Venezuela, Netherlands Antilles Earn Berths in Little League Baseball World Series

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WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (July 28, 2003) – A league in Venezuela will be making its first trip to Williamsport next month, while another from the Netherlands Antilles will be returning to the Little League Baseball World Series after an absence of more than two decades.

Altagracia (Venezuela) Little League defeated Curundu Little League of Panama City, Panama, 3-2 on Saturday in the Latin America Region Tournament championship in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, to earn a berth in the Series. It is the first time a team from the port city in Western Venezuela has won the tournament.

In the Caribbean Region final in Mayaguez on Saturday, Pabao Little League of Willemstad, Curacao, Netherlands Antilles, defeated Central Little League of Santa Cruz, Aruba, 6-2. Pabao Little League’s last trip to the World Series came in 1980 when it finished with a 1-2 record.

Three other teams have already earned berths in this year’s Little League Baseball World Series: Olmeca Little League of Mexico City (Mexico Region); Khovrino Little League of Moscow, Russia (Europe Region); and Arabian American Little League of Dhahran, Saudi Arabia (Transatlantic Region).

The Little League Baseball World Series for 11-12-year-olds will be played in Williamsport Aug. 15-24. Sixteen teams from around the world will take part.
ABC will televise the Little League Baseball World Series U.S. championship game on Aug. 23, at 7:30 p.m. The world championship game of the Little League Baseball World Series (for 11-12-year-olds) can be seen live on ABC at 6:30 p.m., on Aug. 24. Twelve World Series games will be televised on ESPN and 13 will be televised on ESPN2, bringing the total televised games to a record 27.

The next Little League Baseball World Series berths to be decided are: Pacific (Rota Island, Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, Friday); Asia (Rota Island, Aug. 4); and Canada (Sydney, Nova Scotia, Aug. 9).

The U.S. region finals, all of which will be televised live on ESPN2, are: Southeast (St. Petersburg, Fla., Aug. 9, 6 p.m.); Great Lakes (Indianapolis, Aug. 9, 8 p.m.); Midwest (Indianapolis, Aug. 10, 6 p.m.); Southwest (Waco, Texas, Aug. 10, 8 p.m.); New England (Bristol, Conn., Aug. 11, 8 p.m.); Northwest (San Bernardino, Calif., Aug. 11, 10 p.m.); Mid-Atlantic (Bristol, Conn., Aug. 12, 8 p.m.), and West (San Bernardino, Calif., Aug. 12, 10 p.m.). All times are Eastern U.S. time.

Little League Baseball is the largest organized youth sports program in the world, with 2.8 million participants in all 50 states and 104 other countries.