Central Region Champions in the 1980s

When the East Tonka LL of Minnetonka, MN won the Central Region Tournament in 1985, it started a trend that has never been duplicated in any region -- over a seven year span, seven different states captured region titles and earned trips to the Little League World Series. The streak continued through 1991 as leagues from Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Oklahoma, Iowa, Michigan, and Ohio all collected titles.

Four of the decade's region champions advanced to the U.S. championship game, but none emerged victorious. The closest finisher was Barrington (IL) in 1981 -- after trailing Tampa's Belmont Heights LL 11-4 with two outs and nobody on base in the top of the sixth inning, Barrington, which was led by future major league catcher Dan Wilson, banged out eight straight hits and rallied for six runs before the potential tying run was thrown out at the plate in an 11-10 loss.

The Central Region Tournament also brought a harbinger of times to come: the 1982 Central Region Tournament in West Lafayette, IN was the first U.S. region tournament ever to use a double-elimination format.

Select a year to see details from that year's region tournament.

Central Region Champions of the 1980s

1989 - Davenport East LL (Davenport, IA)
1988 - Tulsa LL (Tulsa, OK)
1987 - Chesterfield LL (Chesterfield, IN)
1986 - Norridge LL (Norridge, IL)
1985 - East Tonka LL (Minnetonka, MN)
1984 - Southport LL (Southport, IN)
1983 - Jackie Robinson West LL (Chicago, IL)
1982 - Pinery Park LL (Wyoming, MI)
1981 - Barrington LL (Barrington, IL)
1980 - Grandview National LL (Des Moines, IA)

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Last revision: 06/03/2003