TSSAA lifts postseason bans for Haywood baseball, Scotts Hill boys basketball

Tom Kreager
Jackson Sun

NASHVILLE — The Haywood baseball and Scotts Hill boys basketball programs both had their postseason hopes restored on Monday.

Both programs were facing bans and fines as part of being placed on two-year restrictive probation because of conduct during games last season.

Here's a look at each case:

Haywood baseball

In lieu of the restrictive probation, the TSSAA's Board of Control on Monday unanimously approved Haywood's proposal to suspend coach Dusty Rhodes for the first 10 games of the 2020 season and then again during the postseason. 

The team will remain on probation for two years but will be allowed to play in the postseason.

The TSSAA put a two-year restrictive probation in place after Haywood initially chose not to punish Rhodes beyond the TSSAA's two-game suspension and $250 fine after he was ejected during the Class AA state baseball tournament.

Rhodes and assistant coach Alex Whitwell were ejected during the sixth inning of the Tomcats' game against Sequatchie County on May 22. Haywood lost that game 6-4 and was eliminated from the tournament.

A video of the ejections shows Rhodes kicking dirt on the umpire after he was ejected and Haywood players restraining Rhodes.

The TSSAA punished the program because its bylaws don't allow the association to punish the coach directly. 

"The opportunity for our kids to compete in the postseason is a huge lift for us," Haywood County Schools Superintendent Joey Hassell said. "We're pleased.

"At no point did we want anyone to perceive that we thought the actions of our coach were appropriate. We'd had those conversations after working with TSSAA. We recognize there are other sanctions we should put on ourselves, which we've done."

Of the 10 games Rhodes will miss, the first two come from TSSAA-mandated rules as part of the ejection. During those 10 games, Rhodes will not be able to coach in practice or in games. He will miss all practice time during the postseason as well.

Rhodes will be able to work with the team when practice begins until the first game.

The $1,000 fine for restrictive probation also will be lifted for the next two seasons.

Scotts Hill boys basketball

Scotts Hill is again eligible to play in the boys basketball playoffs after the Board of Control unanimously lifted the second year of a two-year restrictive probation.

Scotts Hill was placed on restrictive probation along with Adamsville after a fight in February that started when the two teams were lining up to shake hands. Scotts Hill had won on a buzzer beater.

Spectators also came down onto the court and were involved in the brawl.

Adamsville has not yet submitted an appeal to have restrictive probation removed.

By removing one year of restrictive probation, $1,000 was removed from Scotts Hill's original fine of $3,250. The team already sat out last year's postseason. 

According to the incident report from the referees, an Adamsville player started the fight. The report states that players started running toward one another after the first punch was thrown, while coaches, fans, staff and parents were trying to separate them.

Scotts Hill athletics director Jeff Robertson said the school punished all students identified on film as fighting with the same punishment as fighting in school. 

Players will have "significant extra running and workouts for a four-week period prior to the season." They also can't be written up at school and must hold at least a 75 average in each class.

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Reach Tom Kreager at 615-259-8089 or tkreager@gannett.com and on Twitter @Kreager.