Canaan Smith-Njigba, Josh Winckowski At Center Of Arizona Fall League Brawl

Image credit: (Photo by Bill Mitchell)

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The ending of a run-of-the-mill Arizona Fall League game turned wild on Saturday when Pirates prospect Canaan Smith-Njigba charged the mound after being hit by a pitch from Red Sox prospect Josh Winckowski. Smith-Njigba immediately charged the mound, threw a punch at Winckowski, drove him to the ground and threw a second punch before the teams made their way to the infield and continued the brawl. 

 

 

The teams continued for several minutes before umpires could separate the teams. Smith-Njigba was in his first at-bat of the day, pinch-hitting for catcher Chandler Seagle. Back in the dugout, Smith-Njigba could be heard shouting back at the scrum about how this had happened two days in a row.

Smith-Njigba’s Peoria Javelinas met Winckowski’s Scottsdale Scorpions on Friday, too. Though Smith-Njigba was not hit, his teammate and fellow Pirates prospect Nick Gonzales was. Gonzales initially stayed in the game after being checked by trainers, but was removed after the inning ended. 

The teams have played five times this fall. Besides the games on Friday and Saturday, Scottsdale’s Seth Corry hit Peoria’s Bryson Stott on Thursday. No players were hit in the two contests in the early portion of the season. 

After a long conference between league officials and umpires, the game resumed. Smith-Njigba and Winckowski were ejected, replaced respectively by Jose Caballero and Gregory Santos.