Posted on 06/02/2008 11:21:47 AM PDT by rawhide
Stephens County principal David Friend apologized this morning to the Georgia High School Association for an incident in the Class AAA championship baseball series Saturday in which Stephens County's catcher ducked and allowed a pitch to strike an umpire in the face mask.
"It looks bad, and most people who look at it come away with that conclusion," Friend said. "But there have been wacky things that have happened in baseball and high schools, and all I'm going to conclude is that it does need to be investigated. If we're found to be at fault, we'll effectively deal with the situation."
Friend said he had interviewed his baseball coaches today and concluded they were not to blame. Friend said he had not finished talking to the players.
But Stephens County coach Mark Gosnell said it was mixup between catcher Matt Hill and pitcher Cody Martin.
"It was a cross-up between pitcher and catcher," Gosnell said. "Matt said he had called a curveball, and Cody said it was a fastball. I talked to the two of them, [and) I was not aware of anything being done intentionally.
(Excerpt) Read more at ajc.com ...
Besides....why would a catcher do that and allow a runner to advance and possibly even score? Looks like he lost track of the ball and was going down for what he thought was a big breaking ball.
I think the catcher purposely missed the pitch. He raises his mitt at first, then suddenly drops it. If he was expecting the ball to be low, he would have never raised the mitt to begin with.
Except to give the pitcher a target...which is as fundamental as it gets with catchers.
Looks to me like he lost the ball....I would like to see the reverse angle before I passed judgement so quickly.
I never seen a catcher misjudge a ball that badly before. I don’t care how mean of a curve ball a pitcher has, it doesn’t curve that much. The catcher’s glove was 5’ from the ball.
Poorly written article. Which team one? The team batting or fielding. It doesn’t say. Also, what would the motive be? Did the ump miss some calls? Had there been arguments before hand. I’ve seen some pretty bazaar things in games. If a catcher is going to let the ump get hit, he would do it more subtly, and more than once. I think the catcher missed the ball plain and simple.
I watch high school baseball and yes, the catchers do miss the ball when its a hard breaking ball, wild pitch, or windy day. You cannot tell anything from these pictures.
As a Rangers fan, I have watched my share of pitches go past the catcher as well.
It’s also a playoff game so it would be counter productive for the catcher to just let it go by. But he is clearly ducking, a sure sign that he lost the ball and was protecting himself.
The first picture shows the glove in the strike zone, after that he was all over the place.
Has no one seen a ref get hit by a pitch? They do wear protective gear for a reason.....pitchers dont always throw strikes, catchers cant always handle the pitch.
How many of you have played the game? Geez
Yes, and it is usually a tipped ball that strikes an umps mask. If it is a wild pitch, the catcher is usually moving towards the ball and just misses it, instead of diving towards the ground on a high pitch. The only explanation I could understand is if he lost it in the sun or something. The explanation that the catcher expected a breaking ball but the pitcher threw a fast ball seems a little far-fetched from the video.
How many of you have played the game? Geez
Yes, mostly third base though and not catcher.
The pictures don't give you much information. Watch the video at the source, it looks strange.
From the source blog:
Game 3, Saturday
Cartersville 13, Stephens Co. 1 (five innings): The Purple Hurricanes’ 5-foot-6 pitcher, Chris “Huddy” Huth, and an awakened quick-strike offense ruled matters in a 13-1 victory that was ended after the top of the fifth due to the 10-run mercy rule. Cartersville wins series 2-1.
From the comment section, where the video is embedded:
By CANESWIN
June 1, 2008 2:17 PM | Link to this
Kurt - Have you ever seen this before in a high school game? This happened in Game 3 of Cartersville vs. Stephens. The Canes were winning big and Stephens became frustrated with the home plate umpire over balls and strikes. Really their pitcher couldn’t hit his spots.
In this video, you will see the catcher duck on purpose to allow the umpire to be hit.
Have you ever seen this before?
http://www.workhorsevideoproductions.com/the%20pitch.mpg
By GRIM
June 1, 2008 6:56 PM | Link to this
i saw it happen personally, the bad thing is the pitcher, catcher and shortstop were in on it… the SS is Ethan Martin, the pitcher his brother.
Maybe it was intentional then. I played baseball in school too. You have some weirdos on every team. Sadistic types.
Actually, it did. The team that the catcher was playing for got thumped 13-1 I believe.
Now, I'd like to know the score at the time of the incident. Makes a difference.
If it was intentional, I would think they could have disguised it much better. If the catcher set up really low and tried to reach for the ball and then missed it, that would have looked more convincing. Who can say. No one was injured. Protective gear did its job. This time.
Scott Singer, hired by Cartersville to tape and do play-by-play of the game, was behind home plate during the pitch. He said the Martin brothers had complained of calls before the pitch hit the umpire.
"Those two, the pitcher and his brother, the entire game had been riding the umpire about balls and strikes, and [Ethan Martin] got rung up in the top of the fourth, so that was payback in the bottom of the fourth," Singer said. "I don't know what was going through their heads, but when you see a catcher go to his right, it's like 'Good God!'"
Terry Martin, the father of Ethan and Cody Martin, a junior, said he was advised not to allow his sons talk to the Journal-Constitution. He would not elaborate. Hill, a senior who has signed to play at Gordon College in Barnesville, could not be reached.
All things considered, I think this was intentional. Eventually, they will brag to someone and the truth will come out. I’ve played with guys like this. Also, go back to the previous batter or two, or even few pitchers. Were these two talking to each other at the mound? Very suspicious.
What does this have to do with the Cubs winning 7 straight at home?
College no longer wants Stephens Co. catcher Gordon coach says umpire incident changed his mind on prospect
By TODD HOLCOMB The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 06/05/08
Matt Hill, the Stephens County High School catcher accused of intentionally letting a pitch hit an umpire last week, won't be playing baseball at Gordon College as a result.
Gordon baseball coach Travis McClanahan said today he spoke with Hill on Wednesday and withdrew an invitation for Hill to be walk on with the team next season.
"We just felt with the results of the game and what he was involved in, we just didn't support that kind of behavior for returning or incoming players," McClanahan said.
In the fourth inning of Saturday's game against Cartersville in the Class AAA championship series, Hill ducked and failed to catch a pitch from Cody Martin that struck the home plate umpire in the facemask. Stephens County was trailing 8-1 in a game it lost 13-1.
A video of the incident has been posted on many Web sites, including YouTube.
Stephens County principal David Friend, speaking for the Hill family, which has declined to be interviewed, said Hill and his parents were "disheartened" by McClanahan's decision.
Friend said he talked with McClanahan and Gordon College president Lawrence Weill in hopes of changing their minds.
"The incident is so totally out of character for this kid, but the penalty has taken away his chance to play baseball for the college of his choice," Friend said. "It bothers the family that this one pitch has taken on a life of itself and overshadowed other aspects of people's lives and that family unit. I don't think anyone ever imagined that this was going to get on MSNBC and have 82,000 hits on YouTube. I know that the family is very low-key, humble group of people, and it's been very hard on them."
Friend said Hill still might attend the Barnesville school, which will honor Hill's partial academic scholarship. Hill has a 3.5 GPA, Friend said.
According to Stephens County coach Mark Gosnell, Hill and Martin denied malicious intent and said the missed ball was the result of a mix-up in signals.
The Georgia High School Association fined Stephens County $1,000 and placed the baseball program on severe warning status Wednesday.
Hill has graduated and cannot be punished by the GHSA or Stephens County. Martin, a rising senior, was not disciplined.
School fined $1K for ump beaning
By Todd Holcomb
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 06/05/08
The Georgia High School Association fined Stephens County $1,000 and placed the baseball program on “severe warning status” Wednesday for an incident in the Class AAA championship series last weekend in Cartersville.
In the fourth inning of Saturday’s third and deciding game, won by Cartersville 13-1, Stephens County catcher Matt Hill ducked and did not attempt to catch a pitch that struck the home plate umpire, who was not injured.
Stephens head coach Mark Gosnell said Hill and pitcher Cody Martin denied planning to hit the umpire and said the passed ball was a result of a signaling mix-up on whether the pitch was to be a fastball or a curve.
But GHSA executive director Ralph Swearngin, who watched video of the pitch, wasn’t sold.
“I made my decision primarily by watching whether the catcher tracked the pitch with his eyes,” he said. “In my opinion, he did not. I think that he would have been searching for the ball if it were a matter of being crossed up.”
Stephens County Principal David Friend said he thought the ruling was fair.
“I told [Swearngin] that I thought we deserved it,” Friend said. “We had the opportunity to be on a big stage, in a state championship series, and we had several players who didn’t represent the school the way I think they should have. Not just that pitch, but the overall behavior.”
Friend said he was concerned about his players’ excessive arguing with umpires and throwing helmets and gloves in the dugout and one report that a student made an obscene gesture to an official.
In the half inning prior to the umpire being hit, Stephens County shortstop Ethan Martin argued with the home plate umpire and threw his helmet after becoming the ninth consecutive Stephens batter to strike out.
Two batters later, Cody Martin, Ethan’s younger brother, threw the pitch that hit the umpire. Hill, the catcher, dropped to his knees and ducked as the ball approached.
“If there is one player I feel bad about, it’s our kid [Hill] being judged by one pitch because he’s really done so much good in the way he’s represented his team and school in the classroom,” Friend said. “I feel bad for his family. This has been devastating for them.”
As part of the GHSA’s penalty, Gosnell and his assistants must complete a sportsmanship education program.
“Severe warning status” means that any sportsmanship violations by a coach or player in 2009 will result in more severe penalties, including possible forfeits and being banned from the state playoffs.
So, they are still sticking to the mix-up signal excuse? Good for Gordon College on not letting this kid play ball.
I guess that they’ve confessed about it?
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