EagleTribune.com, North Andover, MA

Merrimack Valley

Little League coach says opposing manager told pitcher to plunk batter

By Stacie N. Galang
Staff writer
Published: June 13, 2008

PEABODY — A Peabody Western Little League coach has resigned after ordering a pitcher to intentionally hit a batter at a game last Friday, according to the opposing coach.

JoAnne DiFillipo of the league's age 10 to 12 Devil Rays won't be calling plays for young baseball players and has also resigned as secretary of the board, said coach David Cravotta, whose 11-year-old son Anthony took the hit just above his knee.

"You cross the line as a manager in youth sports to throw at a kid," Cravotta said. "You don't know where the ball is going to go. To win a baseball game, a meaningless baseball game?"

DiFillipo denied the incident happened but refused to speak further.

"It's absolutely untrue," she said by phone.

Tom French, president of the Peabody Western Little League, kept his comments similarly brief.

"All I can tell you is the matter has been resolved," he said.

Yesterday, information on the league's Web site was removed — first officers' phone numbers and later DiFillipo's name as secretary.

Reds coach Cravotta said his team was up to bat at the top of the sixth and final inning Friday.

The opposing Devil Rays were winning 5-4 when their coaches realized one player hadn't had an at-bat, a Little League requirement. If their player didn't get his opportunity to hit, they would have to forfeit.

The Devil Rays' coaches first instructed their pitcher to walk batters, hoping to tie up the game and force the bottom of the inning, Cravotta said.

"That's not the way the game's supposed to be played," he said. "It turns into a circus."

Cravotta said he caught on to the ploy and told his own players to swing at anything. He said he didn't want his players taking walks.

"We want to win the game straight," he said.

That's when he said he heard DiFillipo tell her pitcher to hit the batter.

"I've never heard that until now," said Cravotta, who's coached for seven years. "It was just blatant."

The Reds coach said his son was bruised above the knee from the pitch. In his mind, DiFillipo's actions effectively meant she asked her pitcher to use the ball as a weapon. His son was lucky he didn't break anything, he said, because young pitchers don't have pinpoint control.

He said Little Leaguers just want to play the game and the walks were uncalled for.

"You have plenty of time to get your subs in the game," he said. "You ruin the integrity of the game by turning it into a carnival."

It's a competitive league in West Peabody. Two years ago, its all-star players were state champs and advanced to World Series tournament play.

Last year, the all-stars went to the state tournament but fell short of Williamsport, Penn., the site of the Little League World Series.

Cravotta said he was outraged at DiFillipo's behavior, but by the weekend, he got the impression the incident was going to be swept under the rug. He said others also heard DiFillipo tell her pitcher to hit the batter.

The Reds coach said any indication that he and others were trying to single out DiFillipo was untrue. He didn't have anything to gain. In fact, they had been friendly this past year and worked together cleaning up the fields, he said.

He said if the roles were reversed, he would similarly be ostracized.

"You know what would happen to me?" Cravotta asked. "I would never be able to go down to the ball park."

Cravotta said DiFillipo did the right thing by resigning.

"I don't think there is a place for that in sports for a manager," Cravotta said.

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