Little League World Series built on Southern California pride

by Phillip Brents

The Little League World Series is set to wrap up this summer’s youth baseball odyssey. The final 20 teams — 10 from the United States and 10 from around the world — are scheduled to start tournament play Aug. 13 and conclude with the grand finale Aug. 24.

TV ratings should be robust.

The West representative was to be determined on Thursday as the West Region tournament wrapped up in toasty San Bernardino. The four-team tournament included teams from Fullerton (Southern California/Golden Hill Little League), Menlo Park (Northern California/Alpine West Menlo Little League), Phoenix (Arizona/Arcadia Little League) and Honolulu (Hawaii/Honolulu Little League).

Hawaii and Northern California both got off to 1-0 starts while Southern California was 1-1 and Arizona was 0-2 through the opening two rounds.

Northern California defeated Arizona, 5-1, in Saturday’s tournament opener while Hawaii shaded Southern California, 1-0.

Southern California responded with a 7-3 win over Arizona on Monday while Hawaii shaded NorCal, 4-3, in Monday’s winners bracket semifinal to earn a berth in Thursday’s championship game.

The win by Golden Hill advanced Southern California to Wednesday’s losers bracket semifinal game against NorCal. Golden Hill won 11-0 to eliminate the NorCal entry

Either Hawaii or SoCal will represent the West region at the Little League World Series.

California District 42 champion Sweetwater Valley fell short of qualifying for this year’s West Region tournament with a 2-2 record in the preceding Southern California state tournament. Golden Hill went through the 10-team bracket with an unblemished 4-0 record.

Sweetwater Valley came close with a 3-1 setback to Golden Hill in the tournament opener but couldn’t successfully navigate completely through the loser’s bracket. Sweetwater Valley would have been required to win seven consecutive elimination games to punch its ticket to San Bernardino. The Bonita team won twice — 18-4 over District 62 champion Huntington West and 6-5 over District 25 champion Santa Monica — before finally taking the offramp on the road to the Little League World Series in a 5-4 loss to District 31 champion 4S Ranch in the third round of elimination games on July 23.

Photos by Jon Bigornia

Fans were held on the edge of their seats by amazing plays from the Sweetwater Valley 10U, Eastlake 11U and Sweetwater Valley 12U youth baseball teams this summer.

The all-San Diego County matchup saw 4S Ranch take an early lead on the strength of a three-run home run. Sweetwater Valley challenged in the last inning to trim the score to one run with a runner on base.

But 4S Ranch survived the scare to prevail 5-4 and advance to the next round against District 23 champion Upland Foothill, winning 4-2. 4S Ranch made it as far as the loser’s bracket semifinal against District 72 champion Eastvale, with the winner advancing to the state championship game.

Eastvale won 12-5 to relegate 4S Ranch to a third-place finish in the SoCal state tournament. Sweetwater Valley to a tie for fifth place with a final 9-2 all-star tournament record.

“It was an incredible run for these boys!” emphasized Sweetwater Valley Little League president Joe Griffin. “Winning District 42 and Section 7 three years in a row is an impressive accomplishment on its own. I truly believe you’ll see many of them playing at the next level in high school, college and beyond. I’m extremely proud of this group and excited to see what their future holds.”

Following the opening-round win over SVLL, Golden Hill continued through the winners bracket with victories against District 63 Goleta Valley South (3-2 on July 22) and back-to-back 8-0 decisions over Eastvale on July 24 and July 26.

The California Section 7 tournament funneled its champion into the SoCal state tournament. Four teams vied for that honor: Sweetwater Valley from District 42, Rios Canyon from District 41, Encanto from District 66 and Calexico from District 22.

Sweetwater Valley defeated Rios Canyon, 16-6, to win the Section 7 title.

Rios Canyon defeated Calexico, 11-4, to open the tournament before dropping a 10-0 decision to Sweetwater Valley in the winners bracket semifinal.

Encanto lost 8-7 to SVLL in the tourney opener but remained in contention with a 7-6 win over Calexico in the losers bracket elimination game. Rios Canyon edged Encanto, 8-7, in the losers bracket semifinal to get a second crack at the District 42 champions.

Rios Canyon defeated Rancho De Oro, 6-3, to capture the District 41 tournament in double-elimination fashion while Encanto topped Lemon Grove, 14-4, to claim the District 66 title.

Sweetwater Valley defeated Chula Vista American, 4-1, for the District 42 championship.
Looking forward to next season, Griffin said he is “very optimistic” about Sweetwater Valley’s fortunes.

The SVLL 10U squad came home with the league’s first SoCal state title while the SVLL 11s advanced to the district championship game. The SVLL Intermediate 50/70 team combined with Eastlake Little League to defeat Park View, 11-6, in the district final.

“I believe all of our all-star teams will be coming out strong and ready to make a statement,” Griffin said. “In particular, I expect our 12U team to be especially motivated as they set their sights on reclaiming the District 42 and Section 7 titles and making a run toward Williamsport.”

Eastlake Little League represented District 42 at the 11U Section 7 tournament against teams from Fletcher Hills (District 41), Spring Valley (District 66) and Imperial (District 22).
Eastlake edged Sweetwater Valley, 4-3, in a double-elimination championship game while Fletcher Hills defeated Santee National, 5-1, to win the District 41 banner. Spring Valley defeated Valley de Oro, 14-4, to claim the District 66 banner.

Fletcher Hills defeated Eastlake to win the Section 7 championship to propel itself to the SoCal state tournament against Encino (6-1 loss) and Goleta Valley South (10-9 loss).

t was a banner season for Park View Little League’s Junior Division level team during summer all-star play in California District 42. Photo by Jon Bigornia

Next level
Spring Valley/Lemon Grove represented District 66 in the just-concluded Senior League Baseball World Series in Easley, S.C. The SoCal/West Region state champions finished 1-2 with a 9-7 win over Texas and 7-1 and 7-2 setbacks to the South Carolina District 1 host team.

The host Easley team went on to win the U.S. division championship with a 7-4 win over Irmo, South Carolina, in an all-Palmetto state matchup, while posting a 3-2 runner-up finish to Caribbean region champion Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, in the tournament championship game.

Puerto Rico went through undefeated at 5-0 while Easley finished 5-2. U.S. Southeast champion Irmo finished 2-1 while U.S. Central region champion Burbank, Ill., finished 2-2.
Dubois Little League (Pennsylvania) and Victoria Little League (Texas) both finished 0-2.

Among the international entrants, Wanneroo Little League from Perth, Australia, finished 4-2 while South Czech Republic Little League (Europe-Africa) and Santa Maria de Aguayo Little League from Tamaulipas, Mexico, both finished 1-2.

Guam (Asia-Pacific) and Quebec (Canada) both finished 0-2 in tourney play.

 

Intermediate 50/70 Baseball World Series

July 27-Aug. 3 Max Baer Park, Livermore

Participating Teams
United States Division
Host: California District 57: Danville, 1-2 record
U.S. Central: Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, 1-2 record
U.S. East: Freehold Township (New Jersey), 1-2 record
U.S. Southeast: Irmo (South Carolina), 2-2 record
U.S. Southwest: Greater New Orleans, Louisiana, 2-2 record
U.S. West: Central East Maui (Hawaii), 3-1 record

International Division
Asia Pacific: West Seoul (South Korea), 1-2 record
Australia: Hills (Sydney), 1-2 record
Canada: Coquitlam (British) Colombia), 1-2 record
Europe-Africa: South Czech Republic (Brno, Czechia), 0-2 record
Latin America: Flor Amarillo (Valencia, Venezuela), 5-0 record
Mexico: Santa Maria de Aguayo (Tamaulipas), 3-2 record

Tournament Results
Sunday, July 27
Latin America 2, Mexico0
U.S. Central 7, U.S. East 0
Canada 9, Europe-Africa 7
California District 57 (host) 9, U.S. Southeast 7

Monday, July 28
Latin America 18. Australia 0
U.S. Southwest 5, U.S. Central 4
Asia-Pacific 11, Canada 4
U.S. West 17, California District 57 (host) 2

Tuesday, July 29
Mexico 3, Canada 1
U.S. East 4, California District 57 (host) 2
Australia 7, Europe-Africa 6
U.S. Southeast 10, U.S. Central 3

Wednesday, July 30
Mexico 11, Australia 6
U.S. Southeast 6, U.S. East 3
Latin America 15, Asia-Pacific 3
U.S. West 7, U.S. Southwest 0

Thursday, July 31
Mexico 7, Asia-Pacific 4
U.S. Southwest 5, U.S. Southeast 3

Saturday, Aug. 2
International championship: Latin America 2, Mexico 0
U.S. championship: U.S. Wet 7, U.S. Southwest 3

Sunday, Aug. 3
Championship game
Latin America 12, U.S. West 7

 

Junior League Baseball World Series

Aug. 3-10 Taylor, Mich.
Participating Teams
United States Division
U.S. Central: River Forest/Elmhurst (Illinois)
U.S. East: Naanmans (Wilmington, Del.)
Michigan District 5 (host): Taylor North
U.S. Southeast: Vine-Ingle (Macon, Ga.)
U.S. Southwest: Needville (Texas)
U.S. West: Mark West Youth Club (Santa Rosa)

International Division
Asia-Pacific: Chung-Shan (Taichung, Chinese Yaipei)
Australia: Brisbane North
Canada: Kingston (Kingston, Ontario)
Europe-Africa: South-West Germany (Mannheim)
Latin America: Anton (Cicle, Panama)
Puerto Rico: Rexvile (Bayamon, P.R.)

Tournament Results
Sunday, Aug. 3
Host 3, Southwest 0
Europe-Africa 2, Puerto Rico 1
U.S. Central 1, U.S. West 0
Asia-Pacific 11, Latin America 0

Monday, Aug. 4
Europe-Africa 4, Australia 3
U.S. Southeast 7, Host 4
Asia-Pacific 13, Canada 0
U.S. East 7, U.S. Central 6

Tuesday, Aug. 5
Puerto Rico 7, Canada 4
U.S. West 5. Host 2
Latin America 6, Australia 3.
U.S. Southwest 4, U.S. Central 1

Wednesday, Aug. 6
Latin America 4, Puerto Rico 0
U.S. Southwest 9, U.S. West 4
Asia-Pacific 12, Europe-Africa 1
U.S. Southeast 12, U.S. East 2

Thursday, Aug.7
Latin America 9, Europe-Africa 3
U.S. Southwest vs. U.S. East

Saturday, Aug. 9
International championship
Latin America vs. Asia-Pacific

United State championship
U.S. Southeast vs. TBA

Sunday, Aug. 10
Championship game
Teams TBA

 

Senior League Baseball World Series

Friday, Aug. 1
International championship
Caribbean 9, Australia 6

United State championship
Host 7, U.S. Southeast 4

Saturday, Aug. 2
Championship game
Caribbean 3, Host 2

 

California District 42
2025 Tournament of Champions
Major Division: Imperial Beach 5, Park View 4
Minor Division: Park View 9, Eastlake 1
9U Division: Park View 3, Sweetwater Valley 1
8U Division: Sweetwater Valley 5, Park View 4
7U Division: Park View 7, Eastlake 6
6U Division: Sweetwater Valley 10, Park View 0

California District 42
Little League Champions
10U: Sweetwater Valley 1, Park View 0 (double-elimination)
11U: Eastlake 4, Sweetwater Valley 3 (double-elimination)
12U: Sweetwater Valley 4, Chula Vista American 1
Intermediate 50/70 Division: Eastlake 11, Park View 6
Junior League: Park View 9, Imperial Beach 7 (double-elimination)
Senior League: Eastlake 10, Southwest 0

 

California Section 7
Little League Champions
10U Division
District 66: Spring Valley
District 42: Sweetwater Valley
District 41: Fletcher Hills
District 22: Calexico

11U Division
District 66: Spring Valley
District 42: Eastlake
District 41: Fletcher Hills
District 22: Imperial

12U Division
District 66: Encanto
District 42: Sweetwater Valley
District 41: Rios Canyon
District 22: Calexico

Intermediate Division
District 42: Eastlake
District 41: Rancho De Oro

Junior Division
District 66: Lemon Grove
District 42: Park View
District 41: Alpine American
District 22: Yuma

Senior Division
District 66: Spring Valley
District 42: Eastlake
District 41: Mountain Empire
District 22: Not fielded

 

Southern California Little League Champions
10U: Sweetwater Valley (District 42)
11U: Encino (District 40)
12U: Golden Hill (District 56)
Intermediate Division: Scripps Ranch (District 32)
Junior League: 4S Ranch (District 31)
Senior League: Spring Valley/Lemon Grove (District 66)

 

GET MORE INFORMATION

agent

Otay Ranch REALTORs

Agent | License ID: 01951113 01800826

+1(619) 417-6764

Name
Phone*
Message