Little League World Series in Australia
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Most recent season or competition: 2016 Little League World Series qualification |
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| Formerly | Asia-Pacific and Middle East Region (2007—2012) |
|---|---|
| Sport | Baseball |
| Founded | 2013 |
| No. of teams | 20 |
| Country |
 Australia
|
| Most recent champion(s) |
 Hills Little League, Sydney, New South Wales
|
| Most titles |
 Western Australia (3) |
| Official website | Australian Little League |
The Australia Region of Little League Baseball is a region designated for the Little League World Series. The division was founded in 2013 when Little League officially separated Australia from the Asia-Pacific region. This followed a period of explosive growth in youth baseball in the country; the first Little League-affiliated leagues in Australia were only established in 2007, but within five years, nearly 400 Little Leagues were operating, making Australia the largest country outside North America in Little League participation.
In the Little League World Series in 2013, a team from Perth, Western Australia qualified to represent Australia in its debut as a country. The Perth Central club went through the qualification series held on the Gold Coast undefeated, defeating Adelaide South in the final. However the club failed to win any games in Williamsport, losing to Mexico 12–0 in four innings under the mercy rule, and then to Puerto Rico 4–0 in the loser's bracket.
In 2014, Australia were again represented by a team from Perth. This time the Perth Metro North club qualified in the series held also on the Gold Coast, defeating Manly in the final. The team met Puerto Rico in the opening match and again the mercy rule was applied in the fourth inning 16–3. However, in this game, they scored the first runs by an Australian team in LLWS history with an RBI in the third inning. Australia then went to the loser's bracket and won as a nation for the first time in Williamsport, defeating a team from the Czech Republic 10–1. Javier Pelkonnen became the first Australian player to hit a home run in the Little League World Series in this game. Their run was cut short when the team from Mexico eliminated Australia from the series 6–2.
In 2015, Australia were represented by a team from Sydney. Cronulla qualified in the series held in Lismore, New South Wales, defeating Swan Hills in the final. Their first opponent at Williamsport were Venezuela, who defeated Australia 5-2. This was the first time in the opening match that the mercy rule had not been applied against the Australians. In the loser's bracket Australia defeated the Dominican Republic 3-0, but then ran into Mexico who eliminated Australia from the series 14-3 under the mercy rule.
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