Little League World Series in Latin America

Latin America Little League Championship
Most recent season or competition:
2024 Little League World Series qualification
SportBaseball
Founded1958 (1958)
Most recent
champion(s)
Cardenales Little League, Barquisimeto, Venezuela
Most titles Coquivacoa Little League, Maracaibo, Venezuela (10)

The Latin America Region has competed in the Little League World Series since its creation in 1958.[1] Until 2001, the Latin America Region included Mexico and the Caribbean. In 2001 – when the Little League World Series expanded to sixteen teams – Mexico and the Caribbean were given their own regions. The region is open to all countries on the Latin American mainland, but is typically contested by the teams from Panama and Venezuela. Since the 2001 split, the region has been represented by either Venezuela (11 appearances) or Panama (seven appearances) at the Little League World Series, as of 2019.

Following the 2021 LLWS, Panama and the Caribbean Region countries of Cuba and Puerto Rico will take up two berths in the LLWS. Two of the three will send champions to the LLWS each year, while the third will compete in its normal region; the automatic berths will rotate annually. This scheme is part of a planned expansion of the LLWS from 16 to 20 teams that was originally scheduled to occur for 2021, but was delayed to 2022 due to COVID-19.[2]

Teams from Latin America have won the LLWS title five times, but only four were as the Latin America Region champion. The Industrial Little League of Monterrey, Mexico, won back-to-back titles in 1957 and 1958, but the first title was as the champion of the South Region.[1] The other three LLWS championships were won by Guadalupe, Nuevo León, Mexico, in 1997, and Maracaibo, Venezuela, in 1994 and 2000.

Latin America Region countries

Region champions

Year Host Champion City Result
1957 Industrial Monterrey Champions[1]
1958 Industrial Monterrey Champions[1]
1959 San Juan San Juan Quarterfinals
1960 Industrial Monterrey 4th Place
1961 Industrial Monterrey 3rd Place
1962 Del Norte Monterrey 4th Place
1963 Obispado Monterrey 5th Place
1964 Obispado Monterrey Runners-up
1965 Zulia Maracaibo 7th Place
1966 Cuauhtémoc Monterrey 6th Place
1967 Linares Linares 4th Place
1968 Chinandega Chinandega 7th Place
1969 Jorge Rosas Mayagüez 6th Place
1970 Chinandega Chinandega 3rd Place
1971 Caguas Gillette Caguas 5th Place
1972 Admiral Gallery San Juan 4th Place
1973 Mitras Monterrey 6th Place
1974 Coquivacoa Maracaibo 4th Place
1975 International teams were banned by Little League
1976 Puerto Nuevo San Juan 3rd Place
1977 Coquivacoa Maracaibo 4th Place
1978 La Javilla Santo Domingo 4th Place
1979 Luis Llorens Torres Santurce 5th Place
1980 Pabao Willemstad 5th Place
1981 Unidad Modelo Monterrey 7th Place
1982 Coquivacoa Maracaibo 5th Place
1983 Liquito Hernández Barahona Runners-up
1984 Willys R. Cook Bethania 5th Place
1985 Coquivacoa Maracaibo 5th Place
1986 Coquivacoa Maracaibo 4th Place
1987 Rolando Paulino Moca 3rd Place
1988 Curundú Curundú 7th Place
1989 Coquivacoa Maracaibo 3rd Place
1990 Matamoros Matamoros 5th Place
1991 Luis Montas San Cristobal 3rd Place
1992 Epy Guerrero Santo Domingo T-3rd Place
1993 David Doleguita David Runner Up
1994 Coquivacoa Maracaibo Champions
1995 Eduardo Sosa Santo Domingo T-3rd Place
1996 Matías Ramón Mella San Isidro Air Base T-3rd Place
1997 Linda Vista Guadalupe Champions
1998 Bayamón Linda Vista Guadalupe Group Stage
1999 Monterrey Juan A. Bibiloni Yabucoa T-3rd Place
2000 Sierra Maestra Maracaibo Champions
2001 Panama City Santiago de Veraguas Santiago de Veraguas Group Stage
2002 Managua Los Leones Valencia Quarterfinals
2003 Mayagüez Altagracia Los Puertos Quarterfinals
2004 Panama City Curundú Panama City Quarterfinals
2005 Maracaibo Los Leones Valencia Group Stage
2006 Guatemala City Cardenales Barquisimeto Quarterfinals
2007 Panama City La Victoria Maracaibo Quarterfinals
2008 Maracaibo Coquivacoa Maracaibo Quarterfinals
2009 Barranquilla Coquivacoa Maracaibo Group Stage
2010 Guatemala City Chitré Chitré Group Stage
2011 San José Gran Maracay Maracay Int'l Semifinal
2012 Aguadulce Aguadulce Aguadulce 4th Place
2013 Guayaquil Aguadulce Aguadulce Int'l Semifinal
2014 Managua Coquivacoa Maracaibo Round 3
2015 Barranquilla Cardenales Barquisimeto Int'l Semifinal
2016 Panama City Aguadulce Aguadulce 3rd place
2017 Barranquilla Luz Maracaibo Maracaibo Round 3
2018 Panama City Vacamonte Arraiján Round 2
2019 Aguadulce Cacique Mara Maracaibo Round 2
2022 Managua 14 de Septiembre Managua Round 4
2023 Maracaibo San Francisco Maracaibo Round 3
2024 Panama City Cardenales Barquisimeto 3rd place

Summary

As of the 2024 Little League World Series

Country Championships Best Result in LLWS
Venezuela 22 Champions (1994, 2000)
Mexico 14 Champions (1957, 1958, 1997) 
Panama 10 Runners-up
Puerto Rico 7 3rd Place
Dominican Republic 7 Runner up
Nicaragua 3 3rd Place
Curaçao 1 5th Place

Italics indicates team no longer competes in Latin America Region. Mexico now has its own region, while Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, and Curaçao compete in the Caribbean region.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d In 1957, the Industrial Little League of Monterrey, Mexico, was the first team from outside the U.S. and Canada to compete in the LLWS. It competed in an area tournament in McAllen, Texas, won the South Region tournament, and defeated the West Region in the championship game. (The only other two regions in the LLWS were the East and North regions.) As a result, the next year (1958), three new regions were created: Latin America, Canada, and Pacific. Two years later, in 1960, a fourth international region was created: Europe. Two years after that, in 1962, the Pacific Region was replaced by the newly created Far East Region.
  2. ^ "Little League Baseball and Little League Softball World Series to Expand in 2021". Little League Baseball. Little League International. 24 August 2019. Retrieved 24 August 2019.

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