The old hidden ball trick works its magic for the Tigers

Blake Wright pulled off a big momentum play with the hidden ball trick and got to put Clemson's name in as the regional winner postgame.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Tue Jun 04 07:00:02 GMT-05:00 2024

CLEMSON – Blake Wright is sneaky. But in a good way.

Wright, Clemson’s senior third baseman, pulled off the hidden ball trick in the second inning of the Tigers’ 12-5 victory over Coastal Carolina on Sunday. It turned out to be a bit of a saving grace for starting pitcher Ethan Darden and was one of the big plays in the game.

Darden ran into trouble in the first, but Wright turned a slick 5-3 double play to help get him out of trouble. In the second, the Chanticleers began the inning with three consecutive singles that scored a run and left runners at first and second with nobody out.

Coastal’s Ty Barrango laid down a sacrifice bunt, moving runners to second and third with one out, and Wright waved at first baseman Jack Crighton to toss him the baseball after the bunt. Wright walked past Darden on the mound and acted like he dropped the ball into Darden’s glove.

Coastal centerfielder Dean Mihos took his lead off the bag and Wright quickly rushed over to tag Mihos out. Mihos walked back to the dugout with a stunned expression on his face, and Darden escaped further damage in the inning.

Since @ClemsonFBRoss asked so nicely, here is the BTS of the @BlakeWr86324186 hidden ball trick in @ClemsonBaseball's game against @CoastalBaseball from our @clemsonvideo control room. Check it out @UniteTheNetwork @SVGCollege @aaronfitt @KendallRogers @Jomboy_ @espn @accnetwork pic.twitter.com/NSksUQvwYs
— Clemson Video (@clemsonvideo) June 3, 2024

Head coach Erik Bakich said he had no idea that Wright was about to execute the play. It also kept Darden in the game.

“I had no idea he was doing it, and I didn't know he did it at Florida State,” Bakich said, noting that Wright pulled it off last season in Tallahassee. “I didn't know he was doing it tonight. I was getting ready to go out to the mound and the entire inning changed. Gave Ethan a huge boost. He was going to go from two runners on, runners at second and third with one out, and it changed the whole complexion of the early outing for him. It'll help him settle down I thought.”

Bakich said he wants his players to play freely.

“They have a playground mentality, and that's what we want,” he said. “We want our guys to play mentally free. We want 'em to improvise. Whether it's Hindi (Jacob Hinderleider) doing a no-look glove flip, Blake trying to hidden ball trick, whatever. They just, if they can harness their 10-year-old selves and Little League self and just play with a smile on their face and just go get it, go for it, then why not? That's how we're going to be champions. We are not going to be conservative. We're going to go all the way to the aggressive line and floor it.”

Wright said it was one of the highlights of his career.

“It was pretty cool. Me and Ethan, we did that last year, so we have pretty good chemistry on that,” Wright said. “I don't really remember how I ended up with the ball, but I ended up with the ball, and I just gave Ethan a fist bump like, let's go. But I think they thought I gave the ball to him, or they just weren't paying attention. So, I stood next to the bag and I was just waiting to see what he (Mihos) does and I was actually going to give the ball back. I thought he (Mihos) saw my glove, but sure enough, he stepped right off. I'm like, let's go. And I tagged him and Ethan didn't step on the mound, they called him out and it was awesome.”