The Junior League Softball World Series is a softball tournament for girls aged between 12 and 14. [1] The tournament is administered by Little League Baseball, Inc. and is held annually in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland, Washington.
The tournament started in 1999, and is a true "World Series" since ten regions from around the world send in teams:
The ten teams are divided into two pools of five members each. [3] The two best teams from each pool then advance to the semi-finals. The winners in the semi-finals play for the championship. All matches are single-elimination games. The losing teams face off in classification games for third through tenth place.
| Flag | Winner | Total | Years |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Maunabo, Puerto Rico | 4 | 2007, 2009, 2010, 2016 |
 | Naples, Florida | 3 | 2000, 2001, 2006 |
| | Tampa, Florida | 3 | 2013, 2015, 2019 |
 | Santa Clara, Utah | 1 | 2018 |
 | Anchorage, Alaska | 1 | 2012 |
 | Greensburg, Pennsylvania | 1 | 2014 |
 | Croswell, Michigan | 1 | 2011 |
| | Jenison, Michigan | 1 | 2022 |
 | Oro Valley, Arizona | 1 | 2008 |
| | Lake Wales, Florida | 1 | 2005 |
 | Poland, Ohio | 1 | 2017 |
 | South Bend, Indiana | 1 | 2004 |
 | Bacolod, Philippines | 1 | 2003 |
| | Bago, Philippines | 1 | 2023 |
 | Utrecht, Netherlands | 1 | 2002 |
 | Woodway-Hewitt, Texas | 1 | 1999 |
Little League Baseball and Softball is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, United States, that organizes local youth baseball and softball leagues throughout the United States and the rest of the world.
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.
USA Baseball is the national governing body for organized baseball in the United States, and is a member of the United States Olympic Committee and the World Baseball Softball Confederation. The organization selects and trains the World Baseball Classic, Olympic, Premier12, and Pan American Games teams ; the USA Baseball collegiate national team; the USA Baseball 18U, 15U, and 12U national teams; and the USA Baseball women's national team, all of which participate in various international competitions each year. In addition, USA Baseball selects players for the 14U, 16U, and 17U national team-development programs. The organization is responsible for the continued proliferation and health of the sport, and leads a number of amateur initiatives through its Sport Development department, including Play Ball and Pitch Smart. USA Baseball also presents the Golden Spikes Award annually to the top amateur baseball player in the country and is responsible for creating the USABat standard.
Professional baseball leagues, amateur-baseball organizations, sportswriting associations, and other groups confer awards on various baseball teams, players, managers, coaches, executives, broadcasters, writers, and other baseball-related people for excellence in achievement, sportsmanship, and community involvement.
The United States national baseball team, also known as Team USA represents the United States in international-level baseball competitions. The team is currently ranked 2nd in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation. The United States has won many international tournaments, many of which are now discontinued. Most notably the team won the Olympic baseball tournament in 2000, and the World Baseball Classic (WBC) in 2017.
PONY Baseball and Softball is a non-profit organization with headquarters in Washington, Pennsylvania. Started in 1951, PONY organizes youth baseball and softball leagues and tournaments, as over 500,000 players annually play PONY in over 4,000 leagues throughout the United States and over 40 countries world-wide. The televised Pony League World Series held annually in August at Washington's Lew Hays Pony Field attracts teenage teams from around the world. Membership is open to children and young adults from age 4 to 23 and the leagues are organized in two-year age brackets with "and-under" programs. Hundreds of PONY players have gone on to Major League Baseball careers, including Hall of Fame inductees Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr.
Amateur baseball is baseball in which the players either are not paid for playing, or receive only a modest stipend or employment arranged by the team's boosters. Amateur baseball is played in the United States by players of all ages, from young children to adults.
Jessica Ofelia Mendoza is an American sportscaster and former softball player. Currently, she serves as a color commentator and analyst for ESPN's coverage of Major League Baseball and Los Angeles Dodgers coverage on Spectrum SportsNet LA. As a softball outfielder, Mendoza was a collegiate four-time First Team All-American and two-time Olympic medalist. Mendoza played from 1999 to 2002 at Stanford and was a member of the United States women's national softball team from 2004 to 2010. She won a gold medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens and a silver medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. She played professionally in National Pro Fastpitch and was named 2011 Player of the Year and currently ranks in the top 10 for career batting average and slugging percentage. She was an analyst on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball from 2016 to 2019. She was dropped from the Sunday Night Baseball broadcast after the 2019 season but remains an ESPN baseball analyst. Mendoza was named by fans and experts to the Greatest College Softball Team as an outfielder, one of only three to achieve the honor.
Wayne Leon Graham is the former head coach of the Rice Owls baseball team in Houston, Texas. He has coached one College World Series championship team and five NJCAA World Series championship teams. Also a former professional baseball player, Graham played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets.
Intermediate, Junior, and Senior League Baseball are youth baseball divisions of Little League Baseball that are considered more advanced and difficult than younger Little League divisions due to more advanced rules, including the ability to lead-off and steal as the pitcher breaks, along with longer base paths and greater pitching distance. Junior League also includes the use of bats with 2+5⁄8-inch (6.7 cm) barrels rather than the transitional 2+1⁄4-inch (5.7 cm) barrels of Little League. Junior League also allows the use of metal spikes in cleats in addition to the molded or plastic spikes used in Little League. The Big League level was a former division for even older teens until it was discontinued for both baseball and softball after the 2016 Big League World Series.
The Junior League World Series is a baseball tournament for children aged 12, 13, and 14 years old. The tournament is held annually at Heritage Park in Taylor, Michigan. It is patterned after the Little League World Series, which was named for the World Series in Major League Baseball.
The Israel National Baseball Team represents Israel in international competitions. It is managed by Ian Kinsler.
2014 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.
The Northwest Region is one of ten United States regions that currently send teams to the Little League World Series, the largest youth baseball competition in the world. The region's participation in the LLWS dates back to 1957, when it was known as the West Region. However, when the LLWS was expanded in 2001 from eight teams to 16 teams, the Western Region was split into the Northwest and West Regions.
The West Region is one of ten United States regions that currently send teams to the Little League World Series, the largest youth baseball competition in the world. The region's participation in the LLWS dates back to 1957, when it was known as the West Region. However, when the LLWS was expanded in 2001 from eight teams to 16 teams, the former West Region was split into the Northwest Region and a new West Region. The West Region headquarters is in San Bernardino, California.
The Senior League World Series is a baseball tournament for adolescence aged 13 to 16 years old that began in 1961. In 2017, the tournament was moved from Bangor, Maine to Easley, South Carolina. It is patterned after the Little League World Series, which was named for the World Series in Major League Baseball since 2002.
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 Babe Ruth League is an international youth baseball and softball league based in Hamilton, New Jersey, US named after George Herman "Babe" Ruth.
The 2017 NCAA Division I softball tournament was held from May 18 through June 7, 2017, as the final part of the 2017 NCAA Division I softball season. The 64 participating NCAA Division I college softball teams were selected out of an eligible 293 teams on May 14, 2017. Thirty-two teams were awarded automatic bids as champions of their conferences, and the remaining 32 were selected at-large by the NCAA Division I softball selection committee. The tournament culminated with eight teams playing in the 2017 Women's College World Series at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City. Oklahoma would repeat as National Champions, defeating Florida in 2 games and 17 innings in the first game. Oklahoma became the lowest seeded team to ever win the National Championship, winning as the 10 seed.
John Richard Rittman is an American college softball coach, serving as the inaugural head coach of the Clemson Tigers softball team. He previously served as head coach at Stanford and an assistant with USA Softball, Kansas, Washington, Minnesota, and Oregon.
| United States |  | |
|---|---|---|
| International |
| |
| World Series | ||
| Notable figures | ||
| Honors | ||
| Popular culture |
| |
| Well-known players | ||
| Related | ||
International softball | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
| Men's world events |  | |
| Women's world events | ||
| Mixed world events | ||
| Other world events | ||
| Defunct events | ||
| Africa | ||
| Americas | ||
| Asia | ||
| Europe | ||
| Oceania | ||
