2001 Little League World Series

2001 Little League World Series
Tournament details
Dates	August 17–August 26
Teams	16
Final positions
Champions	Kitasuna Little League; Tokyo, Japan
Runner-up	National Little League; Apopka, Florida
	← 2000 2002 →

Last updated August 19, 2024

The 2001 Little League World Series took place between August 17 and August 26 in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The Kitasuna Little League of Tokyo, Japan, defeated Apopka National Little League of Apopka, Florida, in the championship game of the 55th Little League World Series. This tournament saw the expansion of pool play to 16 teams, eight from the United States, and eight from around the world. This was the first LLWS to use Little League Volunteer Stadium; it was built to accommodate games added to the pool stage and to host the tournament's consolation game for third place.

Age controversy

Following the conclusion of the tournament, Danny Almonte, a pitcher from the Bronx, New York, team representing the Mid-Atlantic Region, was the center of a scandal when it was discovered that he was not eligible to play in the tournament because he was two years over the maximum age limit. Because of this, the Mid-Atlantic team was retroactively assessed a forfeit for each game they won in the tournament.^[1] The team's statistics, including a perfect game thrown by Almonte, were also invalidated.^[1]

Qualification

Between five and twelve teams take part in 16 regional qualification tournaments, which vary in format depending on region. In the United States, the qualification tournaments are in the same format as the Little League World Series itself: a round-robin tournament followed by an elimination round to determine the regional champion.

Pool A	Pool B	Pool C	Pool D
Lincoln, Rhode Island New England Lincoln Little League	Bronx, New York Mid-Atlantic Rolando Paulino Little League	Santiago de Veraguas, Panama Latin America Santiago de Veraguas Little League	Hagåtña, Guam Pacific Guam Little League
Oceanside, California West Oceanside American Little League	Bainbridge Island, Washington Northwest Bainbridge Island Little League	Willemstad, Curaçao Caribbean Pariba Little League	Calgary, Alberta Canada Calgary West Little League
Brownsburg, Indiana Great Lakes Brownsburg Little League	Davenport, Iowa Midwest Davenport East Little League	Dhahran, Saudi Arabia Transatlantic Arabian-American Little League	Moscow, Russia Europe Khovrino Little League
Lake Charles, Louisiana Gulf States South Lake Charles Little League	Apopka, Florida Southeast Apopka National Little League	Tokyo, Japan Asia Kitasuna Little League	Matamoros, Tamaulipas Mexico Matamoros Little League

Pool play

The top two teams in each pool moved on to the elimination round.

United States

**Pool A**
Region	Record
Indiana	3–0
California	2–1
Louisiana	1–2
Rhode Island	0–3

**Pool B**
Region	Record
Florida	2–1
Washington	1–2‡
Iowa	0–3
New York	0–3†

† Bronx, New York, won all three of their pool games, but were
later assessed forfeits due to their use of an ineligible player.^[1]
‡ Bainbridge Island, Washington, was retroactively placed second
in Pool B due to the Bronx forfeits.

August 17

Rhode Island	0–8	California
Indiana	2–0	Louisiana

August 18

New York	Forfeit^{[lower-alpha 1]}	Florida
Washington	4–3	Iowa
Rhode Island	1–5	Indiana

August 19

Florida	2–0	Washington
California	5–2	Louisiana

August 20

Iowa	Forfeit^{[lower-alpha 2]}	New York
Rhode Island	2–5	Louisiana
Indiana	2–1	California

August 21

Washington	Forfeit^{[lower-alpha 3]}	New York
Florida	10–3	Iowa

International

**Pool C**
Region	Record
Curaçao	2–1
Japan	2–1
Saudi Arabia	1–2
Panama	1–2

**Pool D**
Region	Record
Guam	3–0
Mexico	2–1
Canada	1–2
Russia	0–3

August 17

Transatlantic

2–4

Asia

August 18

Mexico	5–6	Pacific
Caribbean	3–2	Latin America
Europe	1–5	Canada

August 19

Transatlantic

3–10

Caribbean

August 20

Canada	5–6	Mexico
Europe	0–5	Pacific
Asia	1–6	Latin America

August 21

Pacific	6–5	Canada
Mexico	2–0	Europe
Asia	4–2	Caribbean
Transatlantic	11–0^† (5 innings)	Latin America

† Game ended by "mercy rule" (at least 10-run difference through 5 innings)

Elimination rounds

The 2001 Little League World Series was the first edition that had a female umpire call the championship game: Flora Stansbury from Seneca, Missouri. U.S. President George W. Bush, himself a little leaguer as a child, was also in attendance at the championship game. Nobuhisa Baba's single in the bottom of the sixth drove in the winning run.^[5]

Quarter-finals		Semi-finals		Final

August 22 - Lamade Game ended by mercy rule

Tokyo, Japan	15
		August 25 - Lamade
Matamoros, Mexico	5
		Tokyo, Japan	2
August 23 - Lamade
		Willemstad, Curaçao	1
Hagåtňa, Guam	3
				August 26 - Lamade
Willemstad, Curaçao	4
				Tokyo, Japan	2
August 22 - Lamade
				Apopka, Florida	1
Brownsburg, Indiana	1
		August 25 - Lamade^[6]
Apopka, Florida	6
		Apopka, Florida	8
August 23 - Lamade Forfeit^{[lower-alpha 4]}
		Bronx, New York	2	Third place
Bronx, New York	0
				August 26 - Volunteer Forfeit^{[lower-alpha 5]}
Oceanside, California	6
				Bronx, New York	0

				Willemstad, Curaçao	6

2001 Little League World Series Champions
Kitasuna Little League Tokyo, Japan

Champions' path

The Kitasuna LL reached the LLWS with an undefeated record of four wins and no losses.^[9] In total, their record was 9–1, their only loss coming in the LLWS qualifying round against Santiago de Veraguas LL of Panama.

Round	Opposition	Result
All-Tokyo Tournament
Opening Round	Ryuugasaki LL	11–4
Quarterfinals	Suzaka LL	6–1
Semifinals	Matsusaka LL	12–8
Japan Championship	Nagoya Kita LL	5–4

Notable players

Danny Almonte (Moca, Dominican Republic)
Francisco Peña (Bronx, New York), Major League Baseball catcher and son of Tony Peña
Rubén Tejada (Santiago de Veraguas, Panama), Major League Baseball infielder

Notes

↑ Win (5–0) by the Bronx^[2] later ruled a forfeit due to an ineligible player.
↑ Win (7–4) by the Bronx^[3] later ruled a forfeit due to an ineligible player.
↑ Win (5–0) by the Bronx^[4] later ruled a forfeit due to an ineligible player.
↑ Win (1–0) by the Bronx^[7] later ruled a forfeit due to an ineligible player.
↑ Win (9–1) by the Bronx^[8] later ruled a forfeit due to an ineligible player.

Related Research Articles

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Danny Almonte Rojas is a Dominican-American former baseball player who is currently an assistant baseball coach at Cardinal Hayes High School in New York City. Born in Moca in the Dominican Republic, Almonte was a Little League pitcher who threw up to 79 miles per hour (127 km/h). Considered a phenomenon as he led his Bronx team to a third-place finish in the 2001 Little League World Series, Almonte was revealed to have actually been two years too old to play Little League baseball. Although there were many allegations during the 2001 Series, the truth was not revealed until weeks later.

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References

1 2 3 "It's true: Almonte is age 14—Bronx must forfeit Little League wins". Daily Press . Newport News, Virginia. AP. September 1, 2001. p. B1. Retrieved May 31, 2023– via newspapers.com.
↑ "Bronx pitcher makes Little League history". Montgomery Advertiser . Montgomery, Alabama. August 19, 2001. p. 1B. Retrieved June 1, 2023– via newspapers.com.
↑ "Another gem lifts Bronx in Little League series". The Charlotte Observer . Charlotte, North Carolina. August 21, 2001. p. 1C. Retrieved June 1, 2023– via newspapers.com.
↑ "Youth Baseball". Tallahassee Democrat . Tallahassee, Florida. August 22, 2001. p. 2C. Retrieved June 1, 2023– via newspapers.com.
↑ "Baba rallies Japan to 2001 title". AP. August 26, 2001. Retrieved May 31, 2023.
↑ "Apopka, Tokyo to play for championship". Courier Journal . Louisville, Kentucky. AP. August 26, 2001. p. C7. Retrieved May 31, 2023– via newspapers.com.
↑ Scholfeld, Steve (August 24, 2001). "Oceanside loses 1-0 amid controversy". North County Times . Oceanside, California. p. 1. Retrieved May 31, 2023– via newspapers.com.
↑ "Almonte gives up first run in Bronx consolation romp". Muscatine Journal . Muscatine County, Iowa. AP. August 27, 2001. p. 1B. Retrieved May 31, 2023– via newspapers.com.
↑ "Japan Tournament Results". Unpage.com. Retrieved September 28, 2010.

External links

2001 official results via Wayback Machine

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[3] Win (5–0) by the Bronx^[2] later ruled a forfeit due to an ineligible player.

[5] Win (7–4) by the Bronx^[3] later ruled a forfeit due to an ineligible player.

[7] Win (5–0) by the Bronx^[4] later ruled a forfeit due to an ineligible player.

[11] Win (1–0) by the Bronx^[7] later ruled a forfeit due to an ineligible player.

[13] Win (9–1) by the Bronx^[8] later ruled a forfeit due to an ineligible player.

[forfeits-1] 1 2 3 "It's true: Almonte is age 14—Bronx must forfeit Little League wins". Daily Press . Newport News, Virginia. AP. September 1, 2001. p. B1. Retrieved May 31, 2023– via newspapers.com.

[2] "Bronx pitcher makes Little League history". Montgomery Advertiser . Montgomery, Alabama. August 19, 2001. p. 1B. Retrieved June 1, 2023– via newspapers.com.

[4] "Another gem lifts Bronx in Little League series". The Charlotte Observer . Charlotte, North Carolina. August 21, 2001. p. 1C. Retrieved June 1, 2023– via newspapers.com.

[6] "Youth Baseball". Tallahassee Democrat . Tallahassee, Florida. August 22, 2001. p. 2C. Retrieved June 1, 2023– via newspapers.com.

[8] "Baba rallies Japan to 2001 title". AP. August 26, 2001. Retrieved May 31, 2023.

[9] "Apopka, Tokyo to play for championship". Courier Journal . Louisville, Kentucky. AP. August 26, 2001. p. C7. Retrieved May 31, 2023– via newspapers.com.

[10] Scholfeld, Steve (August 24, 2001). "Oceanside loses 1-0 amid controversy". North County Times . Oceanside, California. p. 1. Retrieved May 31, 2023– via newspapers.com.

[12] "Almonte gives up first run in Bronx consolation romp". Muscatine Journal . Muscatine County, Iowa. AP. August 27, 2001. p. 1B. Retrieved May 31, 2023– via newspapers.com.

[14] "Japan Tournament Results". Unpage.com. Retrieved September 28, 2010.

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