Prep baseball: Fight between the umpire and parents follows end of playoff game

The end of an exciting Division lll Sac-Joaquin Section playoff baseball game between Del Campo and Buhach Colony in Carmichael ended Monday in a way that made Cougars coach Kevin Dawidczik “sick to his stomach.”

After his team eked out a 3-2 comeback win in walk-off fashion, some Buhach Colony parents went to the parking lot to confront umpires. Video obtained by The Sacramento Bee shows parents and umpires in a scuffle in the parking lot.

Dawidczik was born near Buhach Colony in Merced. As soon as he saw the fight, he raced to the parking lot.

“I had a parent tell me umpires were getting attacked,” Dawidczik said. “I sprinted as fast as I could to get those umpires. I can’t believe that would ever occur at my facility.”

He added, “We need more coaches who understand umpires are there to help our kids. They are going to get calls wrong and right. We aren’t always going to agree with them. We have to support these guys. We have to.”

There were two controversial calls that led up to the events in the parking lot, Dawidczik said.

The first occurred in the top of the fifth inning. Buhach Colony hit a solo home run and the player circling the bases missed first base. Del Campo players from the dugout saw it happen, according to Dawidczik, and after the player finished running, the Cougars appealed and threw the ball to first base.

The umpire called him out.

“I went out and asked the base (umpire) and said I think he missed first base we are going to appeal it,” Dawidczik said. “The ball went there and they called him out. ... I know that was a controversial call for them.”

The second call occurred in the bottom of the seventh inning. After a Del Campo player got a hit with a runner on second with the game tied at 2-2, the runner slid into home and was called safe. Video obtained by The Bee shows the runner sliding into home.

The Sac-Joaquin Section will review the incident. These two teams are set to meet again Wednesday in Merced in game two of the series. The Cougars are one win away from advancing to the section championship game.