NEED TO KNOW
- A Florida teen baseball tournament erupted into a “bench-clearing brawl”
- The scuffle broke out after a player’s father allegedly punched the umpire’s father over a contentious call
- Three people now face battery charges, including a player, the player’s father and one of the coaches
A “bench-clearing brawl” erupted at a teen baseball tournament in Florida when a player’s father allegedly threw fists after becoming enraged at an umpire’s call.
Police in Winter Haven, Fla., about 50 miles southwest of Orlando, said in a press release that the incident occurred at a travel baseball tournament on the evening of Jan. 17.
It all started when an umpire delivered a warning to Marcos Antonio Aballi, the 25-year-old coach of one of the teams. Enraged, the father of a player on the team, Yosmany Guzman Fernandez, allegedly approached the umpire’s father — with whom police said he already had bad blood — and started to fight him, pushing and eventually punching him, the release states.
The umpire tried to break up the scuffle, only to be sucker punched from behind by Aballi, police alleged.
By this point, Aballi’s team cleared the dugout and allegedly joined in what had become an all-out brawl.
One witness jumped on the umpire to shield him and was struck, police said. Meanwhile, Fernandez’s 17-year-old son, a member of Aballi’s team, allegedly joined in the fight and kicked the umpire while he was on the ground.
Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.
The teen was eventually pulled away from the umpire — only to “immediately re-engage” once he was let go, per the release.
The umpire was then transported to a local hospital to be treated for his injuries. His father did not require medical attention.
Aballi, Fernandez and Fernandez’s son were all arrested and charged with battery on a sports official during an event; Fernandez also faces a simple battery charge, police said. The two adults were booked into the Polk County Jail in Winter Haven while the teen was taken to the Juvenile Assessment Center in Bartow.
Aballi was released on a $5,000 bond and Fernandez was released on a $6,000 bond; the son’s status is unclear.
It wasn’t immediately clear if any of the defendants had entered pleas or retained attorneys.
Read the full article here


:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(730x411:732x413)/Marcos-Antonio-Aballi-Yosmany-Guzman-Fernandez-012126-62da193c8c57471dba98ceec1db45c26.jpg)