WACO, Texas — A Texas judge on Tuesday backed a decision to remove a Tulsa, Oklahoma, Little League all-star baseball team from the Southwest Region and keep it from playing for a berth in the Little League World Series.
On Monday, Little League Baseball, arguing that the Tulsa National squad had an ineligible player, removed the team from competition and ruled its previous game a forfeit, ESPN reported.
Parents of the players on the Tulsa squad filed -- and were granted -- a temporary restraining order from the 414th District Court in McLennan County, Texas, the sports news website reported. That would have allowed Tulsa to play for the Southwest Region title against West Texas on Tuesday night for a berth in the Little League World Series.
But a few hours before the first pitch, Judge Ryan Luna, who presides over McLennan County’s 414th District Court, issued an update, KSAT reported. The judge granted Little League Baseball’s request to vacate the order, according to the television station.
An update regarding the LLB Southwest Region Tournament pic.twitter.com/y1VZwxVb5A
— Little League (@LittleLeague) August 11, 2026
Luna wrote that the “court considered the motion, the arguments of counsel, and all other matters properly before it,” ESPN reported.
The decision allows the Little League team from Boerne, Texas, to advance to the Little League World Series in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, according to KOTV. Boerne had defeated Louisiana on Monday to reach the region final, ESPN reported.
“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.
“We look forward to welcoming Boerne Little League to Williamsport for an incredible Little League World Series experience.”
ESPN spoke with Natalie Woody, a Tulsa parent, by telephone on Tuesday. She told the organization that the team’s players were “devastated.”
The ineligible player, identified in court documents as “O.G.,” was disqualified based on a wrong birth year entered on behalf of his sibling, who kept his eligibility for the Southwest Region tournament, the sports news outlet reported.
The filing said O.G. had played for Tulsa National Little League in Oklahoma’s state tournament but not in the Southwest Region. 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.”
On that basis, the Little League International Charter Committee granted O.G. eligibility based on the siblings’ relationship, ESPN reported.
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, according to ESPN. “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.”
This will be the second time in three years that a Boerne team has advanced to the Little League World Series, KENS reported.
“It’s just a sense of dread because you’re like, we did this thing the right way. We know the boys won, but now there’s this sort of black cloud hanging over the whole thing,” Timothy Christ, a former Boerne Little League parent, told the television station.
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