BY BOB HOLT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

An old-school hockey fight broke out during a high school baseball game in Little Silver on Saturday.

Teams from Rumson-Fair Haven and Red Bank Regional were disqualified from a New Jersey State Interscholastic Sports Association tournament after a bench-clearing brawl took place during the game.

The brawl began in the bottom of the sixth inning. During an attempted squeeze bunt, Red Bank runner on third Ross Gisondi ran into Rumson catcher Joey Spernal at home after the batter missed the pitch.

According to nj 1015.com, Gisondi used a shoulder block to hit Spernal, which is illegal in New Jersey high school baseball.

Gisondi was called out and ejected according to rules. But Spernal didn’t appreciate the hit and fought back, then the benches cleared.

Game umpire Vinny Smith said, according to The Asbury Park Press, “Both teams were ejected entirely, the game was terminated by me and everything else will be settled by the NJSIAA and the Shore Conference.”

During the fight, police said 49-year old Rumson-Fair Haven parent Patrick Maisto came on the field and assaulted a Red Bank Regional player, according to The Asbury Park Press. Maisto was charged with simple assault.

State rules say that any team that has three or more players ejected during a season will be disqualified from the state tournament. These two teams were a tad over the limit. All 36 players from both teams were ejected, according to The Asbury Park Press.

Assistant director for the New Jersey State Interscholastic Sports Association in charge of baseball Larry White said, according to MLB.com, "I think for the schools, from my understanding in talking to both athletic directors, their feeling is that the whole thing was just unfortunate."

All ejected players are required to serve a mandatory two-game suspension. Any further ejections in any sports for underclassmen over the next year would bring a four-game suspension.