Latest news with #Schnall
American Press
09-07-2025
- Sport
- American Press
Scooter Hobbs column: Final musings on the college baseball season
Well, it certainly feels like July out there, so I guess the college football 'talking season,' as Sir Steve Spurrier used to call it, can officially begin. But hold on. There will be plenty of time for that. Shoot, Southeastern Conference Football Media Days doesn't even begin until next week, so it's all rather frivolous until then. Granted, it'll be pretty frivolous during and after that, too, but at least you'll have some outlandishly silly comments and strange predictions to play with and properly dissect on social media. There's a time and place for everything. But before moving on, how about some random thoughts on the college baseball season that just ended with LSU's eighth College World Series championship? Speaking of which, the championship game was 'marred,' so to speak, when Coastal Carolina coach Kevin Schnall in the very first inning was forced to vacate the premises, tossed by home plate umpire Angel Campos. It was certainly unfortunate. I'm going to go out on a limb here, albeit a wishy-washy one, and proclaim that both Schnall and Campos were dead wrong. Yeah, yeah, I know. The same rules should apply for the championship game as for the season opener. But, come on now. It's the national championship, national television, the biggest stage, the biggest audience, that the college game has going for it as it continues to grow in popularity, particularly with its postseason. An ejection is technically automatic when a coach argues balls and strikes, as Schnall was surely doing. But nothing is automatic until the umpire pulls the trigger, and nobody would have blinked if — yes, considering the circumstances — Schnall was given a little longer leash. On the other hand, Schnall knows the rules, was given ample opportunity to settle down and shut up, He had nobody to blame but himself for having to watch the final eight innings on TV. At least it was air-conditioned. Other baseball thoughts: The college game needs to — and I can't believe I'm saying this — follow the Major Leagues' lead and get rid of 'the shift' — the stacking of three or more infielders to one side of second base. I really enjoy watching it when a team beats the shift, either by bunt or happenstance. When the dust clears, it smells like … like karma. I know why coaches do it and it's hard to argue with them — they've pored over their beloved metrics, which have replaced the sanctity of the law of averages. They're going to do whatever need be for the slightest edge. But, dad gummit, it just doesn't look right. It doesn't look like baseball. Neither does that funny-looking first base they now employ, which is actually two bases the usual white one in fair territory and other (usually green, but sometimes orange) sticking into foul territory. It's there for the base runner to touch when there might be a throw to the base instead of the white half in fair territory. But a mea culpa here. It did not ruin the game as I at first feared it would. It did make the plays at first base cleaner for the most part. At least one base runner did learn the hard way that the extra base is no longer a safe haven when diving back on a pickoff attempt. Still, what I kept waiting on was a sinking line drive to dive right in front of the crease between the two. Fair or foul? Better have good eyes. That could keep video replay occupied for hours on end. I'm sure it happened somewhere, but I never saw or heard of it. So it must not be a big problem. Nor, to my knowledge, did a single pitcher get busted for greasing, sanding or otherwise doctoring up a baseball. It's just not part of the college game. Never has been. They haven't learned to cheat at that age. Even Gaylord Perry had to wait until he graduated Campbell and made the big leagues before learning the spit ball. Yet before every pitcher entered or left a game this season — between innings or out of the bullpen – said pitcher and an umpire had to choreograph this silly song-and-dance, going through the motions of a charade search for slippery substances. Your NCAA dollars at work again — solving a problem that doesn't exist. On the other hand, the pitch clock may save the college game. You don't notice it that much, but it does speed up the game. The violators, however, have brought on a whole new list of explanatory signals from the umpires for us to decipher. Sometimes they look like traffic cops going through their new gyrations. Anyway, that's it until next year, where I will continue my eternal quest to figure out what is — and what is not — a balk.
USA Today
23-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
What Coastal Carolina head coach Kevin Schnall said about ejection against LSU in CWS
LSU baseball bested Coastal Carolina in the College World Series finals to win the 2025 national championship in Omaha. It didn't take long for controversy to stir as Chanticleers' head coach Kevin Schnall and first base coach Matt Schilling were ejected in the bottom of the first inning. According to Schnall, he barely heard a warning from home plate umpire Angel Campos and wasn't pleased with how the situation played out. "There's 25,000 people there, and I vaguely hear a warning issued," Schnall said. "As the head coach, I was an assistant for 24 years, and as an assistant, you're almost treated like a second-grade, second-level citizen, and you can't say a word. Now, as a head coach, I think it is your right to get an explanation of why we got warned." After the initial warning, Schnall continued to communicate from the dugout before emerging to talk with Campos. At the time, there were two outs, and Coastal had a runner on base. "I'm 48 years old," Schnall said. "I shouldn't get shooed by another grown man, right? So when I come out to ask what the warning is, a grown man shooed me. So at that point, I can now hear him say it was a warning issued for arguing balls and strikes. And at that point, I said, because you missed three. At that point, ejected." Schnall continued to plead his case after the umpires signaled his ejection, earning him an extra game of suspension. From his perspective, one of the umpires tripping and falling to the ground was the cause of the extra punishment. "If you guys watch the video, there was a guy that came in extremely aggressively, tripped over Campos' foot, embarrassed in front of 25,000," Schnall said. "[Campos] immediately goes 'two game suspension' and said, 'bumping the umpire.' [He] immediately does that. There was no bump. He was embarrassed. I shouldn't be held accountable for a grown man's athleticism." Schnall and Schilling will both miss the 2026 season opener. Had Coastal Carolina forced a game three, neither would've been in the dugout. The Chanticleers kept the game close, taking a 1-0 lead on a solo homer and cutting their deficit to two late. "It is what it is," Schnall. "But if that warranted an ejection, man, there'd be a lot of ejections. As an umpire, I feel like it's your job to manage the game."
New York Post
23-06-2025
- Sport
- New York Post
Coastal Carolina coach calls out umps after College World Series ejection: ‘Grown man shooed me'
Coastal Carolina coach Kevin Schnall didn't like the way umpires handled his ejection early in Game 2 of the College World Series, explaining that he shouldn't 'get shooed by another grown man.' Schnall was tossed in the bottom of the first inning of what eventually turned into an LSU win and its second College World Series title in three years with a 5-2 victory. First base coach Matt Schilling was also tossed from the game during the exchange as the two argued with the umpires – one of whom tripped and fell while trying to separate Schnall and umpire Angel Campos. Advertisement Coastal Carolina Chanticleers head coach Kevin Schnall (9) gets thrown out of the game arguing with the umpires during the game against the LSU Tigers during the first inning at Charles Schwab Field. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect 'I'm 48 years old. I shouldn't get shooed by another grown man. When I walk out to find out what the warning is, a grown man shooed me. At that point I can now hear him say, 'It was a warning issued for arguing balls and strikes.' At that point I said, 'Because you missed three.' At that point, ejected,' Schnall said after the game. 'If that warrants an ejection, I'm the first one to stand here like a man and apologize. Two words that define our program are 'own it.' And what does that mean? It means you have to own everything that you do without blame, without defending yourself, without excuses.' Advertisement Schilling and Schnall received three and two-game suspensions, respectively, which the Coastal Carolina coach contended was the result of the umpire being embarrassed that he had fallen. 'If you guys watch the video, there was a guy that came in extremely aggressively, tripped over Campos' foot, embarrassed in front of 25,000 [fans], immediately goes two games suspension and said, 'bumping the umpire.' Immediately does that. There was no bump. He was embarrassed. I shouldn't be held accountable for a grown man's athleticism,' Schnall continued. Coastal Carolina Chanticleers head coach Kevin Schnall reacts after being ejected during the first inning against the LSU Tigers at Charles Schwab Field. Dylan Widger-Imagn Images Advertisement 'They'll retract it, though, because now it's excessive and the reason it was excessive because I was trying to say, I didn't bump him. It is what it is. But if that warranted an ejection, man, there would be a lot of ejections. As an umpire, I feel like it's your job to manage the game, the national championship game, with some poise, some calmness and a little bit of tolerance.' The LSU Tigers used a four-run fourth inning to propel themselves to another national championship.
USA Today
23-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Coastal Carolina AD Chance Miller: Kevin Schnall ejection 'drastically altered' game
Coastal Carolina athletic director Chance Miller shared his thoughts on Kevin Schnall's ejection against LSU in Game 2 of the College World Series championship series on June 22, claiming the move "drastically altered the trajectory" of the game. "The ejections of head coach Kevin Schnall and assistant coach Matt Schilling in the bottom of the first inning drastically altered the trajectory of a must-win game for our team," Miller shared on X (formerly Twitter), hours after Coastal Carolina's 5-3 loss. "These decisions were made with an alarming level of haste, without an attempt at de-escalation, and deprived our student-athletes of the leadership they have relied on throughout a historic postseason run." Miller didn't hold back his thoughts on the situation, which saw Schnall and Schilling ejected from the game in the bottom of the first inning after Schnall argued balls and strikes. Schnall also let his thoughts be known in his postgame press conference after the Game 2 loss. "This is not about a single call — it's about process and professionalism," Miller continued. "In the biggest moment of the college baseball season, our program and its student-athletes deserved better. The NCAA must re-evaluate how it trains, assigns, and reviews umpires in championship environments. We expect consistency, communication, and the same level of excellence from officials that we demand of our teams. "Our players have represented this university, this conference, and college baseball with integrity and heart, and they deserved the opportunity to compete for a national championship with their leaders and we were denied that opportunity today." The Chanticleers entered the national championship series with a 26-game win streak, which was broken after falling to LSU 1-0 in Game 1 of the series on June 21. Coastal Carolina looked to force a winner-take-all Game 3 on June 23, but fell again in Game 2. Coastal Carolina made its second-ever College World Series appearance in 2025, reaching the CWS finals for the second time in as many tries. The Chanticleers won the championship in 2016m when Schnall was an assistant coach under Gary Gilmore. Schnall's ejection was controversial to many fans and analysts, including the ESPN broadcast crew, and Coastal Carolina's athletic director echoed that sentiment in his statement.
USA Today
22-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Kevin Schnall blasts CWS ejection: 'I shouldn't get shooed by another grown man'
Coastal Carolina baseball fell to LSU in Game 2 of the College World Series championship series on June 22, and coach Kevin Schnall wasn't able to be with his team as the Chanticleers' season ended. Schnall was ejected in the bottom of the first inning for arguing balls and strikes with home plate umpire Angel Campos, who threw out Schnall and Coastal Carolina first base coach Matt Schilling. It was a controversial call, not only because it came in a pivotal game during the championship series, but also because Schnall and Schilling both would have been unavailable for a winner-take-all Game 3 had the Chanticleers won Game 2. Schnall blasted the ejection in a postgame news conference following Coastal Carolina's 5-3 loss. "There's 25,000 people there and I vaguely hear a warning issued," Schnall said when asked whether he had been issued a warning before his ejection. "As the head coach, I was an assistant for 24 years. As an assistant you're almost treated like a second-grade, second-level citizen and you can't say a word. Now as a head coach, I think it is your right to get an explanation of why we got warned. And I'm 48 years old. I shouldn't get shooed by another grown man. So, when I come out to ask what the warning is, a grown man shooed me. "So, at that point I can now hear him say it was a warning issued for balls and strikes. And at that point I said, 'Because you missed three.' At that point, ejected. If that warrants an ejection, I'm the first one to stand here like a man and apologize." Schnall, a first-year head coach, was an assistant at Coastal Carolina under Gary Gilmore from 2001-12 and again from 2016-24 before being promoted. The veteran college baseball coach also shared his viewpoint on what transpired after he was ejected: As Schnall approached home plate umpire Angel Campos, first base umpire Casey Moser came over and tripped as he aimed to get in the middle of Schnall and Campos' exchange. "Two words that define are program are, 'Own it.' And what does that mean?" Schnall said. "It means you have to own everything that you do, without blame, without defending yourself, without excuses. If you guys watch the video, there was a guy that came in extremely aggressively, tripped over Campos' foot, embarrassed in front of 25,000, immediately goes 'two-game suspension,' and said 'bumping the umpire.' Immediately does that. "There was no bump. He was embarrassed. I shouldn't be held accountable for a grown man's athleticism. They'll retract it, though. Because now it's excessive and the reason why it was excessive is because I was trying to say, 'I didn't bump him.'" It's uncertain how Schnall's presence in the dugout would've impacted Coastal Carolina's result in Game 2, if at all. Associate head coach Chad Oxendine, who spent the previous three seasons as head coach for Longwood baseball, ultimately finished the game as acting head coach. But the decision to eject the Chanticleers' coach is one that'll certainly be remembered. "It is what it is, but if that warranted an ejection, man, (there'd) be a lot of ejections," Schnall said. "As an umpire, I feel like it's your job to manage the game, the national championship game, with some poise, some calmness and a little bit of tolerance."
