Sports

‘The Sandlot’ Comes To Life As College Baseball All-Star Game Ends With Walk-Off Under Fireworks

by Last Updated
The Sandlot 4th Of July USA College Baseball
iStockphoto / @USABaseballCNT / X

The Sandlot played out in real life on Thursday as Team USA walked off its college baseball all-star game under fireworks on the 4th of July. It was a scene that was, quite literally, straight out of a movie.

Ham, Yeah-Yeah, Squints, Smalls, and the gang would be proud!

One of the most iconic scenes in sports movie history takes place on Independence Day. The Sandlot crew rushes through its family barbecue to get over to their field in time for their only night game of the year. Red, white and blue fireworks light up the sky just enough to swing the bat after dark.

On the 4th of July, the whole sky would brighten up with fireworks, giving us just enough light for a game. We played our best then because, I guess, we all felt like the big leaguers under the lights of some great stadium.

— Scotty Smalls

Benny the Jet crushes one into the display of fireworks that effectively ends the game. It doesn’t get much more iconic than that!

A remarkably similar sequence of events took place in Fayetteville, North Carolina on Thursday.

USA Baseball’s collegiate national team, comprised of non-draft-eligible players currently playing college baseball, is split into two teams. One competes in international competition. The other travels to compete against other summer ball teams.

Each year, on the 4th of July, they play each other. The Stars versus the Stripes.

Although baseball is the main draw to the event, Fayetteville’s fireworks show is another. They combine for a breathtaking display of patriotism as the game continues under the explosions beyond left field.

It doesn’t get much cooler, or more American, than that right there.

To make Thursday’s game even more like The Sandlot, it ended in exhilarating walk-off fashion. The fireworks had subsided, but Tennessee star Dean Curley set one off in the bottom of the ninth inning. He turned on a pitch and sent it sailing into the night sky.

To see The Sandlot’s 4th of July game come to life is a pretty remarkable visual. For the game to end with a walk-off dinger is straight out of Hollywood!