After tackling baserunners during the home run trot, college pitcher was "no longer on team"

The coach announced Thursday that a junior college baseball pitcher from Texas was removed from the team for tackling an opposing batter after he had hit a home run. Jeff Lightfoot, Weatherford College's head baseball coach, said that the pitcher is now "no longer on our team."

After tackling baserunners during the home run trot, college pitcher was "no longer on team"

The brawl that erupted was captured on video.

Online video showed North Central Texas College's Josh Phillips coming in third after his sixth-inning homerun. Owen Woodward, Weatherford College's pitcher, charged off the mound and smashed Owen to the midsection. The field was then flooded with players.

The North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference had previously announced that Woodward would be suspended for four games and Phillips for two because of taunting.

Weatherford officials said Woodward could be expelled from school after the play was widely covered online.

Woodward's ERA was 3.10, with 30 strikeouts, four saves, and 20 1/3 innings pitched. CBSSports.com reported. As a high school linebacker, he was a first team All-District selection.

The league office did not punish the North Central Texas program with the majority of its sanctions due to the players who ran onto and off the field following the hit.

For two games, the league suspended all NCTC team members who were in the bullpen or dugout and any assistant coaches who entered the field. The league also suspended four Weatherford assistant coaches and players for two more games.

The league stated that if North Central Texas is left without enough players to play in its two remaining games against Weatherford, it would have to forfeit. Both teams were told to forfeit the match that was stopped.

This weekend, the teams will play each other.

Lightfoot stated that they were shocked and disappointed by what had happened during the game. This kind of behavior is unacceptable. We have worked hard in building a program that meets the highest standards. This incident has caused us to be embarrassed and we sincerely apologize to North Central Texas College as well as the fans of WC Baseball. This behavior is unacceptable.

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