JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — There was a scary scene at a youth baseball game over the weekend in Florida.
A 7-year-old catcher was engulfed by a short-lived dust devil Sunday afternoon in Jacksonville.
Video shows sand and debris quickly spiral up around Bauer Zoya for a few seconds before a 17-year-old umpire, Aidan Wiles, pulled the child to safety.
"I was worried about his safety because I was taught that the players' safety is always the first thing," Wiles said.
Bauer said the whole situation felt like 10 minutes to him, but that dust didn't stop him from playing.
"I couldn't breathe that much, so I held my breath," Bauer said. "I felt like I couldn't touch the ground, so I kind of lifted up a little bit."
His dad poured water on him to get the dirt out of his eyes, and he went back into the game. The boy even said he believes the experience helped him play better.
The child's father was just glad that Wiles had the instinct to step in and help his son.
"Just [to have] the presence of mind to just do that, it was pretty special to see," father Brian Zoya said. "It was pretty cool to see yesterday. He obviously had great parents raising that young man."
Unfortunately, Bauer's team didn't end up winning the three-game tournament.
