Owen Woodward, the Texas junior college pitcher who tackled a hitter who had just hit a home run, had previously signed a national letter of intent to play for the University of Houston for the 2022-23 academic year, a school spokesman confirmed Thursday.
The incident occurred in the sixth inning Wednesday when North Central Texas College’s Josh Phillips, who played at Bridgeland, hit the go-ahead home run off Woodward, a righthander for Weatherford College. As Phillips rounded third base, Woodward charged at Phillips and knocked him to the ground.
Woodward was dropped from the Weatherford team and also received a four-game suspension from the North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference, while Phillips was suspended for two games because he was ejected for taunting.
When reached Thursday, UH baseball coach Todd Whitting said the school is monitoring the situation but had no further comment.
The viral video has been viewed more than 4 million times on social media.
The game was suspended in the sixth inning, with NCTC leading 3-2. The two teams are scheduled to play a doubleheader Saturday.