Mar 31, 2017 2 min read

Ringgold High School’s baseball coach tendered his resignation following the team’s spring trip to Florida.

James Coulter resigned after allegations of misconduct during the trip for scrimmages and regular-season games came to light. A Pittsburgh television station reported team members were hazed and given alcohol and tobacco.

Ringgold athletic director Laura Grimm said the district is in the midst of an investigation of “several incidents in the course of the (trip).”

Grimm said the incidents were brought to the attention of the district by a Ringgold teacher after the team returned from the trip. She said no other entities are conducting investigations of these incidents.

Grimm said chaperones attended the Rams’ trip to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla., but she did not know how many. Josh Chambers, an assistant baseball coach, accompanied the team but another assistant, Dean Burge, did not.

Grimm said, by rule, the contracts of the assistant coaches are terminated when the head coach resigns. She expected the school to name an interim head coach early next week.

Coulter was the fourth baseball coach to be either fired, suspended or resign in the last six years when incidents came to light after their programs made southern trips.

Coulter, 43, was an assistant baseball coach last season and is a graduate of Ringgold.

The Rams’ baseball schedule showed a game against Central Valley March 25 in Orlando. A game at West Allegheny Thursday was postponed.

The next Ringgold game is scheduled at West Mifflin Monday afternoon.