The Westbrook School Department has suspended some players on the high school varsity baseball team and removed first-year coach John McCarthy from the program as it investigates a possible code of conduct violation.
Westbrook Athletic Director Beth Murphy provided no details on the school investigation Wednesday, saying only that McCarthy “at this time, has been removed.”
Murphy didn’t say how many players were suspended.
McCarthy did not coach the team Tuesday in a 13-1 loss to visiting Biddeford. Biddeford Coach Keith Leblanc said Westbrook assistant coach Matt Findlay led the Blue Blazes (0-9) on Tuesday. Westbrook has seven games remaining.
Westbrook Superintendent Peter Lancia declined to say why a coaching change was made.
“I can say there has been a change in our coaching,” he said. “Where it’s a personnel situation, I can’t go into a lot of details.”
Lancia said that Murphy and Patrick Colgan, one of three co-principals at Westbrook High, are leading “an investigation that is going on that hasn’t been completed.”
Lancia added that he did not know when the alleged code of conduct incident took place.
“That’s all part of the investigation,” he said.
Westbrook Police Chief Sean Lally said in an e-mail that his department is not investigating McCarthy, and the information it received indicates the “alleged incident did not occur in the City of Westbrook.”
Lally said he had no other information to share when asked if he knew where the incident occurred.
Westbrook High has a “Co-curricular Code of Expectations” for behavior, attendance and academic progress. The document, posted on the school web site, also includes the school’s substance abuse policy that details prohibited actions, as well as repercussions for first, second and third infractions.
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