ESPN has instituted a five-second delay in its Little League World Series telecasts to prevent any more four-letter words from going out over the air.

The delay is now in place following the four-letter expletive that was heard last Sunday night during a live telecast of a game in Williamsport, Pa., between a team from Staten Island and a team from Illinois.

The curse word was uttered by a 12-year-old Staten Island player, Matt Davis. After the word was heard on the air, viewers saw manager Nick Doscher slap Davis. The manager was later reprimanded by the governing body of the baseball tourney, Little League International.

“We have implemented a fivesecond delay as a preventative measure, and we plan to do that for the remainder of this year’s Little League World Series,” a spokesman for ESPN/ABC Sports confirmed.

The tournament winds up Sunday afternoon with the championship game (3:30 p.m. on ABC) between two teams – neither will be the Staten Island team, which was eliminated Wednesday – that have yet to be determined.

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