It's that time of year again when teams from all over the world gather together to compete in the Little League World Series. It actually started back on August 14th when about 40 teams earned the right to be in the bracket.
I've only watched a little bit of the series on TV, but my father in law watches pretty much every game he is able to. I had to stop over the other day for something and I found him parked in front of the TV watching one of the games.
It's actually pretty interesting how much the series has grown over the years and unlike the MLB World Series (unless you get technical), this one truly has team representation from around the world.
As I sit here and look at the bracket, it is interesting to see the path some teams have taken to get to the final rounds of the series. We are currently working on setting up the final four so that by the end of the coming weekend there will be a champion.
The southwest US team had a pretty smooth path to the quarter finals. They first beat Mid-Atlantic, then the Southeast who beat the Midwest and the Northwest. Finally, the Southwest beat the Southeast to get into a face off with the Mountain team.
The Mountain team carved a path through Metro, and the West who respectively took down New England and The Great Lakes. Eventually tough, The Southwest beat Mountain to earn a spot in the top 4.
Don't count Mountain out though. In the consolation bracket, they bested all the other eliminated teams to earn a face off against the Southeast. Whoever wins that game will have to go back and battle the Southwest again for a spot in the Championship game.
On the other side of the bracket, Asia Pacific steamrolled their way to the quarter final after beating Canada, Australia, and Cuba. Those teams left Europe-Africa in their wake.
Likewise, Japan had a pretty easy path until they were taken down by Asia-Pacific. Latin America, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and The Caribbean got relegated down to the losers bracket.
In the battle back, Japan has earned a face-off against Latin America today. Whoever wins that game will then be facing Asia-Pacific again for a chance at the Championship game.
Given the numbers the Asia-Pacific team has been putting up, I have a feeling it will be them versus the Southwest team in the finals. I wouldn't be shocked if the Asia-Pacific team ends up winning. Their only real challenge so far has been the Japanese team.
They've put up 32 runs across the past four games they have played which tops the Southwest by about 14 runs.
Either way, it's going to be quite exciting. I look forward to seeing how it all ends!
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Today, the losers bracket battle reaches it's conclusion as Japan and Latin America face off to see how will