


A New Jersey Little Leaguer has been suspended from playing in a state tournament final game after he exultantly flipped his bat in the air following a home run in his previous game, which earned him an ejection.
Haddonfield Little League player Marco Rocco, 12, is fighting for eligibility for the New Jersey Little League State Tournament final, with his family filing an emergency temporary restraining order in the Gloucester County Chancery Division in an attempt to have the suspension overturned, NJ.com reported on Tuesday.
The controversy stems from Rocco hitting a home run in a game against Harrison Little League on Thursday and then flipping his bat into the air as the ball sailed over the fence.
The umpires ejected him from the game, which earned him a one-game suspension. Umpires cited a “safety concern,” his father Joe Rocco told NJ.com, and Little League International told the family that the youngster had broken a rule.
“He’s played Little League his whole life, and his dream is to make it to the World Series in Williamsport,” Joe Rocco told the outlet. “We’re in the state finals and are a couple of steps away. We’re on our way there, and now, they tell him he can’t play.”
Joe Rocco said Little League wrote the family a letter explaining that the organization had a rule against horseplay.
The elder Rocco’s bigger issue was that he feels Little League promotes bat flipping in social media posts.
“Little League International openly promotes bat flipping all over their social media accounts, their websites and the broadcasts on TV for the Little League World Series. It’s openly promoted and encouraged. My son watches that and was emulating what he sees,” he said.
The family said it tried to resolve things amicably but that Little League International was “not willing to compromise in any way.”
The remaining four teams in the 12U division will play on Thursday night in Deptford, N.J. in a double-elimination bracket, with the winner moving on to the Metro Region Tournament.
Haddonfield is among the four teams still in the tournament, which includes Holbrook, Elmora and Ridgewood.