Twelve-year-old Marco Rocco made headlines this week after scoring an enormous authorized W, nevertheless it didn’t translate to the scoreboard.

The Haddonfield Little Leaguer, whose suspension for a celebratory bat flip lit up social media, was cleared to play Thursday evening within the New Jersey state event after a decide overturned the controversial ruling. However simply hours after the courtroom victory, Rocco’s squad was handed a tricky 10-0 mercy-rule loss by the Elmora Youth League staff, former state champs from 2019.

Rocco, who grew to become an emblem of swag and controversy after launching his bat sky-high following a clutch residence run earlier within the week, struck out in each of his at-bats. Nonetheless, the sport carried added weight after his one-game suspension for “unsportsmanlike conduct” drew heavy backlash and led to a authorized problem from his household.

The decide, calling the suspension “draconian,” dominated that the obscure league guidelines couldn’t be enforced “arbitrarily and capriciously.” That opened the door for Marco to return to the diamond in time for the sport.

Little League Baseball didn’t love the transfer, issuing an announcement expressing disappointment that courtroom proceedings had pulled focus from the event itself. “We maintain the integrity of the sport, respect for recreation officers, and sportsmanship of groups as core tenets of our program,” the group stated in an announcement.

Marco’s father filed the lawsuit earlier this week, combating to ensure his son bought to play.

Regardless of Thursday’s shutout loss, Haddonfield nonetheless has life due to the double-elimination format. And whereas the bat could not have flown this time, the second made Marco a family identify in Little League circles and sparked a a lot larger dialog about how younger gamers rejoice their love for the sport.