A New Jersey 12U softball team's hopes of reaching the Little League World Series were dashed last week after a controversial state championship game.
The state championship game between Toms River and Hanover Township was called off due to lightning, with Hanover leading 6-4. Play was stopped at the top of the sixth inning due to weather, but tournament officials initially said the game would be played the next day.
Toms River coach Brad Bossow told the New York Post that he believes his team lost. Bossow accused the Hanover Little League district of “making a bad call” when tournament officials ruled the next morning that the game was over. The score stood as final, giving Hanover the win.
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“And that's the most deceitful and slimy part of it all,” Bossow told the paper. “In the middle of the night, he sends them a message saying that under these Little League rules, the game should be over and Hanover should be announced the state champion.”
A call to end the game was apparently made to Little League officials in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, who ultimately awarded the win to Hanover, the newspaper said.
The municipality of Hanover was declared the winner. (Eakin Howard/Getty Images)
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Bossow said he had no hope that Little League officials would consider any kind of appeal. He said he was told that “they never made a change.” He said the team was recovering when play was stopped. He said there was lightning in the area around the third inning, but officials said the storm was far enough away to continue play.
If play had been stopped in the third inning, teams would have had to resume at a different time because four full innings make a Little League game official.
Bossow said it was around 9:30 p.m. when he asked the tournament director about the status of play. He said he was told officials would do everything they could to make play happen. About 15 minutes later, he said, he was told play would end the next day, so he protested that regulations stated they had until 1 a.m. to finish.
Hanover next plays Maryland in the Little League Softball Mid-Atlantic Region on Sunday. (Photos by Tyler Schank/NCAA via Getty Images)
In the end, the protests were unsuccessful and Hannover emerged victorious.
“It's really heartbreaking for the girls. They were more upset by the fact that they were told one thing and then it didn't happen,” Bossow told the New York Post.
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Hanover will represent New Jersey and play Maryland in the Little League Softball Mid-Atlantic Region on Sunday.
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