Evansville forfeits 10

The Frontier League ruled late Monday that the Evansville Otters must forfeit 10 wins for using an ineligible player. Eight teams, including Washington, have been awarded victories via forfeit.

In a two-paragraph statement released on its website, the Frontier League did not identify the player, which was Will Oliver. A right-handed starting pitcher, Oliver had appeared in 13 games this season, 10 of which were won by the Otters and subsequently forfeited.

According the website, Frontier League Rules and Regulations state that the use of an ineligible player will result in the forfeiture of any games in which the player participated. Washington and East Division-leader Southern Illinois each will receive two wins via forfeit. Florence, Gateway, Lake Erie, Normal, Traverse City and Windy City each receive one win.

The Frontier League's ruling came one day after Evansville had apparently clinched a Frontier League playoff berth. Now, the Otters have dropped to a 43-41 record and are in the final wild-card spot, only one game ahead of Florence (42-42) with 12 games remaining in the regular season. The Wild Things' record improves to 38-46.

Oliver was dropped from the Evansville roster three weeks ago when questions about his eligibility were brought to the attention of league officials. He is currently playing for the Somerset Patriots in the Atlantic League.

The Frontier League has an age limit of 27. Oliver signed with Evansville in August of 2014 as a 27-year-old. The league does allow one player per team to exceed the 27-year-old age limit if he had been on a Frontier League roster for at least 100 regular-season games over the previous two seasons. Those players are classified as Veterans on the roster and can play in the league until age 30 (Chris Sidick, for example). Oliver had been with Evansville for less than 30 games when the 2015 season began and did not qualify for Veteran status as a 28-year-old this season.

There were several inconsistencies in Oliver's date of birth on rosters released by Evansville. For example:

* When Evansville played in the final series of 2015 at Washington, Oliver's date of birth was listed as July 4, 1990, on the Otters' roster, which would have made the pitcher 24 years old.

* When Evansville played a three-game series in Washington during May of this year, Oliver's date of birth was listed as July 4, 1988 on the Otters' roster. That would have made Oliver 26 years years old.

* On a roster Evansville distributed July 28 of this year to other teams in the Frontier League, Oliver's date of birth was listed as July 4, 1987, which is correct, but shows that he is 28 years old. This was about the time the league was made aware of Oliver's potential ineligibility.

Oliver was one of the best pitchers in the Frontier League this year. He was leading the league in both wins (9) and ERA (1.59) as the time he was dropped from the Evansville roster.

All statistics accumulated in the games Oliver pitched will count. Oliver pitched two games against Washington. He gave up three runs (one earned) in seven innings during Evansville's 5-3 win at Consol Energy Park on May 21. The Otters scored four runs in the top of the ninth inning to win that game. Oliver pitched a complete-game, five-hit shutout in the Otters' 1-0 victory over Washington at Evansville's Bosse Field on July 26.

Evansville contended that the Frontier League had approved Oliver's contract this spring and that the pitcher should not be ruled ineligible. It is unknown what date of birth was listed on Oliver's contract this year or last season. The Frontier League does not require any kind of identification to be provided by a player with his contract, though teams require a photo ID from each player for payroll purposes.