Little League World Series 2010: The Best Finals of the Decade

For the people of South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, it's the time of year they love most. And for little league baseball players all over the world, it's the time of year their imaginations run wild with dreams.

This August marks the 64th annual Little League World Series, and if we can take anything from previous experience, it's sure to not disappoint. It's time to find out if the United States can make it six straight Little League World Series titles, or if the rest of the world can reclaim its dominance from the early decade.

With the regionals beginning, It's time to take a look back at the best championship games from this past decade. A decade full of dominant pitching performances and walk-off home runs.

10: 2003 Little League World Series

In 2003, the team of Musashi-Fuchu Tokyo dominated the international competition, and continued to dominate in its lone game against the United States.

Tokyo defeated Boynton Beach, Florida 10-1, behind an 8-run foruth inning, which happened to be the team's second straight game putting an 8-spot on the board in one inning.

Boynton Beach had not been a team known for offense throughout its run to the Little Legaue World Series, so when Hokuto Nakahara smacked a grand slam in the fourth inning, it was all but over for the team from Florida.

9: 2008 Little League World Series

Hawaii was a relative unknown when it came to the Little League World Series before its title run in 2005. But the team from Waipahu, Hawaii gave the state its second title in four years in 2008 when it defeated Matamoros, Mexico 12-3.

The Waipahu team was a flashy offensive squad going up against a fundamentally sound Mexico team. The team from Hawaii proved the cliche, "defense wins championships," is outdated.

Tanner Tokunaga's two-run home run in the second inning gave Waipahu, Hawaii a 3-0 lead, and the team never looked back.

8: 2004 Little League World Series

The 2004 Willemstad, Curacao team was one of the most feared in recent memory. The lineup featured slugger Carlos Pineda, who had been hitting over .700 during the Little League World Series.

The team from Thousand Oaks, California however, was determined not let to Pineda beat it. The team accomplished this goal, but was still defeated 5-2, as the rest of the Caribbean team stepped up.

After walking Pineda and another batter in the first inning, Thousand Oaks only needed to record one more out to escape the jam. Third baseman Jurickson Profar was determined to make the team from California pay, and he did with a three-run homer giving the Caribbean a 3-0 lead.

Thousand Oaks was never able to recover from the blast, while the three errors it committed surely didn't help.

7: 2000 Little League World Series

The most heart-warming story on the list comes from the 2000 Little Legaue World Series when the team from Sierra Maestra, Venezuala defeated Bellaire, Texas 3-2 in a battle.

Ruben Mavarez pitched a complete-game four-hitter for the Venezuelan team to help get the victory.

The story however, isn't in the game itself. The team from Venezuela was full of underpriveleged kids that actually showed up to the tournament with one bat.

One player showed up with $10 to his name. It's stories like these that show why the Little League World Series is great.

6: 2009 Little League World Series

The game between Chula Vista, California and Taoyuan, Chinese Tapei began as a thriller. But by the fourth inning, Bulla Craft made sure the California team would come away with the victory. Craft had the go-ahead RBI on a single in the fourth inning to give the team from California a 4-3 lead, which eventually became a 6-3 victory.

Although Craft came up with countless big hits for the Chula Vista team, shortstop Andy Rios may have been the most regarded player. In the United States Championship game and the World Championship game, Rios didn't record an out for his team.

5: 2006 Little League World Series

The 2005 final between Columbus, Georgia and Kawaguchi City, Japan proved to be one of the best defensive games on the list. Going into the final, both teams were regarded as two of the best pitching teams in the tournament, and both proved it during the game.

Cody Walker hit a two-run home run for Columbis in the third inning to give the team from Georgia a 2-1 lead, which was the final score as well. Kyle Carter chipped in with a complete-game three-hitter.

4: 2002 Little League World Series

The Little Legaue World Series final in 2002 was supposed to be over before the game even started. Japanese pitcher Yoosuke Katoh had allowed only one run in the previous five games, and was considered to be unhittable.

However, the team from Louisville, Kentucky wasn't scared of the pitching phenom, and showed it from the beginning of the game. Aaron Alvey hit a solo home run in the first inning for the games only run.

Alvey also set several Little League World Series records for pitching himself, with 44 strikeouts, 21 scoreless innings pitched and 12 straight innings of no-hit ball.

3: 2001 Little League World Series

2: 2007 Little League World Series

The 2007 Little League World Series ended just as ever American kid pictured it in their head. Dalton Carriker hit a walk-off solo home run in the bottom of the eight inning to give Warner Robins, Georgia the 3-2 victory over Tokyo, Japan.

The home run was the only hit of the game for Carriker, but it proved to come at a big time.

If a walk-off home-run in the bottom of the eighth inning wasn't enough to be the greatest final of the decade, one could only imagine what the top spot could be.

1: 2005 Little League World Series

Chances looked bleak for the team from Ewa Beach, Hawaii entering the bottom of the sixth inning of its 2005 Little League World Series Championship game. However, the team didn't give up and rallied to tie the game against the closer for the Caribbean Christopher Garia.

Garia then surrounded a walk-off solo home run the following inning to give Hawaii its first championship of the decade. It was also the largest sixth inning comeback of any Little League World Series game this decade as Hawaii defeated the Caribbean 7-6, in seven innings.