5 best catches of 2024 College World Series ft. Jace LaViolette's game saver
The College World Series has everything that's great about college baseball. From big crowds to clutch pitting and hitting to great catches. And yes, the 2024 edition included some of the best catches imaginable.
Narrowing down a group of great catches is a near-impossible task, but here are the five best we saw from 2024's run in Omaha. Here are the five best College World Series snags of 2024.
Five best catches of 2024 College World Series
#5 Harrison Didawick of Virginia with some robbery
Virginia was 0-2 in the 2024 College World Series. But whatever shortcomings the Cavaliers had, a lack of defensive intensity wasn't one of them. Consider UVA centerfielder Harrison Didawick, who makes a snag for the ages in Virginia's elimination game with Florida State.
Didawick read the line drive off the bat, sprinted back, found the wall and did his best Spiderman imitation. Going up vertically, he reached above the fence and appeared to rob FSU of a likely home run. What a catch!
#4 Hunter Ensley not only runs into the wall, he leaves his eyeblack on it
Speaking of intensity, some players bound and leap like gazelles, while others crash through objects like stampeding lions. Consider UT centerfielder Hunter Ensley to be a lion.
Ensley doesn't get a great jump on this ball in Tennessee's victory over North Carolina. Just as he hauls in the looping line drive, the center field wall materializes in front of him.
No worries. Ensley just lowers his head, absorbs the punishment and bounces off the wall with a great catch.
#3 Another Tennessee grab to remember
Vol Kavares Tears might have done Ensley one better. In the CWS finals against Texas A&M, Tears gets a good read on a well-hit ball crushed into the right-center field alley. He outruns it, grabs the catch and smacks into the wall.
No problem. Tears alertly fires the ball back to the infield, preventing any baserunners from moving up. That's pure focus and is typical of the heads-up baseball that led Tennessee to win the College World Series.
#2 Kent with a flip worth seeing
Texas A&M made some plays, too. Here, second baseman Kaeden Kent fields a slow roller off a Tennessee player's bat. Recognizing that he doesn't have time to transfer the ball from his glove to his throwing hand, Kent doesn't bother with his throwing hand.
Instead, he just flips the ball to first base, nipping the runner just in time to record the out. Like his father, Jeff Kent, Kaeden knows how to make a play.
#1 Jace LaViolette saves a game against Florida
Apologies to the other four catches, but this is the winner. A ninth-inning game saver that literally made the difference between winning and losing? That's what LaViolette turns in here.
He measures the blast, finds the wall, times his jump and just hauls in a game-winning play. It's difficult to think of a better catch, must less execute one.
Which College World Series catches do you like best? Weigh in below with your thoughts in the comments section: