WASHINGTON — Little League Baseball on Wednesday stripped the U.S. championship from the winning Chicago team and suspended the coach after discovering that the team was in violation of the league’s residency rules.
Jackie Robinson West must vacate wins from the 2014 Little League Baseball International Tournament and its regional and national championships after the league found that out that the team used a falsified boundary map to put players on its team from outside its local area and to recruit players from neighboring districts, ESPN reports.
The league prohibits the use of players who live outside the geographic area that the team represents, according to ESPN.
Also, the organization says that Jackie Robinson West team officials met with neighboring Little League districts in Illinois to claim players and build a “superteam,” ESPN reports.
The team’s manager, Darold Butler, has been suspended from Little League activity. Also, Illinois District 4 Administrator Michael Kelly has been removed from his position.
Now, the United States championship has been awarded to Mountain Ridge Little League from Las Vegas. Chicago won the U.S. title by beating a Las Vegas team from Mountain Ridge Little League 7-5.
