EWING >> Hamilton Post 31’s baseball team was given a huge break, but manager Rick Freeman was never more upset about winning a game in his 41-year career.
Freeman’s squad took a forfeit victory over West Deptford at Moody Park Monday in a New Jersey American Legion State Final pool game; as Post 100 was guilty of using an ineligible player. When a team forfeits, it is automatically out of the tournament.
Since Bordentown is 2-0 in the American Division pool and its last game was to be with West Deptford, it automatically wins the division at 3-0 and will play the National runner-up in Wednesday’s semifinals.
Hamilton and Flemington are now both 1-1 and play at 1 p.m. Tuesday. The winner takes second place in the American and meets the National winner Wednesday. That didn’t stop Freeman from calling the whole thing “embarrassing.”
Hamilton-West Deptford got underway with Post 31’s Dave Stec retiring the side in order in the first inning. Post 100’s leadoff batter was also its pitcher. As he took the mound, officials began talking to both dugouts, and then declared the game a forfeit.
Frank Calandrillo, the American Legion Department of New Jersey Baseball Chairman, provided an explanation in the press box, first by reading the following passage from the rulebook.
“Dual participation shall in no way interfere with a player’s responsibility to his American Legion baseball team,” Calandrillo read. “Once department championship play has begun, the department baseball chairman cannot grant permission to participate in any other baseball events, baseball tournaments, exhibition games, showcases or combines. Any player missing any game of an American Legion national tournament because he participated in another baseball event, exhibition game, showcase or combine shall be ineligible for post-season tournament play.”
Calandrillo clarified that a player could miss a game if attending college orientation or workout, only if he gets advance permission.
The chairman then gave the reasoning for the forfeit, saying the player in question “Played in a tournament or a showcase, I believe it was in Arizona.
“We have written proof given to us,” he continued. “It just happened he led off the game. Once he led off the game, was announced and stepped up to the plate, he became an ineligible player because he was not here yesterday while West Deptford was here playing in our championship tournament.
“As a result, it made him an ineligible player. The national rules are if an ineligible player plays in any American Legion game, he’s been declared ineligible and the team shall forfeit that game. In tournament play, once you forfeit a game, you’re out of the tournament.”
And so, an outstanding job by the Ewing Post 314 grounds crew to get the field ready to play at 2 p.m. after heavy rains bombarded it; became a waste of everyone’s time and energy as the field would not be used for another four hours.
Freeman seemed as if he would have rather lost on the field than win in such a manner.
“This is just … it’s embarrassing to American Legion baseball,” said the irate manager, who has given a lifetime of dedication to legion. “It’s not the way you want to win the game.”
Freeman had no idea that West Deptford had an ineligible player and would have just played the game, were he never informed.
“They told me he was ineligible,” said Freeman, who can (and will) now start Stec against Flemington. “They came down and told me and then they said, ‘You can still play the game but you already win by forfeit.’ I said ‘Why would I want to use up pitching?’ That’s the only decision I made. I had no idea about him being ineligible until they came down and told me.”
And so, pay-to-play baseball continues to chip away at traditional, longstanding youth baseball organizations and the kids who still want to play in them.
Rest assured, Freeman was not the only one angry, frustrated and dismayed at this latest setback.
Follow Rich Fisher on twitter @fish4scores
