by Little League Baseball, www.littleleague.org
For the first time in more than 30 years, a team from Spain will be heading to the Little League Baseball® World Series after Catalunya Little League out of Barcelona took home the 2018 Little League Baseball Europe and Africa Region Championship title.
Catalunya Little League opened the tournament with an impressive 13-3 win over Belarus before squaring off with Northwest Czech Republic Little League in defensive Game Two matchup, where they were able to pull away with a 1-0 victory and earn a spot in the semifinals. After a 6-2 win over Kennemerland Little League from the Netherlands in the semifinals, the two teams met up once again in the championship with Spain taking home the title, 19-0, to earn a ticket to Williamsport.
Throughout the course of the tournament, Catalunya Little League posted an unblemished 4-0 record behind a combined 39 runs in four games while shutting out two of their four opponents.
This will be the 10th time that a team from Spain has made the trip to the Little League Baseball World Series and the first team made up solely of Spanish citizens. During the 1970s and 1980s, Torrejon Air Base in Madrid represented Spain in the LLBWS, with their last appearance coming in 1986. Rosters of teams with earlier appearances from Rota (1965, 1967) and Madrid (1971, 1972) were largely comprised of American children living in Spain.
Catalunya Little League will open the 2018 Little League Baseball World Series with a first-round matchup against Kawaguchi Little League of the Japan Region on Friday, August 17, at 2 p.m. in Volunteer Stadium on ESPN. Spanning the course of 10 days, 32 games will be played in the 2018 Little League Baseball World Series in Williamsport, culminating in the Championship Game, which is scheduled for 3 p.m. on Sunday, August 26. For more information on the 2018 Little League Baseball World Series, visit LittleLeague.org.