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(June 2024) -- We have begun our coverage of the 2024 Washington state tournament -- click for details. If you can provide results or pairings for Washington district tournaments that are not listed on this site, please contact the Unpage.
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Our coverage of the Washington state tournament launched on June 13, 2021. Click to contact the webmaster with any comments or questions about this page.
Little League Baseball came to the Pacific Northwest in 1950, when local residents in Richland began organizing Washington's first Little League Baseball charter. Ray King served as President of the six-team league, which collected $200 from each sponsor and held tryouts in early April before commencing play. Ten weeks later, Thompson's Service, one of the original Richland teams, ventured to Walla Walla to play a special doubleheader against a team from that community's newly-formed charter. Kirkland soon also formed a league, and the seeds were planted for Little League's steady expansion throughout the state.
The next year, Washington leagues entered the international tournament for the first time when six leagues, including five from Washington (two each from Richland and Walla Walla, and one from Kirkland), met in Richland for a district tournament. Walla Walla National Little League defeated Kirkland Little League, 2-1, in the championship game, and earned the right to travel to Southern California for the Region 8 tournament. Washington leagues continued to compete in Region 8, often alongside teams from Alaska, Western Canada, and neighboring states in the Pacific Northwest, through the 1956 tournament.
In 1957, Little League Baseball reorganized its tournament into the state-based system that is the precursor to today's tournament structure, and the first Washington state tournament was held. A pair of district champions -- one from Eastern Washington and one from Western Washington -- met at South Kitsap Eastern Little League's field in Port Orchard, and Ephrata-Soap Lake Little League defeated Centralia Little League, 4-0, to become Washington's first state champion.
For the first few years after this reorganization, Washington's tournament did not represent a Washington-only competition. Vancouver area leagues participated in the Oregon state tournament structure in 1957 and 1958, and all but one league based in Seattle and neighboring communities in King County elected to focus on local competition only beginning in 1954, bypassing the international tournament before eventually returning in 1966. In addition, leagues in Northern Idaho and Western Montana competed through the Washington tournament structure during this era due to geographic proximity and the limited number of leagues in those states. Once state tournaments were formally established in those states, Washington's state tournament truly encompassed the entirety of the Evergreen State.
Over the years, the number of leagues and districts in Washington has expanded, and today, there are thirteen districts in Washington. All district champions advance to the state tournament, and the Washington state champion advances to the Northwest Region tournament, which is held each August in San Bernardino, California. The Northwest Region champion advances to the Little League World Series.
Sixteen Washington leagues have advanced to the Little League World Series, including most recently South Hill Little League from Puyallup in 2024. Kirkland National Little League, which had been the state's first-ever Little League World Series qualifier in 1980, delivered one of the most famous results in Little League World Series history in 1982. Kirkland National defeated Pu-Tzu Little League from Puzi City, Taiwan, 6-0, in the Little League World Series championship game. The result ended a 31-game winning streak in South Williamsport by Taiwanese teams, and made Kirkland National the first U.S. league to defeat a team from Taiwan in the 13-year span since Taiwanese leagues first entered the international tournament in 1969.
Click to view a timeline showing the evolution of the Washington Little League tournament structure.
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