A 12-year-old Little League player from New Jersey has been cleared to play in the state final after initially receiving a one-game suspension for bat flipping, Dan Gelston of The Associated Press reported Thursday. Marco Rocco of Haddonfield Little League did the celebration on July 16 after a sixth-inning homer, was ejected and received a one-game ban, which would have carried through Thursday’s state final.
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Marco’s family requested an emergency temporary restraining order in the Gloucester County Chancery Division on his behalf to try and reverse the suspension. Just hours before the scheduled game, Judge Robert Malestein ruled in favor of the Rocco family, stating, “I am going to grant temporarily the injunctive relief,” allowing him to participate in Thursday’s game.
“He’s played Little League his whole life, and his dream is to make it to the World Series in Williamsport,” Joe Rocco, Marco’s father, told NJ.com. “We’re in the state finals and are a couple of steps away. We’re on our way there, and now, they tell him he can’t play.”
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Joe Rocco added that the umpire cited the celebration as a safety concern and that, contrary to what’s shown on their pages about bat flipping, he was told that his son had broken league rules.
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“They wrote us a letter saying there’s a rule that says there’s no horseplay in Little League, and they consider bat flipping horseplay,” Joe said.
“Little League International openly promotes bat flipping all over their social media accounts, their websites and the broadcasts on TV for the Little League World Series,” he said. “It’s openly promoted and encouraged. My son watches that and was emulating what he sees.”
Before filing the restraining order on July 22, Joe claimed that they tried to work with Little League International to resolve the suspension in a friendly manner.
“They said, ‘No, we’re not doing that,’ and basically, that they’re not willing to compromise in any way,” Joe said.
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The final four clubs in the Garden State’s 12U division will play in a double-elimination format on Thursday night in Deptford. The winning team will then move forward to the Metro Region Tournament in Bristol, Connecticut.
Haddonfield Little League will play against Ridgewood Little League at 8:30 p.m. ET. The other qualifying teams are Holbrook Little League from Jackson and Elmora Little League from Elizabeth.
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