Emilia Romagna Little League of Bologna, Italy, took home the Europe and Africa Region Championship banner with a 6-2 win over the Czech Republic to punch its ticket to Greenville, North Carolina, for the 2022 Little League Softball® World Series (LLSWS).
This marks the second-straight time a team from Italy represented the Region at the LLSWS, as Lombardia Little League logged a 3-4 record in 2019 and made it to the last day of the tournament. That same year, Emilia Romagna Little League sent a team to the Little League Baseball World Series as the Region Champions.
This August, Emilia Romagna Little League looks to become the first team from the Europe and Africa Region to win the LLSWS and the first international champion to win the event since Rosario Paoli Little League from Maunabo, Puerto Rico, won the crown in 2001.
The Europe and Africa Region champions will play their first game in Greenville in the Orange Bracket on Wednesday, August 10, at 4 p.m. ET against the winner of the Canada Region vs. Asia-Pacific Region matchup.
This will be the second LLSWS in Greenville and the first year with international participants and the expanded field of 12 teams. In 2019, Little League International announced the expansion of both the Little League Baseball World Series and the LLSWS and in early 2020 designated Greenville as the new home of the LLSWS. In addition to the Host (North Carolina) team and four international regions (Asia-Pacific, Europe and Africa, Canada, and Latin America), the expanded U.S. teams include the new Mid-Atlantic, New England, Northwest, and West Regions and are rounded out with the existing Central, Southeast, Southwest.
The additional international region champions who earn their spot in Greenville will be announced as they are identified at LittleLeague.org, and fans are encouraged to watch the U.S. Region Tournaments on the ESPN Family of Networks as part of the #SummerOfSoftball to follow the action and see who the remaining Region Champions will be. More information about the 2022 Little League World Series tournaments, including full schedules and downloadable brackets, can be found at LittleLeague.org/WorldSeries.