SPRING VALLEY — Things changed in a hurry for the Spring Valley Hawks who had defeated the Tilden Tigers 12-10 in 15 innings Aug. 11. Days later, it was announced on the Hawks’ Facebook account that they were disqualified from the playoffs due to having an illegal player (pitcher Mark Eddie).

“The player in question ended up living within the allowed radius rule during this summer while participating in a required internship as set forth by his secondary education. There was no malicious intent or act to cheat the system or gain an advantage over any of our opponents. The player simply wanted to play baseball for a team in this area while bettering his education & future career(s). Despite this, the issue was that this player did not obtain residency within the allowed radius rule by April 1st.

“This rule may have been broken, but the spirit of the rule certainly was not. If the [Wisconsin Baseball Association (WBA)] and its governing body is going to prevent a college kid working an internship from playing baseball, then the rules are broken. Imagine telling a 20-something year old kid that he can't play the game of baseball all because of a date rule,” the post stated.

Eddie pitched five innings of shutout baseball during the team’s win over Tilden.

Under the post, the Hawks’ account mentioned they had not received a response to their email to the WBA board. The post stated the team offered to meet with the board over the phone or Zoom in the email.

In the team’s announcement statement, they called attention to their opponents, the Tilden Tigers. The post claimed the Tilden Tigers have used illegal players in the past. The post stated that the WBA secretary and another board member “openly admitted” to illegal players on the Tilden roster when they made the state tournament, taking down Spring Valley on the way.

“However, those illegal acts were and have never resulted in punishment for this team. Why? Well, if you know, it is quite obvious,” the post stated.

There was a back-and-forth scuffle between the Hawks and the Hudson River Rats accounts on X, formerly known as Twitter, where the Hawks account called out Hudson for a situation they felt was similar in the past. The Hawks’ post was a series of alleged emails and texts where Hudson Manager and WBA Secretary Chris LaBreche admitted to a rulebook infraction of having a player rostered that plays for an out of state team, in this instance being Hastings.

LaBreche wrote in one of the emails that under league guidelines, a player from out of state can compete as long as it is not in the state tournament.

“Perhaps this means what I think it does, which is basically ‘anything goes’ for league play,” an email stated.

In a commented response on Facebook from the WBA, the league acknowledged Hudson’s illegal player case, saying the bylaw is no longer a part of the WBA and the issue was discussed with the St. Croix Valley league’s teams.

“This is a fact conveniently left out of this posting, one which other league managers would confirm on the record,” the post stated.

The comment mentioned the issue did not have to do with where the legal residence was, making the Spring Valley and Hudson situations different.

“It's a very sad situation for all people involved, and does not change the decision made by [Spring Valley Manager] Erik Thompson to knowingly break the eligibility rules for the state tournament by playing Mark Eddie well before the games last weekend,” the comment stated.

While it was not the end of the season they were looking for, it was a memorable and successful season for Spring Valley overall. The Hawks finished 11-5 in league play, good for third behind River Falls and Hudson. Prior to the disqualification, they took down two of the state’s top teams in Rhinelander and Tilden to sit at the top of their pool, a feat that only River Falls could match from the St. Croix Valley League.

They were involved in some top-tier moments, including a Derek Myer extra inning walk-off against Bay City in the regular season, some great pitching all year long and, of course, the 15-inning instant classic against Tilden.