During the SoCon semifinal between Wofford and Mercer, a Wofford baserunner took sign stealing to a bold level. With his team up 15-10, the runner on second repeatedly peered toward the pitcher’s glove and relayed what he thought were changeups to the batter by literally flashing a circle hand sign. He got one call wrong when the batter got an 88 mph fastball and lined it to right, showing his intel was off. But later in the at-bat, he correctly identified the changeup grip twice and signaled again. The dugout noticed and quickly adjusted by changing the sign system from traditional finger signs to body movements.
The runner seemed to be reading the pitcher’s grip inside the glove rather than catcher signals. He was right a couple of times and wrong a few others. His signals were so obvious that it stirred up the other team’s dugout and forced mound visits. Though he wasn’t consistent, the effort clearly got in their heads. Wofford’s coaches likely appreciated the attempt to gain an edge, though it became more of a psychological game than a successful tactical move. Ultimately, it didn’t affect the outcome, but the clip spread for how blatant and unusual the signal attempts were.