Most baseball players go their whole careers without being involved in an unforgettable game-ending play.
Wil Pinder was part of two in a span of five days.
It all began with the junior center fielder belting a pair of home runs, including a three-run, walk-off shot in the bottom of the seventh inning to lead Glassboro past Gloucester 9-6 on April 29.
Last Tuesday he was at it again, but this time in an even wilder sequence. His spectacular catch in center started a game-ending triple play in a 3-2 victory over Schalick, a play that immediately became part of Glassboro lore.
“They were both crazy plays,” Pinder said. “The home run obviously felt really nice. It’s nice to be well-rounded on both sides, offense and defense. If I had to choose one, I would say the home run (was better), because it was a walk-off in the bottom of the seventh and that felt really good. But this last stretch of games has been really crazy.”
It’s understandable for Pinder to prefer the home run, but there’s no question that the triple play is even more rare.
“I’ve never been a part of one, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen one in high school baseball,” longtime Glassboro coach Dan Brown said. “I’ve never seen anything like it. It was pretty bizarre to end the game like that.”
Glassboro was clinging to a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the seventh when Schalick loaded the bases with no outs for the middle of its lineup. Brown decided to not only bring his infielders in but his outfielders as well, with Pinder set up right behind second base.
Schalick’s cleanup hitter lofted a well-hit fly ball to right-center, and as Brown likes to point out with a laugh now, Glassboro assistant coach Mark Bridges immediately declared, “Game over.” Bridges turned out to be right, but instead of a devastating ending as he thought, it was a happy one for the Bulldogs, as Pinder fired to shortstop Gavin Dillard, who then relayed it to third baseman Vince Bognanni for the 8-6-5 triple play.
“I was close to second and it was hit over my head to the left of me,” Pinder said. “I definitely got a good jump off the bat, but it was hit pretty deep so I had to run hard for it. I knew I could get there. I realized I caught it and threw it in as fast as possible. I made a good throw and we doubled the kid off second and then we got the final out at third.”
It originally appeared as if the runner at third had tagged up and scored to tie the game, but the umpire ruled that he left early.
“I can honestly tell you that the runner at second did not tag up and I can honestly tell you that I don’t know if the kid on third tug up,” Brown said. “The way Schalick reacted after the game, I kind of feel like he did tag up and maybe it was a missed call. But we were going to throw the ball there anyway to double check. Worst-case scenario, it would have been 3-3 with a man on first and two outs, but we ended up turning the triple play. It was all kind of crazy the way it happened. I know they were in shock and very upset, and we were in shock because we turned a triple play and the game was over. Everyone was in disbelief.”
According to Pinder, there is video circulating on Twitter that is inconclusive.
“You can just see the runner tagging up from third, the runner getting doubled off from second, and then the runner getting tripled off from third,” he said. “You can’t really tell if he left early because you can’t see me make the catch.”
Regardless, Pinder now has two awesome memories from his junior season — three if you count his other web gem earlier in the Schalick game.
“With a runner on third, he made a catch that should have been caught by either the right fielder or the second baseman,” Brown said. “He came over and made the catch, the runner tug up and he threw him out at home plate. It was one of the best defensive plays I’ve seen in 12 years by any of my guys. It was a great, great play. It kind of flew under the radar but Wil had two amazing plays in the game to keep us in it.
“The past 10 days of his high school career have been unbelievable. He’s really been playing great for us this year.”
As a team, Glassboro has been much improved over the past few weeks and is 4-2 in its last six games to improve to 5-7 overall. Senior catcher John Wallace is another defensive stalwart who also serves as the Bulldogs’ leadoff hitter.
“I don’t know why people run on him because he’s going to throw them out almost every time,” Brown said. “If we don’t throw somebody out on the bases, it’s not because of John, it’s because our pitchers weren’t keeping guys close or they weren’t going quick to the plate. Johnny has been outstanding and he has a cannon from behind the plate.
“The other night against Gateway, he threw one out at third and two out at second and one was from his knees on a low pitch. He’s had a really, really good defensive year, and he’s doing fine offensively too. I’d like to see him with a few more hits but he’s been on base a ton. I have no complaints at all, he’s had a great senior season.”
Wallace also pitches on occasion and should be getting more work on the mound with Glassboro scheduled for seven games in 10 days. Junior Pete Dempster, sophomore Eric Fowler and Dillard are other key hurlers.
Dillard, a freshman, has also been one of Glassboro’s best hitters and leads the team with 18 hits to go with 10 runs.
“He’s having a fantastic season,” Brown said. “We knew in preseason, right when we started, that he was going to be in the middle of the lineup and having an impact. What we’ve gotten from him at the plate and on the mound, and even defensively, has been really, really good. He’s been very impressive as a freshman.”
April was a challenging month for Glassboro with several rainouts and inconsistent results, but Brown’s teams have historically played much better in May and that appears to be the case again this spring.
“Hopefully we’re settling in,” he said. “We’ve always seemed to pick it up in May and go into the playoffs playing our best, and as a coach that’s what you want. That’s what we’re looking for this year.”
“Compared to last year, I feel like we’re way better,” Pinder added. “These last few games we’ve really come together as a team. I think if we keep playing as a team we have a real good shot at good positioning when it comes to the playoffs.”
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