South Africa pulls off hidden ball trick vs. Nicaragua in Classic Qualifiers

The World Baseball Classic Qualifiers opened with an absolutely stunning moment in the seventh inning of the first game between South Africa and Nicaragua at Taipei Dome.

With one out and Nicaragua's Freddy Zamora on second base after singling in the tying run earlier in the frame, Benjamin Alegria hit a fly ball to right field. The ball was caught and Zamora tagged to third base safely.

That's when things got wild.

South Africa's third baseman Anthony Phillips walked up to pitcher Justin Erasmus and as Erasmus put out his glove to take the baseball, Phillips acted as though he was dropping the ball in Erasmus' glove. But with his back to Zamora, the baserunner at third, Phillips kept the ball in his own glove and walked back to his position at the hot corner.

Seconds later, as Zamora took his lead off the bag, Phillips ran over and tagged him out, pulling the hidden ball trick and preserving the 1-1 tie into the eighth. At first, the play was ruled a balk against Erasmus, but upon replay review, the call was overturned and Zamora was ruled out at third.

"The moment presented itself," Phillips said after the game. "I took a chance and it worked. Justin [Erasmus] and I have both played professionally, so there was an understanding [that I might try it.] We just looked at each other and knew what was going on."