High school pitcher comforts batter after striking him out to win sectionals

MINNEAPOLIS - When high school baseball player Ty Koehn struck out batter Jack Kocon, he did something unexpected: as the rest of his team celebrated the sectional championship they had just won, he went out and hugged Kocon, one of his close friends from childhood.

It’s an incredible show of sportsmanship that is uplifting people around the world.

“I told him, ‘You’re a great player. Don’t let this silly game affect our friendship,’” Koehn told Fox 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul. “‘I hope you remember our bond before anything else, before any outcome of the game.’”

Koehn and Kocon played little league baseball together for three years. When the two ended up going to different high schools, they still kept in touch. Koehn even visited Kocon’s cabin last year. So, when fate would have it that the Kocon would be the final obstacle to Koehn earning his team a championship, friendship came first.

“It was huge because, you know - kinda the end of the season’s something nobody wants to go through, having your last at bat of your season, and just to have somebody there - that was huge for me,” Kocon said. “Because I needed someone and he was there.”

“It never hurts to have good sportsmanship, and be a good friend to someone who is hurting,” said Koehn.