Little League World Series

A Little League World Series game
at Howard J. Lamade Stadium in 2007

In the summer months leading up to the Little League World Series, held each year in August, Little Leagues around the world select an All-Star team made up of players from its league. It is these All-Star teams that compete in district,[5] sectional and/or divisional, and regional tournaments, hoping to advance to Williamsport for the Little League World Series. How many games a team has to play varies from region to region. In the United States, the tournaments at the lowest (district) level lack nationwide standardization. Some use pool play or double elimination, while others use single elimination.

In the United States, the fate of district winners varies widely from state to state. In some larger states such as Pennsylvania, New York, and California, the district winners advance to one of many sectional tournaments.[5] The winners of each sectional tournament then advance to a state or divisional tournament, the latter only being held in Texas and California and are similar to the state tournaments held in less populous states.[5] Most smaller states lack competition at the sectional level and go straight from district to state tournaments. A handful of states are composed of only one district, and the district champion is the automatic state champion.[5]

With two exceptions, every state as well as the District of Columbia crowns a state champion,[6] and sends that team to represent it to one of eight regional tournaments. The exceptions involve California and Texas. Because of their large geographic and population sizes, California and Texas send two representatives to their regional tournament; Northern California and Southern California in the West region tournament and Texas East and Texas West (whose areas encompass more than the geographical areas of East Texas and West Texas, splitting roughly along the I-35/I-37 corridor) compete in the Southwest region tournament.[5] Up through 2018, the Dakotas had one district spanning the two states, and its winner became the joint champion when advancing to the Midwest region tournament.[5] However, beginning in 2019, North Dakota and South Dakota are represented by individual teams in the regional tournament—creating an odd number of seven teams in the Midwest Regional.

The state champions (as well as the Northern California, Southern California, Texas East, Texas West, and District of Columbia teams) compete in one of eight different regional tournaments (increasing to 10 in 2022). Each regional tournament winner then advances to the Little League World Series. A comprehensive breakdown of current and historical US regional tournament locations, participants and results is available online.[7] Since the geographical boundaries of the District of Columbia are exactly the same as the capital city of Washington, this District is usually identified specifically as "Washington, DC."

Other countries and regions pick their own way of crowning a champion.[5] Little League Canada holds tournaments at the provincial and divisional level to field six champions (four provincial and two divisional) at the national tournament: Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, the Prairie Provinces (Saskatchewan and Manitoba), and the Atlantic Provinces.[8] The host site of the national tournament varies from year to year, and the host team gets an automatic berth as the seventh team. The tournament is played as a round robin and uses the Page playoff format. The winner of the national tournament earns the right to represent Canada at the Little League World Series.

A Little League World Series Game at Howard J. Lamade Stadium in South Williamsport

The Little League World Series currently consists of 16 teams; eight from the United States, and eight from other countries. From the inaugural 1947 tournament through 1956, there were predominantly U.S.-based teams, usually eight, competing in a single-elimination format. One Canadian team played in 1952, and one in 1953. Regions were introduced in 1957, and that tournament included the first non-U.S. champion, Monterrey, Mexico, although they represented the U.S. South region. International regions were added in 1958. From 1962 through 2000, the eight teams in the tournament came from four U.S and four international regions:

• United States: Central, East, South, West
• International: Canada, Europe, Far East, Latin America

Through 1975, all teams competed in one bracket. That year, the tournament was held with only the teams from the U.S. regions.[12] The international teams returned in 1976,[12] when two brackets were established, one with U.S. teams, and the other with international teams. The U.S. bracket winner and the international bracket winner would then meet in the championship game,[12] an arrangement that has continued to the present, independent of subsequent changes made to early rounds of the tournament.

In 2001, the number of regions was doubled to 16. The tournament started with eight U.S. teams, randomly assigned into two four-team pools; and eight international teams, also randomly assigned into two four-team pools. Teams competed round-robin within their own pool, with the top two teams of each pool advancing to single-elimination play for a spot in the U.S. final or international final, followed by the U.S champion and international champion meeting in the World Championship game.

In 2010, round-robin play was replaced by a double-elimination bracket in each four-team pool. The winners of each pool advanced to a single-elimination U.S. championship or international championship game, with those winners advancing to the World Championship game. Additionally, each team in the tournament played a minimum of three games, as any team that lost its first two games would play in a consolation U.S. vs. international game.[13]

In 2011, pools were eliminated, with the eight U.S. teams continuing to compete in one bracket and the eight international teams in another bracket. The tournament is double-elimination until the U.S. championship and international championship games, which remain single-elimination, with those winners advancing to the World Championship game. Each team in the tournament still plays a minimum of three games, via consolation games as noted above.[14][15]

In August 2019, organizers announced that the tournament would expand to 20 teams in 2021, by adding two U.S. participants and two international participants.[10] However, the 2020 World Series was canceled due to COVID-19, and the planned expansion was pushed back to 2022.

Venues

Welcome sign in the Little League World Series Complex

Two venues host World Series games: Howard J. Lamade Stadium and Little League Volunteer Stadium. Lamade Stadium has hosted games since 1959 and added lights in 1992.[16] Volunteer Stadium opened in 2001 when the field expanded to 16 teams. Prior to 1959, the Little League World Series was held at Original Little League on West Fourth Street in Williamsport.[17]

Both fields have symmetrical fences, with a distance of 68.6 m (225 feet) from home plate to each of the outfield positions. That distance had been 62.5 m (205 feet) before 2006.

Admission to all LLWS games is free for all spectators. However, stadium seats for the championship game are distributed in a random drawing of all interested parties due to high demand. Some early round games, mostly games with Pennsylvania teams, will use first-come, first-served admission if a big crowd is to be expected.[18] Lamade Stadium has a berm beyond the fences that has allowed the facility to hold up to 45,000 spectators.

From 1947 to 2005, the age limit for players was set at children who turned 13 on August 1 of that year or later. In 2006, the age limit was loosened to include players who turn 13 after April 30. As the Series takes place in August, this led to many of the players having already turned 13 before the Series started. In 2014 Little League voted to change the age cutoff from April 30 to December 31. However, this caused outrage by parents because the players born between May 1 and August 31, 2005 would have lost their 12-year-old season because they would be considered to be 13 years old even though they have not reached their 13th birthday. Effective November 2015, a new implementation plan was established, which "grandfathered" players born between May 1 and August 31, 2005 as 12-year-olds for the 2018 season, using April 30 age determination date for the 2018 season. Since 2019, a new determination date of August 31 is used, banning 13-year-old players from participating in the Series.

To date, a total of 19 girls have participated in the Little League Baseball World Series:

• 1984 – Victoria Roche (Brussels, Belgium)
• 1989 – Victoria Brucker (San Pedro, CA, US)
• 1990 – Kelly Craig (Trail, BC, Canada)
• 1991 – Giselle Hardy (Dhahran, Saudi Arabia)
• 1994 – Krissy Wendell (Brooklyn Center, MN, US)
• 1998 – Sayaka Tsushima (Osaka, Japan)
• 1999 – Alicia Hunolt (Ramstein, Germany)
• 2001 – Tatiana Maltseva (Moscow, Russia)
• 2002 – Sanoe Aina (Waipahu, HI, US)
• 2003 – Merced Flores (Agana, Guam)
• 2004 – Meghan Sims (Owensboro, KY, US) and Alexandra Bellini (Ottawa, ON, Canada)
• 2008 – Brielle Meno (Yona, Guam)
• 2009 – Katie Reyes (Vancouver, BC, Canada) and Bryn Stonehouse (Dhahran, Saudi Arabia)
• 2013 – Eliska Stejsklova (Moravia, Czech Republic)
• 2014 – Emma March (Vancouver, BC, Canada) and Mo'ne Davis (Philadelphia, PA, US)
• 2019 – Maddie Freking (Coon Rapids, MN, US)

• 1952 – A team from Montreal, Canada, became the first team outside of the United States to play in the tournament.
• 1955 – The first walk-off home run in the championship game was hit by Rich Cominski, from Morrisville, Pennsylvania, in the 7th inning.
• 1957 – Monterrey, Mexico, only the third team from outside the United States to compete, became the first such team to win the tournament. Pitcher Miguel Ángel Macias threw a perfect game, which has not occurred in a championship game since, as of 2019.
• 1970 – This was the last tournament to have an all-United States championship final, with the exception of 1975, when organizers banned teams from outside the United States.
• 1971 – Lloyd McClendon, from Gary, Indiana, hit five home runs in five official at bats over the span of three games. He was intentionally walked in his other five plate appearances.
• 1982 – Kirkland, Washington, won the championship over Chiayi County, Taiwan. This snapped a streak of 31 consecutive wins by Taiwanese teams at the LLWS, prompting the game's live announcer, Jim McKay, to declare it the biggest upset in the history of Little League.[19]
• 1993 – Long Beach, California, became the first team from the United States to win consecutive championships.
• 2005 – Michael Memea, from Ewa Beach, Hawaii, won the championship with a walk-off home run in the 7th inning.
• 2007 – Dalton Carriker, from Warner Robins, Georgia, hit a walk off home run in the 8th inning in the championship game.
• 2012 – A team from Lugazi, Uganda, became the first team from Africa to play in the tournament.
• 2016 – Maine–Endwell, New York, completed an undefeated season (24–0) by defeating Seoul for the championship, giving South Korea their first loss in a LLWS championship game.
• 2020 – For the first time in its history, the LLWS is cancelled due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.[20]

Year	Winner	Score	Runner-Up
1947	Williamsport, Pennsylvania	16–7	Lock Haven, Pennsylvania
1948	Lock Haven, Pennsylvania	6–5	St. Petersburg, Florida
1949	Hammonton, New Jersey	5–0	Pensacola, Florida
1950	Houston, Texas	2–1	Bridgeport, Connecticut
1951	Stamford, Connecticut	3–0	Austin, Texas
1952	Norwalk, Connecticut	4–3	Monongahela, Pennsylvania
1953	Birmingham, Alabama	1–0	Schenectady, New York
1954	Schenectady, New York	7–5	Colton, California
1955	Morrisville, Pennsylvania	4–3	Delaware Township, New Jersey
1956	Roswell, New Mexico	3–1	Delaware Township, New Jersey
1957	Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico	4–0	La Mesa, California
1958	Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico	10–1	Kankakee, Illinois
1959	Hamtramck, Michigan	12–0	Auburn, California
1960	Levittown, Pennsylvania	5–0	Ft. Worth, Texas
1961	El Cajon, California	4–2	El Campo, Texas
1962	San Jose, California	3–0	Kankakee, Illinois
1963	Granada Hills, California	2–1	Stratford, Connecticut
1964	Staten Island, New York	4–0	Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico
1965	Windsor Locks, Connecticut	3–1	Stoney Creek, Ontario
1966	Houston, Texas	8–2	West New York, New Jersey
1967	West Tokyo, Japan	4–1	Chicago, Illinois
1968	Wakayama, Osaka, Japan	1–0	Richmond, Virginia
1969	Taichung, Taiwan	5–0	Santa Clara, California
1970	Wayne, New Jersey	2–0	Campbell, California
1971	Tainan, Taiwan	12–3 (F/9)	Gary, Indiana
1972	Taipei, Taiwan	6–0	Hammond, Indiana
1973	Tainan, Taiwan	12–0	Tucson, Arizona
1974	Kaohsiung, Taiwan	12–1	Red Bluff, California
1975*	Lakewood, New Jersey	4–3	Tampa, Florida
1976	Chofu, Tokyo, Japan	10–3	Campbell, California
1977	Kaohsiung, Taiwan	7–2	El Cajon, California
1978	Pingtung, Taiwan	11–1	Danville, California
1979	Chiayi County, Taiwan	2–1 (F/8)	Campbell, California
1980	Hua-Lien, Taiwan	4–3	Tampa, Florida
1981	Taichung, Taiwan	4–2	Tampa, Florida
1982	Kirkland, Washington	6–0	Chiayi, Taiwan
1983	Marietta, Georgia	3–1	Barahona, Dominican Republic
1984	Seoul, South Korea	6–2	Altamonte Springs, Florida
1985	Seoul, South Korea	7–1	/ Mexicali, BC/Calexico, CA
1986	Tainan, Taiwan	12–0	Tucson, Arizona
1987	Hua-Lien, Taiwan	21–1	Irvine, California
1988	Taichung, Taiwan	10–0	Pearl City, Hawaii
1989	Trumbull, Connecticut	5–2	Kaohsiung, Taiwan
1990	Tainan County, Taiwan	9–0	Shippensburg, Pennsylvania
1991	Taichung, Taiwan	11–0	San Ramon Valley, California
1992	Long Beach, California	6–0‡	‡Zamboanga City, Philippines
1993	Long Beach, California	3–2	David, Chiriquí, Panama
1994	Maracaibo, Venezuela	4–3	Northridge, California
1995	Tainan, Taiwan	17–3 (F/5)	Spring, Texas
1996	Kaohsiung, Taiwan	13–3 (F/5)	Cranston, Rhode Island
1997	Guadalupe, Nuevo León, Mexico	5–4	South Mission Viejo, California
1998	Toms River, New Jersey	12–9	Kashima, Japan
1999	Hirakata, Osaka, Japan	5–0	Phenix City, Alabama
2000	Maracaibo, Venezuela	3–2	Bellaire, Texas
2001	Tokyo Kitasuna, Tokyo, Japan	2–1	Apopka, Florida
2002	Pleasure Ridge Park, Kentucky	1–0	Sendai, Japan
2003	Musashi-Fuchu, Tokyo, Japan	10–1	East Boynton Beach, Florida
2004	Willemstad, Curaçao	5–2	Thousand Oaks, California
2005	Ewa Beach, Hawaii	7–6 (F/7)	Willemstad, Curaçao
2006	Columbus, Georgia	2–1	Kawaguchi City, Japan
2007	Warner Robins, Georgia	3–2 (F/8)	Tokyo, Japan
2008	Waipahu, Hawaii	12–3	Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico
2009	Chula Vista, California	6–3	Taoyuan County, Taiwan
2010	Edogawa Minami, Tokyo, Japan	4–1	Waipahu, Hawaii
2011	Huntington Beach, California	2–1	Hamamatsu City, Japan
2012	Tokyo-Kitasuna, Tokyo, Japan	12–2 (F/5)	Goodlettsville, Tennessee
2013	Musashi-Fuchu, Tokyo, Japan	6–4	Chula Vista, California
2014	Seoul, South Korea	8–4	‡Chicago, Illinois
2015	Tokyo-Kitasuna, Tokyo, Japan	18–11	Lewisberry, Pennsylvania
2016	Maine-Endwell, New York	2–1	Seoul, South Korea
2017	Tokyo-Kitasuna, Tokyo, Japan	12–2 (F/5)	Lufkin, Texas
2018	Honolulu, Hawaii	3–0	Seoul, South Korea
2019	River Ridge, Louisiana	8–0	Willemstad, Curaçao
2020	Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic[20][21]

^‡ Forfeits due to ineligible players:

1. Zamboanga City, Philippines, was disqualified and stripped of its 1992 world championship; the world championship was reallocated to Long Beach, California.
2. Chicago was disqualified and stripped of the U.S. championship in 2014; the U.S. championship was reallocated to Las Vegas, Nevada, which lost the U.S. championship match to Chicago.

The first broadcast of the Little League World Series on television was on ABC Sports (now ESPN on ABC) in 1963. For years, only the championship game was televised. Since the late 1980s, when the tournament was reorganized, both the U.S. and international championships, the "semifinals", have been shown. As the years passed, more telecasts were added on ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2. In 2006, 28 of the 36 games were televised on the three networks. In addition, several regional tournament games, which are qualifiers for the LLWS, are televised on ESPN during the days leading up to the LLWS.

The 2006 world championship game was to be the last telecast on ABC Sports before ESPN's complete takeover of the sports division and name change. However, the final was postponed one day because of rain and was shown by ESPN2.

In January 2007, it was announced that ESPN, ESPN2, and ABC had extended their contract with the Little League organization through 2014.[27] That year, every game of the LLWS was scheduled to be televised for the first time, with all but one game live on ESPN, ESPN2, or ABC. (The other game was to be available online at ESPN360, then shown on ESPN2 the next day.) In addition, a number of games were to be shown in high-definition on ESPN, ESPN2, and ABC. The championship games in all other divisions, as well as the semifinals and finals of the Little League Softball World Series, was scheduled for either ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU.[27]

In June 2011, it was announced that ESPN would add 17 games to its schedule on ESPN 3D.[28]

Coverage of the qualifying games has increased substantially in the US within the past decade: as of 2018, all regional group games (with the exception of the Southwest region) are available via subscription online through the ESPN+ platform, with the last three games of each regional tournament on an ESPN network. The aforementioned Southwest regional games are aired in full on the Longhorn Network (itself owned by ESPN). The increased level of participation, competition, and publicity of the Little League World Series in recent years has established a trend in the opposite direction of many other preteen sports.

Most LLWS games are broadcast live on local radio station WRAK 1400AM, which is owned by Clear Channel. The radio broadcasts are also streamed online at the LLWS page at littleleague.org.

Each of the other eleven divisions of Little League Baseball has its own World Series format (including three in boys' softball).

• List of Little League World Series champions by division
• List of Little League World Series broadcasters
• Little League World Series on television
• The Little League World Series Baseball video game series published by Activision
• Mexico in the Little League World Series
• Amateur baseball in the United States
• List of organized baseball leagues
• Baseball awards § World (world, international-bracket, and regional champions)
• Baseball awards § U.S. youth baseball (national, regional, and state champions)

Media related to Little League World Series at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website
• Peter J. McGovern Little League Museum
• The Little League Baseball International Tournament (comprehensive information on district, sectional, state/provincial/country, and regional tournaments). Unpage Publications