Fists, gloves and pony tails flew at this high school girls’ softball game.

A Fresno softball game descended into a vicious scrum near first base last Friday after the Central East High Bengals scored the winning run in an 8–8 game against the Clovis High Cougars.

The Bengals, in white jerseys, began celebrating after scoring as the Cougars, in dark jerseys, slumped.

Then, two players began shoving each other before each team dove into the fight. Parents, players and coaches sprinted in to break it up.

It’s unclear what started the Fresno fisticuffs, but sports tensions can run high. Former high school athletes told ABC 30 that there’s a “heated rivalry” between the schools and “heated emotion” is expected.

Clovis High parents told the outlet that the brawl felt shocking, disappointing, and showed poor sportsmanship.

No players were ejected because the fight happened after the game, but Central Section CIF Commissioner Ryan Tos said there is still a sportsmanship policy.

“They’re all competitive and people make bad choices. Not just students, we’re seeing a lot of adults being ejected recently as well. This time of year, those ejections can lead to missing time in the playoffs,” Tos said.

Central Unified School District and Clovis Unified School District condemned the incident.

“Incidents like that which occurred after the last play of Friday’s Central East and Clovis High softball game do not reflect the standard of behavior and sportsmanship that we expect from student athletes and spectators,” Clovis told ABC 30.

“In collaboration with administrators at Central East and the California Interscholastic Federation, our school administration completed an investigation and found that players from Clovis High were not at fault in the incident.

“We appreciate the seriousness with which the coaching staff and administration at Central are treating the incident and will continue to hold to a high standard of behavior expectations in our athletic programs,” they added.

Central said they’re aware of the fight and took “appropriate disciplinary measures.”

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