9-Year-Old Boy Too Good To Play Baseball
Jericho Scott is only 9 years old and he is a phenomenal baseball player. His fastball has a top speed of 40 mph - which is apparently too hard when playing in a Youth Baseball League for New Haven. The coach for the team told Scott that he was unable to pitch for the team anymore because of his talents.
When Jericho took the mound anyway last week, the opposing team forfeited the game, packed its gear and left, his coach said. The officials for the league have decided to disband Scott’s team and will redistribute the players to different squads. They stated that the coach - Wilfred Vidro - had resigned. But the team refuses to give up without a fight.
Vidro said that he didn’t quit and the team refuses to disband. Players and parents held a protest at the league’s field on Saturday urging the league to let Jericho pitch. “He’s never hurt any one,” Vidro said. “He’s on target all the time. How can you punish a kid for being too good?”
The controversy bothers Jericho, who says he misses pitching. “I feel sad,” he said. “I feel like it’s all my fault nobody could play.” Jericho’s coach and parents say the boy is being unfairly targeted because he turned down an invitation to join the defending league champion, which is sponsored by an employer of one of the league’s administrators. Jericho instead joined a team sponsored by Will Power Fitness. The team was 8-0 and on its way to the playoffs when Jericho was banned from pitching.
“I think it’s discouraging when you’re telling a 9-year-old you’re too good at something,” said his mother, Nicole Scott. “The whole objective in life is to find something you’re good at and stick with it. I’d rather he spend all his time on the baseball field than idolizing someone standing on the street corner.”
League attorney Peter Noble says the only factor in banning Jericho from the mound is his pitches are just too fast. “He is a very skilled player, a very hard thrower,” Noble said. “There are a lot of beginners. This is not a high-powered league. This is a developmental league whose main purpose is to promote the sport.”