A Little League team from Tulsa, Oklahoma kept its dream season alive Monday after it was disqualified by organizers only to be reinstated by a Texas judge hours later.
The Tulsa National team was kicked out of the 2026 Little League Baseball Southwest Region Tournament on Monday after one of the players was ruled to be ineligible. The details of that ruling have not been made clear, but the decision did come after a protest was filed over player eligibility, according to organizers.
Although Little League Baseball framed its ruling as final, Judge Ryan Luna of Texas’ 414th District Court granted a temporary restraining order to allow Tulsa to continue playing in the tournament, starting with Tuesday’s championship.
‘Judge Luna has ordered the championship game to go forward on August 11 at 6pm as scheduled,’ read a Tulsa National team statement. ‘The winner of the game will go on to represent the southwest region in Williamsport [at the Little League World Series]. The winner of the game will be determined on the field where it should be decided.’
The Daily Mail has sought further comment from Little League Baseball officials.
Prior to the decision in Texas, the organization released a statement explaining that Tulsa was removed from the tournament over an ineligible player and the team’s previous game would be ruled a forfeit.
Members of Tulsa National celebrate after advancing to the Southwest Region
Fireworks go off before the Little League Classic baseball game in August of 2023
The most infamous eligibility case in Little League World Series history came in 2001, when Danny Almonte (center) dominated competition in Williamsport only to be ruled ineligible
That forfeit set up a one-game championship between Texas West (Boerne Little League) and Louisiana (Ascension Parish Little League) on Monday. That game was won by Texas West, which appeared to have punched its ticket to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
But following that court order, Texas West will now face Tulsa National on Tuesday in Waco, Texas at 6pm local time.
‘Judge Luna made the right decision to give the boys an opportunity to play the game and decide everything on the field,’ read a statement from Tulsa National’s attorney sent to Newson6.com. ‘These boys are ball players and ball players do just that – play ball.’
The most infamous eligibility case in Little League World Series history came in 2001, when Danny Almonte began dominating competition in Williamsport, only for officials to learn he was older than the 12-year age limit. As a result, Almonte was ruled ineligible and his team from the Bronx, New York forfeited its wins.
