Former Lamar standout Jeff Jeffords was one of the 17 players and coaches ejected during the first inning of Thursday night’s brawl in a minor league baseball game between the Dayton Dragons and the Peoria Chiefs.
Jeffords, a pitcher for the Dragons (Cincinnati Reds affiliate), was caught on tape throwing a punch near the end of the 10-minute brawl, which caused the game to be delayed more than an hour.
The big blow during the brawl came when Peoria pitcher Julio Castillo threw a baseball into the stands and hit a fan. Castillo was charged with felonious assault and arraigned Friday.
According to the Dayton Daily News, Castillo told police he intended to hit someone in the Dragons’ dugout, according to a police report.
Castillo, who is from the Dominican Republic, was held on $50,000 bond and ordered to surrendered his passport. A hearing is scheduled for Aug. 1.
The newspaper also reported the fan, Chris McCarthy, was treated at Miami Valley Hospital and released.
The Dragons weren’t saying much on the fight Friday as attempts to reach Jeffords were denied through a team spokesperson, who said no player, coach or front office official would be allowed to comment on the matter.
The fight was likely a result of what happened during Wednesday’s game between the two teams. Three Peoria batters were hit in that game.
On Thursday, a Peoria player was hit in the top of the first inning. Then, Castillo hit two Dayton batters, including one in the head, in the bottom half of the inning.
Angel Cabrera, the second batter hit, made an aggressive slide into second to break up a double play. Then, Castillo followed that by throwing his next pitch inside prompting Dayton manager Donnie Scott to complain to the home plate umpire. Interim Peoria manager Carmelo Martinez, filling in for Ryne Sandberg, came onto the field to join the discussion.
Then, Martinez pushed Scott and the benches emptied after that.
Once the fighting ended, the two teams protested the ejections because they didn’t want to have to use pitchers in the outfield.
The ejections were reversed and the game resumed. Dayton won 6-5.
All the players except for Castillo were available to play in Friday’s series finale between the two teams.
Midwest League president George Spelius told the Dayton Daily News he is in the process or reviewing the film and suspensions, which will be staggered, won’t be handed out until next week.
“As far as suspensions go, we’ll probably suspend no more than two at a time for each team,” Spelius said.
Spelius also said umpires will give both team a stern warning, adding “I don’t want this to happen again.”
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