Indiana players "feel cheated" by Little League scandal

NEW ALBANY, Ind. -- A Little League team from southern Indiana says it feels cheated by the revelation that an Illinois team used ineligible players en route to a national championship last summer.

The New Albany Little League All-Stars lost to Chicago's Jackie Robinson West in the Great Lakes championship last summer after holding a 7-3 lead until the final two innings.

Team manager Josh Biven said the loss was difficult but is harder to take now that Little League International has stripped district, state, Great Lakes and national championship titles from Jackie Robinson West for using players from outside the league's boundaries.

"All I wanted to do was go to Williamsport," New Albany All-Star David Newbanks told the News and Tribune. "We played hard and we deserved to go. They took away the opportunity for us to go to Williamsport. That was the chance of a lifetime."

Little League International retroactively named New Albany the Great Lakes champions. But Biven thinks more needs to be done.

"Our boys ... feel cheated out of the opportunity to play at Williamsport," Biven said. "I think our boys should get some recognition for this. We're trying to figure out what's the best scenario."

He said the team was trying to organize a trip to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, for this year's World Series so players could walk on the field and be recognized as the 2014 Great Lakes champions during the opening ceremony.

Jackie Robinson West is the third team in Little League history to be stripped of a championship. The other two teams - The Bronx in 2001 and the Philippines in 1992 - were disqualified for age discrepancies.

Biven believes his team had a chance to claim the 2014 U.S. championship if the playing field had been level.

"We could have won that thing," he said. "It's a life lesson that there are adults out there willing to lie and cheat. At the ripe ol' age of 12, our kids had to learn that lesson firsthand."

Meanwhile, some supporters of Jackie Robinson West said stripping the team of the title was racist.

At a Wednesday afternoon press conference, the Rev. Jesse Jackson asked, "Is this about boundaries or race?"

"This decision's untimely and inappropriate at this time," Jackson told reporters. "It should not take six months after a team has played a championship game to determine eligibility to play the game in the first place."

Officials from the Illinois and Nevada teams spoke to CBS News before the league announced its decision.

"Little League has very specific rules in terms of where somebody should live in order to play for a particular little league," Evergreen Park Little League Vice President Chris Janes of Illinois said. "JRW's boundaries are very specific and do not extend into any suburbs."

Nevada's Mountain Ridge made it all the way to the U.S. final, eventually losing to Jackie Robinson West.

"They tricked people, and they blindsided others, and they did those things that were strategic but illegal," Mountain Ridge coach Ashton Cave said.

"It's just a matter of integrity and dignity, and it's just awful," Mountain Ridge parent Kristi Black said.