WILLIAMSON CO. (WSIL) — Dozens of baseball parents are furious after learning they’ve been ripped off by a man who they trusted. The parents say they aren’t only out hundreds of dollars, but their children missed out on a great baseball season.
Valerie Bethel is someone you might call your typical baseball mom. She has a pretty tight schedule from being a full time mom to keeping her son’s dreams going. Her son plays 9U travel ball.
"The baseball community is very tight, you know, we live in a small town, we all take care of our own. Like I said, this is my second home," says Bethel.Â
Just a few months ago, Bethel’s son was chosen to play in the all-star game that took place at Rent One Park this past weekend. Bethel says that dream game turned into a nightmare for her, her son, and hundreds of other families.
They claim David Scheible-Hall, who was a representative for Game 7 Illinois, stole thousands of dollars from them.Â
Bethel says the team had to pay $100 for uniforms, and the players never received them.
"Called the sporting good store where the uniforms were supposedly ordered, and they were never ordered ," says Bethel.
The team was also told they wouldn’t need to pay any other fees, but come game day, things changed.Â
A parent who didn’t want to be identified tells News 3, this isn’t the first time Hall has scammed baseball parents.
"It’s not the $12,000 that he got from the kids at Rent One because there was a 120 kids at $10 a pop, and that doesn’t include all the parking, and the entry fee that he charged. So you’re talking maybe close to $100,000 that he owes all these other teams," he says.Â
He claims Hall stole more than $500 from his team for other tournaments that didn’t happen. And says Hall wrote bad checks.Â
"I finally decided to call the Herrin Police Department where we gave Mr. Hall his check, and so I went through and filed a police report," he explains.
The list of alleged victims continues on a Facebook thread with hundreds commenting on Bethel’s post claiming they haven’t received refunds for uniforms or canceled tournaments.
"My end game is for every single parent or baseball player or coach to know never to do a baseball tournament or be involved in anything that Mr. Hall has to do," he says.Â
And parents want Hall to know the impact his actions have had.
"When push comes to shove, it’s not just this tournament and all of these children that were affected, it is entire season of baseball," says Bethel.Â
News 3 reached out to David Hall for comment. He responded via text message saying his lawyer would contact us, but we haven’t received that call.
(Editor’s Note: Story was edited from earlier version to correct dollar amounts quoted in the story � July 11, 2019)