Oklahoma finished in third place at the Little League World Series but its impressive run has been at the center of controversy since the start of the softball postseason. Tulsa National allegedly fielded an illegal roster and did so on purpose.
Meanwhile, multiple protests by their opponents have been ignored.
Little League still refuses to address this latest scandal, which bears a striking resemblance to what happened with Jackie Robinson West on the baseball side in 2014. Coaches, parents, and even players on teams that lost to Oklahoma demand answers.
Who is involved with this scandal?
Before we go any further here, it should first be noted that Maren Angus-Coombs of Softball on SI has been all over this story from the jump. This latest update reveals multiple protests that previously flew under the radar.
Multiple teams are involved with the the backlash against Oklahoma. They were all turned away by the powers that be — even though the powers that be are not doing their job.
It goes all of the way back to the Southwest Regional tournament in Waco, Texas at the end of the July.
Tulsa National advanced to the World Series.
Oklahoma won the Southwest Regional tournament to punch its ticket to the Little League Softball World Series in South Carolina. It beat teams from New Mexico, Texas and Louisiana to do so.
Tulsa National wins in the southwest regional championships game against Louisiana to punch its first-ever ticket to the Little League Softball World Series!
— Dan Lindblad (@DanLindbladTV) July 25, 2025
Their first game in Greenville will be August 4th. pic.twitter.com/SbNnhVEfGU
However, its roster might’ve been illegal in more ways than one.
Little League requires every single one of its players to compete in a minimum of eight regular-season games before they qualify for postseason play. A head coach from Texas, prior to the regional tournament, found multiple players on Tulsa’s roster who had not played in a regular season game.
That would be in direct violation of the required protocol.
To make matters worse, a separate former Little League official claimed that Tulsa recruited some of its players from club teams. That is also against the rules.
A separate league board member also accused one Tulsa player of playing for a completely different league in 2024. That, too, would be considered an infraction.
If that is not illegal enough, Tulsa National head coach Jonathan Arias is accused of recruiting out-of-area players who would not normally be considered eligible if they did not fudge their address. Several families who are eligible by address to compete for the team claim their daughters were turned away by Arias without so much as a tryout.
Little League refuses to punish Oklahoma.
As I mentioned up top, this latest Little League scandal closely resembles what happened with Jackie Robinson West in 2014. The Chicago-based baseball program was forced to vacate its runner-up finish at the World Series due to multiple recruiting violations.
If Oklahoma is found guilty of similar behavior, it should be forced to vacate its third-place finish at the 2025 Little League Softball World Series. And yet, the national Little League council stays silent.
Multiple parents (and even local Little League officials) claim to have voiced their concerns but they say their complaints were completely ignored by authorities. One member of the local board even went so far as to accuse the district administrator of illegally “loading” the roster by controlling registrations.
The national council also refuses to release any additional details about the ongoing protest review.
Protests continue to grow.
Further challenges against the Oklahoma softball roster were filed with Little League, even beyond the initial protest that triggered the controversy. According to sources who spoke directly with Angus-Coombs, this is is not a singular issue.
Texas West’s head coach filed the first protest prior to the Southwest Regional. Texas East’s head coach later tried to file a protest of his own after the Southwest Regional, before the World Series.
Southwest Region Director Blaine Whitmire told Texas East it was not necessary because the regional council was “still investigating everything they received” from Texas West. Texas East filed anyway.
The regional council promised to follow up with Texas East. Texas East claims it never did.
Unlike with Jackie Robinson West, all of of these concerns regarding Tulsa National were raised prior to the Little League World Series. There was still time for the result to be overturned to send the real deserving team to South Carolina. Little League did not do anything about it. Oklahoma placed third.
If Little League is to investigate these allegations as they stand, and find guilt, the result should be vacated— dating back to the start of the Southwest Regional. It happened with Jackie Robinson West…
How is this any different?