"Stone Cold" Steve Austin would be proud. So would the UFC's Diaz brothers.

Little League officials? Not so much.

A Virginia softball team was yanked out of the Junior League World Series championship game Saturday just hours before they were going to play on national television, due to an inappropriate social media posting, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.

The players on the Atlee Little League softball team posted a photo on Snapchat of the entire squad putting up their middle fingers, the paper reported, and it was clear from the caption that the obscene gesture was meant for the the team Atlee beat in the semifinals. Atlee defeated host Kirkland, Washington 1-0 on Friday in a heated final-four matchup. 

The Junior League Softball World Series pits the best 12-to-15-year-old girls softball teams in the world against each other.

"After discovering a recent inappropriate social media post involving members of Atlee Little League's Junior League Softball tournament team, the Little League International Tournament Committee has removed the Southeast Region from the 2017 Junior League Softball World Series for violation of Little League's policies regarding unsportsmanlike conduct, inappropriate use of social media, and the high standard that Little League International holds for all its participants," Kevin Fountain, a spokesperson for Little League, told the Times-Dispatch in a statement. 

Kirkland's team replaced Atlee in the championship game, which aired Saturday live on ESPN2. Poland Community Little League beat Kirkland, 7-1, in the final. 

The Times-Dispatch reported that Atlee manager Scott Currie made his players delete the post immediately and then had them apologize to the Kirkland players in person Friday night. Currie told the paper that the Kirkland coach was appreciative of the sentiment. But it was evidently not enough for Little League officials.

"It's a travesty for these girls," Currie said. "Yes, they screwed up, but I don't think the punishment fit the crime."

Atlee coach Chris Mardigian told the Times-Dispatch that the Snapchat photo was posted because of what the players felt was poor sportsmanship from Kirkland during the game. The contest reportedly featured a Kirkland player being ejected for stealing signs and a Kirkland coach also getting thrown out. 

Junior League Softball World Series tournament director John Chadwick -- who is based out of Kirkland -- told the Times-Dispatch that the organization would not comment on the situation.

Written by Marc Raimondi