Coalfield High School player's fight with umpire leads to arrest, forfeited season

A videotaped confrontation after a high school baseball game has led to the arrest of a player and the forfeiture of the rest of the season for one team.

The TSSAA sent a letter to Coalfield High School on April 22 about an unsportsmanlike incident that happened in a game against Wartburg Central on April 18.

TSSAA and school officials reviewed a video tape of the incident, which was posted on Facebook.

The letter outlined what the TSSAA called "facts that can definitely be established and must be dealt with." They said the video clearly showed that two Coalfield assistant coaches confronted the umpires after the game, that the head coach put his hand on a game official to get him away from the dugout area, and a player physically assaulted an umpire after the game. The player's mother verbally attacked the officials before her son hit the umpire.

That player was dismissed from the team and the TSSAA said he faced criminal charges.

Coalfield administrators offered several other self-imposed penalties, including forfeiting district games with Oneida on April 21 and 22, a parent meeting, a new policy requiring all coaches and players of all sports to take a sportsmanship course, and a one year probation.

The TSSAA accepted those penalties, and added a few of their own. Coalfield can't play any games the rest of the season. They will also be on restrictive probation through 2015, which means they cannon participate in post-season games. In addition, they'll be on probation through 2016 and face $3,000 in fines.

"We accept the penalties. They are right about where I thought they might land. We were hoping to avoid other sports being punished," said Coalfield's athletic director, Shawn Basler. "We were wrong. We made the mistake and we're paying the price for it and we've accepted that and we're trying to move on."