OKLAHOMA CITY – Her mind placed her in the best possible position from the beginning.
Her instincts gave her the head start she needed.
Her athletic ability took care of the rest.
In the seventh inning of Monday night’s opening game of the 2018 WCWS Championship Series, Florida State third baseman Jessie Warren came up with one of the most impressive, most significant plays in school history.
In any sport.
By the end of the night, Warren’s incredible diving catch was recognized as the No. 1 play on ESPN’s SportsCenter Top 10. It was being hyped on social media by celebrities like Kobe Bryant.
It was tweeted and retweeted, Facebooked and Instagrammed countless times.
Warren’s play drew such widespread acclaim because of the degree of difficulty and also because of the circumstances. Her Seminoles held a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the seventh inning, and Washington appeared to be threatening.
If the ball had landed without being caught, there was a good chance the Huskies would have had the tying run in scoring position and the winning run on base. Instead, Warren dove head first in front of the pitcher’s circle -- actually landing on the first-base side of the infield -- and snared the bunt attempt before it could hit the ground. She then threw quickly to first base to record a double play.
One out later, Florida State had taken a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three Championship Series.
But how did Warren do it?
It all started with excellent positioning. After Washington’s leadoff batter singled to start the frame, Warren had a sneaking suspicion the Huskies would attempt a sacrifice bunt. So she crept up about 10 feet in front of the third-base bag.
Then once Washington outfielder Trysten Melhart squared around to bunt, Warren began charging in her direction.
“I had a feeling they were going to try to lay one down,” Warren said.
When Melhart reached her bat out and made contact with the pitch, Warren was still more than halfway up the third-base line.
Warren took three more hard-charging steps toward home, then planted with her right foot and dove to her left to make the diving catch.
The catch was complete. The victory was preserved.
"I read her hands really well," Warren said. "She came around [to bunt], and I just got a good read on the ball and just laid it out for the team."
As impressive as the catch was, Warren's teammates and coaches said they're never surprised by anything the senior does on a softball field.
"My first instinct when she hit the ball, I saw it had like three feet under it, and I was like, 'Jessie's got that,'" said catcher Anna Shelnutt. "She's a freakin' animal, and she makes those plays all the time."