High school pitcher consoles friend after striking him out
Minnesota high school pitcher consoles childhood friend after striking him out to reach state championship.
Sportsmanship was on full display over the weekend in Minnesota when a high school baseball player comforted his friend right after striking him out in playoff game to advance to the state championship.
Instead of celebrating with teammates on the field, Mounds View pitcher Ty Koehn jogged off the mound after delivering the game-winning strikeout and embraced Totino-Grace batter Jack Kocon because “friendship is more important than just the silly outcome of a game,” Bring Me The News reported.
“I knew the game was going to keep going or it was going to end right there,” Koehn told the Minnesota sports site. “I knew I had to say something. Our friendship is more important than just the silly outcome of a game. I had to make sure he knew that before we celebrated.”
A fan captured the moment in a video posted to Twitter that shows Koehn pushing past his catcher -- who appears to try and congratulate him – to console his friend while teammates stormed the mound and threw their gloves in the air to revel in the moment.
Koehn and Kocon reportedly played youth baseball together before going their separate ways in high school, but maintained a close relationship, according to the outlet.
Mounds View defeated Totino-Grace 17-10.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.