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FHSAA, Trinity Christian battle far from over

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By ADAM ADKINS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 20, 2009

PORT ST. LUCIE The fact that Lake Worth Trinity Christian's varsity baseball team took the field Wednesday night against Cambridge Christian in a Class 1A state semifinal certainly did not sit well with the state's governing body for high school athletics, and FHSAA executive director Dr. Roger Dearing let that be known during a meeting with a handful of media members from around the state during the game.

The FHSAA had issued on Tuesday what amounted to season-ending suspensions for 16 of the 17 players on Trinity Christian's varsity roster for the players' participation in a bench-clearing brawl last Friday during a Class 1A regional final series against Brito Miami Private. However, Trinity Christian filed an injunction in a St. Lucie court on Wednesday morning and a judge later ruled in favor of the school, allowing 14 of the players initially suspended to compete in Wednesday's game against the Lancers, who won 12-6 to advance to Thursday's 1A state title game against Deltona Trinity Christian.

"It's just unfortunate that we have a school, Trinity [Christian], which has decided instead of using our rules and our bylaws, which they are a member of, that they went to court to get an injunction even though they were in violation of good sportsmanship conduct," Dearing said. "I think the school has to do some soul searching, by the principal, the athletic director and the baseball coach, of what are we trying to teach kids. I don't think this is it."

The bench-clearing brawl occurred during Game 2 of the best-of-three series between Trinity Christian and Brito Miami Private. The incident was sparked after a collision at home between a Brito player and the Trinity Christian catcher. Ten players (five from each team) were immediately ejected after the brawl.

Dearing said the FHSAA received reports from all three umpires at the game outlining what happened. Those reports were corroborated by the baseball coach at Miami Southridge, who served as the adminstrator at the field after his school's field was leased for the game. Each report stated every fielder on the Trinity Christian team left his position on the field to partake in the melee, and every player on the bench spilled out onto the field as well. No video of the incident was available, Dearing said.

On Tuesday, the FHSAA handed down its decision. Five players from Trinity Christian were issued four-game suspensions. Eleven others were issued two-game suspensions. The only player not suspended was the team's catcher, who was involved in the collision at home. A judge overturned the ruling a few hours before Wednesday's game, though without reviewing the FHSAA's response, Dearing said.

"The judge made a ruling based on what he had," Dearing said. "We were told about it about 40 minutes before they took it to the judge. We've got our response filed now, but the judge didn't even look at our response before he made his decision. Now, he was in court all day and he was busy and I'm sure a high school baseball game may not be the toughest thing a judge is ruling on today. So the injunction happened and we'll deal with it and we'll see what happens."

Even though Lake Worth Trinity Christian lost its state semifinal matchup Wednesday, the school's fight with the FHSAA is not over.

"We're going to make sure our teams follow good sportsmanship conduct, and if they violate that conduct, we will hold them to what the consequences are going to be," Dearing said.

And the consequences Dearing laid out Wednesday are stiff. The FHSAA will seek to overturn the injunction. If that happens, Trinity Christian will face a fine of $2,500 per player initially ruled ineligible that dressed for Wednesday's game. It is not known how many of the 14 players the injunction filed Wednesday allowed to play actually suited up, but if all dressed the total cost would be $35,000. That's in addition to covering the FHSAA's court costs and legal fees.

Dearing also said the FHSAA will look to add bylaws specifically dealing with injunctions, and what teams will face if they decided to use that avenue in the future.

"We're going to set some pretty strong laws and in our bylaws about injunctions and so forth," Dearing said. "The thing about injunctions is that if you get an injunction, you win. But if you end up losing, there's going to be some severe consequences in the future. They are voluntary members of the FHSAA, and they will play by FHSAA rules. If you try to go around it in court it is known as an act of derision in our bylaws, so they will suffer the consequences if they don't prevail."

Trinity Christian athletic director Fred Erdman and baseball coach Miguel Cuello declined to comment on the matter.

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