2002 Little League World Series
| 2002 Little League World Series | |
|---|---|
| Dates | August 16– August 25 |
| Teams participating | 16 |
| Champion | Valley Sports American Little League  Louisville, Kentucky |
| Runner-up | Sendai Hagashi Little League Sendai, Miyagi, Japan |
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, then a suburb but now a neighborhood of Louisville, Kentucky, defeated Sendai Hagashi Little League of Sendai, Japan in the championship game of the 56th 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
<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>
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, TXSouthwest Westside |
 ManhattanMid-Atlantic Harlem |
 Valencia, VenezuelaLatin America Los Leones |
Sendai, Miyagi Asia Sendai Hagashi |
 Worcester, MANew England Jesse Burkett |
Louisville, KY Great Lakes Valley Sports American |
  Regina, SaskatchewanCanada North Regina |
  Willemstad, CuraçaoCaribbean Pariba |
 Webb City, MOMidwest Webb City |
 Aptos, CAWest Aptos |
 HagåtñaPacific Central |
 MonterreyMexico Country de Monterrey |
 Waipio, HINorthwest Waipio |
 Clemmons, NCSoutheast Southwest Forsyth |
 DhahranTransatlantic Arabian-American |
 MoscowEurope, 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.
| 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 | West |
| 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
| 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 | Pacific |
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-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 | Third place | ||||||||
| August 22 - Lamade | ||||||||||
| Worcester, Massachusetts |
0 | |||||||||
| Worcester, Massachusetts |
5 | Worcester, Massachusetts |
1 | |||||||
| New York, New York |
2 | Willemstad, Curaçao |
9 | |||||||
| August 25 - Volunteer | ||||||||||
| 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.
| Round | Opposition | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Kentucky State Tournament | ||
| Group Stage | Clay County LL |
7-1 |
| Group Stage | Clay County LL |
12-2 (5 inn) |
| Group Stage | Owensboro Southern |
6-4 (14 inn) |
| Semifinals | Richmond |
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 |
8-0 |
| Group Stage |  Merrill LL |
10-6 |
| 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 |
