As Little League celebrates its 75th Anniversary at the 2014 Little League Baseball® World Series, Tokyo’s Kitasuna Little League will be coming to Williamsport in search of its third world championship. In Tokyo, Japan, Kitasuna Little League captured the banner as Japan Region Champions with a 12-0 win over Toyonaka Little League on Saturday, July 5, and secured a place in the field of 16 for the 68th Little League Baseball World Series.
“Teams from Japan have appeared in the Little League Baseball World Series since 1962, and the country of Japan has been represented as its own region beginning in 2009,” said Patrick W. Wilson, Little League International’s Senior Vice President of Operations and Program Development, and the Director of the Little League International Tournament. “For more than 40 years, Little League Baseball has been a major part of the lives of Japanese children. This year, Tokyo Kitasuna Little League will be playing for an opportunity to win its second world title in three years and the third straight for Japan.”
In 2001, Kitasuna Little League won the World Series in its first appearance, 2-1, over Apopka (Fla.) National Little League. Six years later, Kitasuna returned to the World Series and the World Championship Game, but lost in extra innings, 3-2, to Georgia’s Warner Robins American Little League. The league’s second LLB World Championship was claimed in 2012, with a five-inning, 12-2 victory over Goodlettsville (Tenn.) Baseball Little League.
In this year’s Japan Region Tournament, Tokyo Kitasuna Little League finished 4-0. Toyonaka Little League defeated defending LLB® World Series Champion Musashi Fuchu Little League in the region’s semifinal round by the score of 5-4, before falling to Kitasuna Little League in the title game. Learn more about the Japan Region Tournament.
The Japan Region Champions will face the Latin American Region Champions on Friday, Aug. 15, at 5 p.m. at Volunteer Stadium, airing on ESPN2. On June 29, Coquivacoa Little League from Maracaibo, Venezuela won the Latin America Region Championship in Managua, Nicaragua. All games at the Little League Baseball World Series will be broadcast on the ESPN family of networks, the Watch ESPN app or ABC.
The 68th Little League Baseball World Series begins on Thursday, Aug. 14 in South Williamsport, Pa., with the Championship Game scheduled for 3 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 24, airing on ABC. The World Series will culminate the year-long celebration of the 75th Anniversary of Little League. For more information on the Series and to follow the action live, visit llbws.org. To learn more about Little League’s Diamond Anniversary, visit LittleLeagueBigLegacy.com.