Pitchers have a tendency to take things a bit personally on the diamond, especially when opposing batters go yard off them.
Case in point: A matchup Wednesday between Weatherford College (Texas) and North Central Texas College briefly turned into an AEW-style Texas Death Match on the diamond.
A video shows Weatherford pitcher Owen Woodward demolishing North Central batter Josh Phillips as Phillips rounds third base after hitting a go-ahead home run against Woodward. Phillips is oblivious when the heat-seeking tackle comes in.
The benches emptied. Woodward was pulled away from the kerfuffle following the hit.
A second view of the video shows the base umpire pointing at Phillips as he heads for third, leading to the assumption that maybe the batter was talking a little bit of smack after the dinger.
Weatherford head coach Jeff Lightfoot released a statement discussing the event, saying that the player may face severe punishment, including expulsion, for the event:
Phillips had the presence of mind to exact the ultimate revenge: touching home plate to score the run after nearly being broken in half.
NCTC released a statement, as well. From chancellor Brent Wallace:
On Thursday, the North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference announced the suspension of Woodward, Phillips and many more.
Woodford was given a four-game suspension, while Phillips was hit with a two-game suspension. According the AP, the league office handed out most of its punishment for the North Central Texas program as a result of the players running onto the field after the hit.
“All team members for NCTC that were in the dugout or bullpen,” as well as any assistant coaches who stepped onto the field received a two-game suspension. Four additional Weatherford players and assistant coaches for two games.
If the whole baseball thing doesn’t work out for Woodward, Nick Saban, Jimbo Fisher and others could probably use the linebacker help.
