2007 Little League World Series

The 2007 Little League World Series was a baseball tournament held August 17 through August 26 in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Eight teams from the United States and eight from throughout the world competed to decide the winner of the 61st installment of the Little League World Series. On August 26, the U.S. champion from Warner Robins, Georgia, defeated the international champion from Tokyo, Japan, 3–2 in 8 innings, on a walk-off home run by Dalton Carriker. This was the second straight year that a team from Georgia won the championship.
The series was marked by dramatic finishes. The championship final was the third elimination game in the tournament to end with a walk-off homer. In the international bracket, one of the semifinals ended with the team from Willemstad, Curaçao, defeating the team from Maracaibo, Venezuela, on a three-run, come-from-behind walk-off shot in the 7th inning. The Curaçao team became the victim of a come-from-behind walk-off grand slam in the international final two days later.
The tournament was televised on ESPN, ESPN2, and ABC. Games were held in the two stadiums located at Little League headquarters in South Williamsport:

Howard J. Lamade Stadium — the main stadium, opened in 1959, with seating for 10,000 in the stands and hillside terrace seating for up to 30,000 more
Little League Volunteer Stadium — a newer facility, opened in 2001, that seats slightly over 5,000, primarily in the stands

Groups

Between five and sixteen teams competed in regional tournaments to progress to the Little League World Series, which varied from straight-knockout competitions to the group/elimination format used in the United States. 2007 was the first year that Japan received its own regional playoff, with the Asia and Pacific regions merging to create the new Asia-Pacific group.

Pool A

Pool B

Pool C

Pool D

Results

Pool play

The top two teams in each pool move on to their respective semifinals. The winners of each met on August 26 to play for the Little League World Championship. Teams marked in green qualified to the knockout stage, while the remaining teams were eliminated.
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

Rank

Region

Record

Runs Allowed

Run Ratio

International

Rank

Region

Record

Runs Allowed

Run Ratio

Elimination round

2007 Little League World Series Champions

Warner Robins American Little League
Warner Robins, Georgia

Television coverage

For the first time, all 32 games of the tournament, from the opening pitch to the final out, were scheduled for a live telecast in the United States. All but one of the broadcasts were to be on either ESPN, ESPN2 or ABC. . ABC was to have its most comprehensive coverage ever, with games on both weekend days in the preliminary rounds, as well as both semifinals and the championship game for a total of five games. ESPN had 15 games scheduled for broadcast, while ESPN2 had 11. A number of games were to be shown in high-definition.
The expanded coverage was part of a new eight-year contract between ESPN, Inc. and the Little League organization that started with this series.
No international broadcast plans were available, but possible outlets included ESPN International and TSN.
Although the Western region champion came from the Phoenix media market, its local affiliate, KNXV, did not show Chandler's first round-robin game on August 18. Instead, ESPN interrupted its normal feed on Cox Communications and other local cable providers to air the game live in that area. KNXV was then to show the game on tape delay at 4:30 p.m. local time. Similarly, the game was also not seen on KTRK-TV in Houston, ironically an owned and operated station. Both KTRK and KNXV instead showed the National Football League preseason game between the Houston Texans and the Arizona Cardinals.

Rules change

The 2007 Series was the first to feature a new rule limiting a pitcher to 85 pitches a game and extending rest periods. Little League Baseball hoped that the rule would diminish stress put on pitchers' arms. The rest requirements are as follows:
* 85 pitches¹ - Maximum allowed for a single game
* 61 or more pitches - Three calendar days of rest.
* 41–60 pitches - Two calendar days of rest.
* 21–40 pitches - One calendar day of rest.
* 20 pitches or fewer - No rest required.

¹ If a pitcher reaches the limit while facing a batter, the pitcher may continue to pitch until that batter reaches base or is out.

Noteworthy events

Notable sportsmanship

The walk off home run by Dalton Carriker that won Warner Robins the LLWS was followed by the team coming over to embrace and comfort the losing Tokyo team. This event was given considerable press coverage and was considered a breath of fresh air in a summer that saw the spotlight focused on the misdoings of Michael Vick and Barry Bonds.

Measles outbreak

One of the players on the runner-up Tokyo Kitasuna team was reported to have contracted measles before coming to Williamsport. The player, whose identity was not made public, contracted the virus from a sibling back in Japan in late July and was infectious while traveling. As a result, six people across three states were infected. The boy directly infected four people: a friend from Japan, an airport officer in Detroit, a woman who sat near the boy on the flight from Detroit to Baltimore, and a sales representative in Pennsylvania. The man subsequently infected two Houston-area college students.

Coon Rapids handshake incident

Two players on the Coon Rapids, Minnesota club reportedly spit on their hands following their elimination from the tournament during pool play. Upon hearing of the incident, which took place as they got ready to shake hands with the victorious Chandler, Arizona, club and was televised throughout the US on ESPN, manager Mark Lowe apologized for the incident.

Notable players

Cody Bellinger, a member of the 2007 Chandler North Little League team, became the first player from the 2007 LLWS to play in Major League Baseball, when he was called up by the Los Angeles Dodgers in April 2017. He was named National League Rookie of the Year that season and the National League MVP in 2019.
Cooper Hummel, a member of the Lake Oswego team, currently plays on the Houston Astros.

Champions path

The Warner Robins American LL went undefeated on their road to the LLWS, winning all twelve of their games. In total record was 17–1, their only loss coming against Hamilton West Side LL.