Baseball playoffs to resume at Buhach Colony — with fans — after umpire fight goes viral
The Buhach Colony-Del Campo baseball playoff saga took another twist on Thursday when Del Campo won its appeal to have its forfeit overturned.
The Sac-Joaquin Section reversed course Thursday, reinstating Del Campo’s 3-2 win over Buhach Colony in a controversial game Monday, giving the Cougars a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three playoff series.
After Del Campo won the game on the final play in the bottom of the seventh inning, an altercation between a Buhach Colony fan and an umpire took place in the parking lot and was captured on a video that went viral.
On Wednesday, Sac-Joaquin Section Commissioner Mike Garrison ruled Del Campo had to forfeit the victory because they broke a section rule by taking batting practice on the varsity field before the game, giving Del Campo a competitive advantage.
On Thursday an appeals panel including a current softball coach and several retired and active athletic directors and administrators met via Zoom for nearly two hours. They eventually overturned the forfeit.
The appeals board also overturned Garrison’s decision to have the series resume at a neutral site with no fans. Instead the second game of the series will be played on Friday at Buhach Colony at 4 p.m. with fans allowed, except those identified as being out of control at Monday’s game. Seven Buhach Colony fans will not be allowed to attend any games the rest of this series, the section said.
A third game would follow on Saturday at Del Campo if necessary at a time to be determined.
“The CIF has a process, they’ve overturned the commissioner’s decision and we will support that,” said Merced Union High School District Superintendent Alan Peterson. “We will put on a well structured event.”
Peterson says there will be extra security measures taken as exchanges on social media have been heated from both sides in the past few days.
Peterson said there will be plenty of extra support there with extra (school resource officers) and administrators.
“We want there to be fans,” Peterson said. “A lot of people understood the initial ruling. We felt so bad for the parents that there wasn’t going to be fans. What happened was appalling and not OK.”
Del Campo coach Kevin Dawidczik told Sacramento Bee reporter Joe Davidson he was happy to win the appeal.
“I feel just fantastic that we’re back on track,” Dawidczik said. “I’m so stoked. I’m happy for our team and our parents and fans. I’m so grateful that the panel asked the questions they asked. They heard us. They allowed me to speak, for my principal, Greg Snyder, to speak. We’re good to go.”
Del Campo claims the batting practice took place during a last-period physical education class specifically for athletes.
Dawidczik said appeals board member Mary Jo Truesdale, the Sheldon softball coach, asked one key question during the appeal meeting: Does Del Campo have batting practice on every home game at the same time, in a classroom setting.
“Yes, every single time,” Dawidczik said. “We’re not trying to cheat or be sneaky. I’d never do that.”
Sac-Joaquin Section Assistant Commissioner Will DeBoard said the system is set up for schools to have an opportunity to appeal section rulings.
“The way we’re organized is that a school has an opportunity to disagree with our interpretation of the rules and the appeal is not heard by us,” Will DeBoard said. “In this case it was heard by our executive committee and they determined that our ruling should be reversed. Now the teams can play and we can all move on.”
This story was originally published May 19, 2022 at 3:31 PM.
