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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Blake Schuster

Hot mic catches Little Leaguer calming down pitcher, says ESPN just wants some drama

Kids and their wild imaginations always lead to some great moments.

Especially in sports. And especially when they’re caught on a hot mic trying to pump up a teammate. Saturday’s Little League World Series elimination game between the Midwest (Iowa) and Northwest (Washington) gave us another great moment.

Nursing a 6-3 lead with two outs in the sixth and final inning, Iowa’s lead began to look pretty shaky as two batters reached—the latter on a questionable walk—and the tying run came to the plate.

But one Iowa player was overheard on the broadcast explaining to his pitcher that the late-inning rally was just an ESPN-manufactured ruse.

Iowa’s coach wasn’t having any of it as he tried to keep his team focused on the next pitch—which looked like a ball, but was called a strike. Either way, Iowa escaped with a 6-3 win before taking down the Mountain region team 10-2 on Sunday.

No ESPN drama there.

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