Wednesday, August 13, 2025, in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, marks the start of the 2025 Little League Baseball World Series.
The competition will be exclusively covered by ESPN networks, with action starting at 1 p.m. ET on the first day.
If you have a DirecTV trial or a FuboTV subscription, you may watch Little League Baseball World Series games for nothing.
| Streaming platform | Free trial | Monthly price | Discount |
|---|---|---|---|
|
DIRECTV |
Yes | $89.99 | $35 off your first month |
|
fuboTV |
No | $84.99 | $30 off your first month |
Opening Day TV schedule
Wednesday, 13 August
Game 1: Venezuela vs. Puerto Rico | 1 p.m., ESPN
Game 2: Illinois vs. Nevada | ESPN, 3 p.m.
Australia vs. Panama, Game 3 | 5 p.m., ESPN
Game 4: Texas vs. Connecticut | 7 p.m., ESPN
This is an AP story about the Little League World Series:
(AP) SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, PA For a few of Little League World Series teams this year, including a Venezuelan team that required visa waivers to go and an American club that narrowly defeated a reigning champion, the journey to Williamsport was more dramatic than normal.
Central Pennsylvania will host baseball’s premier minor baseball tournament again on Wednesday. Examining what makes the 20-team event unique is the first step in the celebrations.
On Tuesday night, ESPN will broadcast a documentary titled Big Dreams: Little League World Series 2024. The raw material for the filmmakers was excellent. Last August, Lake Mary, Florida, won the title after defeating Taiwan 2-1 in eight difficult innings. However, Rudy Valdez, the filmmaker, wanted to look beyond victories and defeats.
I want you to keep in mind that these are children, Valdez added. We are teaching them how to deal with life, how to accept victories and defeats, how to be good sports, and how to get back up after a setback.
We must allow them the opportunity to learn, and I wanted that to feel like you were truly experiencing this year’s Little League World Series from their perspective.
The movie is available for streaming on ESPN+ and was scheduled to debut on ESPN on Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. ET.
For the second consecutive year, Barquimesto, Venezuela’s Cardenales Little League will play in Latin America; but, this time, the team needed a special exception from President Donald Trump’s travel restriction. Less than a week before their first game against Puerto Rico on Wednesday at 1 p.m., the team was only informed of the exemption.
The group refused to comment.
Cardenales’ exemption followed last month’s denial of entry into the United States for the Senior Baseball World Series to another Venezuelan team.
The coaching staff and personnel of this year’s Cardenales team differ from those of the 2024 squad. The team from the previous year made it to the international final after surviving two rounds in the elimination bracket. It defeated Texas for third place but lost 4-1 to Taiwan.
The last 25 years have been the only two Little League World Series victories for Venezuela.
The Irmo Little League of South Carolina will represent the Southeast Region this year, but defending champion Lake Mary was only one game away from returning to central Pennsylvania.
With the bottom of their lineup going to the plate with the intention of getting Joe Giulietti, the team’s best hitter, to bat, Irmo was behind 4-0 in the bottom of the sixth inning of the Little League ball regional championship.
Joe never swung at a pitch, but Irmo did. In order to make the score 4-2, Lake Mary purposefully walked him while the bases were loaded. Next up was Brady Westbrooks, who hit a three-run double on his final pitch after finding the fastball he was searching for.
As the Southeast Region champions’ banner was carried by the players as they ran around the stadium, their manager, Dave Bogan, broke down in tears.
Bogan stated that although we were confident, we were the underdog. There was a lot of local enthusiasm about our potential and possibilities while this squad was being formed. However, that exhilaration also comes with pressure, so we were relieved when we succeeded.
Before the regional final, Bogan told his team they had to think they were going to surprise the Little League baseball world by defeating Irmo 14-0.
Irmo is just the second South Carolina club to participate in South Williamsport since 1950 and the fourth overall. On Thursday, it will take on the Massachusetts squad representing the New England area, Braintree American Little League.
Our motto is “nothing is given, everything is earned,” and Bogan stated that they put in a lot of effort to get everything. They adore grinding.
Other than the United States, which always has a team in the championship due to the way the LLWS brackets are set up, Taiwan has won the most Little League World Series titles (17).
However, Taiwan last won the title in 1996, which was almost 30 years ago.
Ten years ago, the team led by current manager Min-Nan Lai finished 2-2 in the tournament and lost to Mexico in its second game of the double-elimination format.
Following their victory against South Korea in the Asia-Pacific regional championship, Lai is now back with the Tung-Yuan Little League squad. Taiwan will play its opening match against Mexico on Thursday in the 2025 LLWS, which will be its 33rd appearance overall and its fourth consecutive appearance.
Lai and his colleagues pointed out that the Asia-Pacific regional competition was held shortly before the Little League World Series first-round bracket matches were revealed. They desired another opportunity against the club that dashed Taiwan’s hopes a decade ago.
According to a well-known Taiwanese proverb, “You always want to work hard for ten years for one minute to shine,” Lai stated via an interpreter.
Lai thinks this is one of the best teams to represent Taiwan in recent memory, and Tung-Yuan contributes excellent pitching to South Williamsport. His side doesn’t appear to have any hitting problems, in contrast to the Taiwan club from the previous season. Taiwan won six games in the regional competition, outscoring opponents 60-1.
Chin-Tse Lin throws at 80 mph, which appears much faster to the hitter due to the mound’s proximity to home plate. Taiwan also has five pitchers that can attain speeds of above 70 mph. Little League has pitch count regulations that dictate how many days a player must take off based on the number of pitches they throw.
Over the last two years, the Taoyuan Kuei-Shan Little League team made it to the international bracket final but was unable to win it all. Lai wants to win Taiwan’s 18th championship, therefore he hopes for a different outcome for Tung-Yuan.
“That is our top expectation,” Lai stated.
