Barring any hard evidence to prove otherwise, the Cal Ripken Baseball League is satisfied with the legitimacy of the Next Millennium (Bronx, N.Y.) 12-year-old roster and will allow the Middle Atlantic Regional champion to take part in the Cal Ripken World Series in Visalia, Calif.
Next Millennium defeated Springfield Monday in the regional final, 8-6, but its victory was masked by controversy.
The Cal Ripken team from Bear, Del., filed a formal protest about the Next Millennium roster during its 6-4 semifinal loss Sunday.
The protest reached Middle Atlantic Regional commissioner Ray Lotierzo and went no further — even though eight of the nine competing teams at the regional complained to organizers about the Next Millennium roster.
Lotierzo was fed up with the complaining and was angered when phone calls were going above his head to the Babe Ruth/Cal Ripken Baseball headquarters in Trenton, N.J.
“The parents of these kids have no business asking about our credential procedures,” said a perturbed Lotierzo. “This is two years in a row we’ve had the same bull- – – in Springfield. It was all instigated by the people running the tournament. It’ll be a long time in hell before they get to host another tournament after dealing with their crap for two years.”
Lotierzo’s venom may have been misguided as Springfield did not file the protest, even though the host team would get the berth in the World Series if Next Millennium was stripped of the title because of a roster violation. Springfield’s 12-year-old team reached the World Series in 2010 in Wilson, N.C.
“We ran a great tournament,” said Bill McMenamin, president of the Springfield Athletic Association. “All the parents did a great job putting it together and it seems like the kids all had a lot of fun.
“Unfortunately there was an issue that we couldn’t address here and we forwarded it to the proper people in the Cal Ripken organization and it was out of our hands.
“The SAA wants to congratulate the Next Millennium team on their victory and wish them the best of luck moving forward
