Texas Softball Coach In Hot Water After Separating a Fight

What started as a close play at the plate turned into an all-out softball brawl in Texas that has the internet divided.

A heated high school softball game between Taft and Mathis Tuesday night turned into chaos, and it’s all caught on camera.

The now-viral clip shows a Taft runner sliding into home during a close play, as the Mathis catcher signals an out. As the runner heads to the dugout, the catcher appears to say something and that’s when things take a chaotic turn.

The Taft player spins around, pushes the catcher, rips off her helmet, and signals for more. Coaches rush the field to break it up but what happened next is the center of a growing debate.

As Mathis Coach Briana Cruz runs in to break things up, she grabs the Taft player around the waist and suddenly both of them fall to the ground.

What Really Happened at Home Plate?

Many insist she tripped trying to stop a fight but others say the coach tackled the student. Either way, players from both sides storm home plate and parents start shouting in the stands.

Tensions in the crowd hit a high when a fight between two women broke out on the stands as kids sat nearby watching the chaos erupt. Over the speakers, the announcer pleaded for parents to stop, "Come on, please. This is not what Mathis and Taft softball is."

Now, the internet is doing what it does best: forming strong opinions.

One group says Cruz did her job: “She was trying to protect the players.”
Others want her gone for good.

One Facebook comment said, "Nope. Looks like Coach was trying to separate them. But hey.. unfortunately, the coach is damned if she helps and damned if she does nothing. It’s a lose-lose. Parents are never happy."

“I want Coach Briana Cruz to never be allowed to coach again,” said the Taft player’s mother in an interview with the Corpus Christi Crónica.

The incident is under review by school officials.

Was It a Trip… or a Tackle?

Let's not push aside the fact that what occurred was incredibly unsportsmanlike and disgraceful. Softball is a mental game before anything and keeping your emotions in check on the field is a skill.

Watch the video below and tell us what you think, was it a trip or a tackle?