Rowan Legion team disqualified (per Salisbury Post)

It's a real shame for the Rowan kids.

Lexington who beat Mocksville will now get a bye in the next round.

 

Lexington Dad here. It it wrong for certain. The word at the ballpark was that someone knew all season & waited until they could drop this bomb.

 

It is my understanding that a certain disgruntled (non-playoff) team, may have brought this infraction to light.

 

You have to wonder if somebody knew all along that this player was ineligible and waited to see the outcome of the season before making a protest.


My question is,,,why didnt Mocksville turn this player in at the end of the regular season. Rowan would have had to forfeit all of the regular season games. This would have made Kannapolis the #1 seed & South Rowan would have made the playoffs. Everybody would have been happy then,,,,,except Rowan County.

 

Its my understanding that Mocksville had no idea that this player lived closer to them until they were contacted by "Will Clark" or whatever.

 

I agree that this infraction was probably unintentional by the Rowan folks,,,,,,, but then again, everyone was told after last year's state championship mess,,,, that legion officials were going to crack down to make sure everyone was legal.

Whenever anyone got on this message board asking questions if their son could play here or there,,,,,,,, I would always respond "you better check with your coach or area commissioner",,,, because it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that they would be checking rosters closely this year.

The rules are not gray,,,,,, they are very clear. In this case, I agree that the Rowan folks probably just missed it unintentionally. Unfortunately for them, they apparently have "someone" who watched this situation and turned them in.

Btw, it don't really matter who turned them in, really,,,,, but I will say that it wasn't anyone from my team or the "non-playoff team" either.

 

Its a shame that someone or some team did this? I personally think it was Wilkes. Wilkes would do anything to be in the second round playoffs, you know?

 

wrong...

 

Anybody know what year the ineligible kid is? Just wondering what will happen next year. Will he play for Mocksville? Will Mocksville release him? Can Mocksville afford to carry West Rowan's enrollment for one player?

I just don't see where anyone benefits from this. Lexington maybe, but a Lexington/Rowan series would have brought a fair amount of money in and now Lexington has to sit around and wait a week to play.

 

Eligibility issues are nothing new to Legion baseball!!!

Here's an interesting story from 1957...

By Richard Walker Gazette Sports Reporter

Anyone who has covered American Legion baseball can recall a bizarre, ridiculous or even humorous story involving a players’ eligibility, a protest or controversy.

And rest assured Cherryville’s Ronald "Scoop" Kiser, who’s probably seen more Legion games than any journalist in North Carolina, has a doozy.

Kiser was easy for his parents to keep track of in the summertime once Cherryville began its Legion program in 1937. If there was a game, he’d either be in the press box or near the Post 100 dugout with pen or pencil in hand and scorebook under his arm.

But a night in 1957 in which no game was played, is one Kiser remembers more than others.

"We were trying to find out where Tony Cloninger should play," Kiser said of the eventual major leaguer who grew up in Iron Station. "Cherryville and Paw Creek both said he was theirs, so I went with the area commissioner (Newton attorney Charles Gordon) and the Cherryville and Paw Creek athletic officers to determine who he belonged to."

But it took until 4 a.m. for Kiser to return home.

"Back then, you determined eligibility by who was closest to the post by state road," said Kiser, 73. "So we drove from his house to Cherryville, then drove back and drove from his house to Paw Creek."

Turns out Cloninger lived one-tenth of a mile closer to Cherryville.

"Those Paw Creek people were so mad we had to do it again," Kiser said. "But it came out that the numbers were the same."

"But when I got home, my parents were like, ‘What could you possibly be doing at 4 in the morning?’"

Kiser’s late-night hijinks are typical of the amusing stories involving off-field decisions by Legion officials over the years.