Player charged with assault after brawl at Massachusetts baseball game
Two people are facing charges after a brawl broke out at an American Legion baseball game in Milford, Massachusetts Monday night.
Milford police say the chaos broke out when trash talking escalated to punches being thrown during the 4th inning playoff game between Milford Post 59 and East Springfield at Fino Field.
The melee was caught on camera and Milford coach Steve Divitto ran to diffuse the fight, asking for police to be called.
Coach says no Milford players involved
"First and foremost, it was everyone's safety," said Divitto. "I feel horrible for my kids because I think the narrative that may have been out there or maybe it's not, was that they were involved and they were not involved at all, so that's important to know."
Police say 19-year-old East Springfield player Eliezer Rosario Lebron, and a 17-year-old boy from Milford are facing assault and battery charges.
"There was just a lot of commotion, and they ran behind the dugout I recall, and I just saw some really strong punches," said Tony Chinappi who was at the game Monday night.
Game suspended after brawl
Police arrived to break up the brawl and the rest of the game was suspended.
"Baseball has always had a great reputation in Milford, and I don't think in my lifetime I've ever seen anything like that at a sporting event never mind a baseball game," said fan Lou Colabello used to play for Milford.
The game picked up where it left off Wednesday night with fewer players on Springfield's side and this time with extra police presence in and outside the field.
"We want everyone to be safe," said Milford Police Chief Robbie Tusino. "What happened the other night not only is it unacceptable it's dangerous. And when you get a closed in environment like a game where people are in proximity it doesn't take much for someone to get seriously hurt."
Since Milford lost the game, they avoided a back-to-back game right after, but fans were more disappointed about how Monday's game ended.
"The whole country is enraged about a lot of things, and I think we need to cool it basically and have reasoning take over," said Chinappi.
Police say anyone who was involved in this brawl has been banned from coming back to this game and any others in the future.
