Hernando judge to hear youth league dispute

A Hernando County judge will be asked today to place a Spring Hill youth baseball team back into the running for a state championship.

The Spring Hill National Triple-A Majors All-Stars, a group of 11- and 12-year-old boys, were booted out of their Dixie Youth baseball district tournament July 3 after a disputed umpire's call.

The call allowed the National team to win after a player on the opposing team, South Lake, failed to step on home plate after what would have been a final-inning, game-winning home run. The score was tied, but the run was disallowed and the National team went on the win the game.

At dispute is that the South Lake player bypassed home but was physically turned around by his teammates and made to touch the plate. Officials considered that assisting the player, which goes against the rules.

South Lake protested the call up the Dixie Youth Baseball chain of command, but it was upheld even at the state level.

The protest went all the way to the Dixie commissioner, Wes Skelton, who overturned the call and reinstated the Lake County team into the tournament. The Spring Hill National team was gearing up for another game July 3 when it was informed it was out of the tournament.

Now the Spring Hill National team says Skelton overstepped his bounds, or ultra vires acts of a corporation, as it's legally called.

Essentially, the petition for injunction filed Monday says Skelton didn't have the authority to overturn the call.

It asks County Judge Kurt Hitzemann to declare the acts of Dixie Youth Baseball Inc. invalid and to reinstate Spring Hill National back into the tournament.

Doing so would "be in the public interest" and consistent with the rules and laws of Dixie Youth Baseball, the injunction request reads.

But the clock is ticking.

The weeklong Dixie state tournament begins Saturday in Polk County. Twelve Florida teams will be whittled down to one to represent the state in the Dixie World Series. There are 11 Southeastern states in the Dixie league.

National assistant coach Rob Gomez said it would be great to have another shot at the tournament, but it's now more of a matter of principle.

Skelton "blatantly disregarded the rule book," Gomez said Monday. "It's not a matter of playing anymore. It's making sure this doesn't happen to another team in the future."

Skelton sees it differently.

"It was a totally erroneous call," he said.

Skelton said Monday it doesn't matter how the player touched the base as long as he touched it.

Asked what will happen to the 12-team state bracket if the judge rules in favor of Spring Hill National, Skelton said another team will have to be kicked out. It'll be up to the judge to decide what team to displace, he added.

He wasn't sure what step the league would take after that.

"I have no idea. We'll have to wait and see," Skelton said.