A youth softball team has been accused of throwing a game this week in order to secure an easier schedule of matchups in the 2015 Little League Softball World Series.
"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," tournament officials said in a Tuesday morning press release,
The Des Moines Register reported.
The game in question took place Monday between the undefeated Washington state team South Snohomish and a team from North Carolina.
Snohomish lost the game 8-0, scoring not a single hit during the game.
According to The Boston Globe, "Snohomish entered the final game of pool play with a 3-0 record, seemingly well on its way to the semifinals. A win over North Carolina on Monday would have given it the No. 1 seed — but it also could have advanced with a loss."
"The Snohomish softball team did not want to face Polk City, Iowa, twice in the Little League World Series," so it allegedly took a dive.
"It was very evident when they did the starting lineups, their four best players were on the bench," Central Iowa coach Charlie Husak
told WHOTV, explaining why he filed a complaint.
As The Washington Post put it, "it seemed as if South Snohomish was purposely trying to lose in order to avoid a semifinal rematch with Central Iowa, which the Washington team had beaten, 4-3, on Sunday."
The alleged plot soon backfired, however, as officials reviewed the complaint, and decided to make Snohomish and Central Iowa face off.
The impromptu game was staged Tuesday morning, and Iowa won 3-2.