Batter cannot believe the umpire called a strike, a breakdown

Aug 13, 2021 6.3M views 3:27

What Happened

In the Southwest Region final of the 2021 Little League World Series qualifier, Texas West faced Louisiana with a trip to Williamsport on the line. Up 2-0 in the top of the third, a Texas West batter took a fastball well off the outside corner and got rung up, leaving him stunned and looking to his coach in disbelief. The video points out the umpire kept calling that wide outside zone for both sides, so the same generous strike showed up in the other batter's box too. Louisiana eventually rallied to win 6-2, closing it out with a groundout to a sharp third baseman before piling on the mound.

Why This Matters

Little League umpiring runs on a different feel than the pros, and this clip captures it. Younger pitchers can't always paint corners, so umps often reward a strike or two off the outside edge to keep games moving and avoid endless walk parades. Jomboy actually builds a literal wall of baseballs to show how far outside the call sat, then proves it was consistent by pulling the same pitch in the opposite box. That consistency is the real point. An expanded zone is only unfair when it's one-sided, and here both teams lived with it. The stakes were huge: the winner punched a ticket to Williamsport. Louisiana got there, and the lasting image is the dog pile, the coach hurdling in, and number 11 burrowing into the celebration looking for his piece of it.

At 6.3M views it ranks 11th out of 1,583 Jomboy breakdowns, putting it in the top 0.7% of the catalog.

Key Moments

Who / What Is Involved

Batter (MLB, 2021).

Key Terms Mentioned

Umpire Controversy

with a little wiggle of the pinky finger

they call for the outside fastball it's

texas west versus louisiana texas west

is up two nothing in the top of the

third inning southwest region winner

goes to the little league world series i

love the little league world series

let's see what happens he hits the

outside with the fastball way outside of

the umpire says no you got it strike and

the batter's like oh

what

no seriously

coach are we gonna allow this to happen

are you serious hump

wait so everyone's just gonna let this

happen

what

uh okay

guess we'll do it now i did some

scientific research here the little

league world series you're not going to

make him stay on the plate you're going

to give him a you know usually they give

him the black they give him the black

plus a ball off the plate in the little

league world series

and that's fair and everyone accepts

that so i built a wall of balls here

that's a ball off the plate and this

pitch is way outside but the umpire was

calling that both ways here's the other

team getting that same call in the other

batter's box and the kid making the same

face so let's see in this bat at bat how

it ends they call for the number two

here curveball change up off speed of

some kind looks like a little drop pitch

of some sort for a ball they say let's

double it up let's do it again here

comes the curve now it does have a nice

little shape to it it's dancing but

that's another ball 2-1 and now they

throw the outside fastball and that's a

nice pitch that's right there kid's not

gonna yell at that look at this that

comes right where it needs to be when it

needs to be it's a ball off the plate

umpire calls it a strike nice pitch by

that kid 2-2 we're gonna get a ball high

so now the count is full

and it's put in play and my dude at

third base scoots over keeps the glove

down and tosses him out to hold him what

a play by number 11. and this kid knows

he's good and i like him for it watch

this play third baseman ranges over gets

the glove down keeps it down on the low

hop makes the play and just says yeah

okay

back to my battle station here i go

yellow glasses matching the yellow in

his jersey little spit let's jump to the

sixth inning louisiana came back they're

now up six to two they got two runners

on though and two outs they're one out

away and the kids have a little pep talk

on the mound and my third baseman says

hmm

i got you man we're all good this guy

says hey just throw strikes

let's put it over the plate

we're all good and brown says okay

strike one boom

let's find that outside this hump likes

boom strike two

and then next pitch it's in play to my

dude at third throws it over and they're

going to williamsport boom out great

call now the pitcher gets knocked down

there by the first baseman tries to get

up gets knocked down again by number 22.

kind of just stays down now on the dog

pile and they're having fun being at the

bottom oh coach coming is he going to

jump on he's going to jump right over

and all the kids are looking and isn't

coach crazy that's kind of funny and

then number seven he's bringing the

gatorade all by himself and he's like

let's do it boys let's pour this on

ourselves and that's what they do

because they are on their way to the

little league world series i love number

11 just sticking his head in there like

i want some of this congrats to these

kids and congrats to the other team for

making it that far and giving it a good

game