Assistant Baseball Coach's House Vandalized

COAL CITY, Ill. (STNG) - Apparently angered by his decision to work as an assistant baseball coach at Reed-Custer High School, someone spray-painted the side of Jeff Emerson's brick home and his children's playground equipment.

The evidence points to overzealous high school sports fans because, in addition to profanity, the messages described Emerson as an "RC lover" and stated "CC 1."

The Emersons discovered the vandalism Saturday morning after a neighbor alerted them to the damage.

The previous night, the Comets beat the Coalers by a score of 3-2 in a hard-fought but sportsmanlike game at Silver Cross Field.

"I have two girls, and I have been trying to explain to them what it's all about, but there's nothing that I can tell them that makes sense," Emerson said. "It's ridiculous that some person or some family or whoever did it could get so upset about a high school baseball game."

Emerson and his wife Kortni grew up in Coal City, attended Coal City schools and want to raise their children in the community. In addition to working as an assistant varsity baseball coach for Reed-Custer, he serves as the freshmen football coach at Coal City High School.

"It has been really rough to be treated like this in our own town," Kortni said. "Now my kids are afraid to go to sleep in their own beds."

In the past, the coach has been criticized on sports message boards for coaching at two different schools, but he has taken the words of his critics in stride.

While almost all of the black spray paint came off with the help of some solvent and scrubbing, the vandalism struck "a little too close to home" and now Emerson plans to do everything he can to bring the culprits to justice.

His daughters, ages 5 and 8, were upset by the incident and asking a lot of questions, like "Daddy, why would they do this? Who would do this? When will they be caught?"

"To not have an answer for your child in a situation like this is hard," Emerson recalled. "They talk about it, and they hear us talking about it. As young as they are, they are asking the same questions I am."

In addition to reporting the crime to the police, the Emersons are offering a $2,000 reward for information leading to the conviction and arrest of the person or persons involved.

"I'm going after this to the max, because it's just out of control," he explained. "We'll catch them. It may not be this week or next week, but I'm not going to let it die."