The player, whose name was not released, was found by Dwyer’s administration to have acted alone in dousing Gardens’ dugout with an amount of urine large enough to create a smell noticeable to visiting fans at the game.
Dwyer Athletic Director Tom Pagley said the school suspended the player two games, with a school suspension pending a meeting with the player. Pagley said the school asked the Florida High School Athletic Association if it should take further action, but the FHSAA informed the school it had “done what we would have done.”
Pagley said he was “not at liberty to discuss how it happened,” but he said the act was indefensible.
“First of all, it’s disgusting,” Pagley said. “I don’t know what even goes through a kid’s mind to think about doing something like that.”
Dwyer coach Frank Torre and Palm Beach Gardens coach Joe Russo, both longtime friends, expressed regret over the incident. Russo said he “doesn’t hold anything against” Torre, who as a teen played American Legion baseball on a team coached by Russo.
“It’s ridiculous,” Torre said. “So classless. It’s totally not what I want to be a part of.”
Both coaches said they noticed the smell and discussed the matter before deciding to play the game. Palm Beach Gardens, the sixth-ranked team in The Post’s top 10, lost the game to fourth-ranked Dwyer 7-4. The win clinched Dwyer the No. 3 seed in the upcoming District 9-8A tournament.
“You couldn’t get away from it,” Russo said of the stench. “I don’t think it was a factor in the result of the game itself.”
