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.
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 College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is an annual baseball tournament held in June in Omaha, Nebraska. The MCWS is the culmination of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Baseball Championship tournament—featuring 64 teams in the first round—which determines the NCAA Division I college baseball champion. The eight participating teams are split into two, four-team, double-elimination brackets, with the winners of each bracket playing in a best-of-three championship series.
A bracket or tournament bracket is a tree diagram that represents the series of games played during a knockout tournament. Different knockout tournament formats have different brackets; the simplest and most common is that of the single-elimination tournament. The name "bracket" is American English, derived from the resemblance of the links in the tree diagram to the bracket punctuation symbol ] or [. The closest British term is draw, although this implies an element of chance, whereas some brackets are determined entirely by seeding.
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.
A double-elimination tournament is a type of elimination tournament competition in which a participant ceases to be eligible to win the tournament's championship upon having lost two games or matches. It stands in contrast to a single-elimination tournament, in which only one defeat results in elimination.
Repechage is a practice in series competitions that allows participants who failed to meet qualifying standards by a small margin to continue to the next round. A well known example is the wild card system.
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.
In sport, a bye is the preferential status of a player or team that is automatically advanced to the next round of a tournament, without having to play an opponent in an early round.
The Junior League Softball World Series is a softball tournament for girls aged between 12 and 14. The tournament is administered by Little League Baseball, Inc. and is held annually in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland, Washington.
The Southeastern Conference baseball tournament is the conference tournament in baseball for the Southeastern Conference (SEC). It is a partially double-elimination tournament and seeding is based on regular season conference records. The winner receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I baseball tournament. The SEC Tournament champion is separate from the conference champion. The conference championship is determined solely by regular season record.
The Atlantic Coast Conference baseball tournament, sometimes referred to simply as the ACC tournament, is the conference championship tournament in baseball for the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). In 2017, the event adopted a modified twelve-team pool play format. The winner receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I baseball tournament.
The Big 12 Conference baseball tournament is the conference championship tournament in baseball for the Big 12 Conference. Going back to the original format abandoned in 2005, the tournament consists of two separate four-team double-elimination tournaments. The winners of each of those tournament face each other in a one-game match for the championship. The winner receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I baseball tournament.
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 Big League World Series was a baseball tournament for youth aged 15 to 18 years old that began in 1968. On August 26, 2016, Little League International announced that it was eliminating the Big League Level of both baseball and softball. It was patterned after the Little League World Series, which was named for the World Series in Major League Baseball. Most recently, the tournament was held in Easley, South Carolina.
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 Intermediate League World Series is a baseball tournament for children aged 11 to 13 years old that began in 2013. It is patterned after the Little League World Series, which was named for the World Series in Major League Baseball. The tournament is held in Livermore, California.
The 2017 Senior League World Series took place from July 29–August 5 in Easley, South Carolina, United States. Aguadulce, Panama defeated Coral Springs, Florida in the championship game. This was the first SLWS held in Easley.
Qualification for the 2019 Little League World Series took place in eight United States regions and eight international regions from June through August 2019.
Guayama, Puerto Rico 
Taiwan (17)
