Ky. district champs’ baseball field vandalized. Rivals’ runner-up medals left behind.
Paintsville Independent High School, which won the 57th District baseball championship, had its baseball field vandalized. Runner-up medals won by rival team Johnson Central were left behind, Johnson County Superintendent Thom Cochran said in a statement Monday night.
Paintsville High School was the 2022 57th District baseball champion.
“It has come to my attention that the Paintsville High School Baseball Field was damaged over the weekend, and there were ‘JC’ signs spray painted, as well as district runner-up medallions belonging to members of the Johnson Central baseball team left on the field,“ Cochran said.
Police and school district officials were investigating, Cochran said.
“This type of behavior is not condoned and it will not be tolerated,” Cochran said.
Paintsville Independent School officials did not immediately comment.
Cochran said while the behavior was inexcusable, he told those affected by the vandalism, “let’s not forget, we are dealing with kids ... and kids make poor decisions, kids don’t think before acting, kids often do not see beyond themselves.”
As runners-up in the district tournament, Johnson Central advanced to the 15th Region tournament, which the Golden Eagles subsequently won. Paintsville was eliminated in the region semifinals by Lawrence County 3-1. Johnson Central defeated Lawrence 4-1 in the region championship game for the title and a bid to this week’s state baseball tournament.
Johnson Central is set to face Campbell County at 8:30 p.m. Friday in the first round of the state tournament at the University of Kentucky’s Kentucky Proud Park.
This story was originally published May 31, 2022 at 7:04 AM.
