Little League World Series 2017: Bracket Dates, Teams, TV Schedule and Format

The field is set. Sixteen youth baseball teams will compete for the title of Little League World Series champion.

Williamsport, Pennsylvania, will once again serve as the host for the well-attended tournament, which brings together eight American and eight international teams.

The American group includes clubs from the Great Lakes, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, New England, Northwest, Southeast, Southwest and West regions.

Of the international contingent, there are representatives from Asia-Pacific, Australia, Canada, the Caribbean, Europe-Africa, Japan, Latin America and Mexico.

The tournament will begin Thursday, August 17, and will finish Sunday, August 27. To determine the champion, the American winner will square off with the international victor.

Date	Game	Time (ET)	TV
Aug. 17	Latin America vs. Mexico	1 p.m.	ESPN
Aug. 17	Mid-Atlantic vs. New England	3 p.m.	ESPN
Aug. 17	Canada vs. Europe-Africa	5 p.m.	ESPN
Aug. 17	Southwest vs. Great Lakes	7 p.m.	ESPN2
Aug. 18	Japan vs. Australia	2 p.m.	ESPN
Aug. 18	Northwest vs. West	4 p.m.	ESPN
Aug. 18	Caribbean vs. Asia-Pacific	6 p.m.	ESPN
Aug. 18	Midwest vs. Southeast	8 p.m.	ESPN

Though the LLWS is mostly a double-elimination format, the lone tweak is the final round before the overall championship. Whichever team emerges from the loser's bracket would only need one victory to eliminate the winner's bracket challenger.

What's especially neat about the friendly event is that each club is guaranteed three games. Even the four teams that immediately drop two consecutive games will play in a consolation bracket.

The ESPN family of networks—including ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC—will broadcast each contest. Seven of the eight opening-round LLWS matchups will be on ESPN, and the U.S. vs. International championship will be shown on ABC.

In 2016, the Mid-Atlantic team from Endwell, New York, edged South Korea 2-1 to win the championship. This year, Holbrook will represent the region. The New Jersey-based team advanced to the LLWS with a superb defensive play.

Holbrook will take on Fairfield, which hails from Connecticut and represents the New England area.

The other American teams are Gross Pointe (Michigan, Great Lakes), Sioux Falls (South Dakota, Midwest), Walla Walla (Washington, Northwest), Greenville (North Carolina, Southeast), Lufkin (Texas, Southwest) and Santa Margarita (California, West).

Several recognizable future Major League Baseball players have participated in the Little League World Series, including Jason Bay, Todd Frazier, Gary Sheffield and Jason Varitek. However, for most of the young athletes, the Little League World Series will be the pinnacle of their baseball careers—and should be treated as such.

It's an unforgettable experience for the 11- to 13-year-olds who will demand part of the nation's attention over the entertaining 11 days of baseball.

And one team will return home as Little League world champions.

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Follow Bleacher Report writer David Kenyon on Twitter @Kenyon19_BR.