Negros Occidental Little League, the defending 2019 Asia-Pacific Region champions out of Bacolod City, Philippines, is set to return to the Little League Softball® World Series this August as the 2022 Asia-Pacific Region representatives after winning their country championship.
“Due to the ongoing challenges caused by the pandemic throughout the Asia-Pacific Region, and the impact it has had on our local Little League Softball programs, our volunteers were unable to field enough teams to host the Little League Softball Asia-Pacific Region Tournament this year,” said Patrick W. Wilson, Little League Chief Operating Officer and International Tournament Director. “Based on this unique situation and the overall strength of participation in the Little League Softball program throughout the Philippines, Negros Occidental Little League, the Country Champion from the Philippines, has been approved by the Little League International Tournament Committee to represent the Asia-Pacific Region at the 2022 Little League Softball World Series.”
Negros Occidental Little League won the Asia-Pacific Region in 2019 after posting a 5-0 record and finished the 2019 Little League Softball World Series with an 1-4 record, taking home a victory in their final game of the tournament with an 8-0 win over Canada.
With first-round matchups for the 2022 LLSWS set, Negros Occidental Little League will square off in the Purple Bracket against the Canada Region in Game 4 on Tuesday, August 9, at 7 p.m. ET.
This will be the second LLSWS in Greenville and the first year with international participants and the expanded field of 12 teams. In 2019, Little League International announced the expansion of both the Little League Baseball World Series and the LLSWS and in early 2020 designated Greenville as the new home of the LLSWS. In addition to the Host (North Carolina) team and four international regions (Asia-Pacific, Europe and Africa, Canada, and Latin America), the expanded U.S. teams include the new Mid-Atlantic, New England, Northwest, and West Regions and are rounded out with the existing Central, Southeast, Southwest.
The additional international region champions who earn their spot in Greenville will be announced as they are identified at LittleLeague.org, and fans are encouraged to watch the U.S. Region Tournaments on the ESPN Family of Networks as part of the #SummerOfSoftball to follow the action and see who the remaining Region Champions will be. More information about the 2022 Little League World Series tournaments, including full schedules and downloadable brackets, can be found at LittleLeague.org/WorldSeries.