Fansided

Iowa advances in LLSWS after beating Washington in playoff

By Matt Verderame

Aug 22, 2013; Williamsport, PA, USA; A general view of Howard J. Lamade Stadium using a fisheye lens prior to a game between Mexico and Panama during the Little League World Series at Lamade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 22, 2013; Williamsport, PA, USA; A general view of Howard J. Lamade Stadium using a fisheye lens prior to a game between Mexico and Panama during the Little League World Series at Lamade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports /
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On Tuesday, the Central Iowa All-Stars defeated South Snohomish, Washington, 3-2, to advance into the semifinals of the Little League Softball World Series. The game was a playoff to see which team would advance, a game that never should have been needed.

The day prior, South Snohomish played against North Carolina. If South Snohomish either won the game outright or scored three runs in the contest, Central Iowa would have advanced along with South Snohomish via tiebreaker. However, because Central Iowa has been so powerful this year, South Snohomish had a plan to knock it out (even though South Snohomish beat Central Iowa earlier in the round-robin).

The coach of South Snohomish, Fred Miller, used his reserve players and reportedly ordered them to bunt and swing at pitches in the dirt the entire game against North Carolina. The result was a no-hitter and an 8-0 loss for the Washington team, eliminating Central Iowa from the tournament.

However, Central Iowa appealed to Little League International and was rewarded with a one-game playoff after it was determined that South Snohomish did not play correctly, per ESPN.

"“The Little League International Tournament Committee recently received credible reports that some teams did not play with the effort and spirit appropriate for any Little League game,” Little League International said in a statement Tuesday morning. “Given these circumstances and in order to best determine the second team to advance from Pool B, the Little League International Tournament Committee is requiring that a tie-breaker game be played between the two affected teams — South Snohomish Little League and Central Iowa Little League.”"

Shockingly, the Washington officials would not respond to the Associated Press for comment. Yet, by some miracle, South Snohomish Little League President Jeff Taylor, gutless until the very end, had this to say to the Everett Herald, per ESPN’s story.

"“The only thing I would say is that (coach) Fred (Miller) fielded a lineup playing some girls that hadn’t gotten to have much playing time. It wasn’t a game that we absolutely had to win and the Central Iowa team took exception to that because the outcome was that they got knocked out. So they called foul, because they said we didn’t play our best players.”"

Apparently Taylor missed when every player was bunting. The shame of it is that the girls on this team have the pay the price. They were simply following the orders of their coach, who should be banned from Little League for the rest of his life. He’s a pathetic embarrassment to sports, and now has broken the hearts of all these kids who would have enjoyed the chance to chase a dream they would remember for a lifetime.

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