Little League World Series 2011: Profiling Every International Team

It is a good bet that the eventual winner of the 2011 Little League World Series will be one of the teams from the next eight slides. The international field is loaded with talented teams.

The 2010 World Series champion, Edogawa Minami, will not be around to defend their title. They were unable to advance out of their region.

Hamamatsu Minami earned that honor, and now looks every bit the favorite to take the 2011 title.

This will not be an easy task. They will have to work their way through a tough field.

Check out all eight international teams as the true boys of summer get ready to begin what is always an enjoyable and competitive tournament.

The Little League Baseball World Series is set to begin on Aug. 18, and conclude with the World Championship game on Aug. 28.

Ching-Tang, Chinese Taipei

Ching-Tang is set to make their first appearance in the Little League World Series.

They advanced after dominating the Asia-Pacific Region Tournament. They were a perfect 6-0 in the tournament and were only held under 12 runs in two of those six games. The only game that was really close was their 3-1 win in the championship game over South Korea.

Even though this is Ching-Tang's first trip to the LLWS, they have to be considered one of the favorites. Their dominating performance in the regional showed this team's strength, and teams from Chinese Tapei have had more success here than any country. 

Teams from Chinese Taipei has captured the Little League Baseball World Series a record 17 times.

They have not won one in 15 years, though. The last champion from Chinese Taipei came in 1996.

Langley, Canada

Langley will be sending their second team to the Little League World Series. They made their first appearance in 1998, and that version had a great run that finally stopped in the International Championship game.

This year's version qualified by winning the Canada Region Tournament Championship. This was a six-team, eight-day tournament was played in North Vancouver, British Columbia.

Langley looked much more like a powerhouse at the end of this tournament than they did at the beginning. They finished second in pool play with a 4-1 record. They then won a thrilling 2-1 win over Mt. Seymour North Vancouver, British Columbia in the semifinal.

And that is when Langley hit their stride. They dominated the Championship. They ended the game early via the ten-run rule with an 11-0 victory over Valleyfield from Quebec.

Aruba North, Aruba

Aruba North will be making their first trip to the Little League World Series. They advanced by winning the Caribbean Region Tournament. This was an eight-day, 10-team Caribbean Region tournament played in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.

Aruba North was 3-1 in group play. That was good for a second play finish in Pool B.

In the semifinals they defeated defending champion Jose M. Rodriguez from Manati, Puerto Rico,

They then won the championship and punched their ticket to the LLWS by winning 4-2 over Elrod Hendricks from St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.

Rotterdam, Netherlands

Rotterdam qualified for their first Little League World Series in dominating fashion. They went undefeated in the eight-day, 11-team European Region Championship.

The tournament was played at the Little League Baseball European Leadership Training Center in Kutno, Poland.

Rotterdam not only went undefeated, but none of the games were particularly close. They outscored their opponents 27-4. 

Rotterdam is just the second team from the Netherlands to qualify for the Little League World Series.

Windmills Apeldoorn was the first. They qualified in 2007.

Hamamatsu Minami, Japan

Hamamatsu Minami was the first team to qualify for this year's Little League World Series. It will be their first trip to the storied tournament.

They qualified by going undefeated in the Japan Region Tournament. This was a 16-team single elimination tournament.

Hamamatsu Minami rolled their opponents in this one. They scored an 11-1 victory over Koshigaya from Koshigaya City, Japan, in the semifinal contest and then defeated Yokohama, Japan, 14-3, in the championship game.

This latest victory is the latest step in an impressive two year run for Hamamatsu Minami. Last year they lost in the semifinals of the Japan Region to the eventual 2010 World Series champion Edogawa Minami.

This team is clearly one of the favorites to win this year's World Series.

Gran Maracay, Venezuela

Gran Maracay earned their first trip to the Little League World Series by winning the Latin America Region championship played in San Jose, Costa Rica. This was an 11-team, eight-day tournament, and Gran Maracay did not lose a game.

Gran Maracay won a thrilling semifinal contest by defeating FESA Little League, 4-3. Then their bats came alive for the championship contest.

In the title game they beat Falcon Little League from Cartegena, Colombia, 13-6.

This is the 16th time Venezuela has qualified a team for the Little League World Series.

Seguro Social, Mexico

Seguro Social is getting used to playing in the Little League World Series. This is their third trip to the tournament, and all have been fairly recent. The other two came in 2005 and 2007.

Seguro Social looks very strong after going 6-0 in their regional tournament.

They won the regional championship by beating the Liga Mitras of Monterrey, 4-1.

Right-hander Carlos Arellano looked fantastic picking up the win in the championship game. He only surrendered one run and walked only one while striking out eight.

Arabian American, Saudi Arabia

After a bit of controversy, Arabian American will be advancing to the Little League World Series.

Arabian-American lost 6-4 in the championship of the Middle East and Africa Region to a team from Kampala, Uganda.

However, inconsistencies and discrepancies in the Uganda team's documentation led to the U.S. Department of State denying the team's visa applications.

Neil Wilkey, manager of the Arabian-American Little League team, had this to say after receiving the invitation:

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“It’s unfortunate that the Uganda team will not have this opportunity. But we are pleased to have received this invitation, and we are looking forward to playing our first game against the Canada Region champion on Aug. 19.”

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