Clemson OF Tristan Bissetta: Hidden ball trick vs. Coastal Carolina was 'spur-of-the-moment'

During Sunday’s regional final against Coastal Carolina, Clemson pulled off a trick play for the ages. Blake Wright used a hidden ball trick straight out of the movie “Little Big League” when the Chanticleers baserunner left third base early for the final out of the second inning.

If it seemed like Clemson planned that play, outfielder Tristan Bissetta said that wasn’t the case. However, it wasn’t the first time Wright and Ethan Darden successfully got an out with a hidden ball play.

Try Fubo for FREE today and don’t miss any of the action!

“It’s definitely a spur-of-the-moment thing,” Bissetta said on SiriusXM College. “There was no plan – ‘We know this guy walks off the base,’ or anything like that. Last year … Ethan Darden was on the mound and Blake was playing third at Florida State. We had lost on Friday, and I think it was Saturday. Our season hadn’t really gone great up until that point. Our coaches give us the freedom to make those how-to-win, awareness plays.

“They tried to pull it off there. The kid walked off the bag, got him and then, our season kind of just took off from that point.”

The play was convincing, to the point where Bissetta didn’t even realize Wright kept the ball in his glove. But considering they did it last season, he’s not surprised the duo was able to make it work once again.

“I actually had a great view of it last night,” Bissetta said. “I didn’t actually know Blake actually had the ball, but I kind of saw him standing there and saw the kid walk off the bag, and he just went for it. They’ve both done it before, so they felt confident in their acting to pull it off. But yeah, it was complete spur-of-the-moment.”

Tristan Bissetta: Blake Wright ‘couldn’t believe it worked’

As the runner left third base, Wright looks like he’s about to give up on the play and throw the ball back to Darden. In fact, he had the ball in his throwing hand, where the third-base coach and baserunner could see it. But he stuck to the play and ultimately tagged him out and the game went to the bottom of the second.

When Wright got back to the dugout, Bissetta said he was surprised it ended up working. The dugout, understandably, was excited.

“He wasn’t very confident it was going to work because the coach and the kid on third were both looking at his glove,” Bissetta said. “When you watch the video, he’s about to throw it back to Ethan, and you see he walks off. They just needed to focus for a second. He actually couldn’t believe it worked again. He was just laughing. You know Blake, he’s loose, he has fun. He was so excited, we were all fired up.

“But yeah, he couldn’t believe it because when you watch the video, he takes the ball out of his glove and is about to throw it back. And there he is, walking off the base.”

Clemson ended up winning the game 12-5 to advance to the Super Regionals. The Tigers will take on Florida in the Clemson Super Regional starting Saturday.