It’s a game time decision!
The New Jersey Little League player suspended for triumphantly flipping a bat into the air after hitting a home run will have to wait until just hours before his state championship game to find out if he’s allowed to play, a judge ruled Wednesday
Lawyers representing Little League Baseball said they didn’t have time to properly file paperwork in the case of Marco Rocco, 12, a Haddonfield player who was suspended after tossing his bat into the air to celebrate a home run July 16.
New Jersey Little League player Marco Rocco was suspended for triumphantly flipping a bat into the air. X / @Spicoli_____Gloucester County Chancery Judge Robert Malestein said the defense could have until noon Thursday to file paperwork and that he’d rule by 1:30 p.m. — just a few hours before Rocco’s team is scheduled to play in the state final.
A judge will issue a ruling on the ejection decision on Thursday afternoon, just hours before Rocco’s team is scheduled to play in the state championship. Facebook/Liz Rocco
Rocco and his team had been playing Harrison Little League on Thursday when he tossed the bat, prompting the umpire to eject him from the game and suspend him from the next one due to “horseplay.”
His father, Joe Rocco, filed an emergency temporary restraining order Tuesday in an attempt to have the suspension overturned.
After the hearing, Max Billek, defense attorney representing Little League International, declined to comment on what arguments the youth baseball organization would make to support the ban.
“We’re in the process. As you were in court, you heard the judge has given us until noon tomorrow to provide a written response to the papers that were filed. So we’re preparing those now. We’ll file them. They’ll be available to review. They’ll contain our position. But you know, I’m not in the position,” Billek told the Post.
