Snohomish Little League coach says players were being harassed

The coach of the South Snohomish Little League team that made the Little League Softball World Series says his players have been getting harassed as a result of the controversy in which they were involved.

South Snohomish lost to Rowan Little League of North Carolina on Monday 8-0 and was no-hit in the process. South Snohomish had gone 3-0 previously in pool play, and accusations that they threw the game immediately were raised by a rival team. Little League International, the governing body, decided to have the Washington team play an Iowa team the next day to determine who would reach the semifinals. The Iowa team won, eliminating the Washington team, which many felt was justice for Snohomish supposedly throwing the game.

Since the controversy unfolded, South Snohomish Little League coach Fred Miller says his team has been harassed:

“Our girls have been getting harassed and this has been a terrible situation,” Miller said in an email posted to Facebook. “Notes being posted on the kids hotels doors and all around the hotel. In fact, my assistant coach (redacted) slept in the hotel hallway night to protect our kids. They have been called cheaters and that is total (excuse my French) crap. My girls fought their butts off til the final out today and I am super proud of them.”

While we sympathize over the girls being harassed and feel that is completely uncalled for — not to mention completely wrong — we still cannot get over what the coach did.

If you read his entire statement, all he does is complain about the runs allowed tiebreaker. For instance, he says the following:

“The system is flawed and I did what was in the best interest of my team. It is a nightmare to manage a game under these conditons.
[…]
Little league must go to a double elimination tournament instead of pod play. It makes coaches think a about how many runs they can allow instead of just playing the game.”

Those are all fair points, but not once in his statement did I see anything about him talking about what would have happened if his team won the game. He completely omitted that if his team won, they would have been undefeated in pool play and therefore received the top seed. All he talked about was the margin by which they should have lost. That indicates a flawed mentality and seems to be proof that he just wanted to ensure his team lost by the correct margin rather than win in order to advance.

Here’s a reminder, Fred Miller: If you just played to win instead of worrying about losing, your team would have been in good shape. This is on you.

Below is the full statement: