# 2001 Little League World Series

The 2001 Little League World Series took place between August 17 and August 26 in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The Kitasuna Little League of Tokyo, Japan, defeated Apopka National Little League of Apopka, Florida, in the championship game of the 55th Little League World Series (LLWS). This tournament saw the expansion of pool play to 16 teams, eight from the United States, and eight from around the world. This was the first LLWS to use Little League Volunteer Stadium; it was built to accommodate games added to the pool stage and to host the tournament's consolation game for third place.

## Age controversy

Following the conclusion of the tournament, Danny Almonte, a pitcher from the Bronx, New York, team representing the Mid-Atlantic Region, was the center of a scandal when it was discovered that he was not eligible to play in the tournament because he was two years over the maximum age limit. Because of this, the Mid-Atlantic team was retroactively assessed a forfeit for each game they won in the tournament. The team's statistics, including a perfect game thrown by Almonte, were also invalidated.

## Qualification

Between five and twelve teams take part in 16 regional qualification tournaments, which vary in format depending on region. In the United States, the qualification tournaments are in the same format as the Little League World Series itself: a round-robin tournament followed by an elimination round to determine the regional champion.
| Pool A | Pool B | Pool C | Pool D |
| Lincoln, Rhode Island New England Lincoln Little League | Bronx, New York Mid-Atlantic Rolando Paulino Little League | Santiago de Veraguas, Panama Latin America Santiago de Veraguas Little League | Hagåtña, Guam Pacific Guam Little League |
| Oceanside, California West Oceanside American Little League | Bainbridge Island, Washington Northwest Bainbridge Island Little League | Willemstad, Curaçao Caribbean Pariba Little League | Calgary, Alberta Canada Calgary West Little League |
| Brownsburg, Indiana Great Lakes Brownsburg Little League | Davenport, Iowa Midwest Davenport East Little League | Dhahran, Saudi Arabia Transatlantic Arabian-American Little League | Moscow, Russia Europe Khovrino Little League |
| Lake Charles, Louisiana Gulf States South Lake Charles Little League | Apopka, Florida Southeast Apopka National Little League | Tokyo, Japan Asia Kitasuna Little League | Matamoros, Tamaulipas Mexico Matamoros Little League |
* Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States.

## Pool play

The top two teams in each pool moved on to the elimination round.

## Elimination rounds

The 2001 Little League World Series was the first edition that had a female umpire call the championship game: Flora Stansbury from Seneca, Missouri. U.S. President George W. Bush, himself a little leaguer as a child, was also in attendance at the championship game. Nobuhisa Baba's single in the bottom of the sixth drove in the winning run.
| Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | | Final | Final |
| August 22 - Lamade Game ended by mercy rule | August 22 - Lamade Game ended by mercy rule | | | |
| Tokyo, Japan | 15 | | | |
| Tokyo, Japan | 15 | August 25 - Lamade | August 25 - Lamade | | |
| Matamoros, Mexico | 5 | August 25 - Lamade | August 25 - Lamade | |
| Matamoros, Mexico | 5 | Tokyo, Japan | 2 | |
| August 23 - Lamade | August 23 - Lamade | | Tokyo, Japan | 2 | |
| August 23 - Lamade | August 23 - Lamade | Willemstad, Curaçao | 1 | |
| Hagåtňa, Guam | 3 | Willemstad, Curaçao | 1 | |
| Hagåtňa, Guam | 3 | | | | August 26 - Lamade | August 26 - Lamade |
| Willemstad, Curaçao | 4 | | | | August 26 - Lamade | August 26 - Lamade |
| Willemstad, Curaçao | 4 | | | | Tokyo, Japan | 2 |
| August 22 - Lamade | August 22 - Lamade | | | | | Tokyo, Japan | 2 |
| August 22 - Lamade | August 22 - Lamade | | | | Apopka, Florida | 1 |
| Brownsburg, Indiana | 1 | | | | Apopka, Florida | 1 |
| Brownsburg, Indiana | 1 | August 25 - Lamade | August 25 - Lamade | | | |
| Apopka, Florida | 6 | August 25 - Lamade | August 25 - Lamade | | | |
| Apopka, Florida | 6 | Apopka, Florida | 8 | | | |
| August 23 - Lamade Forfeit | August 23 - Lamade Forfeit | | Apopka, Florida | 8 | | | |
| August 23 - Lamade Forfeit | August 23 - Lamade Forfeit | Bronx, New York | 2 | | Third place | Third place |
| Bronx, New York | 0 | Bronx, New York | 2 | | Third place | Third place |
| Bronx, New York | 0 | | | | August 26 - Volunteer Forfeit | August 26 - Volunteer Forfeit |
| Oceanside, California | 6 | | | | August 26 - Volunteer Forfeit | August 26 - Volunteer Forfeit |
| Oceanside, California | 6 | | | | Bronx, New York | 0 |
| | | | | | Willemstad, Curaçao | 6 |
* 2001 Little League World Series Champions
* Kitasuna Little League Tokyo, Japan

## Champions' path

The Kitasuna LL reached the LLWS with an undefeated record of four wins and no losses. In total, their record was 9–1, their only loss coming in the LLWS qualifying round against Santiago de Veraguas LL of Panama.
| Round | Opposition | Result |
| All-Tokyo Tournament |||
| Opening Round | Ryuugasaki LL | 11–4 |
| Quarterfinals | Suzaka LL | 6–1 |
| Semifinals | Matsusaka LL | 12–8 |
| Japan Championship | Nagoya Kita LL | 5–4 |

## Notable players

* Danny Almonte (Bronx, New York), subject of the player-eligibility controversy in this tournament
* Francisco Peña (Bronx, New York), Major League Baseball catcher and son of Tony Peña
* Rubén Tejada (Santiago de Veraguas, Panama), Major League Baseball infielder