Viral Video: Girls Softball Catcher Levels Baserunners With Nasty Elbow, Ump Does Nothing — Twice

High school girls softball, lets face it, does not get a lot of coverage in the media — but that changed at least for a day on Wednesday thanks to one catcher and her controversial, seemingly unsporting actions caught on a video that immediately went viral — even receiving airtime on ESPN.

Watch the video, above, from a Texas high school University Interscholastic League 4A state championship game Saturday and you decide. Was the catcher simply being a tough competitor — or a dirty player?

The umpire apparently didn’t think any line was crossed, because he stood by and did absolutely nothing after the catcher pulled this nasty stunt not just once — but twice.

The incidents took place during the game between Needville High School and Huffman Hargrave High School in what seems to have been a tension-packed contest with the state championship on the line.

Needville appeared to have the game well in hand in the fifth inning, leading by a score of 4-1. But the determined girls of Huffman Hargrave refused to say die, clobbering Needville pitching for what turned out to be a five-run rally in the inning, to take a 6-4 lead.

That’s how the game ended, with Huffman Hargrave winning the state title. So it’s certainly understandable that the Needville players would get a little frustrated watching the championship slip away.

But even in the pro ranks, what Needville catcher Megan Crosby did would be looked on as beyond the limits of fair play.

Check out Crosby throwing a blatant elbow on Huffman Hargrave’s Demi Janak as she crosses the plate on a bases-clearing drive to the wall by Loren Dempsey. The ball hasn’t even arrived at home when Janak gets there, so there’s no chance that Crosby could tag her out.

Instead, she flattens Janak with the elbow out of nowhere.

Despite the vocal protests of Janak and her teammates, the umpire ignores the play.

And then — Crosby does it again, in a play that looks almost like an instant replay if the first one, decking Kylie Georgeon with an elbow as she crosses the plate on a base hit by Maggie McCloskey.

Again, nothing from the umpire.

“I was just on the ground and my helmet flew off. She did what she wanted to do in order to try and keep us from scoring, but it doesn’t matter to me because we won overall.”

Megan Crosby, the Needville girls softball catcher, did not comment on the play to the local Texas media.

[Image: YouTube Screen Grab]