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. 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.
Teams
Regional qualifying tournaments were held between June and August 2017. United States International Grosse Pointe Woods, MichiganGreat Lakes RegionGrosse Pointe Woods-Shores Little League Seoul, South Korea Asia-Pacific and Middle East Region West Seoul Little League Jackson, New JerseyMid-Atlantic RegionHolbrook Little League Sydney, New South Wales Australia Region Hills Little League Sioux Falls, South DakotaMidwest RegionSioux Falls Little League White Rock, British Columbia Canada RegionWhite Rock South Surrey Little League Fairfield, ConnecticutNew England RegionFairfield American Little League Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican RepublicCaribbean RegionLos Bravos de Pontezuela Little League Walla Walla, WashingtonNorthwest RegionWalla Walla Valley Little League Emilia, ItalyEurope and Africa RegionEmilia Little League Greenville, North CarolinaSoutheast RegionNorth State Little League Tokyo Japan RegionTokyo Kitasuna Little League Lufkin, Texas (The Thundering 13)Southwest RegionLufkin Little League Maracaibo, VenezuelaLatin America RegionLuz Maracaibo Little League Rancho Santa Margarita, CaliforniaWest RegionSanta Margarita National Little League Reynosa, Tamaulipas Mexico RegionGuadalupe Treviño Kelly Little League
Results
The draw to determine the opening round pairings took place on June 15, 2017.
United States bracket
International bracket
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.
Third place game This consolation game is played between the loser of the United States championship and the loser of the International championship.
World Championship
2017 Little League World Series ChampionsTokyo Kitasuna Little LeagueTokyo, Japan
Champions path The Kitasuna LL reached the LLWS with a record of nine wins and only one loss. In total, their record was 14–1. RoundOppositionResult All-Tokyo TournamentOpening Round Chofu LL 17–2Quarterfinals Fuji LL 14–1Semifinals Inagi LL 11–0 (F/5)Winners Bracket Final Nakano LL 5–6 All-Tokyo Round Robin PlayoffGame 1 Chofu LL 9–7Game 2 Hachioji LL 13–0 (F/4)Japan Regional TournamentOpening Round Hiroshima Nishi LL 12–1 (F/4)Quarterfinals Gifu Tohno LL 16–2 (F/6)Semifinals Osaka Namihaya LL 4–1Finals Chiba City LL 17–0 (F/4)
Notable players
Ángel Genao (Dominican Republic) - Infielder for the Cleveland Guardians Ryuto Konno (Japan) - professional baseball pitcher Marcus Phillips (South Dakota) - drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 2025 Major League Baseball draft Jack Radel (South Dakota) - drafted by the Houston Astros in the 2026 Major League Baseball draft Griffin Wilde (South Dakota) - football player for the Northwestern Wildcats
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. The Pirates won, 6–3.
References