Elk River Center Fielder's Amazing Catches Make It To ESPN
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - Elk River freshman center fielder Jayme Langbehn's incredible catches in the Class 3A state title softball game Friday made the Top 10 on ESPN's SportsCenter.
With the game tied at three in the bottom of the sixth, Langbehn came up with one of the coolest - not to mention most meaningful - catches in state championship history.
"I don't know…I just knew I needed to catch it," Langbehn said.
Elk River pitcher Anna Pipenhagen was in disbelief by Langbehn's over-the-fence catch.
"I'm like, 'Yeah…Jayme, somehow jump over the fence, catch that' - and she did, and I just can't believe it," Pipenhagen said.
"I had a feeling that I could get it if I didn't fall over the fence. And I just put my glove out and hoped for the best. And it worked," Langbehn said.
And that was just the beginning of her big day. Elk River took the lead in the top of the eighth. Of all the people to score the winning run, of course it had to be Jayme.
"I was just like, 'I just need to sprint home and get safe,'" she said. "I knew that we could do it."
Jayme crashed through the fence much the same way she crashed into the lineup. It's rare for a freshman to be in this situation, but she's actually been on the varsity team since eighth grade, according to Elk River Coach Stacey Sheetz.
"She's just an all-around player. She's got speed, she's got the glove, she's got, you know, amazing hits. And yeah, we need her all for everything," Sheetz said.
And they'd need her heroics one more time. In the bottom of the eighth, she caught another potential homer to preserve the win, which sealed a state title.
"Nothing compares to this. It was amazing, and really fun to play in," she said.
"We actually practiced this week because of these fences," Sheetz said. "So we actually practiced a little bit, how to find that fence and try to stay in."
This was Jayme's first state tournament appearance.
