Coach Ben Catarozzoli carried his injured daughter onto the field so that she could celebrate with her teammates

NEED TO KNOW

A Little League coach is speaking out about going the extra mile for one of his players — who happens to be his daughter.

Ben Catarozzoli shared his perspective on a now-viral moment in which his North Carolina team won the Little League Softball World Series, and his daughter Sophie was unable to rush the mound in celebration, due to an injury.

“It’s just dad instincts, I guess,” Ben Catarozzoli said in an interview on the Today show on Tuesday, Aug. 11. “I would’ve done it for any of the girls on the team.”

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He added, “It was important that when they were all rushing the field to celebrate, and she was kind of still trying to crutch her way out there and couldn’t really get there for that immediate kind of mob scene on the field, that I got her out there as quick as possible.”

In the celebratory moment on Sunday, Aug. 9, Ben carried Sophie — who injured her leg during the first inning of the game — onto the field, after the Clayton, N.C. team beat Kentucky, 2-0, in the title game in Greenville, N.C.

Sophie, 13, described the win as a “really special moment.”

“All our hard work really paid off, and I’m just really proud of my team,” the second baseman said on Today.

As for what her dad and coach told her as he carried her to victory?

“He said, ‘We did it,’ ” Sophie shared.