The 2002 Little League World Series took place between August 16 and August 25 in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The Valley Sports American Little League of Pleasure Ridge Park, a suburb of Louisville, Kentucky, defeated Sendai Higashi Little League of Sendai, Japan, in the championship game of the 56th Little League World Series.
 | |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | August 16–August 25 |
| Teams | 16 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Valley Sports American Little League  Louisville, Kentucky |
| Runner-up | Sendai Higashi Little League Sendai, Miyagi, Japan |
Notable players included 2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and 2013 NASCAR Nationwide Series champion Austin Dillon, a member of the Clemmons, North Carolina, Little League representing the Southeast region.[1]
Qualification edit
Between five and twelve teams take part in 16 regional qualification tournaments, which vary in format depending on region. In the United States, the qualification tournaments are in the same format as the Little League World Series itself: a round-robin tournament followed by an elimination round to determine the regional champion.
| Pool A | Pool B | Pool C | Pool D |
|---|---|---|---|
 Fort Worth, TexasSouthwest Westside Little League |
 Manhattan, New YorkMid-Atlantic Harlem Little League |
 Valencia, VenezuelaLatin America Los Leones Little League |
Sendai, Miyagi, Japan Asia Sendai Hagashi Little League |
 Worcester, MassachusettsNew England Jesse Burkett Little League |
Louisville, Kentucky Great Lakes Valley Sports American Little League |
  Regina, SaskatchewanCanada North Regina Little League |
  Willemstad, CuraçaoCaribbean Pariba Little League |
 Webb City, MissouriMidwest Webb City Little League |
 Aptos, CaliforniaWest Aptos Little League |
 Hagåtña, GuamPacific Central Little League |
 Monterrey, Nuevo León, MexicoMexico Country de Monterrey Little League |
 Waipio, HawaiiNorthwest Waipio Little League |
 Clemmons, North CarolinaSoutheast Southwest Forsyth Little League |
 Dhahran, Saudi ArabiaTransatlantic Arabian-American Little League |
 Moscow, RussiaEurope, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) Khovrino Little League |
Pool play edit
The top two teams in each pool move on to their respective semifinals. The winners of each met on August 25 to play for the Little League world championship.
| Region | Record |
|---|---|
| Southwest | 2–1 |
| New England | 2–1 |
| Northwest | 2–1 |
| Midwest | 0–3 |
| Region | Record |
|---|---|
| Great Lakes | 3–0 |
| Mid-Atlantic | 2–1 |
| West | 1–2 |
| Southeast | 0–3 |
August 16
| New England | 2–3 | Northwest |
| Midwest | 0–1 | Southwest |
August 17
| West | 1–4 | Great Lakes |
| Mid-Atlantic | 9–3 | Southeast |
| New England | 2–1 | Midwest |
August 18
| Southeast | 8–11 | West |
| West | 10–4 | Southeast |
| Northwest | 0–8 | Southwest |
| Great Lakes | 2–0 | Mid-Atlantic |
August 19
| New England | 6–0 | Southwest |
| Midwest | 1–2 | Northwest |
August 20
| West | 2–5 | Mid-Atlantic |
| Southeast | 2–4 | Great Lakes |
International edit
| Region | Record |
|---|---|
| Latin America | 2–1 |
| Pacific | 2–1 |
| Transatlantic | 2–1 |
| Canada | 0–3 |
| Region | Record |
|---|---|
| Asia | 3–0 |
| Caribbean | 2–1 |
| Mexico | 1–2 |
| EMEA | 0–3 |
August 16
| Transatlantic | 3–2 | Canada |
August 17
| Pacific | 1–11 | Latin America |
| Mexico | 1–10 | Caribbean |
| EMEA | 0–7 | Asia |
August 18
| Transatlantic | 6–9 | Pacific |
| Mexico | 4–3 | EMEA |
August 19
| EMEA | 0–13† (4 innings) |
Caribbean |
| Asia | 11–0† (4 innings) |
Mexico |
| Canada | 3–9 | Latin America |
August 20
| Asia | 5–0 | Caribbean |
| Canada | 7–12 | Pacific |
| Transatlantic | 6–5 | Latin America |
Elimination rounds edit
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
| August 21 - Lamade (Game ended by mercy rule) | ||||||||||
| Sendai, Japan | 10 | |||||||||
| August 24 - Lamade | ||||||||||
| Hagåtña, Guam | 0 | |||||||||
| Sendai, Japan | 4 | |||||||||
| August 22 - Lamade | ||||||||||
| Willemstad, Curaçao | 1 | |||||||||
| Valencia, Venezuela | 0 | |||||||||
| August 25 - Lamade | ||||||||||
| Willemstad, Curaçao | 3 | |||||||||
| Sendai, Japan | 0 | |||||||||
| August 21 - Lamade (11 innings) | ||||||||||
| Louisville, Kentucky | 1 | |||||||||
| Louisville, Kentucky | 2 | |||||||||
| August 24 - Lamade | ||||||||||
| Fort Worth, Texas | 1 | |||||||||
| Louisville, Kentucky | 4 | |||||||||
| August 22 - Lamade | ||||||||||
| Worcester, Massachusetts | 0 | Third place | ||||||||
| Worcester, Massachusetts | 5 | |||||||||
| August 25 - Volunteer | ||||||||||
| New York, New York | 2 | |||||||||
| Worcester, Massachusetts | 1 | |||||||||
| Willemstad, Curaçao | 9 | |||||||||
| 2002 Little League World Series Champions |
|---|
  Valley Sports American Little League Louisville, Kentucky |
Notes edit
- † Game ended by "mercy rule" (at least a 10-run difference through 5 innings)
Champions path edit
The Louisville Valley Sports American LL went undefeated on their road to the LLWS, winning all eleven of their matches.[2][3] In total record was 17–0.
| Round | Opposition | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Kentucky State Tournament | ||
| Group Stage | Clay County LL |
7-1 |
| Group Stage | Morehead LL |
1-0 |
| Group Stage | Owensboro Southern LL |
6-4 (14 inn) |
| Semifinals | Richmond LL |
11-0 (4 inn) |
| Championship | Owensboro Southern LL |
3-0 |
| Great Lakes Regional | ||
| Group Stage |  Hamilton West Side American LL |
5-0 |
| Group Stage |  Bradley-Bourbonnais LL |
2-1 |
| Group Stage |  Merrill LL |
4-1 |
| Group Stage |  Grosse Pointe Farms-City LL |
3-1 |
| Semifinals | Hamilton West Side American LL |
2-1 |
| Great Lakes Region Championship |  Brownsburg LL |
8-1 |
References edit
- ^ Pockrass, Bob (August 16, 2013). "Austin Dillon used to pressure after playing in Little League World Series". Sporting News. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
- ^ "Great Lakes Region Tournament Historical Results". Unpage.com. Retrieved August 29, 2010.
- ^ "Great Lakes Region Tournament". Unpage.com. Retrieved August 29, 2010.
External links edit
- 2002 official results via Wayback Machine
- Recap of championship game via Wayback Machine