The top 12- and 13-year-old baseball teams on the planet are in Williamsport, Pennsylvania for the 2018 Little League World Series, and after 32 games over 11 days the kids from Honolulu, Hawaii won the championship.
Hawaii, representing the West Region on the United States bracket, won the U.S. title, then on Sunday beat the team from Seoul, South Korea, representing the Asia-Pacific Region while winning the international championship.
Pitching has been the name of the game for both teams in the finale. Hawaii allowed three total runs in five games, and pitched four shutouts, while South Korea permitted just seven runs.
Tournament preview
Actually, there will be two champs, with eight United States teams playing in one bracket and eight international teams in another. The U.S. and International bracket winners will face off for the 72nd overall Little League championship.
These teams have earned their trips to Williamsport through qualifying tournaments in their region or country over the last few weeks. Among the notable achievements were a no-hitter by the Gold Coast, Queensland team to win and represent Australia, and a perfect game by the Staten Island, New York team to earn the Mid-Atlantic spot in the tournament.
Teams
United States teams
Region | Team | City |
---|---|---|
Region | Team | City |
Great Lakes | Grosse Pointe Woods-Shores Little League | Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan |
Mid-Atlantic | Mid Island Little League | Staten Island, New York |
Midwest | Grandview Little League | Des Moines, Iowa |
New England | Coventry Little League | Coventry, Rhode Island |
Northwest | Coeur d'Alene Little League | Coeur d'Alene, Idaho |
Southeast | Peachtree City American Little League | Peachtree City, Georgia |
Southwest | Post Oak Little League | Houston, Texas |
West | Honolulu Little League | Honolulu, Hawaii |
International teams
Region | Team | City |
---|---|---|
Region | Team | City |
Asia-Pacific | South Seoul Little League | Seoul, South Korea |
Australia | Gold Coast Baseball Assoc. Little League | Gold Coast, Queensland |
Canada | Whalley Little League | Surrey, British Columbia |
Caribbean | Radames Lopez Little League | Guayama, Puerto Rico |
Europe-Africa | Catayuna Little League | Barcelona, Spain |
Japan | Kawaguchi Little League | Kawaguchi, Japan |
Latin America | Vacamonte Little League | La Chorrea, Panama |
Mexico | Matamoros Little League | Matamoros, Tamaulipas |
Format
The 16 teams are split into two groups, the United States and International. Each bracket is double-elimination until each side is down to two teams. The U.S. and International sides will each determine a winner of their bracket on Saturday, Aug. 25, with the winners facing off on Sunday, Aug. 26 for the Little League World Series championship.
Each game is six innings long, but could be shorter if a team is leading by 10 or more runs. There are two consolation games between the 0-2 teams to ensure that every team in the tournament will play at least three games.
History
International teams have won 37 of the 71 Little League World Series, including Japan in 2017, their 11th title. Taiwan has won the most championship with 17. The U.S. has won 34 titles, led by California’s seven.
Venues
The games will be played in two stadiums in Williamsport. The main park is Lamade Stadium, which holds 3,300 seats and will host the championship games and various others. Some games will be played at Volunteer stadium, with a capacity of roughly 3,000 seats.
Bracket
Television coverage
The ESPN family of networks will televise every game of the Little League World Series, with most of the games on ESPN, a few on ESPN2, and the championship games on ABC. Online streaming is available through Watch ESPN.
Schedule & results
All times ET
Thursday, Aug. 16
Game 1: Asia-Pacific def. Caribbean 4-2
Game 2: Mid-Atlantic def. Midwest, 5-2
Game 3: Mexico def. Australia, 3-2
Game 4: Southwest def. New England, 3-1
Friday, Aug. 17
Game 5: Japan def. Europe-Africa, 11-1
Game 6: Great Lakes def. Northwest, 5-4
Game 7: Latin America def. Canada, 8-3
Game 8: West def. Southeast, 2-0 (11 inn.)
Saturday, Aug. 18
Game 9: Caribbean def. Australia, 6-0
Game 10: Midwest def. New England, 9-5
Game 11: Canada def. Europe-Africa, 2-1
Game 12: Southeast def. Northwest, 3-0
Sunday, Aug. 19
Game 13: Asia-Pacific def. Mexico, 5-1
Game 14: Mid-Atlantic def. Southwest, 2-1
Game 15: Japan def. Latin America, 2-0
Game 16: West def. Great Lakes, 8-3
Monday, Aug. 20
Consolation Game A: New England def. Australia, 15-0
Game 17: Caribbean def. Latin America 3-1
Game 18: Great Lakes def. Midwest, 5-4
Game 19: Canada def. Mexico, 6-4
Game 20: Southeast def. Southwest, 7-6
Wednesday, Aug. 22
Game 21: Caribbean def. Canada, 9-4
Game 22: Southeast def. Great Lakes, 4-3
Game 23: Asia-Pacific def. Japan, 10-0
Game 24: West def. Mid-Atlantic, 10-0
Thursday, Aug. 23
Consolation Game B: Northwest def. Europe-Africa, 5-0
Game 25: Japan def. Caribbean, 1-0
Game 26: Southeast def. Mid-Atlantic, 7-3
Saturday, Aug. 25
International championship game: Asia-Pacific def. Japan, 2-1
U.S. championship game: West def. Southeast, 3-0
Sunday, Aug. 26
Third-place game: Japan def. Georgia, 8-2
Little League World Series championship game: Hawaii def. South Korea, 3-0