A New Jersey youth softball was charged with assault after a fight broke out on Wednesday — and The Post has the video.
Following a contentious 12-under semifinal game between Little Falls and a squad of girls from East Hanover and Florham Park, tensions boiled over in the handshake line between opposing coaches.
As seen in the video, a coach from East Hanover/Florham Park approached and then shoved the other coach, before throwing a punch at another Little Falls coach who tried to intervene.
The chaos then spilled further into the infield as the umpire tried to separate the sides, though at least one more punch was thrown by the East Hanover/Little Falls coach before things ultimately died down.
The girls from East Hanover/Florham Park were just feet from the chaos as they watched on, while the Little Falls players were in right field.
The coach has been banned from coaching in the league, the Denville Summer Softball League, which is operated through the town’s Police Activities League. Furthermore, The Post understands that prior to the fight, a parent was ejected from the game in the second inning.
As previously reported by NJ.com, the coach was charged with two counts of fourth degree simple assault.
The man, 54, was present at a game versus West Orange on Friday but did not coach.
A representative from the Denville PAL told NJ.com that it “maintains a zero-tolerance policy for physical altercations involving players, coaches, spectators or any other participants at our games and events” and will not comment further while the matter is under review.
“We are working closely with the organizations involved to review the incident and ensure that any appropriate disciplinary action is taken in accordance with each organization’s policies and procedures,” the league official wrote in an email to NJ.com on Friday morning.
“All organizations involved share a commitment to providing a safe, respectful, and positive environment for youth athletics, and we are united in our efforts to ensure incidents of this nature do not occur again.”
Police also confirmed to the site that it responded to a call at the field and carried out an investigation.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
