After Taylorsville's 19-U American Legion baseball team put together a 13-3 regular-season record to tie it with West High School and Helper for first-place in the division, the team was disqualified from the state tournament, which began Saturday and ends July 30.

The team failed to purchase player insurance, and under league rules, that made the defending league champions ineligible for the postseason.

"They're supposed to have insurance at the beginning of the first game," said American Legion state commissioner Jeff Nakaishi.

But the team was allowed to play a full season before league officials finally discovered the error. "There are steps to follow, but Taylorsville obviously didn't follow those steps," said League President Jeff Cisneros. "I don't think it's fair, because the team has been playing all year long [and] they definitely had a chance to win the state tournament."

Players and coaches at Taylorsville didn't agree with the decision and believe the league's not-so-friendly website was partially to blame.

"You're kicking out the defending champs on a technicality [and] it's just wrong they're not playing in it," said Taylorsville's U-17 coach Jackson Ewing.

"They [Taylorsville 19-U] were allowed to play the season because we don't have a safeguard on that website. It's definitely something we have to fix for next year," Nakaishi said. "Is it fair? I don't know. But it's right there in black and white."

Taylorsville's less-experienced 17-and-under team now takes center stage. And if they're going to make a run in the tournament, they'll most likely have to beat West and Granger, two teams that beat them during the regular season.

"It's a pretty wide-open tournament," said Ewing. "To be honest, I think there are four or five teams that could win it. If we play as good as we can, then I think we can get there."

"I don't think we played a team all year long that we can't beat," said Taylorsville slugger Jackson Roper. "I think everyone is expecting us to lose. [And that's why] we can't have letdowns, and we can't let teams hang around ­— we have to put them away."

Regardless of the outcome of the tournament, the Taylorsville High School coaches saw several key players improve over the summer. Pitchers Hayden Heugly and Jake Greenberg shined, along with second baseman Adam Fullmer. Also stepping up was outfielder Larenz Stansfield, who turned into the team's most-consistent hitter. —

Taylorsville disqualified

Taylorsville's 19-U American Legion team was ruled ineligible for the state tournament, which runs from July 23 to July 30.

West High School is one of the favorites to win the American Legion tournament and is led by College of Eastern Utah pitcher Tory Ullibarri.

Taylorsville slugger Jackson Roper led the Warriors' 17-U team to a 10-6 record and a fourth-place finish in the division.

The championship game will be played this Saturday at Gates Field in Kearns. First pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m.