When you’re 11 or 12 years old, there’s a good handful of memories from your childhood you tend to remember. Throwing a combined no-hitter in a Little League World Series game is one of them—even if you might’ve gotten a bit of help from the home plate ump.
In Iowa’s 1-0 win over California in the opening round of the Little League World Series on Friday, an umpire found himself as the unwanted center of attention after he called a very questionable strike three that ended the game.
In the sixth and final inning, California had the bases loaded with a 3–2 count against relief pitcher Anthony Johnson Jr. On Johnson’s next pitch, he threw a curveball that looked to be off the plate, but the ump called it a strike and effectively sealed Iowa’s combined no-no (Cooper Thissen started on the mound and struck out 15 through 5 1/3 innings).
To some, the lefty’s pitch barely grazed the outside corner of the zone to warrant a called third strike.
To many others, the team from California, who were on the cusp of potentially taking the lead, got robbed, and the ump should have called a ball to tie up the game.
Take a look below and judge for yourself:
Called strike three to complete the combined no-hitter and 1-0 win pic.twitter.com/ThwB0SsIRQ
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) August 21, 2026
Iowa clinches combined no-no thanks to umpire’s controversial strike three call in Little League World Series
Everyone knows that Little League strike zones aren’t called as tightly as the pros for obvious reasons. There’s a tacit understanding that a lot of strikes aren’t actually strikes, as 11-year-olds don’t possess the control and command as MLB-ers. They’re 11. And there’s absolutely no need for ABS to infiltrate its way into the kids’ game anytime soon.
Yet, even by Little League standards, that’s a tough one to defend.
Earlier in the game, there was another questionable call that potentially ruined Cooper Thissen’s shot at a complete game no-no. At the top of the second inning on a 1-2 count, Thissen’s pitch appeared to fall squarely inside the strike zone, but he didn’t get the call he wanted. Even ESPN’s announcers admitted it was “really close” and a replay video confirmed that:
Everybody complaining about the final pitch, this was worst, easily should have been strike 3 to end the 2nd
— Roland Glembine (@RG3onTV) August 22, 2026
Thissen needed 7 extra pitches. Cost the kid a chance at a complete game no hitter pic.twitter.com/GApFm8BY2U
Had the ump called a strike, it would have ended the second and Johnson Jr. likely wouldn’t have needed to come into the game. Under LLWS rules, players are allowed to throw a maximum of 85 pitches in a day, and Thissen was at 29 after two innings.
Thissen, Iowa’s star pitcher who also hit what would be the game-winning solo homer in the first inning, still has the rest of his baseball-playing career to achieve the lofty feat of a complete game no-hitter.
In any case, the team from Iowa gets to extend its hot streak and hopefully make a deep run at this year’s LLWS. Thissen and Co. have lost just one game since being formed this summer and represent the Davenport Northwest Little League as the reigning Midwest Region champion. Here’s to Thissen and Little League pitchers everywhere racking up more strikeouts, while umps learn to perhaps call things a tad bit tighter when games are on the line.
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