A youth baseball coach has been banned for life after allegedly telling his own son to launch a ball at their rivals’ dugout in anger.
According to USA Today, Michael Ryals of Welling, Oklahoma was accused of telling his 12-year-old son to hurl a ball at their opponents during a tournament in Kansas City.
The son, who has also been given a five-year ban, was pitching in the sixth inning of a heated game against a rival team from Nebraska on Memorial Day weekend.
But in footage that went viral, the son turns away from the batter and throws the ball at their opponents’ dugout.
Footage shows angry parents screaming ‘are you f***ing kidding me?’ while another appears to call Ryals a ‘son of a b****’.
‘You people are nuts,’ another fan can be heard saying, while one angry fan calls them ‘white trash’.
A baseball coach has been banned for life after allegedly telling his son to launch a ball at rivals
The incident sparked outrage among parents and fans who were watching on in Kansas City
The coach’s 12-year-old son has also been handed a five-year ban for his role in the incident
It is unclear what sparked the outrageous act but reports claim the parents and fans of the Nebraska team ‘grew loud and boisterous’ towards the end of the game, which they won 8-6.
‘Due to the sensitive nature of the sensitive manner of the issue, and involvement of minors, no further comments will be (provided),’ John Latella, CEO of USSSA, told USA Today.
Two people linked to the team coached by Ryals say parents believe he told his son to target their opponents.
They also claimed one of the players’ parents apologized to Brandon Magni, the coach of the team from Nebraska, in a message sent on Facebook.
According to USA Today, it read: ‘Our athletes and our parents were 100 per cent blindsided when Michael instructed his son to do what he did.
‘We left the park immediately after the game and we are no longer associated with the coach and we never will be again.’
