Phenix City police respond to confrontation in stands at Central vs. Smiths baseball game
A tense moment between players on the field resulted in Phenix City police calming a dispute among fans in the stands at the end of a baseball game Thursday between Central and Smiths Station high schools.
Phenix City police Capt. Donnie Thomas told the Ledger-Enquirer that no arrests or criminal charges were made following the incident at Darnell-Nelson Field.
As one of four police officers on duty at the game, Thomas said he didn’t see anything unusual in the stands except for a normal amount of taunting among fans.
“In the picture, I was pointing at two Central fans telling them to go back on the Central side as they were starting to taunt Smiths Station fans on their loss,” Thomas said.
Carol Ann Underwood, the Phenix City Schools public relations specialist, initially told the Ledger-Enquirer by phone on Friday morning that the behavior of Smiths Station fans prompted Phenix City Schools Assistant Superintendent Nathan Walters to cancel the second game of the scheduled doubleheader. But she corrected that statement in a follow-up email.
“I sought clarification from Mr. Walters,” Underwood wrote. “He said that the second game on Thursday night was canceled because Central won the first game on Wednesday. By winning the first game on Thursday night, the second game didn’t matter because Central already clinched the area championship.”
Asked whether the incident on the field or in the stands contributed to the decision to cancel the second game, Underwood said no.
At the end of the game, which Central won 4-3, Smiths players approached Central players who were celebrating. The Smiths catcher restrained teammates from further action, and Central coaches pulled players back to the dugout, according to freelance photographer Darrell Roaden, who worked for the Ledger-Enquirer at the field Thursday.
After the cancellation of the second game was announced, a dispute in the stands began between a woman and a girl, Roaden said.
“The young girl stood up and started moving toward the woman and was restrained by a male adult,” Roaden said. “… That’s when the (Phenix City) Police showed up, separating the crowd.”
Underwood noted, “There was no physical or verbal interaction between either team. The crowd outburst was a parent from Smiths Station yelling at an umpire, who was then escorted out by police.”
In response to the Ledger-Enquirer’s request for a report about any disciplinary action taken by the school system against anyone involved in the incident, PCS Superintendent Janet Sherrod replied in an email, “The records you requested do not exist, as our scholars were not at fault.”
Smiths Station principal Brad Cook told the L-E in an email Friday afternoon, “There is no disciplinary action based on what I know now. If further information comes out that warrants a disciplinary response, I will do so.”
Central was ranked No. 1 in the nation by Baseball America in its April 9 poll.
