Hidden baseball trick sends team into final

A US high school baseball team has won though to the championship game after perfectly executing a hidden ball play.

The Rye High School Thunderbolts moved into the Class 2A final after narrowly beating Hotchkiss 9-8 in the CHSAA State Baseball Championship in Colorado.

But it was the final play which left the crowd stunned and the Thunderbolts players in delirium.

Needing one more out to win the game, Thunderbolts pitcher Luis Ortiz instigates a perfectly orchestrated ploy by trying to "pickoff" the runner on second base.

Pretending to throw the ball away, Ortiz kept it in his mitt while his teammates reacted to the ploy, scrambling around as if a critical mistake had been made.

The Hotchkiss runner falls for the ruse and quickly sets off for third only to be easily run down and tagged by Ortiz.