While it’s never easy to lose, two teams in Utah and New Mexico had a terrific season of Little League Baseball this year.
The Dixie Little League baseball team in St. George, Utah, and the Shorthorn baseball team in Carlsbad, New Mexico both won their respective state titles. Both teams moved on to the regional tournaments of the Little League Baseball World Series. Dixie represented Utah in the West Regional Tournament in San Bernardino, California and the Shorthorn represented New Mexico in the Southwest Regional Tournament in Waco, Texas.
To advance to the Little League Baseball World Series in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, teams need to win their regional tournaments. Unfortunately, on Aug. 7, both teams lost and were eliminated from the tournament. The communities of Carlsbad and St. George rallied around their local baseball teams that includes 10 to 12 year-old boys. Here’s a recap of how the teams did in the tournament,
Carlsbad Shorthorn Little League Baseball team
After winning the New Mexico state title, the Carlsbad New Mexico Shorthorn boys left for Waco, Texas on Tuesday, July 31 for the Southwest Regional Championship Tournament. In the team’s first game of the tournament on Aug. 2, the Shorthorn lost to Oklahoma (6-2). The team came back and won the next three games against Texas West, Mississippi and Louisiana. The Shorthorn made it to the Southwest Regional Semifinal on Aug. 7 where they matched up for the second time against Oklahoma. Unfortunately, they lost to Oklahoma 3-2.
The only team to represent New Mexico in the Little League Baseball World Series was the Lions Hondo team from Roswell in 1956, who won the series that year.
Dixie Little League Baseball team
After winning its second straight state title, the Dixie Little League team from St. George, Utah was again headed to the West Regional Championship Tournament in San Bernardino, California. The team played their first game on Monday, Aug. 6 and lost 8-2 to Hawaii. The next day, they played Northern California and lost 6-0. With two losses the Dixies were eliminated from the tournament. The Dixie Little League team has been to the Western Regional Tournament four of the last six years and eight times overall.
The Little League Baseball World Series will be played Aug. 16-26 in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. It will be covered by the newly-launched ESPN+. If interested in watching the Little League Baseball World Series on your mobile devices, download the ESPN App and start your free trial of ESPN+ today.
The Little League World Series consists of 16 teams. Eights of the teams are from the United States, and 8 from other countries. The Series was first held 71 years ago in 1947 and is held every August in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
Initially, only teams from the US competed in the Series but it has since become a worldwide tournament. The tournament has gained popular renown, especially in the United States, where games from the Series and even from regional tournaments are broadcast on ESPN. From 1969 to 1991 teams from Taiwan dominated the series, winning in 15 out of those 23 years. From 2010 to the present, teams from Tokyo, Japan have similarly dominated the series, winning 5 of the last 8 matchups.
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