The Gorham Little League All-Star team is heading home after being disqualified from the state tournament in Machias.
Another team protested they were not eligible, according to the president of Gorham Little League, Greg Norton.
Norton said that Machias reported his team. The complaint was that Gorham did not hit the minimum requirement of 12 games played to compete in the state tournament.
Norton said that he calculated 52 percent of the days during the season had measurable rain. A social media post from the team says all the coaches are volunteers with full-time jobs, and they made every effort they could to schedule games on soggy fields and dodging storms.
Norton said the team thought it was in full compliance and proud of its season.
He thinks that the adults should be punished for making the mistake, not the kids.
“Punish me. Punish the league. Don’t punish the kids. I mean these kids will never get to play Little League again. They will never get a shot at this again. It’s heartbreaking. It’s brutal,” Norton said.
The news that the team was disqualified was shared with it on Tuesday just 30 minutes before Gorham Little League was about to hit the field.
Norton said this was the last shot that these 12-year-olds had at playing at the Little League level. He said these kids have been waiting to play in this state tournament for the last few years.
Norton understands that it’s a rule, but said playing less games than needed does not give his team any sort of advantage. He said if Machias did not complain, it could have still competed.
“To be treated at site as if they did something wrong, or if they were cheating, or if we had dodged some rule, these kids got less games. I don’t get how that is a competitive advantage. I don’t understand that is an issue,” Norton said.
Old Town was brought back into the tournament after Gorham was removed.
Norton said if you see the Little League kids in town, let them know you are proud of them because they are proud to represent Gorham.
