PORTLAND, Ore. — Fred Miller was just trying to get his team to the semifinals of the Little League Softball World Series.
When he rested four starters and saw his team lose 8-0 to a team from Salisbury, North Carolina, on Monday, he didn’t envision his actions making national headlines.
Now, the embattled coach is calling on Little League International to change its tie-breaking criteria so that coaches don’t have to worry about run-ratio formulas and can focus on coaching.
“It’s just unfortunate Little League has a tie-breaking system like they do,” Miller said. “When coaches have to study run-rule ratios and understand them, it takes away from coaching a game. The way the rule is set, it’s crazy. We literally could’ve lost 30-0 in that game against (North Carolina) and got in (the semifinals), but if we lose 3-2, we’re out. How does that work?”
South Snohomish’s 8-0 loss gave North Carolina the No. 1 seed from Pool B because North Carolina had the best runs-allowed ratio of the three teams that finished tied for the top spot in the pool — North Carolina (3-1), Washington (3-1) and Iowa (3-1). A head-to-head tiebreaker then gave South Snohomish the edge over Iowa.
However, Iowa head coach Charlie Husak accused Miller and South Snohomish of intentionally losing to keep his team out of the semifinals.
Bob Hudlow, who has been the tournament director at the Softball World Series for the past five years, talked with Little League International officials in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and they decided Washington and Iowa would play an extra game for the final semifinal berth. South Snohomish protested the decision, but lost.
Iowa won the play-in game 3-2 Tuesday morning.
“I, as part of the process, worked with the national committee back in Williamsport and we made the right decision,” Hudlow said. “We made the decision to have them play a play-in game so everyone participated, it was won on the field and we moved on from that. I still wholeheartedly believe that’s the right choice.”
Miller said he would prefer a double-elimination tournament.
“Little League needs to change their rules for softball and make it a double-elimination tournament because then there’s no run-rule ratios,” Miller said. “They’ve done it for the boys, so why do the girls have pool play? It doesn’t make any sense.”
Little League International Director of Media Relations Brian McClintock said there are no plans to adjust the format of the Little League Softball World Series as a result of what happened with the South Snohomish team.
“We always look at all of our tournaments across the boards and see if there are ways to make them run smoother,” McClintock said. “We take into account every tournament that we have. We learn a lot at all of them every year.”
The stress of the national media attention following Monday’s game took its toll on Miller, whose team decided to return to Snohomish after its final game Wednesday afternoon, a 4-1 victory over Uganda, and skip the tournament’s closing ceremonies.
Among other things, the South Snohomish players had to deal with hostility from opposing fans, Miller said.
“It’s been a grind,” Miller said. “Parents and fans leaving notes on our doors, on the girls’ doors, banging on our girls’ doors in the middle of the night trying to wake us up. Speaking under their breath when the kids walk by — it’s been tough.
“I’m tired. I’m exhausted. All those events, I didn’t sleep for two days,” he continued. “It’s been a learning experience and, you know, you just move on.”
The coach of the Washington state and West Region champions expressed pride in the way his team finished its tournament run, beating Uganda to claim fifth place.
“It’s always good to get a win in the final game,” Miller said. “Obviously, it wasn’t the game we were wanting to play today, but that’s just the way it goes. … I’m just super proud of my team. My girls played through adversity down here and they fought to the end.”
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