2017 Little League World Series

The 2017 Little League World Series was held from August 17 through August 27 in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Eight teams from the United States and eight teams from around the world competed in the 71st edition of the Little League World Series.^[1] Tokyo Kitasuna Little League of Tokyo, Japan, defeated Lufkin Little League of Lufkin, Texas, in the championship game by a 12–2 score. It was the 11th time that a team from Japan won the tournament. Tokyo Kitasuna became the first league to win the tournament four times.

2017 Little League World Series

Tournament details
Dates	August 17–August 27
Teams	16
Final positions
Champions	Tokyo Kitasuna Little League Tokyo, Japan
Runners-up	Lufkin Little League Lufkin, Texas
← 2016 2018 →

Teams

Main article: 2017 Little League World Series qualification

Regional qualifying tournaments were held between June and August 2017.

United States	International
Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan Great Lakes Region Grosse Pointe Woods-Shores Little League	Seoul, South Korea Asia-Pacific and Middle East Region West Seoul Little League
Jackson, New Jersey Mid-Atlantic Region Holbrook Little League	Sydney, New South Wales Australia Region Hills Little League
Sioux Falls, South Dakota Midwest Region Sioux Falls Little League	White Rock, British Columbia Canada Region White Rock South Surrey Little League
Fairfield, Connecticut New England Region Fairfield American Little League	Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic Caribbean Region Los Bravos de Pontezuela Little League
Walla Walla, Washington Northwest Region Walla Walla Valley Little League	Emilia, Italy Europe and Africa Region Emilia Little League
Greenville, North Carolina Southeast Region North State Little League	Tokyo Japan Region Tokyo Kitasuna Little League
Lufkin, Texas (The Thundering 13) Southwest Region Lufkin Little League	Maracaibo, Venezuela Latin America Region Luz Maracaibo Little League
Rancho Santa Margarita, California West Region Santa Margarita National Little League	Reynosa, Tamaulipas Mexico Region Guadalupe Treviño Kelly Little League

Results

Further information: 2017 Little League World Series results

The draw to determine the opening round pairings took place on June 15, 2017.^[2]

United States bracket

Upper round 1

Upper round 2

Upper final

Final

August 17 – Game 2

New Jersey

6

August 20 – Game 14

Connecticut

7

Connecticut

3

August 17 – Game 4

Texas

6

Texas

5

August 23 – Game 24 (F/7)

Michigan

1

Texas

1

August 18 – Game 6

North Carolina

2

Washington

0

August 20 – Game 16 (F/5)

California

9

California

0

August 18 – Game 8

North Carolina

16

South Dakota

0

August 26 – U.S. championship

North Carolina

6

North Carolina

5

Texas

6

Lower round 1

Lower round 2

Lower round 3

Lower final

August 21 – Game 18

August 19 – Game 10 (F/4)

California

9

August 24 – Game 26 (F/5)

New Jersey

15

New Jersey

12

August 23 – Game 22 (F/5)

Texas

14

Michigan

5

New Jersey

2

Connecticut

4

August 21 – Game 20

Connecticut

12

August 19 – Game 12

Connecticut

14

Washington

4

Washington

6

South Dakota

3

International bracket

Upper round 1

Upper round 2

Upper final

Final

August 17 – Game 1

Venezuela

4

August 20 – Game 13

Mexico

1

Venezuela

3

August 17 – Game 3 (F/4)

Canada

7

Canada

12

August 23 – Game 23 (F/5)

Italy

2

Canada

0

August 18 – Game 5

Japan

10

Japan

8

August 20 – Game 15

Australia

0

Japan

4

August 18 – Game 7

South Korea

1

Dominican Republic

1

August 26 – International championship

South Korea

10

Japan

5

Mexico

0

Lower round 1

Lower round 2

Lower round 3

Lower final

August 21 – Game 17

August 19 – Game 9 (F/4)

South Korea

0

August 24 – Game 25

Mexico

13

Mexico

1

August 22 – Game 21

Canada

2

Italy

0

Mexico

8

Mexico

6

August 21 – Game 19

Venezuela

0

August 19 – Game 11

Venezuela

3

Australia

7

Dominican Republic

2

Dominican Republic

8

Crossover games

Teams that lost their first two games played a crossover game against a team from the other side of the bracket that also lost its first two games. These games were labeled Game A and Game B. This provided teams who were already eliminated the opportunity to play a third game.

	Game A
	August 21 – Lamade Stadium
	Italy	7
	Michigan	11

	Game B
	August 22 – Lamade Stadium
	Australia	11
	South Dakota	7

Third place game

This consolation game is played between the loser of the United States championship and the loser of the International championship.

	Third place game
	August 27 – Lamade Stadium
	Mexico	14
	North Carolina	8

World Championship

	Little League World Championship
	August 27 – Lamade Stadium (F/5)
	Texas	2
	Japan	12

2017 Little League World Series Champions
Tokyo Kitasuna Little League Tokyo, Japan

Champions path

The Kitasuna LL reached the LLWS with a record of nine wins and only one loss.^[3] In total, their record was 14–1.

Round	Opposition	Result
All-Tokyo Tournament
Opening Round	Chofu LL	17–2
Quarterfinals	Fuji LL	14–1
Semifinals	Inagi LL	11–0 (F/5)
Winners Bracket Final	Nakano LL	5–6
All-Tokyo Round Robin Playoff
Game 1	Chofu LL	9–7
Game 2	Hachioji LL	13–0 (F/4)
Japan Regional Tournament
Opening Round	Hiroshima Nishi LL	12–1 (F/4)
Quarterfinals	Gifu Tohno LL	16–2 (F/6)
Semifinals	Osaka Namihaya LL	4–1
Finals	Chiba City LL	17–0 (F/4)

Notable players

• Ryuto Konno (Japan) - professional baseball pitcher^[4]

MLB Little League Classic

On March 9, 2017, Major League Baseball (MLB) and Lycoming County officials announced that Williamsport would host a regular season MLB game during the LLWS, branded as the MLB Little League Classic. The game took place on August 20, 2017, at BB&T Ballpark at Historic Bowman Field and was attended by the Little Leaguers and their families, along with select Lycoming County residents. The game featured the St. Louis Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Pirates, and was televised on ESPN (as part of Sunday Night Baseball), ESPN Deportes, and MLB Network.^[5] The Pirates won, 6–3.^[6]