Tulsa National Little League is back out of the Southwest Region qualifying tournament for the Little League Baseball World Series after a judge in Texas backed the governing body’s decision to remove them based on an ineligible player.
On Monday, Little League International removed Tulsa National from the Southwest Region tournament for the alleged use of an ineligible player. Before the day was out, Judge Ryan Luna of the 414th District Court granted a temporary restraining order to allow the Oklahoma representatives to play against Texas West with a berth in the LLBWS on the line.
However, Little League Baseball asked in a filing for the court to vacate the order, which it did Tuesday afternoon to scrap the would-be championship game between Oklahoma and Texas West.
The result: Boerne Little League, the Texas West representatives, will play in their second LLBWS in three years. They defeated Louisiana 4-1 on Monday afternoon following Oklahoma’s disqualification.
“We appreciate the Court’s timely and considered decision to vacate the Temporary Restraining Order,” Little League Baseball said in a statement, “allowing enforcement of the Tournament Committee’s decision to remove Tulsa National Little League from the Southwest Region Tournament and declare its previous game a forfeit.”
A court filing obtained by ESPN and other outlets showed that a player listed throughout the document as O.G. was found to be ineligible based on Little League’s sibling open-enrollment provision.
O.G. did not reside within the Tulsa National league’s boundaries, but had a sister who signed up to play for Tulsa National’s Challenger Division, an “adaptive program for children with physical and intellectual challenges” for ages 7 and younger.
According to Daniel Velte, Little League’s vice president of operations, not only was O.G.’s sister actually 10 years old, she never participated in a practice or game with the Challenger team.
Mindy Abbott, Little League’s district administrator for Oklahoma, claimed that O.G.’s father put in an incorrect birth year for O.G.’s sister, but admitted that she did not participate in baseball — the basis for her brother’s eligibility to join Tulsa National.
“(O.G.’s) sibling ultimately did not participate in the games necessary to maintain the basis for (O.G.’s) eligibility,” Abbott wrote in a statement to the court. “Once the issue arose, (O.G.’s) parents withdrew him from Tulsa National’s tournament team before he participated in the Southwest Region tournament.”
However, O.G. played for Tulsa National in the state tournament.
Parents from Boerne and other organizations filed a total of three protests against Tulsa National, though the first was not related to O.G. and was denied. The other protests led to Little League launching what it called a formal investigation.
Were it not for the eligibility ordeal, Tulsa National would have been alive for a berth in the LLBWS this month in South Williamsport, Pa. They defeated Louisiana’s team 3-2 on Sunday to reach the region final, but that game was changed to a forfeit and moved Louisiana into the one-off championship game against Texas West.
“We empathize with the children of Tulsa National Little League and the likely disappointment this decision has caused,” Little League said in its statement. “We recognize how memorable the Little League experience is for all children and the critical role that parents and adult volunteers are entrusted with to ensure that every child is cared for, treated fairly, and afforded a safe and positive experience.”
“To our own Oklahoma administration, the Southwest Regional administration, and Little League International: This one is on you,” read a statement from the parents of Tulsa National given to Sports Illustrated. “They deserved better. We are reviewing the Tulsa National Charter to see what is needed for a change so this doesn’t happen to a different team.”
Remarkably, Tulsa National also had been disqualified from Southwest Region qualifying for the Little League Softball World Series. The Little League International Tournament Committee “determined that the adult volunteers and parents did not provide sufficient documentation to verify that all players are eligible to participate in the International Tournament based on either their school enrollment or bona fide habitation within the league’s official boundaries.”
–Field Level Media
