2002 Little League World Series

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.

2002 Little League World Series
DatesAugust 16–August 25
Teams participating16
ChampionValley Sports American Little League
Louisville, Kentucky
Runner-upSendai Higashi Little League
Sendai, Miyagi, Japan
Little League World Series

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
Main article: 2002 Little League World Series qualification

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, TX
Southwest
Westside		 Manhattan
Mid-Atlantic
Harlem		 Valencia, Venezuela
Latin America
Los Leones		 Sendai, Miyagi
Asia
Sendai Hagashi
Worcester, MA
New England
Jesse Burkett		 Louisville, KY
Great Lakes
Valley Sports American		 Regina, Saskatchewan
Canada
North Regina		 Willemstad, Curaçao
Caribbean
Pariba
Webb City, MO
Midwest
Webb City		 Aptos, CA
West
Aptos		 Hagåtña
Pacific
Central		 Monterrey
Mexico
Country de Monterrey
Waipio, HI
Northwest
Waipio		 Clemmons, NC
Southeast
Southwest Forsyth		 Dhahran
Transatlantic
Arabian-American		 Moscow
Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA)
Khovrino

Pool play

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.

Pool A
Region Record
Southwest 2–1
New England 2–1
Northwest 2–1
Midwest 0–3
Pool B
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
Pool C
Region Record
Latin America 2–1
Pacific 2–1
Transatlantic 2–1
Canada 0–3
Pool D
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
 
Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
August 21 - Lamade (Game ended by mercy rule)
 
 
 Sendai, Japan 10
 
August 24 - Lamade
 
 Hagåtña, Guam 0
 
 Sendai, Japan4
 
August 22 - Lamade
 
 Willemstad, Curaçao 1
 
 Valencia, Venezuela 0
 
August 25 - Lamade
 
 Willemstad, Curaçao 3
 
 Sendai, Japan 0
 
August 21 - Lamade (11 innings)
 
 Louisville, Kentucky1
 
 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 York2
 
 Worcester, Massachusetts 1
 
 
 Willemstad, Curaçao9
 
2002 Little League World Series Champions

Valley Sports American Little League
Louisville, Kentucky

Notes
  • † Game ended by "mercy rule" (at least a 10-run difference through 5 innings)

Champions Path

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.

RoundOppositionResult
Kentucky State Tournament
Group Stage Clay County LL7-1
Group Stage Morehead LL1-0
Group Stage Owensboro Southern LL6-4 (14 inn)
Semifinals Richmond LL11-0 (4 inn)
Championship Owensboro Southern LL3-0
Great Lakes Regional
Group Stage Hamilton West Side American LL5-0
Group Stage Bradley-Bourbonnais LL2-1
Group Stage Merrill LL4-1
Group Stage Grosse Pointe Farms-City LL3-1
Semifinals Hamilton West Side American LL2-1
Great Lakes Region Championship Brownsburg LL8-1

References
  1. Pockrass, Bob (August 16, 2013). "Austin Dillon used to pressure after playing in Little League World Series". Sporting News. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
  2. "Great Lakes Region Tournament Historical Results". Unpage.com. Retrieved August 29, 2010.
  3. "Great Lakes Region Tournament". Unpage.com. Retrieved August 29, 2010.
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