The 79th Little League World Series reaches its final weekend in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Saturday’s doubleheader decides the two finalists, and the championship game follows Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on ABC.
There will be a new champion this year. Chinese Taipei, which won the 2025 title, did not make it out of the Asia-Pacific regional, and all ten U.S. teams in the field are different from last year’s group.
How the Field Got Here
Twenty teams — ten from the United States, ten international — opened play on Aug 19 across Howard J. Lamade and Volunteer Stadiums. Both halves of the bracket run a modified double-elimination format, and in each, the last remaining undefeated team meets the last remaining team with one loss to decide a finalist.
That format produced Saturday’s pairings. On the international side, Curaçao and Japan both advanced through León, Nicaragua. On the U.S. side, Henderson and Hamilton each got past Davenport, Iowa. Curaçao carries the longest recent championship-game pedigree of the four, having finished as runner-up in both 2022 and 2023, while West Side Little League of Hamilton reached the final in 2021.
Why the Pitching Rules Matter This Weekend
More than any other tournament, the LLWS is shaped by arm-limit rules rather than talent. Little League caps league-age 11 and 12 pitchers at 85 pitches per day, and rest requirements scale with workload — 66 or more pitches requires four full calendar days off. A team that needed its best arm to survive an elimination game earlier in the week often cannot use that pitcher again in the final.
This is why managers script pitching across a whole bracket rather than a single game, and why blowouts matter: a coach who can win while throwing a third or fourth pitcher preserves the ace. Our full breakdown of Little League pitch counts by age covers the thresholds and rest days in detail. Williamsport also hosts an MLB regular-season game each August — here’s why MLB plays a game in Williamsport. Full brackets and box scores are posted at Little League International.
The Bottom Line
Saturday’s two finals set the field, and the championship game is Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on ABC from South Williamsport. With the defending champion out of the field, a new name goes on the trophy. This page updates with results as the weekend plays out.