Washington advanced to the Little League World Series with a walk-off win over Oregon on Thursday, but the ending of the game was an umpiring disaster.
Washington had a runner on first with one out in the bottom of the 7th inning when Braydon Rudolph chopped a ball down the third base line. The third base umpire clearly held his arms up to indicate that the ball went foul, but the play continued. Ezra Seitz scored all the way from first.
Washington advances to the Little League World Series because umpires say they called fair even though there was a foul ball signaled pic.twitter.com/rsFURks1Y5
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) August 12, 2022
Oregon players were understandably confused. It looked like they gave up on the play after the third base umpire called the ball foul, which allowed the Washington runner to come around and score. Apparently the home plate umpire had ruled that the ball was fair, so replay would have had to show clear evidence that it was foul. The call on the field stood and Washington advanced to Williamsport with a 3-2 victory.
You hate to see a game end that way. It is hard to tell if the ball was foul or fair, but the third base umpire’s call clearly impacted the outcome. That will be tough for Oregon to get over.
