East Bay high school suspends coaches as it investigates racist taunts at game

San Francisco Chronicle​

08-05-2025

Pinole Valley High School has suspended two baseball coaches while it investigates anti-Asian taunts that were directed at players from Albany High School, the Chronicle has learned.
West Contra Costa Unified School District also said it is investigating a separate alleged incident involving the Pinole Valley team after a parent of an Asian American player at El Cerrito High School sent a letter on April 30 to the school's athletic director alleging that their son, and another Asian-American teammate, had been subjected to homophobic slurs from Pinole players during an April 16 game.
During the April 23 game at Pinole Valley against Albany, a video captured a South Asian pitcher and a Chinese American pitcher from Albany being heckled with taunts of 'Baljeet' — an Indian character on an animated TV show — and 'PF Chang,' prompting the Pinole Valley principal to apologize and the school district to investigate the incident.
On Monday, T'won Blake, Pinole Valley's varsity baseball coach, told the Chronicle that he received a letter of suspension from Principal Todd Irving on April 30 and that his assistant coach was also suspended. Irving did not respond to a request for comment.
The letter states that the decision was made 'in accordance with the pending investigation stemming from the April 23, 2025 baseball game vs. Albany High School,' according to a copy that Blake shared with the Chronicle.
A well-known figure in the East Bay baseball community who has coached kids for two decades, Blake told the Chronicle he did not hear any inappropriate comments at either game.
Blake said he didn't realize racist comments were made at the Albany game until the day after when his school's athletic director emailed and called him. Pinole's athletic director had been informed after the parent of an Albany player made a complaint, according to a copy of the email obtained by the Chronicle. After finding out, Blake said, he and Irving met with the players, asked them what happened and told them racism was unacceptable.
Blake said Pinole student spectators were responsible for the taunts, not team members. Irving said in his apology letter that 'a student in the crowd who was suspected of making the comments' was identified and 'the issue was addressed with the individual.'
'As a Black man, I don't stand for racism by any means,' Blake said, adding that anybody on his team who made racist comments would be 'severely punished.'
'But without being given the opportunity to correct it in the moment, I'm not guilty of anything,' he said. 'I am absolutely the scapegoat.'
West Contra Costa Unified School District spokesperson Raechelle Forrest said Friday it was 'actively working to identify the participants involved.' Forrest did not respond to questions about the coaches' suspension.
Albany parents and officials with Albany United School District said they aren't satisfied with the response from the neighboring school and district.
Sara Stone, superintendent of the Albany district, said in a Monday email to the school community that actions taken so far by Irving were 'insufficient given the severity of the incident,' according to a copy of the email shared with the Chronicle by a parent.
Stone wrote that she asked the West Contra Costa school district to declare the team ineligible for postseason play, require Pinole Valley to forfeit the Albany games, which it won, and implement school-wide measures at Pinole Valley, including anti-racism education.
Eugene Lee, whose son plays for Albany and was the target of the 'PF Chang' taunts, sent a letter on April 30 to the West Contra Costa district on behalf of Albany parents demanding immediate termination of the Pinole Valley season. He said he believes it was players, not students, who taunted his son and another Albany player, based on what his son told him.
Although Lee said he thought Blake should have disciplined his players after he found out about the incident, he said the failure to respond sufficiently lies with school and district leaders, too.
'There's a sense that these problems predate T'won, and there's a feeling like he's being scapegoated, and that makes me unhappy,' Lee said.
The parent of the Asian American player at El Cerrito who wrote the letter about the second allegation said he initially did not report anything about the April 16 game. Only after he heard that the Albany parents' complaints were being 'downplayed' did he decide to write a complaint, he said.
Two El Cerrito players told the Chronicle that they heard Pinole players yell the slurs. The game's umpire, Darryl Allen, told the Chronicle he did not hear the taunts.
The district spokesperson, Forrest, said the district was 'recently made aware' of a parent complaint regarding that alleged incident and there was an 'ongoing investigation.'
'Racism, hate speech and harassment are inexcusable and have no place in our schools or athletic programs,' Forrest said.
Allen said that during the game 'the players were having some verbiage back and forth' but it was 'nothing out of the ordinary.' At one point, he said he asked both coaches to 'calm it down' and tell the players to stop talking, but that it was 'nothing racial.'
'I didn't hear anything,' Allen said. 'Whatever they saw and heard, they kept it to themselves. I find it hard to believe that all this went on and you didn't alert the umpire in no kind of way, nothing?'
Blake said he saw one of his pitchers 'smirk' at an El Cerrito player who told the Chronicle that he was called a homophobic slur. But Blake said it was 'nothing derogatory' and he didn't hear any racist or homophobic comments.
'It was peaceful,' Blake said. 'All the stories are exaggerated. They're creating a narrative that's negative to basically ruin our kids' future.'
Two parents pushing for the termination of Pinole's season said they want the district to use this as a 'teachable moment.'
'The district fails if they allow this to go without consequences because then it normalizes racism against Asian Americans,' one parent, whose son was allegedly subject to the taunts, told the Chronicle.