Softball brawl leads to access ban

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A May 6 brawl during a softball tournament at Winchester City Park has resulted in nine individuals being banned from access to the park and Tennessee World Sports League events.

Initial reports indicated a potential active-shooter situation might be developing. However, law enforcement personnel found no firearms at the scene.

Winchester police reports said Zachary Alexander Simmons, from New Market, Alabama, was arrested for public intoxication and disorderly conduct, Kristina Ann Belken, from Hazel Green, Alabama, was arrested for assault, Kaysen S. Pfaff, from Greenbrier, was arrested for simple assault and Sarah E. Gobell, from Columbia, Tennessee, was arrested for having an active warrant from Maury County.

Ryan Fuller, Winchester police detective and the department’s public information officer, said the incident occurred at about 8:45 p.m. when officers responded to a call about a fight between two men, and one was believed to have threatened to get a gun from his vehicle.

However, Fuller said no instances of a potential active shooter were found.

When police arrived at the lower athletic fields at 1829 Phillip Fulmer Parkway, they made contact with Simmons who told them that he and another guy had been in a fight due to someone yelling at his son, police reports said, adding that Simmons was suspected of consuming alcohol and didn’t respond to the officers’ directives, reports said.

An off-duty Decherd police officer was at the scene and witnessed the turn of events, telling Winchester police that Simmons was the one who started the commotion, reports said.

The other individual in the fight opted not to press charges, reports said, adding that Simmons was arrested for public intoxication and disorderly conduct.

When police arrived at the scene, another altercation, this time between two women — Gobell and Belken — had occurred.

Belken was arrested for assault. However, when doing background checks, police learned that Gobell had an active warrant, stemming from Maury County, and she was also taken into custody.

The WSL, which directed the tournament where the brawl took place, reviewed video footage of the altercation to determine what action should be taken, and decided on the following access bans, including:

— Justin Gobell, 2-year suspension.

— Sarah Gobell, 1-year suspension.

— Austin Holmes, 1-year suspension.

— Kristina Belken, 1-year suspension.

— Zachary Simmons, 2-year suspension.

— Selena Simmons, 1-year suspension.

— Kaysen Pfaff, 1-year suspension.

— Anna Kathleen, 1-year suspension.

— Michael Sain, 1-year suspension.

Tennessee WSL State Directors Cory Williams and Karli Threet issued a published statement explaining the organization’s assessment of the brawl.

“The past few days have been a lot, and we haven’t spoke on the situation much in Winchester, but here is our final decision. We have had many conversations with park officials and received countless videos.

“We’ve hated watching our crew have to deal with this, and putting our officials in the middle of it makes it that much worse. Some of these individuals have direct involvement and some are handed down from Parks and Rec in Winchester. We spend a lot of time making relationships with our parks around the state, and we will not let that get put into jeopardy.”

The statement went on to say that softball is supposed to be a getaway from the real world and a break from reality.

It says that what was witnessed on May 6 was everything but that.

“If we don’t do anything else right when it comes to softball, we will make sure our crew and fans are protected,” the statement said.

Another softball organization, the National and Tennessee Independent Sports Association, which also oversees the annual Herald Chronicle Softball Tournament in Winchester, has announced it will be suspending the same players from its events.

Steve Lovvorn, Tennessee ISA director, explained the organization’s outlook on the matter.

“TN ISA, plus our national office, has decided we are going to also suspend the people who were suspended by WSL and Winchester Parks,” he said. “People acting badly at softball games and other sporting events need to know we all want bad behavior to go away and stay away from our events.

“While someone is suspended, they cannot even come to parks we have rented for tournaments. We will be contacting those who are suspended, but it is in effect immediately for the same amount of time listed previously.”

Darrell Jolley, Winchester Parks and Recreation director, said Play Local Softball, One Nation Softball and the United States Specialty Sports Association leagues have also joined in on the ban with the same punitive time frames.

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