The 2001 Little League World Series took place between August 17 and August 26 in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The Kitasuna Little League of Tokyo, Japan, defeated Apopka National Little League of Apopka, Florida, in the championship game of the 55th Little League World Series (LLWS). This tournament saw the expansion of pool play to 16 teams, eight from the United States, and eight from around the world. This was the first LLWS to use Little League Volunteer Stadium; it was built to accommodate games added to the pool stage and to host the tournament's consolation game for third place.
Age controversy Following the conclusion of the tournament, Danny Almonte, a pitcher from the Bronx, New York, team representing the Mid-Atlantic Region, was the center of a scandal when it was discovered that he was not eligible to play in the tournament because he was two years over the maximum age limit. Because of this, the Mid-Atlantic team was retroactively assessed a forfeit for each game they won in the tournament. The team's statistics, including a perfect game thrown by Almonte, were also invalidated.
Qualification
Between five and twelve teams take part in 16 regional qualification tournaments, which vary in format depending on region. In the United States, the qualification tournaments are in the same format as the Little League World Series itself: a round-robin tournament followed by an elimination round to determine the regional champion.
Pool A Pool B Pool C Pool D Lincoln, Rhode IslandNew EnglandLincoln Little League Bronx, New YorkMid-AtlanticRolando Paulino Little League Santiago de Veraguas, PanamaLatin AmericaSantiago de Veraguas Little League Hagåtña, GuamPacificGuam Little League Oceanside, CaliforniaWestOceanside American Little League Bainbridge Island, WashingtonNorthwestBainbridge Island Little League Willemstad, CuraçaoCaribbeanPariba Little League Calgary, AlbertaCanadaCalgary West Little League Brownsburg, IndianaGreat LakesBrownsburg Little League Davenport, IowaMidwestDavenport East Little League Dhahran, Saudi ArabiaTransatlanticArabian-American Little League Moscow, RussiaEuropeKhovrino Little League Lake Charles, LouisianaGulf StatesSouth Lake Charles Little League Apopka, FloridaSoutheastApopka National Little League Tokyo, JapanAsiaKitasuna Little League Matamoros, TamaulipasMexicoMatamoros Little League Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States.
Pool play The top two teams in each pool moved on to the elimination round.
United States +Pool A Region Record Indiana 3–0 California 2–1 Louisiana 1–2 Rhode Island 0–3
+Pool B Region Record Florida 2–1 Washington 1–2 Iowa 0–3 New York 0–3 Bronx, New York, won all three of their pool games, but werelater assessed forfeits due to their use of an ineligible player. Bainbridge Island, Washington, was retroactively placed secondin Pool B due to the Bronx forfeits. August 17 Rhode Island 0–8California Indiana2–0Louisiana
August 18 New YorkForfeitFloridaWashington4–3IowaRhode Island 1–5Indiana
August 19 Florida2–0WashingtonCalifornia5–2Louisiana
August 20 IowaForfeitNew YorkRhode Island2–5LouisianaIndiana2–1California
August 21 WashingtonForfeitNew YorkFlorida10–3Iowa
International +Pool C Region Record Curaçao 2–1 Japan 2–1 Saudi Arabia 1–2 Panama 1–2
+Pool D Region Record Guam 3–0 Mexico 2–1 Canada 1–2 Russia 0–3
August 17 Transatlantic2–4Asia
August 18 Mexico5–6PacificCaribbean3–2Latin AmericaEurope1–5Canada
August 19 Transatlantic3–10Caribbean
August 20 Canada5–6MexicoEurope0–5PacificAsia1–6Latin America
August 21 Pacific6–5CanadaMexico2–0EuropeAsia4–2CaribbeanTransatlantic11–0†(5 innings)Latin America † Game ended by "mercy rule" (at least 10-run difference through 5 innings)
Elimination rounds The 2001 Little League World Series was the first edition that had a female umpire call the championship game: Flora Stansbury from Seneca, Missouri. U.S. President George W. Bush, himself a little leaguer as a child, was also in attendance at the championship game. Nobuhisa Baba's single in the bottom of the sixth drove in the winning run.
2001 Little League World Series ChampionsKitasuna Little LeagueTokyo, Japan
Champions' path The Kitasuna LL reached the LLWS with an undefeated record of four wins and no losses. In total, their record was 9–1, their only loss coming in the LLWS qualifying round against Santiago de Veraguas LL of Panama. RoundOppositionResultAll-Tokyo TournamentOpening Round Ryuugasaki LL 11–4Quarterfinals Suzaka LL 6–1Semifinals Matsusaka LL 12–8Japan ChampionshipNagoya Kita LL 5–4
Notable players Danny Almonte (Bronx, New York), subject of the player-eligibility controversy in this tournament Francisco Peña (Bronx, New York), Major League Baseball catcher and son of Tony Peña Rubén Tejada (Santiago de Veraguas, Panama), Major League Baseball infielder
Notes
References
External links 2001 official results via Wayback Machine