Kicker: Catching a dust devil

NICK EICHER, HOST: Dust-ups are pretty common in baseball games, even, and maybe especially in little league where things can get heated. Quickly.

Well, in Jacksonville, Florida, recently the ground got heated and spun up this little devil.

SOUND: [DUST DEVIL]

A dust devil, little mini tornado, not really dangerous, but pretty scary for this 7-year-old little league catcher who got sucked into it.

The boy is Bauer Zoya. The audio from TV station WJXT:

BAUER ZOYA: I couldn't breathe that much. So I helded my breath and I feel like I couldn't touch the ground. So I kind of lifted up a little bit. And I got afraid if, if someone would pull me out.

Somebody did pull him out, the umpire did: 17-year old Aidan Wiles. He scooped up the young catcher and pulled him out of what had to be a terrifying moment for the little guy.

As for the dust-devil, it disappeared as quickly as it appeared, so the game continued. As did the stirred but not shaken kiddo. Carried on, did his job.

ZOYA: I caught one and it was so high and my dad said “up” and then I caught it.

Good for him and good for the kid umpire. This whole episode took about 7 seconds, so there wasn’t really time to think, only to react. And the teenager’s reaction was the right one. Safety of the young kids first, good for Aidan Wiles. Tip of the cap to the ump!

It’s The World and Everything in It.

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.