Florida executed hidden ball trick against College of Charleston (Video)

As an athlete, there isn’t much worse than being embarrassed in front of thousands of fans. But somehow it gets even worse when you’re embarrassed because you were just outsmarted by your opposition.

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That’s how a College of Charleston player is feeling this morning after he was the victim of an elaborate hidden ball trick.

Currently the No. 2 national seed, the Florida Gators thought they’d put a little trickery to use in their regional game against the College of Charleston.

With a CoC runner on second base, Florida pitcher Logan Shore stepped off the pitching mound to tie his shoe. Now, that’s a rather common occurance so nobody was likely thinking anything of it. Of course, had College of Charleston runner Nick Pappas been paying attention, it was pretty clear that Shore didn’t really have any issue with his shoe.

Still, Pappas stayed attached to the base – that is – until Shore again avoided the mound (by rule) and for a moment, took his foot off second. That’s all shortstop Richie Martin needed.

Creeping closer and closer, looking incredibly uninterested in the play in hopes of selling it, Martin dashed towards Pappas soon as he strayed and with ball in glove, tagged out the runner who couldn’t have been more shocked.

Usually if we see a hidden ball trick, it’s of the ‘passed ball’ variety – a player (say a third or first baseman) pretending that the ball thrown to them went over their head and they attempt to run it down, tricking the runner in the process.

Pretty impressive, Florida.