Bucks baseball coach headed for trial in alleged strangulation case

Kenneth Irwin, 52, is accused of assaulting a boy during tryouts for a junior baseball league in February

The 52-year-old coach of the Upper Moreland High School baseball team accused of strangling a 12-year-old boy during February tryouts for a junior baseball league in Newtown is headed for trial after a district court judge held three criminal counts at his preliminary hearing.

Kenneth Edward Irwin, of the 400 block of Preston Lane in Hatboro, appeared via summons before District Judge Michael W. Petrucci, who held one count of second-degree misdemeanor strangulation and summary counts of harassment and disorderly conduct in connection with the alleged Feb. 16 incident, records indicate.

Authorities have said in court documents that Newtown police were summoned to the Newtown Athletic Club Sports Training Center, located at 120 Pheasant Run, that evening after the manager reported that someone had assaulted a child near the facility’s second-floor batting cages.

Police spoke to a 12-yearold boy who was there, along with his parents for a tryout for the Newtown Junior Premier Baseball League that was being overseen by Irwin.

The boy told investigators that as his tryout group was cleaning up, Irwin threw a plastic bucket at him, striking him in the head, and the boy responded by throwing baseballs at Irwin, one of which hit Irwin in the leg, according to court documents. The boy was picking up another ball when Irwin allegedly charged the boy, pushed him, and then put his hands around the boy’s neck and started strangling him, charging documents state.

During the assault, documents indicate, the boy got tangled up in the batting cage netting, then Irwin pushed him into a wall. The boy told police that he struggled to breathe when Irwin’s hands were on his neck, according to court documents.

After the incident, the boy’s mother took photos of her son, which showed large red marks around the boy’s neck and throat area, investigators said.

Irwin, who is free on $10,000 unsecured bail, is scheduled to be formally arraigned on June 16.

He has been placed on administrative leave by the Upper Moreland School District.

The boy got tangled in the batting cage netting, then Irwin pushed him into a wall, court documents say. The boy told police that he struggled to breathe when Irwin’s hands were on his neck.