Despite controversy, BV Little Leaguers staying home

Two weeks ago, the Brandon Valley Little League baseball team nearly pulled the upset over Sioux Falls in the state tournament in Rapid City.

But back-to-back defeats on championship Sunday – July 19 – sent Brandon Valley home as Sioux Falls packed their bags for the Midwest Region championship in Indianapolis. The winner of that region advances to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Penn.

However, late last week, Sioux Falls Little League announced on social media that they were notified by Little League International of a player eligibility violation in the state tournament.

The player in question is Lennox native Creyton Sykora. Sykora played in the Sioux Falls Little League season all summer, which is permissible because Lennox doesn’t have a Little League program.

However, Lennox is outside the boundary area for players to participate in postseason tournaments for the 12U Sioux Falls team that can advance to Williamsport. 

Prior to the season starting back in March, Sioux Falls Little League officials filled out waivers for two Lennox players to compete with the Sioux Falls team this summer, which was approved by the state. The All-Star team – the one competing at the state tournament two weeks ago – was selected in May. Sykora made that team.

However, the only way a player outside the Sioux Falls boundary to be eligible for postseason play is if they participated with the team a year earlier. Sykora did not.

In the end, it’s a clerical error between the state office and Little League International, as Sykora’s eligibility was overlooked. Following the state tournament and Sioux Falls’ victory, Little League International looked closer at the situation and determined that Sykora was ineligible. 

The investigation late last week was whether Sioux Falls could now advance to Indianapolis, or if state runner-up Brandon Valley would fill its place because of the eligibility issues.

Both communities played a waiting game over the weekend to hear from Little League International on its decision. No announcement had been made as of Monday evening, Aug. 3.

However, earlier on Monday, the Brandon Valley Journal learned that after a review of the situation, Little League International is allowing Sioux Falls to advance to the Midwest Region in Indianapolis, however, Sykora cannot participate. 

The Brandon Valley Baseball Association never filed an appeal to the initial report. The BVBA responded to a Sioux Falls Little League Facebook post announcing the ineligibility last week. That response was general in that the BVBA would work closely with Little League to “determine our next steps.” 

Although the BVBA didn’t file an appeal, they certainly seem to have a legitimate gripe. In its back-to-back championship wins over Brandon Valley two weeks ago, Sioux Falls got a triple and double from Sykora, who also finished with 4 RBI. In fairness to Sioux Falls, the 4 RBI may not have made a difference in their two blowout wins over Brandon (8-1 and 15-4).

Somewhat of a precedent was also set in 2014 when Little League stripped Jackie Robinson West (JRW), a team from the Chicago area, who won the U.S. bracket of the tournament in Williamsport before losing to a team from South Korea in the championship. Following the tournament, Little League was tipped that JRW was using ineligible players during the postseason. The end result following an investigation stripped JRW of all its 2014 accomplishments. However, after an exhaustive investigation, it was determined that the violation in 2014 by JRW was a blatant attempt at cheating. The issue this year with the Sioux Falls team was a clerical error.