The seventeen-year-old umpire exclaimed that he had never seen anything like that in all his life, on or off the field. The video shows he acted quickly.
On a regular Saturday afternoon in Jacksonville, Florida, a youth baseball game was taking place at the Fort Caroline Athletic Association field.
The next player was at bat. They were paying close attention to the pitcher and wanted to get a hit.
Did he manage to hit the ball with his swing of the bat, or did the catcher catch it?
Nobody knew the answer.
Nobody who was there knows for sure what happened to the ball, because the play was stopped.
A storm was heading towards home.
A sudden gust of dusty air appeared out of nowhere, causing disruption in the game, just like a mini tornado.
A mini tornado or dust whirl was starting to form.
What is a dust devil? A dust devil is a small spinning column of air that can be seen because of the dust and dirt it picks up as it moves.
Dust devils form when an area of the ground heats up faster than the grassy parts.
The ground that is hotter than the surrounding area heats up the air above it. This air is warmer and rises, pushing the cooler air aside. The cooler air then moves around the warm air and creates a vertical column. A gust of wind can then take this arrangement and turn it sideways, creating a dust devil, according to Andrea Thompson, associate editor at Scientific American.
A small whirlwind of dust formed on the home plate.
The batter, catcher, and umpire were still there. This was the first time teenage umpire Aidan Wiles had ever seen a dust devil.
He has been both an umpire and a baseball player for several years, and has seen a lot of different types of weather.
He has seen the ball rotate many times, but has never seen the air near the ball spin.
The dust devil picked up some rocks while it was forming, which scratched Aidan’s chest and stomach.
He moved away without seeing the catcher.
Aidan said that he was scared when he first saw the situation, but then when he realized the person was stuck, he decided to go in and rescue them.
Bauer Zoya is seven years old and he is the catcher.
He had no clue about the situation or how to handle it. He mentioned he was having a hard time breathing in the whirling dust.
Aidan suddenly pulled him out of the dust devil.
Aidan said he knew his little body wouldn’t be able to cope, so he quickly went in and got him.
Bauer’s dad poured water on his face when he was pulled out of the whirlwind.
Bauer only experienced a few seconds in real life but it felt like minutes for him, so he needed to take a break before he could play again.
He returned to the game.
Bauer didn’t see Aidan again after that, but he wants to thank him the next time he sees him.
Watch the video below and you’ll see Aidan rescue Bauer from the dust devil just in time!
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