It’s the cheap shot heard ’round the world.
The video was shot during an Arizona college baseball game between the Scottsdale Fighting Artichokes and the Yavapai College Roughriders on March 29.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=9UywRu8QPXA&w=480&l=385]
It begins innocently enough, with a sacrifice bunt from a Scottsdale player that drives in a run.
But off screen, some sort of conflict develops between the teams, and a bench-clearing brawl ensues.
As the umpires try to break up the fight, Yavapai outfielder Austin O’Such can suddenly be seen charging from left field before laying out Jake Bamrick, a Scottsdale infielder standing on second base, who didn’t even see O’Such coming.
The force of the hit knocked off Bamrick’s batting helmet and left him lying flat on the infield dirt – where a team trainer was eventually able to help him back to his feet.
On Saturday, Yavapai College Athletic Director Scott Farnsworth released the following statement through the college’s website:
He said: ‘Yavapai College and the Athletic Department aspire to the ideals of good sportsmanship and fair play. In no way do we condone the behavior as recorded in the video, which occurred on March 29, 2012 at the Yavapai versus Scottsdale Community College baseball game.
‘The YC player involved was immediately suspended by the college and will be suspended from play for the rest of the season. The college has implemented this action and will continue to work with the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference (ACCAC) on current and future sanctions following conference procedures. Per conference rules team members from both teams involved in the on field incident have already served their suspensions’.
Austin O’Such:
O’Such’s player bio has since been removed from the Yavapai baseball page.
The incident has also sparked furor among users on social networking sites.
Amid the onslaught of anger against O’Such, he shut down his Twitter account, which included such recent tweets as ‘I think it’s beat down season’.
In addition, a group called ‘Ban Austin O’Such from League’ has sprung up on Facebook.
As for the game, the Artichokes wound up coming back from a 6-0 deficit to capture a 10-8 victory over the RoughRiders.
Does anyone know where the link is for this facebook page is, that apparently went viral
http://www.facebook.com/AustinOsuch
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