PONY Baseball and Softball is a non-profit organization with headquarters in Washington, Pennsylvania. Started in 1951, PONY organizes youth baseball and softball leagues and tournaments, as over 500,000 players annually play PONY in over 4,000 leagues throughout the United States and over 40 countries world-wide. The televised Pony League World Series held annually in August at Washington's Lew Hays Pony Field attracts teenage teams from around the world. Membership is open to children and young adults from age 4 to 23 and the leagues are organized in two-year age brackets with "and-under" programs. Hundreds of PONY players have gone on to Major League Baseball careers, including Hall of Fame inductees Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr.

Origin of name Children at the Washington, Pennsylvania, YMCA named the organization PONY, which stood for "Protect Our Neighborhood Youth." This later became "Protect Our Nation's Youth."

Levels of play

Distances shown are for baseball with players pitching; distances for other offerings (such as baseball with machine pitching, fast pitch softball, and slow pitch softball) may vary. League Ages Distances Ref. Bases Pitching Foal  4 and 3 Shetland  6 and under Pinto  8 and under Mustang 10 and under Bronco 12 and under Pony 14 and under Colt 16 and under Palomino 19 and under Thorobred 23 and under

Pony League World Series

The Pony League World Series is the flagship tournament of PONY Baseball and Softball. After the creation of the organization in 1951, there were already 505 teams across 106 leagues the following year. This prompted PONY to create the Pony League World Series in Washington County, Pennsylvania, which has hosted a majority of the tournaments since the inaugural edition in 1952.

From 1964 through 1983, the tournament did not have a set location and sometimes took place in other states: California (1964–1965, 1978), Iowa (1979–1980), Illinois (1967, 1974–1975), Nebraska (1966), Texas (1977), and Washington (1983). In 1981, World Series Tournaments, Incorporated (WSTI) was put in charge of running the tournament, and every tournament since 1984 has been played in Washington County, although no team from Pennsylvania has won the tournament since 1955.

The first team from outside the United States to play in the tournament was Monterrey, Mexico, in 1959—Monterrey had won the Little League World Series in 1957 and 1958. In 1968, international slots were added to the tournament, with teams from Canada and Venezuela participating. The first participant from Puerto Rico was a team from Cataño in 1971. The first non-US champion was a team from Monterrey in 1972. A team from Japan was the first non-Americas participant, in 1986. The first non-Americas champion was a team from Seoul, South Korea, in 1988.

The format of the tournament has differed; for most years it has been double-elimination, while at least the first tournament was single-elimination, and the finals were a best of three at least twice during the 1970s. Most editions of the tournament have been contested with a field of eight teams, but field size has been as small as four and as large as 10:

Year(s) Teams 1952–1960 8 1961–1967 4 1968–1974 8 1975–1978 6 1979–1980 8 1981–1982 5 1983–2008 8 2009–2019 10 2020 — 2021 8 2022-2023 10

The tournament is currently sponsored by Dick's Sporting Goods and the games are streamed on MLB.com, the official site of Major League Baseball. The recent finals can also be found on YouTube.

After the 2020 edition was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 edition was staged with only US-based teams (including a team from Puerto Rico).

Champions Year WinnerScoreRunner–UpRef.1952 San Antonio, Texas2–1 Brockton, Massachusetts1953 Fairmont, West Virginia7–6 North Charleston, South Carolina1954 Monongahela, Pennsylvania8–2 Chicago, Illinois1955 Washington, Pennsylvania4–0 Youngstown, Ohio1956 Joliet, Illinois9–1 Hamtramck, Michigan1957 Lufkin, Texas5–2 Maywood, Illinois1958 Miami, Florida3–2 Hamtramck, Michigan1959 Long Beach, California8–0 Greene County, Pennsylvania1960 Oak Park - River Forest, Illinois5–4 West Covina, California1961 Hamtramck, Michigan2–1 San Antonio, Texas1962 Houston, Texas4–1 Greensboro, North Carolina1963 Evansville, Indiana3–1 Canoga Park, California1964 Campbell-Moreland, California8–2 Gadsden, Alabama1965 Long Beach, California8–0 Joliet, Illinois1966 Greensboro, North Carolina6–0 Gadsden, Alabama1967 Chula Vista, California2–0 Tulsa, Oklahoma1968 Greensboro, North Carolina4–1 Covina, California1969 Honolulu, Hawaii8–5 Arcadia, California1970 Buena Park, California1–0 Cayce/West Columbia/Lexington, South Carolina1971 Orange, California6–5 Denver, Colorado1972 Monterrey, Mexico2–0, 2–3, 3–1 Honolulu, Hawaii1973 Santa Clara, California4–3 Fort Worth, Texas1974 West Covina, California11–2 Charlotte, North Carolina1975 Covina, California7–3, 4–3 Wilmette, Illinois1976 Tampa, Florida14–0 Monongahela, Pennsylvania1977 New Bedford, Massachusetts5–4 Lake Worth, Florida1978 Campbell-Moreland, California2–0 Joliet, Illinois1979 Campbell-Moreland, California10–3 Houston, Texas1980 Maui, Hawaii3–2 Greensboro, North Carolina1981 West Covina, California16–10 Miami, Florida1982 West Covina, California 5–4 Washington, Pennsylvania 1983 Santa Susana, California 8–4 Houston, Texas 1984 Caguas, Puerto Rico 3–0 Miami, Florida 1985 Marietta, Georgia 7–0 Washington, Pennsylvania 1986 Valencia, Santa Clarita, California 3–2 Edogawa, Japan 1987 Caguas, Puerto Rico 9–4 Houston, Texas 1988 Seoul, South Korea 15–0 La Mesa, California 1989 Seoul, South Korea 10–0 Encino, California 1990 Seoul, South Korea 4–2 Lakewood, California 1991 San Juan, Puerto Rico 8–2 Fountain Valley, California 1992 Bourbonnais, Illinois 4–3 Pasadena, Texas 1993 Joliet, Illinois 4–2 Bayamon, Puerto Rico 1994 Taitung, Chinese Taipei 6–1 Chambersburg, Pennsylvania1995 Bayamon, Puerto Rico 11–2 Hagerstown, Maryland 1996 Tainan, Chinese Taipei 4–0 Evansville, Indiana 1997 Danville, California 7–0 Hamilton, Ohio 1998 Taitung, Chinese Taipei 4–0 Washington, Pennsylvania 1999 Covina, California 9–1 Taitung, Chinese Taipei 2000 Taipei, Chinese Taipei 8–3 West Covina, California 2001 Ponce, Puerto Rico 10–4 Richmond, Virginia2002 Norwalk, California 10–0 Levittown, Puerto Rico2003 Lakewood, California 4–3 Humacao, Puerto Rico2004 Marietta, Georgia 3–1 Mililani, Hawaii2005 Taichung, Chinese Taipei 2–1 San Diego, California2006 Caguas, Puerto Rico 4–2 Simi Valley, California2007 Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico 8–3 Long Beach, California2008 Long Beach, California 3–2 Taichung, Chinese Taipei2009 Taitung, Chinese Taipei 12–1 Riverside/Victoria, California2010 Midlothian, Virginia 3–1 West Tokyo, Japan2011 Laredo, Texas 10–9 Taipei County, Chinese Taipei2012 Long Beach, California 9–7 Taoyuan County, Chinese Taipei2013 Okinawa, Japan 5–4 Los Mochis, Mexico2014 Hilo, Hawaii 5–3 Taoyuan County, Chinese Taipei2015 Taoyuan County, Chinese Taipei12–1 San Bernardino, California2016 Taipei County, Chinese Taipei12–2 Maui, Hawaii2017 Covina, California 3–1 Seoul, South Korea 2018 Taipei County, Chinese Taipei3–1 Long Beach, California2019 Taipei City, Chinese Taipei9–1 Bay County, Michigan2020Not held2021 Brownsville, Texas 11–10 Youngstown, Ohio2022 New Taipei City, Chinese Taipei4–1 Monterrey, Mexico2023 Edogawa, Japan 8–2 Washington, Pennsylvania 2024 Guaynabo, Puerto Rico 2-1 Tijuana, Mexico2025 Taichung, Taiwan6-4 Washington, Pennsylvania 2026Shortened due to weatherYearWinnerScoreRunner–UpRef. Source:

Note: In cases of conflicting records, contemporary news reports have been given priority.

Controversy In the 2023 Pony Asia-Pacific Zone Championships held in Fukushima, Japan, a controversial decision was made, where the Japanese officials unilaterally revoked Taiwan (Chinese Taipei)'s Pony League World Series qualification after losing to Taiwan in the championship game. The reason for disqualification was the alleged use of unapproved bats by the Taiwanese team. However, the PONY league pre-approved the bats prior to each game with stickers. There have also never been complaints from other teams prior to the championship game. In the end, despite Taiwan gathering supports from the majority of the teams, including Hong Kong (1 team) and Mainland China (3 teams) who protested against the decision to disqualify Taiwan, the complaint was overruled by Japan, Philippines and Australia, where the two decision-making officials were from Japan and Philippines.

The incident attracted widespread media attention in Taiwan due to the perceived lack of transparency and fairness. The Taoyuan City Government and Taiwan's Sports Administration immediately filed an official complaint to the PONY Baseball and Softball organization headquarters, and are waiting for a reply.

Championship totals

By U.S. state or non-U.S. country. Updated through the 2025 championship (71 playings, 142 total appearances).

State / Country Wins Losses Appearances Most recent championship California 22 15 37 2017 Chinese Taipei 12 5 17 2025 Texas 5 6 11 2021 Puerto Rico 8 3 11 2024 Illinois 4 5 9 1993 Hawaii 3 3 6 2014 South Korea 3 1 4 1990 Pennsylvania 2 8 10 1955 Florida 2 3 5 1976 North Carolina 2 3 5 1968 Georgia 2 0 2 2004 Michigan 1 3 4 1961 Japan 2 2 4 2023 Mexico 1 2 3 1972 Indiana 1 1 2 1963 Massachusetts 1 1 2 1977 Virginia 1 1 2 2010 West Virginia 1 0 1 1953 Ohio 0 3 3 — Alabama 0 2 2 — South Carolina 0 2 2 — Colorado 0 1 1 — Maryland 0 1 1 — Oklahoma 0 1 1 —

Gallery

See also Amateur baseball in the United States Baseball awards#PONY Baseball

Notes

References

External links

Pony League World Series