Little Leaguer hits 381-foot home run while family is being interviewed
The Little League World Series opened with a record eight games on Friday and countless memorable moments for all of the players involved. However, if there was one moment that stood out above the rest, it was this one involving Terrance Gist from South Carolina.
During the third inning of South Carolina’s 7-1 victory against Rhode Island, ESPN cut to a live interview with Gist’s family. Gist is one of the many excellent players on the South Carolina team, and it was pretty cool that the interview was done to coincide with his second at-bat in the game.
[Yahoo Sports Fantasy Football: Sign up and join a league today!]
The moment became even better real quick. On the very first pitch of the at-bat, Gist launched a long home run that cleared the heavily populated berm in left-center field to extend his team’s lead.
According to the ESPN broadcast, the home run was estimated at an astounding 381 feet. That is big-league power from a 12-year-old, and given the baseball’s trajectory it’s said the baseball would have cleared the Green Monster at Fenway Park.
Woah!
We don’t doubt it either. That ball was absolutely crushed. By the time it landed, Gist was already to second base, and his family was already going completely crazy. What a moment for them to enjoy, and to share with the world.
His teammate, Alex Edmondson, was basically the Little League version of Madison Bumgarner, dominating with his arm and with his bat on the big stage. Edmondson, who pitched a no-hitter in the regional finals to send his squad to Williamsport, followed up with another no-no on Friday.
That’s an impressive feat.
Also impressive were Edmondson’s 15 strikeouts, which ranked second only to Canada’s Matt Wilkinson. As we noted previously, Wilkinson struck out 16 in five innings of work, but his team lost 1-0 to Mexico.
[On this week’s StewPod: Angels pitcher Hector Santiago talks about his huge autograph collection.]
To cap it off, Edmondson racked up three RBIs on three hits in the game, including a home run. That comes on the heels of two home runs in his previous no-hitter.
Keep an eye on these South Carolina kids. They’re a good team and a fun bunch to watch.
More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports:
– – – – – – –
Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
