A high school baseball coach has stepped down after 10 of the 12 seniors on the team quit following a dugout confrontation with an assistant coach.
According to The Arizona Republic, Pinnacle High School head coach Sam Messina announced on May 1 that he would be stepping down after Pinnacle was eliminated from the 6A postseason in a 6-1 play-in loss to Tucson Sunnyside.
"I'm grateful for my time as the head baseball coach at Pinnacle High School," Messina told The Arizona Republic in a text message May 3. "To all of the past and present players, best wishes in your future endeavors."
Pinnacle's troubles seemed to have stemmed from an April 14 confrontation in the team's dugout when 10 of 12 seniors on the team quit over a confrontation between volunteer assistant Rex Gonzalez and senior Jackson Marazzo.
The tension between Marazzo and Gonzalez began when Marazzo was rounding third and Marazzo slapped Gonzalez's hand with force as he held it up from his place as third base coach. Gonzalez later confronted Marazzo in the dugout over the forcefulness of the slap, tensions flared, and 10 seniors ended up quitting that day.
The 10 seniors who quit the following day wrote a letter to Messina and athletic director David Abrams the following day, saying they were leaving the team and would return only if Gonzalez were removed and if principal Chad Smith would stop coming to practices and giving lineup card input.
Smith's son Matt was a starting junior on the team. Gonzalez's son Chase was a starting freshman on the team. Only two of the 10 seniors who quit were starters.
Gonzalez left the program, and Smith submitted his resignation last week, effective at the end of this school year. And now Messina has stepped down. He hinted at stepping down on April 30.
