The catcher's reaction is a bit suspicous, the way he drops his head looks weird. But I'm not sure how they can really prove it was intentional.
http://msn.foxsports.com/other/story/8213140?MSNHPHMA
The Georgia High School Association has fined a school $1,000 for an incident in the state playoffs last weekend in Cartersville, Ga.
In the fourth inning of Saturday's deciding game of the Class AAA championship series, Stephens County catcher Matt Hill ducked and did not attempt to catch a pitch that struck the home plate umpire, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
Stephens coach Mark Gosnell said Hill and pitcher Cody Martin denied plotting to hit the umpire, who was not hurt, and said the passed ball during a 13-1 loss to Cartersville was a result of a signaling mix-up.
But GHSA executive director Ralph Swearngin believed otherwise after viewing video of the play.
"I made my decision primarily by watching whether the catcher tracked the pitch with his eyes," he told the paper. "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."
The Georgia High School Association has fined a school $1,000 for an incident in the state playoffs last weekend in Cartersville, Ga.
In the fourth inning of Saturday's deciding game of the Class AAA championship series, Stephens County catcher Matt Hill ducked and did not attempt to catch a pitch that struck the home plate umpire, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
Stephens coach Mark Gosnell said Hill and pitcher Cody Martin denied plotting to hit the umpire, who was not hurt, and said the passed ball during a 13-1 loss to Cartersville was a result of a signaling mix-up.
But GHSA executive director Ralph Swearngin believed otherwise after viewing video of the play.
"I made my decision primarily by watching whether the catcher tracked the pitch with his eyes," he told the paper. "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."
