The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be either a single game, a series of games, or a tournament, and may use a single-elimination system or one of several other different playoff formats. Playoff, in regard to international fixtures, is to qualify or progress to the next round of a competition or tournament.
The Little League World Series is an annual baseball tournament for children—typically boys—aged 10 to 12 years old, held in the Eastern United States. 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.
The Major League Baseball (MLB) season schedule generally consists of 162 games for each of the 30 teams in the American League (AL) and National League (NL), played over approximately six months—a total of 2,430 games, plus the postseason. The regular season runs from late March/early April to late September/early October, followed by the postseason which can run to early November. The season begins with the official Opening Day, and, as of 2018, runs 26½ weeks through the last Sunday of September or first Sunday of October. One or more International Opener games may be scheduled outside the United States or Canada before the official Opening Day. It is possible for a given team to play a maximum of 22 games in the postseason in a given year, provided the team is a wild card and advances to each of the Division Series, Championship Series, and World Series with each series going the distance.
There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the single elimination, the best-of- series, the total points series more commonly known as on aggregate, and the round-robin tournament.
The NCAA Division I Baseball Championship is held each year from May through June and features 64 college baseball teams in the United States, culminating in the eight-team Men's College World Series at Charles Schwab Field Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska.
The 2009 Little League World Series was the 63rd edition of the championship tournament for Little League baseball, held in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, from August 21 through August 30, 2009. Eight teams from the United States and eight from the rest of the world competed in the tournament. In the championship game, the United States champions, from Chula Vista, California, defeated the international champions from Taoyuan County, Taiwan. This was the first tournament in which a team representing Chinese Taipei reached the championship game since 1996, and the first championship for a team from the state of California since 1993.
The results of the 2010 Little League World Series were determined between August 20 and August 29, 2010 in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. 16 teams were divided into four groups, two with four teams from the United States and two with four international teams each, with both groups playing a double-elimination tournament. In each group, the last remaining team advanced to the single-elimination stage. The last remaining team from the United States faced the last remaining international team for the Little League World Series Championship.
The 2011 Little League World Series took place in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, between August 18 and 28. Eight teams from the United States and eight from throughout the world competed in the 65th edition of this tournament. Ocean View Little LeagueArchived 2011-12-28 at the Wayback Machine of Huntington Beach, California, defeated Hamamatsu Minami Little League of Hamamatsu City, Japan, 2–1 in the World Championship game. Nick Pratto hit an RBI single to clinch the title for Ocean View.
The results of the 2011 Little League World Series were determined between August 18 and August 28, 2011 in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. 16 teams were divided into two groups, one with eight teams from the United States and another with eight international teams, with both groups playing a modified double-elimination tournament. In each group, the last remaining undefeated team faced the last remaining team with one loss, with the winners of those games advancing to play for the Little League World Series championship. All times shown are US EDT.
The 2012 Little League World Series started in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, on August 16 and ended on August 26. Eight teams from the United States and eight from throughout the world competed in the 66th edition of this tournament. Tokyo Kitasuna Little League of Tokyo, Japan, defeated Goodlettsville Baseball Little League of Goodlettsville, Tennessee, 12–2 in the World Championship game. For the country of Japan, it was the eighth LLWS championship overall, and the second in three years. This was the last World Series to feature players born in the 1900s.
The results of the 2013 Little League World Series were determined between August 15 and August 25, 2013 in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. 16 teams were divided into two groups, one with eight teams from the United States and another with eight international teams, with both groups playing a modified double-elimination tournament. In each group, the last remaining undefeated team faced the last remaining team with one loss, with the winners of those games advancing to play for the Little League World Series championship.
The results of the 2014 Little League World Series was determined between August 14 and August 24, 2014 in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. 16 teams were divided into two groups, one with eight teams from the United States and another with eight international teams, with both groups playing a modified double-elimination tournament. In each group, the last remaining undefeated team faced the last remaining team with one loss, with the winners of those games advancing to play for the Little League World Series championship.
The results of the 2015 Little League World Series were determined between August 21 and August 30, 2015 in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The tournament was originally scheduled to begin on August 20, however inclement weather resulted in the postponement of all first day games. 16 teams were divided into two groups, one with eight teams from the United States and another with eight international teams, with both groups playing a modified double-elimination tournament. In each group, the last remaining undefeated team faced the last remaining team with one loss, with the winners of those games advancing to play for the Little League World Series championship.
The results of the 2016 Little League World Series was determined between August 18 and August 28, 2016 in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. 16 teams were divided into two groups, one with eight teams from the United States and another with eight international teams, with both groups playing a modified double-elimination tournament. In each group, the last remaining undefeated team faced the last remaining team with one loss, with the winners of those games advancing to play for the Little League World Series championship.
The results of the 2017 Little League World Series were determined between August 17 and August 27, 2017 in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. 16 teams were divided into two groups, one with eight teams from the United States and another with eight international teams, with both groups playing a modified double-elimination tournament. In each group, the last remaining undefeated team faced the last remaining team with one loss, with the winners of those games advancing to play for the Little League World Series championship.
The results of the 2018 Little League World Series were determined between August 16 and August 26, 2018 in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. 16 teams were divided into two groups, one with eight teams from the United States and another with eight international teams, with both groups playing a modified double-elimination tournament. In each group, the last remaining undefeated team faced the last remaining team with one loss, with the winners of those games advancing to play for the Little League World Series championship.
The 2019–2023 ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 is the first edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup League 2, a cricket tournament which forms part of the 2023 Cricket World Cup Qualification process. It is currently running from August 2019 to February 2023, with all matches played as One Day Internationals (ODIs). Each set of fixtures will take part as a tri-series.
The results of the 2019 Little League World Series were determined between August 15 and August 25, 2019 in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. 16 teams were divided into two groups, one with eight teams from the United States and another with eight international teams, with both groups playing a modified double-elimination tournament. In each group, the last remaining undefeated team faced the last remaining team with one loss, with the winners of those games advancing to play for the Little League World Series championship.
The results of the 2021 Little League World Series were determined during August 19–29, 2021, in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. A total of 16 teams from the United States were divided into two groups of eight teams, with both groups playing a modified double-elimination tournament. In each group, the last remaining undefeated team faced the last remaining team with one loss, with the winners of those games advancing to play for the Little League World Series championship. The two eight-team tournament brackets were named after Major League Baseball players and National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees Hank Aaron and Tom Seaver, who died in January 2021 and August 2020, respectively.
The results of the 2022 Little League World Series were determined between August 17 and August 28, 2022 in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Twenty teams were divided into two groups, one with ten teams from the United States and another with ten international teams, with both groups playing a modified double-elimination tournament. In each group, the last remaining undefeated team faced the last remaining team with one loss, with the winners of those games advancing to play for the Little League World Series championship. Hawaii, the United States champions, defeated Curaçao, the international champions, 13-3 to win the 2022 championship, their second title in four years.
CA 6◄ 
CT 4 
TN 12◄ 
NE 1 
NJ 2 
TX 5◄ 
OR 0 
IN 4◄ 
CUR 0 
JPN 7◄ 
TPE 14◄ 
GER 1 (F/4)
CAN 13◄ 
MEX 9 
UGA 3 
PAN 9◄