Air Force announced this afternoon that seven players had been suspended from the baseball team for violations of academy standards.
The players are seniors Addison Gentry and Michael Ruvolo, sophomore Blair Kessler and freshmen John Bramble, Travis Lane, Ethan Loosen and Caleb Spengler.
That Ruvolo and Kessler were included on the list is curious. Baseball coach Mike Hutcheon confirmed to The Gazette two weeks ago that Ruvolo and Kessler had been removed from the team completely for violations of academy standards.
this is all part of the Hawaii incident-
where were the coaches when all this was going on?
out sight seeing?
I understand that the wives were allowed to go as well.
What role did the wives play in NCAA Baseball?
The coaches should keep in mind they were in Hawaii to play
Division 1 Baseball – not vacation with their wives.
This program is a complete and total embarrassment to USAFA. There have been repeated disciplinary issues with this program over the years. When is HM going to pull his head out and take care of this? Hutcheon is a government employee–not a contractor like Reynolds or Calhoun. They could relieve him of his coach’s duties tomorrow, assign him to other duties within AD and then just let his contract expire–there’s no buy-our clause.
Hans Mueh needs to take immediate and swift action and fire Mike Hutcheon right now and BEFORE the end of the season.
Failing that, General Gould needs to fire both Mike Hutcheon AND Hans Mueh. Otherwise this has the potential to develop into a scandal of epic proportions.
The baseball program is completely out of control both on and off the field and is an utter embarassment to the Academy. It is mismanaged at every level.
If General Gould would bring in the young man at the center of this story and investigate everything I think he would find out that everything the these guys have done is not new! It has been the culture on this team and the cover-ups in the past few years have taught the cadets to think it was o.k. If the cadet at the center of this gets an audience of General Gould I am sure that the whole athletic department will have a huge problem. However, most likely they will sacrifice him without knowing everything that lead to the situation. The cadet is a major threat to Hutcheon, and the whole department with what he knows. So if anybody has a direct line to General Gould (who is not at fault here) give him a call and ask him to handle this himself.
Dear Lisa Smith,
I don’t know what has happened in the past, but how are the coaches at fault in this incident? These Cadets know the AFA rules and they must know civil law. They are responsible for their actions, not the coaches. The coaches shouldn’t be expected to be babysitters. I don’t care what has happened in the past, everyone involved knows the rules. I hope compassion can be shown the young “Men” involved, as some have made a mistake. I don’t expect that. Unlike the rest of the world, this world is about rules and taking responsibility. The coaches have issues involving winning baseball games and that should be the extent of their accountability, unless they knowingly allowed these current infractions. IMO
Hutcheon was most likely hired because of his religious background which makes sense because he knows very little about baseball and would struggle coaching a high school team. This situation is going to blow up in the administration’s face because they having been sweeping it under the rug for years knowing that he was ruining the baseball program and its reputation. Why would they extend someone’s contract when they’ve clearly proven that they can’t do what they were hired for? Maybe there’s no reason to have the baseball program anymore seeing as how CU and CSU got rid of their programs and the AF baseball team doesn’t generate any profit from ticket sales? Is this the reason Hutcheon was kept around? Seems to be the only reason I can think of?