Central Iowa gets playoff at Little League Softball World Series after filing game-fixing charge
— -- A team from Central Iowa will get a second chance to advance past pool play at the Little League Softball World Series in Portland, Oregon, after officials determined Monday that a team from Snohomish, Washington, rested its stars and lost on purpose to avoid a rematch in the semifinals.
Central Iowa, which finished 3-1 in pool play, could have advanced to the semifinals if the Washington team either scored just three runs vs. the U.S. Southeast representative from North Carolina or won the game to finish 4-0 in pool play. However, Washington rested its top four players and, according to Central Iowa Little League president Chris Chadd, ordered their players to bunt.
The result: North Carolina no-hit the Washington team in an 8-0 victory, and the Central Iowa All-Stars finished in a three-way tie -- and out of the tournament.
"It's clear to everyone that they basically threw the game," Chadd told the Des Moines Register. "It's not the girls' fault. It's the coaches ... they should be disqualified."
Little League Softball World Series officials did not overturn the outcome of the controversial game. So the Iowans appealed to the governing body, Little League International.
"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. "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."
The playoff is Tuesday at noon ET.
Iowa coach Charlie Husak told WHO-TV on Monday it took "about a half inning" for his team to realize what the Washington team was doing.
"We were trying to keep it from them, but you could see when they caught on that the tears started to pile up," Husak said. "It was pretty emotional."
Despite getting a second chance, Chadd told the Des Moines Register on Monday that he still wasn't happy that the Washington team wasn't disqualified.
"It's a cop-out," Chadd said.
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