by Kristian Pälviä

As the Little League World Series tournaments are getting in full swing in the United States, eight teams are participating in the tournaments – representing European Little Leagues from four different countries.

Italy has the most teams participating with five teams in total, including all four softball entries as they won all four softball age divisions. Czech Republic has two tournament entries after winning both the Little League Baseball and the Junior League Baseball age division in Kutno, Poland. The Ramstein Airforce base, representing Germany District 2 rounded up the European entries.

Many recognize Little League with the most famous age division – the Little League World Series, for kids aged 11-12, played in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. But in total, Little League has nine divisions of tournament play – five for baseball and four for softball – and in Europe Little League has districts in 19 countries, most in active relationships with the respective national federations.

The Little League age limits for tournament play are as follows for the 2013 season:

Little League Baseball 11-12 years – born 2000-05-01 to 2002-04-30)

Intermediate Division 12-13 years (pilot program in 2013)

Junior League Baseball 12-14 years – born 1998-05-01 to 2001-04-30)

Senior League Baseball 13-16 years – born 1996-05-01 to 2000-04-30)

Big League Baseball 15-18 years – born 1994-05-01 to 1998-04-30)

Little League Softball 11-12 years – born in the years 2000-2001

Junior League Softball 13-15 years – born in the years 1998-2000

Senior League Softball 14-17 years – born in the years 1996-1999

Big League Softball 15-19 years – born in the years 1994-1998

We break down all the European Little League participants:

BASEBALL DIVISIONS

Little League Baseball – South Moravia Little League, Czech Republic

Schedule and results – http://www.littleleague.org/worldseries/series/llbb.htm

South Moravia won the qualification tournament in Kutno, Poland that was played on July 13-20 with 11 teams. After going 5-0 in pool play they beat the Haute Normandie Little League (France) in the quarterfinals (20-1), the Rotterdam Little League (11-8) in the semifinals, and Emilia Little League (3-0) in the final game to qualify for the Little League World Series that will be played in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, starting on August 15th and with the final game on August 25th.

Junior League Baseball – South Moravia Little League, Czech Republic

Schedule and results – http://www.littleleague.org/worldseries/series/jlbb/qualify/worldseries.htm

Preceding the Little League qualification tournament in Kutno was the Junior League tournament that was played with 12 teams on July 2-8. The Czech team beat Vilnius Little League (4-2) in the semifinal and Emilia Romagna Little League in the final (2-0) to advance to the World Series.

The Junior League World Series is played in Taylor, Michigan, with five teams from the continental United States and five teams from the international regions.

Senior League Baseball – Emilia Romagna Little League, Italy

Schedule and results – http://www.littleleague.org/worldseries/series/slbb.htm

Italy hosted the Senior League tournament in Novara, Italy on July 7-14 with a total of seven teams participating from Georgia in the east to France in the west. The London Youth Baseball League, representing Great Britain, was perhaps one of the more surprising teams in the tournament, twice beating the Dutch team in the tournament, and advancing to the finals. In the final game however, Emilia Romagna was stronger and won the final game 7-2 to advance to the Little League World Series that will be played on August 11-17 in Bangor, Maine.

Big League Baseball – Germany District 2

Final scores, boxscores and statistics – http://www.littleleague.org/worldseries/series/blbb/qualify/worldseries.htm

In the oldest age category, Big League Baseball, only three teams participated in the Europe/Africa qualification tournament, with Germany District 2 being the strongest team. They beat Netherlands District 1 in the final, 6-5. The German squad was a selection of the DBA All Stars (five from Paderborn, two from Mannheim and two from the Rhein Main Baseball Academy) and players from the Stuttgart Reds.

In the World Series, that was played in Easley, South Carolina, the German team went 1-3 in the group games where they played teams from Canada, Mexico, Taiwan, and Venezuela.

Winners of the Big League Baseball World Series were the team representing the Southeast (USA) region from South Carolina, defeating the team from Maracaibo, Venezuala, representing the Latin America region.

Intermediate Division – no European team

Schedule and results – http://www.littleleague.org/worldseries/series/5070/qualify/worldseries.htm

Starting this year, Little League has introduced a 50/70 program to bridge the gap from the Little League division, where players play on a softball-sized diamond, to the Junior League division, where they play on a full-size field. It is a league for 11-13 year-olds whose advanced skills permit rules that are closer to conventional baseball, such as leading off bases, pickoff attempts, etc.

In the traditional Little League Division, a runner cannot leave the base until the pitched ball reaches the batter, so pickoffs are not part of the game at that level. In addition, Intermediate (50/70) Baseball Division games will be played on a field that is not quite as large as a conventional diamond, but bigger than the traditional Little League field. The pitching distance is 50 ft (15,25 meters) and the distance between the bases is 70 ft (21,35 meters).

The inaugural Intermediate Division World Series, played in Livermore, California between July 30-August 5, was won by Izumisano Little League from Japan, representing the Asia-Pacific Region, who beat the Eastern Region (USA) in the final game, 10-1.

SOFTBALL DIVISIONS

Little League Softball – Lombardia Little League, Italy

Schedule and results http://www.littleleague.org/worldseries/series/llsb/qualify/worldseries.htm

Lombardia Little League won the qualification tournament played in Caronno Pertusella, Italy, with five teams participating. In the finals, Lombardia Little League beat Prague Little League 4-0 to advance to the World Series.

The finals are played in Portland, Oregon, starting on August 8th and ending on August 14th.

Junior League Softball – Emilia Little League, Italy

Schedule and results http://www.littleleague.org/worldseries/series/jlsb/qualify/worldseries.htm

In the Europe/Africa qualification tournament in Caronno Pertusella, four teams participated. This division was won by the Emilia Little League, Italy, that edged out Lombardia, 4-3 in the final game. Emilia Little League will play the Junior League Softball World Series in Kirkland, Washington, starting August 11th and finishing August 17th.

Senior League Softball – Lombardia Little League, Italy

Schedule and results – http://www.littleleague.org/worldseries/series/slsb/qualify/worldseries.htm

Three teams participated in the qualification tournament in Caronno Pertusella. In the final game, Lombardia Little League beat Wroclaw Little League, 14-2 to advance to the World Series.

The World Series is played on August 4-10 in Lower Sussex, Delaware.

Big League Softball – Friuli Venezia Giulia, Italy

Schedule and results – http://www.littleleague.org/worldseries/series/blsb/qualify/worldseries.htm

Italy swept the whole Europe/Africa softball division tournaments when Friuli Venezia Giulia won the Big League Softball tournament that was played in Staranzano on July 15-18. In the tournament, they beat teams from France and Croatia, wrapping up the tournament by beating the Croatian team 13-1 in the final game.

Photo: Little League