Instructions:CarrollCollege is a private, liberal arts college located in rural North Carolina with a student population of 2,500. The school’s athletic teams participate in Division III of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Carroll baseball player Ronald George has recently gained a degree of notoriety after he was caught on video tackling an opponent during a game against HerseyCollege. The video appeared on multiple websites and sports-based television programming, a rarity for a CarrollCollege athlete. The story below deals with George’s new-found fame and the aftermath of his actions. Edit the story for Associated Press style, grammar and clarity. If the editor requires additional information or questions the credibility of the material presented, make the proper notations. What information could help with the overall validity of the story? Rewrite passages accordingly.
Ronald George has gone viral.
CarrollCollege pitcher Ronald George ran and tackled HerseyCollege’s John Roderick while he was running to home plate on March 3 when Carroll was losing 5-2.
Roderick was tackled as he was trying to score from third base on a wild pitch in the bottom of the fifth inning. The incident started when Hersey’s batter Mike Simon called timeout just as George was about to deliver to the plate. George said he had his own reasons for the abnormal play.
“More than anything, just some anger and frustration built up and I just wasn’t thinking straight,” said George, “I decided to tackle him instead of worrying about catching the ball for the catcher.”
Carroll’s Athletic Director, Tim Levy, said he thought George’s actions were unfavorable.
“It’s out of character for Ronnie,” Levy said, “and it was very unfortunate no matter what transpired that day. I’ll be the first to admit that it was not justifiable in any way. But when you deal with young adolescents, they make mistakes. It’s unfortunate, but it’s a learning opportunity.”
Carroll’s Right Fielder Scott Thompson said that Head Coach Brian Kline refused to make a comment because the situation has already been handled.
Since this kind of play is not typical for a baseball game, someone from Hersey sent the video straight to YouTube, George said. He added that within just a few days, the video reached about 900,000 views. Since this video had the possibility of putting Carroll baseball in a negative light, Carroll asked Hersey to remove it.
What really surprised people, even George, was when they turned on a television and saw this play as number 4 on SportsCenter’s Not Top 10 and number 1 on the MLB network.
“If I’m going to be on SportsCenter’s Not Top 10, I want to be number 1,” George said.
For punishment, Kline suspended George for 1 game. Hersey protested for him to be suspended longer. Thompson said that the SAA Conference and Commissioner classified the hit as a malicious fight so George ended up being suspended for 8 games and 1 week of practice. This is when Levy had to get involved and work through what he would call an unfortunate event.
Levy said he realized that this event must be taken seriously, but George’s tackle during the Division III baseball game is yesterday’s news.
“This event put Carroll and Ronnie in a negative light. We all make mistakes. It was kind of surreal to see us on there, but I wish it were for different circumstances,” said Levy.
Despite these unfortunate circumstances according to Levy, Carroll pulled out a win with the score 9-7. George finished with two hits, two walks, one strikeout and one solo tackle in 1.2 innings pitched.
George said he will not be trying out for the Carroll football team that starts this upcoming semester, but only because he’s a current senior.