Team cries foul over suspensions
Chilliwack Cougars knocked out of playoffs after B.C. Minor Baseball banishes three top players
A Chilliwack baseball team is crying foul after an on-field brawl resulted in the suspension of three of its top players before the provincial finals.
On July 22, the Chilliwack Cougars college prep team was playing the Cloverdale Nationals in Surrey when a Cloverdale player ran into Chilliwack’s catcher as he caught the ball at home plate.
In the words of B.C. Minor Baseball president Mike Sarai, a “melee” ensued.
Players from both dugouts charged onto the field as the runner and catcher began fighting. A short video taken by a bystander near the end of the fight shows players, who range in age from 16-18, being ordered back to the dugout by their coaches, while an angry Cloverdale parent yells obscenities at a Chilliwack player from the sidelines.
But while both teams agree there was a physical altercation, Chilliwack insists the fight was limited to pushing and shoving, while Cloverdale maintains several punches were thrown.
The umpires ejected six players, three from each team. The next morning, the league’s disciplinary committee handed out suspensions based on the umpires’ reports.
Several days later, the Chilliwack team was shocked to learn their top pitcher and hitter had been suspended, meaning neither player would be eligible to play in the provincial finals.
“The whole dugout cleared. How did they choose who to punish?” said Chilliwack coach Shawn Corness. “The injustice is that they took our top players out of the finals with very little explanation.”
Three Cloverdale players also received suspensions. Because of their schedule, they were able to serve most of their suspensions before the finals against Chilliwack. But with a bye into the finals, Chilliwack entered the finals without some of their top players.
Cloverdale went on to win the provincial championship, earning a place in the Summer Finale tournament in New Jersey, which is often attended by college scouts.
“I had to watch the guys on the field and I couldn’t do anything,” said Connor Dykstra.
The Chilliwack back-catcher received a 10-game suspension and was also barred from playing in Baseball Canada’s Canada Cup tournament in New Brunswick.
Chilliwack pitcher Carter Harbut said he was surprised to learn he had been suspended.
“I didn’t get kicked out of the game. How do I randomly get suspended?” he said. “All three of our captains were suspended, so we were watching (the finals) from the other side of the fence.”
Chilliwack submitted several witness statements from parents who claimed the fight was limited to pushing. But Cloverdale witnesses claimed it was much more violent.
“One of our players had a black eye and cleat marks on his chest from being kicked,” said Cloverdale Minor Baseball president Chris Lund, who was at the game to watch his son. “Our players were throwing punches and so were theirs.”
Sarai said the brawl warranted a strong reaction, calling it a “dark day” for minor baseball in B.C.
Given the “magnitude of the violence,” he convened a three-person committee to take a second look at the original suspensions, and they arrived at the final decision to include two more Chilliwack players, including the team’s top pitcher, and rescind the suspension of two other players.
Sarai said B.C. Minor Baseball does not divulge the evidence it uses to make its decisions, but all submissions were considered.
As for the scheduling issue that saw Chilliwack’s suspension served during the championship final, the league president said the committee decided the schedule should not be a priority over discipline.
Asked about the video of a Cloverdale parent swearing and yelling at a Chilliwack player, he said reports from both teams claimed the other team’s parents “fuelled and impacted the negative environment, which contributed to the melee.”
The woman in the video was swearing at kids who were attacking her son, he said.
“The results were evident the next day as his face was fully swollen and described as if he had been involved in a boxing ring.”
Sarai said teams are encouraged to hold parents accountable for their actions.