Pennsylvania Coach Should be Beaten like Player

Can you believe this story? As the dad of a child with Down Syndrome, I am appaled. I can honestly say that there are many more "idiots" out in the world than there are children with diabilities. This "coach" who apparenlty is still coaching in the league should be treated in the same manner as he treated the mentally challenged player, but by adults. Let me throw a ball at his groin and then his ear.

I am not for "policial correctness" but I am for the golden rule and it says treat others as you wish to be treated which is apparently to be beaten because he has been found limited in his abilities.

Let's remember folks HATE is a learned action and so is Discrimination. How will these children on this team treat others with disabilities or who are different because of what this coach has taught them?

Coach to Stand Trial Over Hurt Player

By RAMESH
SANTANAM, Associated Press Writer Thu Jul 28, 8:53 PM ET
UNIONTOWN, Pa. - A
youth baseball coach on Thursday was ordered to stand trial for allegedly
promising to pay one of his players $25 to hurt a 9-year-old mentally disabled
teammate.
Eight-year-old Keith Reese testified at a preliminary hearing that
T-ball coach Mark R. Downs Jr. made the offer before a June 27 playoff
game.
"He told me if I would hit (the teammate) in the face, he would pay me
$25," Keith said.
Reese said he had never before warmed up for a game with
his mentally disabled teammate, Harry Bowers. But on that day, he did.
His
first toss hit Bowers in the groin area. As the boy walked away, he said his
coach told him to "go out there and hit him harder."
"So I went out and hit
him in the ear," Reese said.
Downs, 27, will be arraigned Sept. 15 on two
counts of criminal solicitation to commit aggravated assault and one count each
of corruption of minors, criminal conspiracy and recklessly endangering another
person.
A motive for the beaning was not discussed in court Thursday. But the
injured boy's mother had told police that the coach looked for ways to keep her
son out of games because he was not as good as other kids.
Reese's father,
Keith Reese Sr., testified that the coach admitted after the game to offering
his son money to hurt the other boy.
"He told me, 'I did something ignorant.
I told (Keith) I'd give him $25 to hit Harry in the face to take him out of the
game,'" Reese said.
Downs' attorney, Thomas W. Shaffer, denied the
allegations.
Shaffer said the $25 comment likely referred to a previous game,
when the coach jokingly told his team he'd offer $25 to "anybody who can line
drive the ref with the ball" when he was cautioned by the umpire.
The team was part of the R.W. Clark Youth Baseball League, which ended its T-ball season
earlier this month. The game was in North Union Township, 40 miles southeast of
Pittsburgh.
The younger Reese said he asked the coach for the money when the
team met at an ice cream parlor after the game, but did not receive it. He said
the coach told him he'd get $25 if he signed up for the fall season.
Bowers also took the witness stand, confirming he was hit twice, in the groin and ear,
during warm-ups.
His mother, Jennifer Bowers, told the court that the coach
came up to her afterward and suggested her son shouldn't play.
"He said the balls must be after (her son)," she testified.
Eric Forsythe, president of the R.W. Clark Youth Baseball League, said league officials looked into
accusations against Downs before the season ended, but could not prove the coach
did anything wrong. But Forsythe said league officials did not interview either
boy.
League organizers have said Downs won't be allowed to coach again if he
is convicted of criminal charges. Shaffer said Downs is not suspended and
remains a coach in the league.