# 2008 Little League World Series

The 2008 Little League World Series, was held in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. It began on August 15 and ended August 24. Eight teams from the United States and eight from throughout the world competed to decide the winner of the 62nd installment of the Little League World Series. In the championship game, the United States champions from Waipi`o, Hawaii defeated the international champions from Matamoros, Mexico. The next iteration of the tournament in which the international champion did not originate from an East Asian country was 2019.
Activision released a video game in advance of the event, Little League World Series Baseball 2008.

## Teams

| Pool A | Pool B | Pool C | Pool D |
| Hagerstown, Maryland Mid-Atlantic Region Hagerstown Federal Little League | Shelton, Connecticut New England Region Shelton National Little League | Willemstad, Curaçao Caribbean Region Pabao Little League | Dhahran, Saudi Arabia MEA Region Arabian American Little League |
| Mill Creek, Washington Northwest Region Mill Creek Little League | Waipio, Hawaii West Region Waipio Little League | Matamoros, Tamaulipas Mexico Region Matamoros Little League | Tokyo Japan Region Edogawa Minami Little League |
| Lake Charles, Louisiana Southwest Region South Lake Charles Little League | Tampa, Florida Southeast Region Citrus Park Little League | Emilia, Italy Europe Region Emilia Little League | White Rock, British Columbia Canada Region White Rock South Surrey Little League |
| Jeffersonville, Indiana Great Lakes Region Jefferson/GRC Little League | Rapid City, South Dakota Midwest Region Canyon Lake Little League | Yona, Guam Asia-Pacific Region Southern Guam Little League | Maracaibo, Venezuela Latin America Region Coquivacoa Little League |

## Results
### Pool play

The top two teams in each pool moved on to their respective semifinals. The winners of each met on August 24 to play for the Little League World Championship. Teams marked in green qualified to the knockout stage.
Ties are broken based on records in head-to-head competition among tied teams. In the event of a three-way tie for first place, the tie is broken by calculating the ratio of runs allowed to defensive innings played for all teams involved in the tie. The team with the lowest runs-per-defensive-inning ratio is ranked first and advances. Second place is determined by the head-to-head result of the other two teams. If the three-way tie is for 2nd place, the runs-per-defensive-inning ratio rule is used. The team with the lowest run ratio advances, the other two teams are eliminated.

#### United States

Pool A :
| Rank | Region | Record | Runs Allowed | Run Ratio |
| 1 | Louisiana | 2–1 | 7 | 0.412 |
| 2 | Washington | 2–1 | 12 | 0.706 |
| 3 | Maryland | 2–1 | 21 | 1.235 |
| 4 | Indiana | 0–3 | 15 | 1.285 |
* Louisiana wins pool based on defensive run ratio. Washington is the runner-up based on win against Maryland.
Pool B :
| Rank | Region | Record | Runs Allowed | Run Ratio |
| 1 | Hawaii | 3–0 | 7 | 0.389 |
| 2 | Florida | 2–1 | 12 | 0.750 |
| 3 | Connecticut | 1–2 | 15 | 0.833 |
| 4 | South Dakota | 0–3 | 25 | 1.667 |
All times US EDT.
| Pool | Away | Score | Home | Score | Time (Venue) |
| August 15 ||||||
| B | South Dakota | 0 | Florida | 10 (F/4) | 2:00 pm (Volunteer Stadium) |
| B | Connecticut | 1 | Hawaii | 3 | 6:00 pm (Volunteer Stadium) |
| August 16 ||||||
| A | Indiana | 2 | Maryland | 3 | 10:00 am (Volunteer Stadium) |
| B | South Dakota | 4 | Connecticut | 9 | 3:30 pm (Lamade Stadium) |
| A | Washington | 1 | Louisiana | 5 | 8:00 pm (Lamade Stadium) |
| August 17 ||||||
| A | Indiana | 0 | Louisiana | 9 | 3:30 pm (Lamade Stadium) |
| B | Florida | 2 | Hawaii | 10 | 8:00 pm (Lamade Stadium) |
| August 18 ||||||
| A | Washington | 15 | Maryland | 5 | Noon (Lamade Stadium) |
| B | South Dakota | 4 | Hawaii | 6 | 3:00 pm (Lamade Stadium) |
| B | Florida | 8 (F/7) | Connecticut | 2 | 6:00 pm (Lamade Stadium) |
| August 19 ||||||
| A | Indiana | 2 | Washington | 3 (F/7) | 2:00 pm (Volunteer Stadium) |
| A | Louisiana | 4 | Maryland | 6 | 8:00 pm (Lamade Stadium) |

#### International

Pool C :
| Rank | Region | Record | Runs Allowed | Run Ratio |
| 1 | Mexico | 3–0 | 2 | 0.133 |
| 2 | Curaçao | 2–1 | 7 | 0.438 |
| 3 | Guam | 1–2 | 19 | 1.425 |
| 4 | Italy | 0–3 | 33 | 2.828 |
Pool D :
| Rank | Region | Record | Runs Allowed | Run Ratio |
| 1 | Japan | 3–0 | 7 | 0.368 |
| 2 | Venezuela | 2–1 | 6 | 0.316 |
| 3 | Canada | 1–2 | 22 | 1.222 |
| 4 | Saudi Arabia | 0–3 | 24 | 1.412 |
All times US EDT.
| Pool | Away | Score | Home | Score | Time (Venue) |
| August 15 ||||||
| D | Venezuela | 8 | Canada | 1 | 4:00 pm (Lamade Stadium) |
| August 16 ||||||
| C | Mexico | 6 | Curaçao | 2 | 11:00 am (Lamade Stadium) |
| C | Italy | 6 | Guam | 7 | 1:00 pm (Volunteer Stadium) |
| D | Japan | 5 | Saudi Arabia | 0 | 6:00 pm (Volunteer Stadium) |
| August 17 ||||||
| C | Italy | 0 | Mexico | 12 (F/4) | Noon (Lamade Stadium) |
| D | Japan | 9 | Canada | 3 | 1:00 pm (Volunteer Stadium) |
| D | Venezuela | 12 | Saudi Arabia | 0 | 6:00 pm (Volunteer Stadium) |
| August 18 ||||||
| C | Guam | 0 | Mexico | 10 | 1:00 pm (Volunteer Stadium) |
| C | Curaçao | 14 | Italy | 1 | 4:00 pm (Volunteer Stadium) |
| August 19 ||||||
| D | Venezuela | 4 | Japan | 5 (F/7) | Noon (Lamade Stadium) |
| D | Saudi Arabia | 5 | Canada | 7 | 4:00 pm (Lamade Stadium) |
| C | Curaçao | 3 | Guam | 0 | 6:00 pm (Volunteer Stadium) |

### Elimination round

| Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | | Final | Final |
| August 20 – 4:00 pm - Lamade | August 20 – 4:00 pm - Lamade | | | |
| Japan | 11 | | | |
| Japan | 11 | August 23 – 12:30 pm - Lamade | August 23 – 12:30 pm - Lamade | | |
| Curacao | 4 | August 23 – 12:30 pm - Lamade | August 23 – 12:30 pm - Lamade | |
| Curacao | 4 | Japan | 4 | |
| August 21 – 4:00 pm - Lamade | August 21 – 4:00 pm - Lamade | | Japan | 4 | |
| August 21 – 4:00 pm - Lamade | August 21 – 4:00 pm - Lamade | Mexico | 5 | |
| Mexico | 5 | Mexico | 5 | |
| Mexico | 5 | | | | August 24 – 3:30 pm - Lamade | August 24 – 3:30 pm - Lamade |
| Venezuela | 2 | | | | August 24 – 3:30 pm - Lamade | August 24 – 3:30 pm - Lamade |
| Venezuela | 2 | | | | Mexico | 3 |
| August 20 – 8:00 pm - Lamade | August 20 – 8:00 pm - Lamade | | | | | Mexico | 3 |
| August 20 – 8:00 pm - Lamade | August 20 – 8:00 pm - Lamade | | | | Hawaii | 12 |
| Hawaii | 9 | | | | Hawaii | 12 |
| Hawaii | 9 | August 24 – 3:30 pm - Lamade | August 24 – 3:30 pm - Lamade | | | |
| Washington | 4 | August 24 – 3:30 pm - Lamade | August 24 – 3:30 pm - Lamade | | | |
| Washington | 4 | Hawaii | 7 | | | |
| August 21 – 8:00pm - Lamade | August 21 – 8:00pm - Lamade | | Hawaii | 7 | | | |
| August 21 – 8:00pm - Lamade | August 21 – 8:00pm - Lamade | Louisiana | 5 | | Third place | Third place |
| Louisiana | 6 | Louisiana | 5 | | Third place | Third place |
| Louisiana | 6 | | | | August 24 – 12:00 pm - Volunteer | August 24 – 12:00 pm - Volunteer |
| Florida | 1 | | | | August 24 – 12:00 pm - Volunteer | August 24 – 12:00 pm - Volunteer |
| Florida | 1 | | | | Japan | 4 |
| | | | | | Louisiana | 3 |
* 2008 Little League World Series Champions
* Waipio Little League Waipiʻo, Hawaiʻi

## Champions path

According to the information provided at Unpage.com, the Waipio LL won 5 matches and lost 1 match to reach the LLWS. In total, their record was 16–2, their only losses coming against Central East Maui LL (from Hawaii), and Paseo Verde LL (from Nevada).
| Round | Opposition | Result |
| Hawaii State Tournament |||
| Winner's Bracket Semifinals | Central East Maui LL | 3–4 |
| Elimination Bracket Quarterfinals | Kailua LL | 5–0 |
| Elimination Bracket Semifinals | West Oahu LL | 8–2 |
| Elimination Bracket Finals | Central East Maui LL | 6–3 |
| Championship | Kaimuki LL | 3–2 |
| Championship | Kaimuki LL | 4–3 |
| West Regional |||
| Group Stage | Pleasanton American | 2–1 |
| Group Stage | Arrowhead LL | 5–1 |
| Group Stage | Cedar American | 12–2 (6 inn.) |
| Group Stage | Paseo Verde LL | 1–4 |
| Semifinals | Pleasanton American | 8–0 |
| West Region Championship | Paseo Verde LL | 4–3 |

## Notable players

* Matthew Batten (Shelton, Connecticut), professional baseball player
* Drew Ellis (Jeffersonville, Indiana), professional baseball player
* Trey Quinn (Lake Charles, Louisiana), professional football player