Mississippi woman arrested after she allegedly waited after softball game to punch umpire in face

Published 6:00 am Tuesday, April 12, 2022

A Mississippi softball umpire posted a picture of her bruised face on Facebook after she was punched by a mother in the parking lot of a softball complex Saturday.

Kristi Moore is recovering after the confrontation with Kiara Thomas, who was reportedly waiting to ambush Moore after Moore finished umpiring a 12-year-old softball game at the Laurel Sportsplex.

Click here for Moore’s description of the assault in an interview she made Tuesday

Subscribe to our free email newsletter

Get the latest news sent to your inbox

Moore said she was filling in after one of the umpires got sick. She’s been calling games for 10 years.

After Thomas was asked to leave the game by a coach because of her cursing, Thomas allegedly waited to confront Moore after the game.

Moments after the punch, Thomas was arrested and charged with simple assault, fined $422.25 and released after being arrested by Laurel police less than 20 minutes after the report.

Moore posted a photo of her eye on Facebook and said, “I got punched coming off of a field last night. There is no excuse for this. Umpires are not perfect. We never will be. But guess what. No one is.”

“The next time you go to a tournament and you only have one umpire on the field, This is why. When you have brand new umpires on the field that may not know everything they should know yet, This is why. When the day comes that your kid can’t play a ballgame because there are no longer officials to call it. This is why.”