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The most comprehensive coverage of Little League Baseball's international tournament.

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@NDH330 @NDH330 @mikejohnson_2

Confirming that Little League will repeat the international rotation, with Panama and Puerto Rico having direct #LLWS qualification for 2025.

https://t.co/QYATAXEcA2

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We've been busy! New coverage areas for the Unpage site that are now live on the site:
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Cuba will kick off its national tournament with first round matchups beginning March 2. #LLWS

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@mikejohnson_2 @NDH330 They had affiliated elsewhere but it seems they are again chartered with Williamsport.

https://t.co/Y1rVSJUjIV

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Williamsport has typically leaned into countries with more charters when deciding who gets direct series access. What likely sparked the rotation is (1) direct access tightens the relationship with the Cuban baseball federation, and (2) it nods to the fact that Panama/PR had the most charters among legacy countries. Cuba has significantly more charters than either of these and the rotation sidestepped the new participant completely cutting to the front of the line at the expense of countries with 50+ years of affiliation.

Both Panama and PR have more charters than CTE or South Korea. If at some point there is another round of expansion, I'd expect they'd take everyone from the rotation and one of the AP countries.

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@FrankelynMachuc Yes. Going on now.

Cuba's qualifiers are done as well.

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Haven't seen anything definitive about what this will look like for 2025. I suspect it will be repeating the prior rotation, but that is not confirmed. Panama's tourney is happening now and Williamsport will be launching their 2025 LLWS site next month, so we'll likely know something definitive soon.

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As of 2013, yes. Have not seen more recent news.

African teams are less likely to compete in Kutno as visas are difficult to obtain depending on how close the nearest Poland consulate office is, and because the teams must fund their own travel, which is a considerable investment.

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@jtyardley Thank you -- fixed now.

Cut-and-paste is the gift that keeps on giving...

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From the Napa Valley Register's coverage of the #LLWS 1992 California District 53 tournament:

"Sabathia, however, was on a different level."

Congrats to the newly elected member of the @baseballhall!

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Fantastic game between two evenly-matched teams... congratulations to Lake Mary -- your 2024 Little League World Series champions!

#LLWS

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There are two factors that are different: 1 - MLB, etc. have always had that format, while LLB was moving from an established single game championship when they went to their current format. And 2) MLB has the power to say 'no' during the contract negotiations as there are multiple viable alternatives. Other networks may want the LLWS but don't have a forum for also showing regional tourneys, etc.

A third issue (unrelated) involves how you would set the schedule if you used 'if' games. They need the day before the U.S./int'l finals clear as a rain day buffer. Do you set the schedule for Fri/Sun with Saturday reserved for 'if' games? Or Sat/Mon with Sunday 'if' games? A DH where the 'if' game is played immediately after the U.S./int'l c-game is a non-starter for the network partner and would push the games earlier in the day as LLB would need to plan for potentially four games that day instead of two.

Both of the two viable options are suboptimal as they negatively impact the crowds you are showing on television. (It's free to get in so there aren't really revenue considerations.) That spectacle is really important as two good teams playing in an empty stadium could be the Cooperstown Week 18 tournament and jettisons some of what makes the LLWS magical. If you have an 'if' game, you're either setting the c-game for a Monday, which is not going to draw 20,000+ people, or you're giving up the certainty of games on Saturday, and would lose a lot of the people that drive from several hours away for that day. (And the Friday crowd would not be nearly as large as a weekend crowd.)

They had pool 'if' games for one year when they used two pools for the U.S. bracket instead of a single 8 or 10 team pool. The schedule was... problematic. I don't think the organizers are blind to the fairness question, but other considerations are more prominent.

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It was clear from the start of the tournament that Boerne had a special team this year: Boerne defeated each of its ten opponents en route to the Texas West title by 10+ runs, and in an era where runs can be more difficult to come by, outscored the field by a 146-10 margin. After an opening round win at the Southwest Region tournament, Boerne's next six win came against teams ranked on this list, including 2 over #3 GNO and a win over Lake Mary before the Florida team reversed that result in an instant classic U.S. title game today. #LLWS

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It is because ESPN/ABC request certainty in their programming schedule. Not knowing whether they will need a timeslot for an 'if' game complicates things for them. They pay a lot of money for the broadcast rights, so they have some say in the schedule.

FWIW, the regions use the same format, and every team knows the schedule going in and should plan pitching, etc. accordingly.

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Here's the full list of our top 50 teams in this year's #LLWS international tournament.

This is the 10th year in which we've recognized the top teams -- previous years' rankings can be found in the comments.

Congratulations to all on an outstanding 2024 tournament season!

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One year after falling a game short of the #LLWS, Lake Mary had one goal this year: get to Williamsport. They more than reached that goal.

The Florida champions emerged victorious from a critical state tournament test versus #4 Boca Raton, and later defeated #9 Goodlettsville twice to reach Central Pennsylvania. Lake Mary defeated 6 ranked teams at the #LLWS, were the only team to defeat Boerne this summer, and are set for a date with Chinese Taipei on Sunday in the #LLWS championship game!

Congratulations to the U.S. champions!

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LLB Top 50 #1:

Lake Mary Little League
Lake Mary, Florida (19-1 + Sunday's game)

#LLWS

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LLB Top 50 #2:

Boerne Little League
Boerne, Texas West (17-1)

#LLWS