watch the rest of the season from the sideline. She does have a history of knee injuries. She’s torn her ACL in multiple occasions.

Before she joined the Spirit, she played her college soccer at USC for two years, where in both 2021 and 2022 she was named first-team All-Pac-12, first-team All-American, and the Pac-12 Midfielder of the Year.

She transferred to Georgia, closer to her high school home, in 2023 and helped the Bulldogs win the SEC Tournament.