Little League World Series 2018: Everything you need to know

Sherlon Christie | Asbury Park Press

Show Caption Hide Caption 1998 Toms River East American Little League Champions reunite A LOOK BACK (2008): 1998 Toms River East American Little League team members get together on the 10th anniversary of the World Championship win.

How to get to Williamsport

For GPS purposes use: 525 Montgomery Pike (U.S. 15), South Williamsport, PA 17702. Once you reach the Little League Complex, there will be signs directing you to parking and to Lamade Stadium or Volunteer Stadium.

Here is the inside scoop to parking here at the Little League Complex.

To get to stadium parking. Take a right on Fairmount Avenue, which is just past the Little League Museum. Take Fairmount Avenue until it ends, which is the intersection of East Mountain Avenue. Take a right onto East Mountain Avenue and follow the signs to stadium parking.

There are two main ways to get to the Little League Complex.

Method A: Take I-80 West to Route 15 North. Take Exit 210B for Route 15 North. Take Route 15 North for about 20 miles to the Little League Complex on your right. This route has several steep climbs and several deep drops over hilly roads.

Coming to Williamsport after 1 p.m. on any day? Take the I-80 West to I-180 West path. All highway driving, no hills, avoids traffic. #LLWS — Sherlon Christie (@sherlonapp) August 18, 2017

Method B: Take I-80 West to I-180 West. Take Exit 212B for I-180 West. Take I-180 West for about 30 miles to Exit 27A. Go up to the top of the ramp and take a left onto Route 15 South. Take Route 15 South for about 1.5 miles to the Little League complex on your left. This route is longer, however. It is all highway driving (you can maintain highway speed) and no major hills to go up or down. Also, the Lycoming Mall is on this path.

Easiest way to get Williamsport, Pa. from Jackson, NJ. I-195 West to NJT South to I-276 West to I-476 North to I-80 West to Route 15 North — Sherlon Christie (@sherlonapp) August 17, 2017

Concession stand information

The Little League complex has a multitude of concession stands with a variety of items for sale at various prices. For example, the main concession stand behind Volunteer Stadium has everything from chicken fingers, to hamburgers, to Italian sausages, to hot dogs, to pizza, to grilled chicken salad for food. As far as drinks, soda, bottled water, Gatorade, Coffee and Hot Chocolate. There is a $10 minimum for credit card purchases at the main concession stand and Visa and Mastercard are accepted. Cash is preferred though. According to Little League, the concession stands open at 9 a.m. and stay open until the end of the last game of the day.

Here is what is awaiting you at the main concession stand at the #LLWS #LLWS2017 pic.twitter.com/ypdAjJrxbO — Sherlon Christie (@sherlonapp) August 17, 2017

If you want something different, there are moving carts and other stands around both Volunteer and Lamade stadiums serve everything from pulled pork, to corn on the cob, to Italian ice, to kettle corn, to soft serve ice cream (chocolate, vanilla, swirl). Some concession stands are cash only.

16-team field for Little League World Series

The Little League World Series is broken down into two brackets, a United States bracket and an international bracket. Each bracket has eight teams, and those teams play until there is one team left in each bracket.

The winner of those brackets meets in the Little League World Series Final at 3 p.m. Aug. 26 on ABC.

Here are the 16 teams competing in this year’s Little League World Series

UNITED STATES

Mid Atlantic: Mid Island

Great Lakes: Grosse Pointe Woods-Shores (Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan)

Midwest: Grandview (Des Moines, Iowa)

New England: Coventry (Coventry, Rhode Island)

Northwest: Coeur d’Alene (Coeur d’Alene, Idaho)

Southeast: Peachtree City American (Peachtree City, Georgia)

Southwest: Post Oak Little League (Houston)

West: Honolulu Little League (Honolulu, Hawaii)

INTERNATIONAL

Asia-Pacific: South Seoul Little League (Seoul, South Korea)

Australia: Gold Coast Baseball Association (Gold Coast, Queensland)

Canada: Whalley Little League (Surrey, British Columbia)

Caribbean: Radames Lopez Little League (Guayama, Puerto Rico)

Europe-Africa: Catalunya Little League (Barcelona, Spain)

Japan: Kawaguchi Little League (Kawaguchi, Japan)

Latin America: Vacamonte Little League (Arraijan, Panama)

Mexico: Matamoros Little League (Matamoros, Tamaulipas)

Recent history of Little League World Series champions

Prior to New York's Maine-Endwell winning the Little League World Series in 2016, a United States team hadn't won the Little League World Series since Huntington Beach Little League (Calif.) did it in 2011.

If you go back one more year to 2010, you can see a pattern developing as one country, Japan, has dominated the Little League World Series, claiming titles in five of the past eight years.

And if you are looking for the last time a New Jersey team won the Little League World Series, then you have to go all the way back to 1998, and that's when Todd Frazier's Toms River East American team etched its name in history.

Frazier is now a member of the New York Mets

Here is the list of Little League World Series Champions since 2010

2017 - Tokyo Kitasuna (Japan)

2016 - Maine-Endwell (New York)

2015 - Tokyo-Kitasuna (Japan)

2014 - Seoul (South Korea)

2013 - Musashi-Fuchu (Japan)

2012 - Tokyo-Kitasuna (Japan)

2011 - Huntington Beach (California)

2010 - Edogawa Minami (Japan)

Little League Museum and official store

The World of Little League Museum, formerly known as the Peter J. McGovern Little League Museum, and official store is located near the entrance to the Little League complex in South Williamsport. The museum and official store is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week. According to the museum’s website, admission prices are: $5, seniors (62 and older) – $3, Children 5-to-12 – $2, Children 4 & under – free.

Staff Writer Sherlon Christie: schristie@gannettnj.com

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