A team from Washington state accused of cheating to get an unfair advantage in the semifinals instead saw their season end Tuesday with a loss to Iowa, the team they tried to scam. It involves the 12-year-old’s from Slater.
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Going into the pool play game against North Carolina, Snohomish was unbeaten (3-0).
After investigating the matter, Little League worldwide Senior Director of Communications Brian McClintock determined “some teams did not play with the effort and spirit appropriate for any Little League game, ” resulting in the teams playing the tiebreaker.
South Snohomish Little League president Jeff Taylor denies any wrongdoing, the Everett Herald reports.
Rowe said it was a tough exit for a Snohomish team that played well throughout the tournament.
The Washington team gave up a no-hitter to the team they were playing from North Carolina. Reports suggesting that the teams could have met in the semifinal round are not true. “… So they opted to set up a play-in game for us to play Central Iowa again”.
“I always say 99 percent of people, if given the opportunity, will work the system to their advantage”, Curley said.
The girls from Slater, Iowa – won the game 3 to 2 to move on to the semi’s.
Had Snohomish beaten North Carolina on Monday, they would have advanced as the first-place team from their pool.
“It doesn’t stand for what Little League stands for”.
“The great thing about all this exposure is that maybe it lets coaches in any sport do a double-check and see that maybe it isn’t as important to be competitive in every game as it is to do it the right way”.
According to Little League International’s tiebreaker rules, the Southeast Region Champion will advance to the Semifinal Rounds. Forced into a playoff against the Central Iowa team they tried to avoid by throwing their game against North Carolina on Monday, Snohomish lost, 3-2, on Tuesday afternoon. We’re ready to play, it’s going to be an early morning … but (they) have a … chip on their shoulders. “The game will be played on Tuesday, August 16, at 9 a.m. Pacific time”.
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“There’s a lot of adrenaline around here”, Husak said after defeating the West team.
