The 2014 Little League World Series, held in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, started on August 14 and ended on August 24, 2014.[1] Eight teams from the United States, and eight from the rest of the world, competed in the 68th edition of the Little League World Series (LLWS). This was the first LLWS to feature entire rosters of players born in the 21st century.
All games took place at Howard J. Lamade Stadium and Little League Volunteer Stadium. ESPN again broadcast the games. Seoul Little League of Seoul, South Korea, defeated Jackie Robinson West Little League of Chicago, Illinois, 8–4, to win the championship.
On February 11, 2015, Jackie Robinson West had all of its tournament wins forfeited after it was found that the team used ineligible players from outside the Chicago area. Mountain Ridge Little League of Las Vegas, Nevada, was named the official U.S. champion.
Coaches
The draw to determine the opening round pairings took place on June 11, 2014.[4]
After the tournament, Jackie Robinson West Little League had all of their wins, including the U.S. Championship, forfeited. Any of their wins are officially considered a 6–0 loss. The scores of their games, as played during the tournament, were as follows:
Teams that lost their first two games played a crossover game against a team from the other side of the bracket that also lost its first two games. These games were labeled Game A and Game B. This provided teams who were already eliminated the opportunity to play a third game.
The consolation game is played between the loser of the United States championship and the loser of the International championship.
Team Jackie Robinson West was the first all black team to compete in the tournament in several decades. Hailing from the Washington Heights area of Chicago, the team made it all the way to the World Championship before ultimately falling to a team from South Korea.
As the team rose to prominence, Evergreen Park, Illinois, Little League official Chris Janes began to investigate personal information pertaining to players of the Jackie Robinson West team, finding that multiple players on the team lived outside the team's designated boundary region. He later discovered that the team had used a falsified boundary map which covered a wider area than other teams in the region had agreed to.[5] On February 11, 2015, based on Chris Janes' findings, the team's wins and U.S. titles were forfeited for its use of ineligible players. The U.S. title was retroactively awarded to Mountain Ridge Little League of Las Vegas. The Great Lakes title was also stripped from Jackie Robinson West, and given to the team they beat in the regional championship, New Albany, Indiana.[5][6]