Softball coach snaps the unwritten rules
The Enquirer Journal
By: Jeff Nelson
05/02/05

When written rules are broken, punishment follows.

It's a basic tenet in sports, and one we see practiced nearly every day.

What we don't often see, and frankly, what I can't ever recall seeing, is a punishment for breaking unwritten rules. But that appears to be what took place at Central Cabarrus High this past week.

Softball coach Monte Sherrill was suspended by the school for two games after his team, which is ranked fourth in the nation by USA Today, beat West Charlotte, 55-0, on April 15.

Go ahead and read that score again; it's not a typo. And to make matters worse, the game lasted just two innings (two innings!) before West Charlotte's athletic director asked officials to end it.

According to a published report, the coach and athletic director at Central Cabarrus won't comment on the game or the suspension, but the West Charlotte athletic director said Central Cabarrus continued to play aggressively as the Vikings scored 30 runs in the first inning and 25 more in the second.

While I wasn't at the game and can't know all of the circumstances surrounding the game, I did talk with four Union County softball coaches about the score and suspension, and they helped me come to a conclusion: Sherrill could have prevented the score from reaching such laughable heights, and because he didn't, he deserved a suspension.

To make things clear, none of the four county coaches could say with certainty that they agreed with the suspension. They all said they needed more information.

But Eddie Rivers of Forest Hills, Misty Tarleton of Parkwood, Tad Baucom of Piedmont, and Sarah Keziah of Monroe all said there are a common set of unwritten rules for coaching in a blowout, and those rules shouldn't be broken.

"There's a lot of ways to avoid letting (the score) get away from you," Baucom said. "You can hit balls to the fence and stop your kids at first base. On the 35 or so passed balls, you don't take a base. And you don't steal a base."

By playing this brand of station-to-station softball, you give the opposing team as many chances as possible to record three outs each inning without an excess of runs crossing the plate. Once you have a big lead, it's also common to put in backups who aren't as good and don't often get a chance to play.

Scores can still get out of hand this way - there have been several cases of 15-0 type scores in the county this year - but teams never approach the point of humiliation.

The N.C. High School Athletic Association does have a mercy rule that's meant to protect against excessive blowouts - if one team is ahead by more than 10 after five innings, the game is called - but because of the severe gap in talent between many teams, these unwritten rules are often needed to just get to the fifth inning with a respectable score.

In all fairness, sometimes it's hard to keep the score down, Rivers said, and he can understand a bad blowout every now and then. After all, he won't actually tell his kids to strike out on purpose or make an out on purpose.

"I'm not going to make a travesty of the game to not embarrass you," he said. "On the other hand, if (Sherrill) didn't do the things you're supposed to do, then I think he's making a travesty of the game."

The things you're supposed to do ... the unwritten rules ... that's what this is about.

Monroe has been on the losing end of a couple 10-run games to county opponents this year, but Keziah said her Redhawks were facing teams with integrity who didn't let things get out of hand.

"The Piedmont team, the Forest Hills team, those are the two we've played locally and they've gone out of their way to make sure that we were not humiliated," Keziah said. "Piedmont and Forest Hills have class. They treat us with respect; they don't try to humiliate our girls."

If Central Cabarrus was trying to humiliate West Charlotte, the Vikings' motive could have dealt with personal reasons we don't know about. Or, as two coaches suggested, the Vikings may have been trying to pad their stats to improve their national ranking.

Both of those are poor excuses, however, and neither can absolve Sherrill for allowing his team's rout.

When all four county coaches were asked if there's any reason a team should score 55 runs, they all said no. When they were asked if they could prevent their team from scoring 55 runs, they all said yes.

Play by the unwritten rules, and it won't happen.

Don't play by the unwritten rules, and you get suspended.

Link: http://www.enquirerjournal.com/articles/2005/04/26/sports/sports55.txt

According to a published report, the coach and athletic director at Central Cabarrus won't comment on the game or the suspension, but the West Charlotte athletic director said Central Cabarrus continued to play aggressively as the Vikings scored 30 runs in the first inning and 25 more in the second.

Scores can still get out of hand this way - there have been several cases of 15-0 type scores in the county this year - but teams never approach the point of humiliation.

Play by the unwritten rules, and it won't happen.

Don't play by the unwritten rules, and you get suspended.



55-0???  I'd say that would be humiliating for the losing team.

That being said, I don't think the coach should have been suspended.  Unwritten rules shouldn't be able to be enforced.  It would have been nice to call the game, but suspension is pretty harsh.

:D
Sounds like somebody forgot to teach the West Charlotte team that when you hit the ball you have to run to first base!  What the heck was going on with those gals.  I've seen many coaches get the boot for losing games, but I'll be d*mned if this isn't the first time I've seen a coach get in hot water for winning.  They are saying the coach could have stopped the kids at first base, like they were humoring a team of retarded children!

This reminds me of a lawsuit filed here at UMass several years back against the women's basketball coach by some of the players.  The students in the suit accused the coach of pressuring them too much during practice and hurting their feelings with her reprimands.  The lawsuit went nowhere for obvious reasons.  Today, I'm afraid it might be successful!
Can you imagine some marines filing a lawsuit against the corps because "that drill sergeant said some very hurtful things to us"?

I knew no good could come of those elementary school tournements in which every participant gets a trophy no matter what!  I mean, the world ain't like that....
::)

Unwritten rules shouldn't be able to be enforced.


That I agree with.

What's worse is that it was 55-0 in the second inning before the umps called it after the West Charlotte's athletic director asked them to do so, imagine if they let it play all the way to the ninth inning.

That I agree with.

What's worse is that it was 55-0 in the second inning before the umps called it after the West Charlotte's athletic director asked them to do so, imagine if they let it play all the way to the ninth inning.

Must of looked like...Mexicans running across the Arizona boarder!
;D

I wonder if the other team cried after the game? ;D ;D ;D

Must of looked like...Mexicans running across the Arizona boarder!
;D


;D

Well I understand calling a game after a certain span. But there is no sense playing if your going to force a team to win. Easier said then done I know, but if I was a player I'd quit after the coach was suspened.