A high school baseball playoff game in California between Del Campo High and Buhach Colony High is being postponed, after a parent from Buhach Colony attacked the umpire following a loss in this playoff series.
In game one of this Division III Sac-Joaquin Section series, Del Campo came from behind to win 3-2 in a walk-off. Following the game some Buhach Colony parents went to the parking lot to confront umpires, presumably over missed calls they thought cost their team the game.
What ensued is something that has become all too commonplace in youth sports across this country. Parents who take a kids game entirely too seriously, and turn to violence as a way to express their frustration. It’s disgusting and criminal.
Del Campo coach Kevin Dawidczik raced to the parking lot in attempt to de-escalate the situation, according to reports.
“I had a parent tell me umpires were getting attacked,” Dawidczik said. “I sprinted as fast as I could to get those umpires. I can’t believe that would ever occur at my facility. We need more coaches who understand umpires are there to help our kids. They are going to get calls wrong and right. We aren’t always going to agree with them. We have to support these guys. We have to.”
Violence over balls and strikes at a kids game. This is where we are as a society. To say we’ve gotten or devolved to this point over time, would be inaccurate. This is who this society and nation has always been.
You believe you’ve been wronged or feel aggrieved over something you believe went unfairly and your recourse is to commit violence. Not have a conversation or begin civil discourse. Literally go and attack the party you believe wronged you. It’s inhumane and criminal.
“Every call that I’ve made and an official makes in every sport there’s going to be somebody happy and disappointed about the call,” Chris Charles from the Umpires Association said to local station Fox40. “And never should it get to the point where it becomes a physical confrontation over a call.”
If you’re a Major League Baseball fan you watch managers and players get angry and incensed with umpires, right up to the line of physical confrontation. What happened in after this high school game is simply the continuation of that childish and stupid behavior.
Game 2 of the best-of-three series has been postponed until Thursday while officials look into this matter further. A Del Campo win would earn them a spot in the CIF finals. A Buhach Colony win would force a winner-take-all deciding game 3.
While officials determine appropriate next steps, and whether criminal charges should be filed against the attacker, the individuals that suffer are the kids. They are in limbo at what should be the most exciting time of their season. Instead, adults are determining whether other adults should be punished and how to make the environment at a kid’s game safe.
