Schedule Set for 2005 Little League Baseball World Series

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For the fourth year since the tournament expanded from eight to 16 teams in 2001, every team will have at least one game on national television as ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2 team up to bring Little League Baseball into millions of homes.

“The Little League World Series has enjoyed a long and successful relationship with television,” Mr. Keener said. “Through the commitments of ABC and ESPN, generations of viewers have watched the World Series each August and welcomed the Little League program into their homes. Such hospitality has afforded Little League Baseball and Softball a valuable tool for communicating its philosophy and purpose to millions worldwide.”

In a change from recent years, the world championship game of the Little League Baseball World Series (for 11-12-year-olds) returns to an afternoon start time and can be seen live on ABC at 3:30 p.m., on Sunday, Aug. 28. ABC also will televise the U.S. championship game in the afternoon, on Saturday, Aug. 27 at 3:30 p.m.

A batter from Redmond, Wash., watches for the perfect pitch at the 2004 Little League Baseball World Series.

Sixteen World Series games will be televised on ESPN and 11 will be televised on ESPN2, bringing the total of televised games to 29, two more than in 2004. In addition, ESPN and ESPN2 will carry all eight of the U.S. Regional Championship finals in the Little League Baseball division. The U.S. regional finals have been televised by ESPN2 every year since 1997.

The two semifinal games of the Little League Softball World Series in Portland, Ore., will be televised in August on ESPN2, with the championship game airing on ESPN. The championship games of the Junior League Baseball World Series in Taylor, Mich., and the Big League Softball World Series in Kalamazoo, Mich., will each air on ESPN2, bringing the total number of Little League games televised nationally this August to 42.

In the Little League Baseball World Series, a modified Olympic pool play format will be used for the 14th year to determine the champion. Each team in the two U.S. and International Pools will play the other three teams once in the tournament’s first five days. At that point, single-elimination begins and pool-play records are disregarded.

The two most successful teams in each of the four pools cross over to play the second-place teams in the other pools on Wednesday and Thursday (Aug. 24-25) in the quarterfinal round. The winners of those games meet Saturday (Aug. 27) for the U.S. and International championships. The winners of Saturday’s semifinal games play for the World Championship on Sunday, Aug. 28.

Pool assignments and schedule for the 2005 Little League Baseball World Series follow.

2005 Little League Baseball World Series Schedule
(All times Eastern U.S.; All TV games are televised live)

POOL PLAY ROUND
Friday – August 19, 2005
(1) Mid-Atlantic vs. Northwest, 4 p.m., ESPN2, (L)
(2) Pacific vs. EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa), 6 p.m., ESPN2, (V)
(3) Southeast vs. Midwest, 8 p.m., ESPN, (L)

Saturday – August 20, 2005
(4) New England vs. Southwest, 11 a.m., ESPN, (V)
(5) Transatlantic vs. Asia, 1 p.m., ESPN (L)
(6) Great Lakes vs. West, 3 p.m., ESPN, (V)
(7) Caribbean vs. Latin America, 4 p.m., (L)
(8) Canada vs. Mexico, 6 p.m., ESPN, (V)
(9) Southeast vs. Mid-Atlantic, 8 p.m. ESPN, (L)

Sunday – August 21, 2005
(10) Great Lakes vs. Southwest, 1 p.m., ESPN, (L)
(11) Midwest vs. Northwest, 3 p.m. ESPN, (V)
(12) Pacific vs. Canada, 5 p.m., ESPN2 (L)
(13) Caribbean vs. Asia, 7 p.m., (V)
(14) West vs. New England, 8 p.m., ESPN2, (L)

Monday – August 22, 2005
(15) EMEA vs. Mexico, 11 a.m., (L)
(16) Latin America vs. Asia, 1 p.m., ESPN2, (V)
(17) Southeast vs. Northwest, 3 p.m., ESPN, (L)
(18) Transatlantic vs. Caribbean, 6 p.m., ESPN2, (V)
(19) Mid-Atlantic vs. Midwest, 8 p.m., ESPN2, (L)

Tuesday, August 23, 2005
(20) EMEA vs. Canada, 11 a.m., ESPN2, (L)
(21) Transatlantic vs. Latin America, 1 p.m., ESPN, (V)
(22) Great Lakes vs. New England, 3 p.m., ESPN, (L)
(23) Pacific vs. Mexico, 5:30 p.m., ESPN2, (V)
(24) West vs. Southwest, 7:30 p.m., ESPN2, (L)
Pool Play Ends – Single Elimination Begins


SINGLE ELIMINATION ROUND
Wednesday - August, 24, 2005
(25) International – Semi-Final (First-place team from Pool D vs. second place team from Pool C), 3 p.m., ESPN, (L)
(26) Untied States – Semi-Final (First-place team from Pool B vs. second-place team from Pool A), 7:30 p.m., ESPN, (L)

Thursday – August 25, 2005
(27) International – Semi-Final (First-place team from Pool C vs. second-place team from Pool D), 3 p.m., ESPN, (L)
(28) United States – Semi-Final (First-place team from Pool A vs. Second-place team from Pool B), 7:30 p.m., ESPN2, (L)

Friday – August 26, 2005
OPEN DATE

Saturday – August 27, 2005
(29) Challenger Division Exhibition Game, noon, (L)
(30) United States Championship, 3:30 p.m., ABC, (L)
(31) International Championship, 7:30 p.m., ESPN, (L)

Sunday – August 28, 2005
(32) United States Runner Up vs. International Runner Up, noon, ESPN, (V)
(33) World Series Championship, 3:30 p.m., ABC, (L)

NOTE 1: (V) Little League Volunteer Stadium, (L) Howard J. Lamade Stadium
NOTE 2: EMEA refers to the Europe, Middle East and Africa Region champion (EMEA). Formerly this regional winner was designated as the European champion.
NOTE 3: Opening Ceremonies will be on Friday, Aug. 19, tentatively scheduled for 1: 30 p.m.