Grosse Pointe Woods-Shores is reviewed over question of residency after request by New Albany, which lost to GPWS.
Grosse Pointe Woods-Shores hadn’t even played a game yet in the Little League World Series before there was finger pointing over, well, general uncertainly.
The Detroit suburb team was reviewed following a request by representatives from New Albany, a team that lost to Grosse Pointe Woods-Shores, 13-0, in the regional Aug. 11 for a spot in the championship. New Albany team officials asked the Little League Central District to check on the residency of players on the team.
Problem was, it doesn’t appear it was for any particular reason.
Justin Endres, the president of New Albany Little League, told the Indianapolis Star that he had no direct evidence of cheating but want to make sure there weren’t any issues.
„We just forwarded the stuff on. We’re not even in the position to know,“ he said. „That’s the hard part of it. The high stakes set up an opportunity for some of this.“
The move was understandable given that Dan Bentley, a Little League coach from Michigan, also sent an email to the league asking for a review of his team.
„The only reason I did research is because when we went to the state tournament, there were so many coaches, and parents, approaching us saying, ‚Hey, these guys are illegal,‘ “ Bentley told the IndyStar.
Turned out, there was nothing found. Little League International spokesman Kevin Fountain said:
„Based on the information that has been provided, Little League International has not found any reason to deem Grosse Pointe Woods-Shores Little League ineligible from the Little League International Tournament. Should additional information become available, it will be taken under review.“
The Michigan team, representing „Great Lakes“ faced a team from the Northwest at 4 p.m. Friday in a game broadcast on ESPN.
New Albany had been hurt before. It has a team that was knocked out of a regional tournament in 2014, only to learn later the team it lost to, from the south side of Chicago, had recruited ringers outside league boundaries and was stripped of tournament wins.
