It won’t count on the scoreboard, unfortunately, but Mary Iakopo was a part of one of the most unlikely moments of the college softball postseason on Saturday.
The catcher for the Texas Longhorns softball team was up to bat in the bottom of the first with her team trailing the Oklahoma Sooners, 2-1, in a postseason edition of the Red River Rivalry. After taking a ball, Iakopo drilled a shot down the third-base line that couldn’t quite stay fair.
But as the ball sailed through the Oklahoma City sky, it was set on a collision course with one of ESPN’s cameras that was situated in the outfield. It hit the camera squarely in the lens in an impressive feat of precision that must have certainly scared the life out of the operator.
Our ESPN camera operators are the best in the business… and they never flinch.
From @NCAASoftball's #WCWS on ABC a moment ago. pic.twitter.com/KQbchL0OT9
— bill hofheimer (@bhofheimer_espn) June 4, 2022
Was this insane shot purely a function of luck that probably couldn’t be replicated even with hundreds of attempts? Sure. Was it awesome? Absolutely. Are we going to pretend Iakopo did it on purpose just to show off? You bet.
