High School Pitcher Is The Ultimate Good Sport After Clinching Championship

As Minnesota high school pitcher Ty Koehn of the Mounds View Mustangs struck out his final batter of the sectional championship last Wednesday, sending his team to state, his first instinct was not to jump up and down in celebration.

Koehn went immediately to batter Jack Kocon of Totino-Grace High School, a childhood friend, to give him a hug. It’s an act of sportsmanship that many are celebrating more than the win itself.

“I knew I had to say something,” Koehn told Minnesota outlet Bring Me the News. “Our friendship is more important than just the silly outcome of a game. I had to make sure he knew that before we celebrated.”

Mustangs coach Mark Downey was perhaps the only person not caught off-guard by the good sportsmanship. “Ty’s actions the other night do not surprise me and are reflective of what I might expect from any one of the players on the team,” Downey told the outlet.

The Mounds View Mustangs are headed to the Minnesota state tournament and will face Stillwater Area High School in their first round.