When Little League Adults Act Like Babies : Baseball: Season ends early in Albuquerque after coach throws tantrum and parents brawl.

The Little League season ended five days early for about 500 youngsters whose final games were canceled because of hostility and fights among adults.

The decision affected about 500 boys and girls, ages 6 to 15, in the 41-team Alameda League, but not other programs in Albuquerque.

“I’m not going to tolerate adults fighting at baseball parks,” said Larry Heyeck, director of the Albuquerque-area Little League associations. “When you have instances of violence and there are substantial injuries, there is something wrong with that picture.”

Bernalillo County sheriff’s deputies were called to an Alameda League ballgame Sunday after a group of parents, a coach, the coach’s mother and a league director got into a postgame fistfight. Heyeck said one person involved in the fray was sent to a hospital after either being struck on the head or suffering a seizure.

Deputies had been called to the same ballpark Saturday because a coach threw a tantrum after being taken out of the game for arguing a call, Heyeck said.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Rob Stelzer, who responded to the Saturday incident, said he ordered everyone to leave because tempers had flared among players, parents and coaches.

“Nobody was hurt and I ordered them to clear the area,” he said. “They were all hot. I scolded them all, the coaches, umpires, players and parents. I told them it was inexcusable for them to be acting like that.”

Charley Lee, a former Alameda League director and current coach, said about a dozen adults are causing most of the problems.

“It wasn’t the kids that created the problem,” Lee said. “These parents aren’t going to support the kids or support the league, they are out there to act like jerks.”