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Little League team's season ends on coach's costly mistake

Mark Townsend
·Yahoo Sports Contributor

The margin between victory and defeat can be so small and ridiculous, it's painful to endure and accept.

Unfortunately, the kids from Cascade Little League in Vancouver, Washington learned how small and how painful that margin can be on Friday as their quest to play in the Little League World Series ended not by a player's mistake, but rather a major error by third-base coach Brendan McCarthy.

Looking to stay alive in the Northwest Regional, Cascade Little League needed a victory on Friday to earn a rematch with Oregon on Saturday with a trip to Williamsport on the line. Standing in their way was the team from Idaho, which presented a great challenge and ultimately benefited from the costly blunder.

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The play in question happened with Washington down by one run in the bottom of the sixth inning, which in Little League is the final inning of regulation. On the play, Washington put the tying run at third base and the potential winning run at second base.

After the Idaho team huddled, McCarthy realized that no one from Idaho was paying attention to the runner and that time had not been granted. At that point, the coach verbally directed his player to run home and then physically nudged him down the line. The runner eventually took off and reached home safely. However, because the coach had made contact with the runner he was ruled out, which was also the final out of the game. .

(ESPN)
(ESPN)

It's the same rule that applies to professional baseball. Base coaches are not allowed to step outside the coaching box and physically assist the runners. How the rule is applied is often up to the discretion of the umpire. There are times when the contact between player and coach is incidental, which is often dismissed. In this case, though subtle, the contact and the intentions were clear, so it was an easy call to make.

Here's how McCarthy described the play, courtesy of The Columbian:

"Their third baseman was asking for time, the umpire didn't grant time, and I told Mason to go," McCarthy said. "I think in that confusion, I did put my hands on (Hill), and the umpire ruled I assisted him."

"I'm crushed for our kids," McCarthy said. "I'm crushed because — and we don't know. If Mason doesn't go, we're still down a run and you don't know. But to feel like you took away your kids' chance at a shot at Williamsport is crushing."

It's definitely a heartbreaking way for their season to end. We'll never know how that game may have ended, or what may have been ahead for Washington had they completed the rally.

It's also something that McCarthy will have to live with, which is no less heartbreaking. He didn't mean to screw up. He simply got lost in the moment, and now that moment is gone for his young squad.

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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!