2002 Little League World Series


The 2002 Little League World Series took place between August 16 and August 25 in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The Valley Sports American Little League of Pleasure Ridge Park, a suburb of Louisville, Kentucky, defeated Sendai Higashi Little League of Sendai, Japan, in the championship game of the 56th Little League World Series.
Notable players included 2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and 2013 NASCAR Nationwide Series champion Austin Dillon, a member of the Clemmons, North Carolina, Little League representing the Southeast region. Current hitting coach for the Colorado Rockies AA affiliate, Hartford Yard Goats, Zach Osborne was the tournament MVP for the U.S. and World Champion Valley Sports American Little League.
At the beginning of the 2002 tournament the Little League organization retired uniform number 11 for all teams playing in the LLWS from that year forward in honour of Fire Department of New York firefighter Michael Cammarata, a victim of the September 11, 2001 attacks, who had worn that number during the 1991 LLWS.

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 APool BPool CPool D

Pool play

The top two teams in each pool move on to their respective semifinals. The winners of each met on August 25 to play for the Little League world championship.
RegionRecord
Southwest2–1
New England2–1
Northwest2–1
Midwest0–3

RegionRecord
Great Lakes3–0
Mid-Atlantic2–1
West1–2
Southeast0–3

August 16
August 17
August 18
August 19
August 20

International

RegionRecord
Asia3–0
Caribbean2–1
Mexico1–2
EMEA0–3

August 16
August 17
August 18
August 19
August 20

Elimination rounds

2002 Little League World Series Champions

Valley Sports American Little League
Louisville, Kentucky

Champions path

The Louisville Valley Sports American LL went undefeated on their road to the LLWS, winning all eleven of their matches. In total record was 17–0.

In popular culture

In 2024, the game and the Fort Worth team's emotional journey were dramatized in the feature film You Gotta Believe, starring Luke Wilson and Greg Kinnear. The film highlights the team's run in honor of a teammate's father who was terminally ill and portrays the semifinal as a pivotal moment in their path to Williamsport.
The U.S. semifinal between Valley Sports American Little League and Westside Little League lasted 11 innings, making it one of the longest games in Little League World Series history. The dramatic finish included back-to-back home runs in the top of the 11th inning, with Zach Osborne breaking the tie and teammate Aaron Alvey following with another blast. Osborne was later named MVP, while Alvey also set the tournament's strikeout record. Pitcher Josh Robinson took the mound in the bottom of the inning and recorded the final three outs to secure the victory for Valley Sports.

Notable performances

Several players from the 2002 tournament turned in performances that remain among the most memorable in Little League World Series history:
  • Valley Sports pitcher Aaron Alvey recorded 44 strikeouts during the 2002 Series — the most by any player in a single Little League World Series to date. In the U.S. semifinal, he struck out 19 batters across nine no-hit innings before leaving under pitch-count rules.
  • Westside starter Walker Kelly matched Alvey's dominance in the same game, pitching nine innings of no-hit baseball with 21 strikeouts, one of the highest single-game totals in Series history.
  • Valley Sports shortstop/pitcher Zach Osborne was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. In addition to hitting the decisive 11th-inning home run in the U.S. semifinal, he posted a 0.00 ERA over 13 innings pitched during the Series, as noted in the official record book.