A Texas judge backed a decision to remove a Tulsa, Oklahoma, team from the Southwest Region and keep it from playing in Tuesday's championship game for a berth in the Little League Baseball World Series, according to a statement from a Little League spokesperson.
Little League Baseball on Monday determined that a player was ineligible and removed Tulsa National from the region, deeming its previous game a forfeit. Later Monday, parents of players on the team filed, and were granted, a temporary restraining order from the 414th District Court in McLennan County, Texas, allowing Tulsa to play for the title against West Texas on Tuesday night.
But Little League Baseball then asked the court to vacate the order, which the 414th District Court did Tuesday afternoon, not long before the scheduled first pitch in Waco, Texas. In formally issuing the ruling, Judge Ryan Luna wrote that the "court considered the motion, the arguments of counsel, and all other matters properly before it."
"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."
As a result, West Texas, represented by a team from Boerne Little League, secured the region's berth in next week's international tournament in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, with Monday's 4-1 victory over Louisiana. Tulsa had defeated Louisiana earlier in the tournament.
ESPN reached one of the Tulsa parents, Natalie Woody, by phone Tuesday, and asked how the children on the team were handling the decision. She fought back tears, saying "they're devastated."
"The decision upholds our commitment to a fair and equitable experience for all children based on our Official Rules, Regulations, and Operating Policies," the organization's statement added. "We empathize with the children of Tulsa National Little League and the likely disappointment this decision has caused. 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."
The player, identified in court documents as O.G., is ineligible based on a wrong birth year entered on behalf of his sibling, through whom O.G. maintained his eligibility for the Southwest Region tournament, according to a court filing obtained by ESPN on Tuesday. In the filing, Mindy Abbott, Little League's district administrator in Oklahoma, wrote on behalf of O.G.'s teammates to Little League's tournament committee members.
"Those 13 players did not enter the incorrect information," she wrote. "They did not make an eligibility determination. ... They simply showed up, played baseball, and trusted the adults responsible for administering the program to make appropriate decisions."
The filing said O.G. had played for Tulsa National Little League in Oklahoma's state tournament but not in the Southwest Region event. The documents said O.G. "resides outside Tulsa National's ordinary geographic boundary," but his sibling, identified as K.G., is a member of Tulsa National's Challenger Division, which is "an adaptive program for children with physical and intellectual challenges."
In a letter to Tulsa National Little League dated July 7, the Little League International Charter Committee granted O.G. eligibility based on the sibling relationship.
Abbott said in the documents that the player's father "mistakenly entered the wrong birth year" when registering the sibling. Abbott said she learned about it after the state tournament.
"[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 declaration in the court documents. "Once the issue arose, [O.G.'s] parents withdrew him from Tulsa National's tournament team before he participated in the Southwest Region tournament."
Three protests were filed. The first was filed before the tournament, according to Little League Baseball's emergency motion filed late Tuesday, and was not related to O.G. The protest was denied. Two more protests were filed related to O.G., which triggered the "formal investigation," according to the motion.
The motion also said O.G.'s father registered O.G.'s sibling as a 7-year-old in the Challenger Division. The filing said that the father "confirmed directly" to a Little League official that the sibling "is actually 10 years old."
The motion added: "This age misrepresentation rightfully disqualifies the sibling from the under-8 open enrollment provision, which in turn renders O.G. ineligible to play for Tulsa National under Little League's rules."
The emergency motion said that O.G.'s father also said the sibling "never actively participated in any Tulsa National Little League program or division of play," a requirement for eligibility.
Little League's statement added: "We sincerely hope that those adults entrusted with operating the Little League program recognize the responsibility they bear toward the children in their care and act accordingly -- with integrity, fairness, respect, and a commitment to the mission of the Little League program."
Not long after Tuesday's decision, the parents of the Tulsa team released a collective statement, saying that "these children relied on adults to correctly interpret the rules, verify eligibility, communicate with families and protect the integrity of their tournament experience."
"We did not fight because our boys believed they were entitled to a championship. We fought because they earned the opportunity to compete for one," the parents added. "We could not be prouder of Team Oklahoma and the way these 13 boys represented their families, their communities, and the state of Oklahoma."