Clemson's Cam Cannarella draws Willie Mays comparisons after season-saving catch vs. Florida in NCAA tournament

Jacob Camenker

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Clemson's Cam Cannarella draws Willie Mays comparisons after season-saving catch vs. Florida in NCAA tournament image

Clemson was twice on the verge of elimination in its NCAA baseball tournament super regional matchup against Florida. Both times, centerfielder Cam Cannarella bailed the team out to keep its season alive.

The first came in the top of the ninth inning with the Tigers trailing the Gators 9-6. Clemson was down to its final two outs when Cannarella strolled to the plate, representing the tying run after back-to-back singles by Jacob Hinderleider and Blake Wright.

Cannarella saw just one pitch and deposited it over the fence for a game-tying, three-run homer.

The more impressive of Cannarella's feats, however, came on defense.

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Clemson's Cam Cannarella's catch

In the bottom of the 10th inning, Cannarella was manning centerfield when Florida's Ashton Wilson came to bat with runners on first and second and two outs in a tie game. Wilson took a strike and a ball before hammering a pitch over the middle of the plate deep into centerfield. It looked like it might have enough to get out of the ballpark — or at least fall in for the game-winning and series-ending hit — but Cannarella managed to chase it down.

Cannarella had to run back at full speed while tracking the ball over his shoulder, as he had been playing shallow. He kept his eye on the ball and flipped his hips like a defensive back to change direction as he sussed out the ball's path. After a long spring, he managed to reel it in over his shoulder just before crashing into the wall and letting out an exultant yell.

Cannarella's play evoked memories of Willie Mays' iconic catch against Cleveland at the Polo Grounds during the 1954 World Series, as the broadcast noted immediately.

"Are you kidding me? Get a break. Lay your body on the line and say, 'Hey Willie Mays!'" the broadcaster said.

It's easy to understand why many saw some of Mays in Cannarella when looking at the two plays side by side.

Both players started shallow and had to sprint full speed back to the wall to make the grab. Each player let the ball go over their left shoulder before catching with their backs turned to home plate.

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The only noticeable difference is that Cannarella crashed into the wall while Mays simply fell to the ground after firing the ball back in toward the infield. Of course, it should be noted that Cannarella's wall was padded while Mays' wasn't. There were also two outs in the inning for Clemson as opposed to none for Mays' Giants, so his mind was on quickly firing the ball back into play.

Mays' Giants went on to sweep the Indians in the World Series. Clemson can't sweep Florida, but a victory would set up a winner-take-all Game 3 on Monday for the right to go to the College World Series.

Jacob Camenker

Jacob Camenker Photo

Jacob Camenker first joined The Sporting News as a fantasy football intern in 2018 after his graduation from UMass. He became a full-time employee with TSN in 2021 and now serves as a senior content producer with a particular focus on the NFL. Jacob worked at NBC Sports Boston as a content producer from 2019 to 2021. He is an avid fan of the NFL Draft and ranked 10th in FantasyPros’ Mock Draft Accuracy metric in both 2021 and 2022.