Little League World Series 2016: Bracket Schedule, TV Info, Round 1 Predictions
The eight best Little League teams from the United States and the eight best international teams have descended on Williamsport, Pennsylvania, to contest the Little League World Series.
The teams will compete in two double-elimination tournaments, and the eventual U.S. champion will meet the international champion August 28. The winner of that game will be crowned the 2016 Little League World Series champion.
The competition gets underway Thursday, with opening games on both the U.S. and international sides. Games will be played at Williamsport's two main Little League fields, Lamade Stadium and Volunteer Stadium
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
All games throughout the tournament will be televised on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC.
| Aug. 18 | Mexico vs. Latin America | 1 p.m. | ESPN | Mexico |
| Aug. 18 | Mid-Atlantic vs. New England | 3 p.m. | ESPN | New England |
| Aug. 18 | Australia vs. Europe-Africa | 5 p.m. | ESPN | Australia |
| Aug. 18 | Northwest vs. Southeast | 7 p.m. | ESPN | Southeast |
| Aug. 19 | Japan vs. Canada | 2 p.m. | ESPN | Japan |
| Aug. 19 | Midwest vs. West | 4 p.m. | ESPN | Midwest |
| Aug. 19 | Asia-Pacific vs. Carribbean | 6 p.m. | ESPN | Asia-Pacific |
| Aug. 19 | Southwest vs. Great Lakes | 8 p.m. | ESPN | Southwest |
The first game of the tournament will start at 1 p.m. Thursday, when Mexico meets Latin America at Lamade Stadium. The San Nicolas Little League team will represent Mexico, while the team from Aguadulce, Panama, will represent Latin America.
Two hours later, Warwick, Rhode Island, will represent New England and will meet Endwell, New York, the Mid-Atlantic representative. Those two teams will play at Volunteer Stadium.
This will be the 30th time a team from Mexico has been in the Little League World Series. Mexico has received an automatic berth since 2001, and the San Nicolas team is the 12th representative from Monterrey, Mexico.
Aguadulce is rolling into the Little League World Series after winning all five of its games to advance to Williamsport. Shortstop Tomas Sarmiento is one of Aguadulce's key players, as is pitcher Manuel Cruz.
The Warwick, Rhode Island, team is led by Colin Lemieux, who threw five innings in Warwick's World Series-clinching game. He threw 86 pitches in that game and gave up just six hits. He also went 2-for-3 in that game.
Manager Scott Rush leads the Endwell, New York, team, and he says that the reason the team has made it to Williamsport this year is because of its pitching and defense.
"I think pitching and defense has really carried us with timely hitting," Rush told John Beauge of PennLive.com. "I think we can hit the ball better. We're hoping to do that here."
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
