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March 29, 2024

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Mountain Ridge Little League manager uses cheating scandal as teaching moment

MR

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Las Vegas’ Brennan Holligan (27), and Josiah Cromwick (7) walk off the field after a 7-6 loss in the United States Championship game to Chicago at the Little League World Series tournament in South Williamsport, Pa., Saturday, Aug. 23, 2014. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar

Mountain Ridge vs. Chicago

Las Vegas' Justin Hausner (5) leaps on home plate and celebrates with teammates Austin Kryszczuk (21) and Brad Stone, right, after all three runs scored on a double by Drew Laspaluto off Chicago's Joshua Houston in the first inning of a United States Championship game at the Little League World Series in South Williamsport, Pa., Saturday, Aug. 23, 2014. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar Launch slideshow »

Mountain Ridge Little League at City Hall

Members of the Mountain Ridge Little League team head to a bus during a ceremony at Las Vegas City Hall Saturday, Aug. 30, 2014. After the ceremony, the team boarded an double-decker, open-air Big Bus for a police-escorted parade down the Las Vegas Strip. Launch slideshow »

They are friends on Facebook and follow each other on Twitter. A few days don’t go by without messages being exchanged.

The middle-school aged baseball players from Mountain Ridge Little League in northwest Las Vegas and Jackie Robinson West of Chicago forged a strong friendship during their near two-week stay last August at the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa., based on a passion for baseball.

Mountain Ridge was the first Nevada team to reach the event in more than 70 years of its existence. Jackie Robinson, an all-black team from Chicago’s South Side, was the tournament darling and demanded high television ratings on ESPN for each of its games.

Today, that relationship had the potential to be strained.

Little League International stripped Jackie Robinson of the national title it won with a 7-5 victory against Mountain Ridge after an investigation revealed it had falsified boundaries to field ineligible players. Mountain Ridge, which posted a 16-0 record in four tournaments before facing Jackie Robinson and had outscored opponents 184-29, would be elevated to national champions.

“It’s easy to have friends when life is easy,” said Ashton Cave, the Mountain Ridge manager and a local firefighter. “I hope (today) would make (the friendship) strong because they can draw off each other. That is what teammates do. That is what friends do.

“It’s unfortunate for players on both sides. My heart goes out to all of those players and the city of Chicago,” Cave said. “We had a great experience with them. The kids still get a long.”

Little League’s investigation began last October after a coach from a neighboring Chicago suburb alleged Jackie Robinson broke rules by taking top players who lived outside the league’s boundaries.

News quickly spread to Las Vegas, but Cave wasn’t interested in winning the title retroactively. He won’t refer to the team as national champions and says each family will have to determine individually how they want to label the team’s finish. Cave’s son, Dallan, was part of the team.

“It is in the past. We have already moved on,” he said. “The speculation was sour grapes. We are over here going about our daily lives and going back to normality.”

Jackie Robinson officials did not immediately return calls for comment to the Associated Press. Throughout the investigation, the team has maintained that no cheating occurred.

Cave has been consistent in his response about cheating allegations the past three months, knowing because his team lost in the championship game, it would be back in the spotlight. He refuses to speak negatively about the team they lost to or Little League.

The Williamsport experience was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and Cave says those memories won’t easily be replaced.

“Little League did what they did to make things right,” Cave said. “(Jackie Robinson) beat us in the championship game. They were the better team that day. Take nothing away from them and their skills and ability. It’s a life learning experience for the entire world. Whenever you need to make a choice, you can go in one of two directions.”

That’s a message Cave delivered to Dallan this morning when dropping him off for school. He’ll let parents and players handle the situation for themselves, preferring to use their summer baseball journey as a teaching experience.

“He is the same kid he was yesterday,” Ashton Cave said. “I talked to him about the life lesson to be learned and the principals of honesty, morals and value. What a great opportunity for me as a dad to teach my son.”

The Mountain Ridge team will be honored Friday before the UNLV baseball team’s season opener against Nebraska.

Ray Brewer can be reached at 702-990-2662 or [email protected]. Follow Ray on Twitter at twitter.com/raybrewer21

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