Little League Softball Team Throws Game — Did Coaches Put The Children Up To It?
Who knew children’s softball could be so cutthroat? Following a suspicious matchup Monday, a Little League softball team stands accused of throwing a game at the World Series, and some are saying the coaches put the girls up to it.
The accused softball team is from Washington — they’re called South Snohomish, and are undefeated. They are accused of throwing a game with North Carolina in order to avoid a rematch with the Central Iowa All-Stars, the Post explained.
They defeated Canada on Monday and had one loss to West. In order for Iowa to move on to the semi-finals, Snohomish needed to win or score three runs in their pending meetup with North Carolina. If North Carolina won, everyone would end up tied, and two would advance to the semis via a tiebreaker, WHO-TV reported.
And those conditions were met perfectly — which is why people started getting a bit suspicious. They lost 8 to zero, as needed, and skirted past their dreaded rematch.
Scandal at the Little League World Series?! And we wonder why there’s an uproar over participation trophies. http://t.co/B1cCprWJYu
— Brian Davis (@BDavisUT) August 18, 2015
Talk about teaching bad sportsmanship at an early age. https://t.co/E0N51rN4WZ via @KCCINews #littleleague #boo
— Athlete Network (@AthleteNet) August 18, 2015
Another story of how some coaches ruin youth sports. MT @FOXSports: Game-fixing scandal rocks the #llsws. http://t.co/XWbPZY003n
— Steve Derderian Jr. (@Steve_Derderian) August 18, 2015
Throwing the game was fairly easy — they benched their best players and every girl that went up to the plate bunted or hit their balls into the dirt, said coach Charlie Husak.
“It was very evident right away what was going on. It took about a half inning for the girls to catch on. We were trying to keep it from them, but you could see when they caught on that the tears started to pile up. It was pretty emotional.”
In the end, their efforts didn’t work. The suspicions of cheating were brought to World Series officials, but they did nothing. So the Central team went to the international organization. Washington wasn’t disqualified for throwing the game, but they have required a playoff instead.
On Tuesday, the softball players from Iowa and Washington will hit the diamond, with the winner advancing to the semifinals. Husak said his team is more than ready.
“(They) are pretty pumped right now. We’re ready to play, it’s going to be an early morning … but (they) have a … chip on their shoulders. They are going to fight for everything they have.”
Central’s president, Chris Chadd, told the Des Moines Register that the decision was a “cop-out,” and knows exactly who to blame. And it’s not the players.
“It’s not the girls’ fault. It’s the coaches… they should be disqualified.”
[Photo Courtesy Jonathan Ferrey / Getty Images]
