Most recent season or competition: 2024 Senior League World Series | |
Sport | Baseball |
---|---|
Founded | 1961 |
No. of teams | 12 |
Country | International |
Most recent champion(s) | Maracaibo, Venezuela |
Most titles | Taiwan (17) |
Official website | LittleLeague.org |
The Senior League World Series is a baseball tournament for adolescents aged 13 to 16 years old that began in 1961. [1] In 2017, the tournament was moved from Bangor, Maine to Easley, South Carolina. (Easley was the site of the Big League World Series from 2001 to 2016. The Big League division was discontinued after the 2016 Big League World Series.) It is patterned after the Little League World Series, which was named for the World Series in Major League Baseball since 2002.
The Senior League World Series is one of seven tournaments sponsored by Little League International. Each of them brings baseball or softball teams from around the world together in one of four age divisions. The tournament structure for each division's World Series is similar to that used for the Little League Baseball World Series.
The six United States regions are:
The six International regions are:
The teams are placed into two six-team modified-double-elimination brackets based on geography (US and International) The semi-final winners play for the championship, televised on a network of ESPN. All semi-final and championship matches are single-elimination games.
From 2002 to 2014, a pool-play format was used. Beginning in 2015, each pool plays a modified double-elimination format until only 2 teams remain in each pool. The two remaining teams in their respective pools then play in a single-elimination, semi-final match, with the two winning teams playing in the championship. From 1967–2002 the tournament was straight double-elimination, from 1961–66 it was single–elimination. From 1990 to 2001, a placement bracket was used to determine third place.
Before 2017, the Senior League was the only division of Little League that did not sort teams based on geography.
The Senior League World Series has been held at eight different sites. [2]
Country/State | Championships | Last |
---|---|---|
Taiwan | 17 | 1992 |
New York | 5 | 1968 |
Florida | 2001 | |
Venezuela | 4 | 2024 |
Southern California | 3 | 1998 |
East Texas | 2015 | |
Panama | 2017 | |
Hawaii | 2019 | |
Curaçao | 2023 | |
Mexico | 2 | 1965 |
New Jersey | 2008 | |
Pennsylvania | 1 | 1961 |
Northern California | 1969 | |
Delaware | 1981 | |
Ohio | 1987 | |
Dominican Republic | 1993 | |
Host | 1999 | |
Iowa | 2005 | |
Georgia | 2007 | |
Aruba | 2010 | |
Guatemala | 2012 | |
Illinois | 2016 | |
Puerto Rico | 2022 |
Little League Baseball and Softball is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania,, 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 a baseball tournament held each 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 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.
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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.
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The Big 12 Conference baseball tournament is the conference championship tournament in baseball for the Big 12 Conference. The winner receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I baseball tournament. The format has changed multiple times sincd the inaugural tournament was held in 1997, currently the top 10 teams qualify with the top two seeds receiving a first-round bye in two 5-team double-elimination brackets, and the semi-final winners playing in a single-elimination championship game.
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 due to low participation levels over the previous 15 years.
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, citing low participation levels over the previous 15 years. 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 2010 Little League World Series was held in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. It began on August 20 and ended on August 29. Eight teams from the United States and eight from throughout the world competed in the 64th edition of the Little League World Series. In the championship game, the international champions from Tokyo, Japan, defeated the United States champions from Waipahu, Hawaii. It was the seventh championship for Japan overall, and the first since 2003.
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 elsewhere in the world competed in the 65th edition of the Little League World Series. Ocean View Little League of Huntington Beach, California, defeated Hamamatsu Minami Little League of Hamamatsu City, Japan, in the championship game. Nick Pratto hit an RBI single to clinch the title for Ocean View.
The 2015 Big League World Series took place from July 28 - August 4 in Easley, South Carolina, United States. Guayama, Puerto Rico defeated Thousand Oaks, California in the championship game.
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 2002 Senior League World Series took place from August 11–17 in Bangor, Maine, United States. Willemstad, Curaçao defeated Boynton Beach, Florida in the championship game.
The 2015 Senior League World Series took place from August 2–8 in Bangor, Maine, United States. Houston, Texas defeated Holmes County, Ohio in the championship game. It was the second straight title for Houston's West University Little League.
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.