Little League World Series
Updated: 12/11/2025, 8:38:37 AM Wikipedia source
The Little League World Series is an annual baseball tournament by Little League Baseball for children (primarily boys) aged 10 to 12 years old, held in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Originally called the National Little League Tournament, it was later renamed for the World Series in Major League Baseball. The Series was first held in 1947 and is held every August in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania; while the postal address of the organization is in Williamsport, the Series itself is played at Howard J. Lamade Stadium and Volunteer Stadium at the Little League headquarters complex in South Williamsport. Initially, only teams from the United States competed in the Series, but it has since become a worldwide tournament. The tournament has gained popular renown, especially in the United States, where games from the Series and even from regional tournaments are broadcast on ESPN. Teams from the United States have won a plurality of the series, although from 1969 to 1991 teams from Taiwan dominated the series, winning in 15 out of those 23 years. From 2010 through 2017, teams from Japan similarly dominated the series, winning five of those matchups. While the Little League Baseball World Series is frequently referred to as just the Little League World Series, it is actually one of seven World Series tournaments sponsored by Little League International, in different locations. Each of them brings community teams from different Little League International regions around the world together in baseball (four age divisions) and girls' softball (three age divisions). The tournament structure described here is that used for the Little League Baseball World Series. The structure used for the other World Series is similar, but with different regions.
Infobox
Tables
| Tournament Year | Number of teams | Notes |
| 1947–1948 | By invitation | |
| 1949–2000 | 8 | |
| 2001–2021 | 16 | |
| 2022–present | 20 |
| Year | Name | State/Country |
| 1984 | Victoria Roche | Brussels, Belgium |
| 1989 | Victoria Brucker | San Pedro, California |
| 1990 | Kelly Craig | Trail, British Columbia |
| 1991 | Giselle Hardy | Dhahran, Saudi Arabia |
| 1994 | Krissy Wendell | Brooklyn Center, Minnesota |
| 1998 | Sayaka Tsushima | Kashima, Japan |
| 1999 | Alicia Hunolt | Ramstein Air Base, Germany |
| 2001 | Tatiana Maltseva | Moscow, Russia |
| 2002 | Sanoe Aina | Waipio, Hawaii |
| 2003 | Merced Flores | Hagåtña, Guam |
| 2004 | Meghan Sims | Owensboro, Kentucky |
| Alexandra Bellini | Ottawa, Ontario | |
| 2008 | Brielle Meno | Yona, Guam |
| 2009 | Katie Reyes | Vancouver, British Columbia |
| Bryn Stonehouse | Dhahran, Saudi Arabia | |
| 2013 | Eliska Stejsklova | Brno, Czech Republic |
| 2014 | Emma March | Vancouver, British Columbia |
| Mo'ne Davis | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | |
| 2019 | Maddy Freking | Coon Rapids, Minnesota |
| 2021 | Ella Bruning | Abilene, Texas |
| 2022 | Falynn Randall | Santa Clara, Utah |
| 2023 | Stella Weaver | Nolensville, Tennessee |
| 2024 | Emma Gainsford | Sydney, New South Wales |
| 2025 | Monica Arcuri | Brisbane, Queensland |
| Rank | Team | Titles | Years |
| – | United States | 40 | 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1970, 1975, 1982, 1983, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1998, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 |
| 1 | Taiwan | 18 | 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1995, 1996, 2025 |
| 2 | Japan | 11 | 1967, 1968, 1976, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017 |
| 3 | California | 8 | 1961, 1962, 1963, 1992‡, 1993, 2009, 2011, 2023 |
| 4 | Pennsylvania | 4 | 1947, 1948, 1955, 1960 |
| Connecticut | 1951, 1952, 1965, 1989 | ||
| New Jersey | 1949, 1970, 1975, 1998 | ||
| Hawaii | 2005, 2008, 2018, 2022 | ||
| 8 | Mexico | 3 | 1957, 1958, 1997 |
| Georgia | 1983, 2006, 2007 | ||
| South Korea | 1984, 1985, 2014 | ||
| New York | 1954, 1964, 2016 | ||
| 12 | Texas | 2 | 1950, 1966 |
| Venezuela | 1994, 2000 | ||
| Michigan | 1959, 2021 | ||
| 15 | Alabama | 1 | 1953 |
| New Mexico | 1956 | ||
| Washington | 1982 | ||
| Kentucky | 2002 | ||
| Curaçao | 2004 | ||
| Louisiana | 2019 | ||
| Florida | 2024 |
| Division | Location | Years active | Age of players | Series |
| Little League Baseball | South Williamsport, Pennsylvania | 1947–present | 11–12 years old | Little League World Series |
| Little League Intermediate Division | Livermore, California | 2013–present | 11–13 years old | Intermediate Little League World Series |
| Junior League Baseball | Taylor, Michigan | 1981–present | 13–14 years old | Junior League World Series |
| Senior League Baseball | Easley, South Carolina | 1961–present | 14–16 years old | Senior League World Series |
| Big League Baseball | Easley, South Carolina | 1968–2016 | 16–18 years old | Big League World Series |
| Little League Softball | Greenville, North Carolina | 1974–present | 11–12 years old | Little League World Series (softball) |
| Junior League Softball | Kirkland, Washington | 1999–present | 12–14 years old | Junior League World Series (softball) |
| Senior League Softball | Sussex County, Delaware | 1976–present | 13–16 years old | Senior League World Series (softball) |
| Big League Softball | Sussex County, Delaware | 1982–2016 | 14–18 years old | Big League World Series (softball) |
References
- Only four teams participated in the 1957 and 1975 tournament, while only seven teams participated in the 1958, 1959 and
- No tournament was held in 2020. The sixteen teams participated in the 2021 tournament were all from the US.
- Little League World Serieshttps://www.littleleague.org/world-series/
- Little League Internationalhttps://www.littleleague.org/world-series/
- World Series History Archived 2010-08-17 at the Wayback Machinehttp://www.littleleague.org/learn/about/worldserieshistory.htm
- "Associated Terms of Little League"https://www.littleleague.org/associated-terms-of-little-league/
- For an overview of Little League's tournament process, go to Japanese Regional Little League Tournament Historical Resulhttp://www.unpage.org/japan
- Little League Internationalhttps://web.archive.org/web/20130515112047/http://www.littleleague.org/series/history/statechamp/index.htm
- "Unpage"http://www.unpage.org
- Unpage Publicationshttp://www.unpage.org/canada/
- Little League Baseballhttps://www.littleleague.org/news/little-league-baseball-and-little-league-softball-world-series-to-expand-in-2021/
- "Regions Realigned for 2013: Australia to Play in Little League Baseball World Series"https://web.archive.org/web/20120923225531/http://www.littleleague.org/media/newsarchive/2012/May-Aug/RegionsRealignedfor2013WS.htm
- https://www.littleleague.org/world-series/2025/llbws/bracket/https://www.littleleague.org/world-series/2025/llbws/bracket/
- See: Little League World Series (Far East Region) § 1975 Ban.
- [1] Archived April 19, 2010, at the Wayback Machinehttp://www.littleleague.org/media/newsarchive/2010/Jan-Apr/FormatChangeToLLBBWSFor2010.htm
- Little Leaguehttps://web.archive.org/web/20110620145508/http://www.littleleague.org/media/newsarchive/2011/May-Aug/2011LLBBWSScheduleAnnounced.htm
- "2012 Little League Baseball World Series Schedule"https://web.archive.org/web/20120822114409/http://www.littleleague.org/AssetFactory.aspx?vid=168487
- Moscow-Pullman Daily Newshttps://news.google.com/newspapers?id=G7wjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=rNAFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5394%2C784828
- ESPN.comhttps://www.espn.com/moresports/story/_/id/17337253/little-league-world-series-mexico-little-league-world-series-team-embraces-legacy-legendary-little-giants
- LittleLeague.orghttps://web.archive.org/web/20090501222249/http://www.littleleague.org/media/2009llbbseriesinfo.htm
- Little Leaguehttps://www.littleleague.org/girls-with-game/girls-who-have-played-in-little-league-baseball-world-series/
- Smithsonian.comhttp://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-little-league-world-series-only-perfect-game-12835685/?no-ist
- [Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. December 31, 1975. p. 2B.]https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=MHZfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ci8MAAAAIBAJ&pg=2452%2C9746929
- seattletimes.comhttp://www.seattletimes.com/sports/other-sports/1982-kirkland-story-retold/
- littleleague.orghttps://www.littleleague.org/news/little-league-cancels-2020-world-series-and-region-tournaments
- Sporting Newshttps://www.sportingnews.com/us/mlb/news/little-league-world-series-2021-teams-international/1quhw89lz60ag170qntq5za9sz
- Los Angeles Timeshttps://www.latimes.com/sports/la-xpm-2011-aug-16-la-sp-0816-little-league-baseball-20110817-story.html
- Lewiston Morning Tribunehttps://news.google.com/newspapers?id=MHZfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ci8MAAAAIBAJ&pg=2452%2C9746929
- See: Mexico in the Little League World Series.
- ”Taiwan, once dominant, to return to Little League”. Associated Press Newswires, 25 April 2003
- Daily Presshttps://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-press-its-true-almonte-is-age-14/125628585/
- Little League Baseballhttps://www.littleleague.org/who-we-are/alumni/major-leaguers-played-llbws/
- From Little League to the major leagueshttps://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/13475684/from-little-league-major-leagues?sf12419403=1
- LittleLeague.orghttps://web.archive.org/web/20071030224248/http://www.littleleague.org/media/tv_lineup_07.asp
- Little Leaguehttps://web.archive.org/web/20121012071206/http://www.littleleague.org/media/newsarchive/2011/May-Aug/ESPN3DAddsLittleLeagueWorldSeriesGamestoitsBroadcastSchedule.htm
- "Little League eliminates Big League division in both baseball and softball"https://www.pennlive.com/little-league-world-series/2016/08/little_league_eliminates_big_l.html
- "Softball – Divisions of Play"https://web.archive.org/web/20160913204706/http://www.littleleague.org/media/softball/softballdivisions.htm?FullPageView=True