Georgia PONY League strips Spalding All-Stars of state title

GRIFFIN - Georgia PONY League officials have stripped Spalding County&#39;s 13/14-year-old All-Stars of their state title, citing a rule that teams which play in the tournament cannot play in other tournaments. <br> <br> A protest was lodged by one of the runners-up after the team followed its PONY League championship with the state Georgia Parks & Recreation Association title four days later. <br> <br> The action, which disqualifies Spalding from further PONY playoffs this year, stunned the players and left parents, coaches, local PONY League officials and county parks & recreation personnel incensed. <br> <br> ``PONY decided to enforce a rule that had been in the rule book but never enforced until now,&#39;&#39; Dr. Edward Parker, president of Spalding Youth Baseball, said Tuesday. <br> <br> Danny Greenway, who serves at the state level as a director of the organization, said he warned Parker last year that separate teams were required if Spalding teams competed in more than one tournament. <br> <br> ``Dr. Parker informed me about what he did last year,&#39;&#39; Greenway said Tuesday night. ``I said he couldn&#39;t use the same kids in both tournaments. When he ignored that this year we disqualified the team.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Parker said Greenway never told him he had to field two separate teams. <br> <br> ``He did not say that last year,&#39;&#39; Parker insisted. ``That is something he&#39;s come up with after the fact. His recollection is totally different from mine.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Parker said he was consulting with a law office about filing for an injunction. <br> <br> The next round of playoff games begins Monday, July 22. <br> <br> Tammy Jordan, whose son is on the Spalding squad and who serves as a local league official, said the rule was winked at before this season. <br> <br> ``Ever since we&#39;ve been playing PONY ball we&#39;ve sent a team to the PONY and the GPRA tournaments,&#39;&#39; Jordan said. ``Spalding requires us to play in their tournament so we can use the fields. But last year when this happened we told the PONY people that we were required to play in the parks and recreation tournament and they said it wasn&#39;t a problem.&#39;&#39;