'26 PA State Little League Tournament thread

[Tom McAndrew]

The 2026 Pennsylvania State Little League Tournament is starting on Monday, July 27. It's being held at Township Little League's complex, in Pttston, PA. The event will conclude on either August 1 or August 2, weather permitting.

The 8 teams that won their respective Sectionals, and will compete for the State Title, are:

Section 1: Meadville Area/French Creek Valley American (District 1)
Section 2: West Point (Greensburg) (District 4 South)
Section 3: Milton (District 3)
Section 4: Hollidaysburg Area Summer Baseball (District 11)
Section 5: Back Mountain (Dallas) (District 31)
Section 6: Blue Mountain (Cressona/Orwigsburg) (District 24)
Section 7: East Side (West Chester) (District 28)
Section 8: Newtown-Edgmont (Newtown Square) (District 19)

There will be 4 games held on the opening day (7/27):

G1: Hollidaysburg vs. East Side
G2: Milton vs. Blue Mountain
G3: Meadville vs. Newtown-Edgmont
G4: West Point vs. Back Mountain

Please use this thread for any and all discussion of the tournament. And best of luck to the aforementioned teams, as they seek to advance to the Mid-Atlantic Region tournament.

 

[Bones80]

The 2026 Pennsylvania State Little League Tournament is starting on Monday, July 27. It's being held at Township Little League's complex, in Pttston, PA. The event will conclude on either August 1 or August 2, weather permitting.

The 8 teams that won their respective Sectionals, and will compete for the State Title, are:

Section 1: Meadville Area/French Creek Valley American (District 1)
Section 2: West Point (Greensburg) (District 4 South)
Section 3: Milton (District 3)
Section 4: Hollidaysburg Area Summer Baseball (District 11)
Section 5: Black Mountain (Dallas) (District 31)
Section 6: Blue Mountain (Cressona/Orwigsburg) (District 24)
Section 7: East Side (West Chester) (District 28)
Section 8: Newtown-Edgmont (Newtown Square) (District 19)

There will be 4 games held on the opening day (7/27):

G1: Hollidaysburg vs. East Side
G2: Milton vs. Blue Mountain
G3: Meadville vs. Newtown-Edgmont
G4: West Point vs. Black Mountain

Please use this thread for any and all discussion of the tournament. And best of luck to the aforementioned teams, as they seek to advance to the Mid-Atlantic Region tournament.

Tom, I believe it’s Back Mountain (Dallas), not black mountain. Used to live in that area and graduated from Dallas HS.

 

[Tom McAndrew]

Tom, I believe it’s Back Mountain (Dallas), not black mountain. Used to live in that area and graduated from Dallas HS.

thanks for catching that. A lot of mistakes I make are due to autocorrect, that I don’t even notice while I’m keying it in. In this instance, I just misread the name of the little league squad that won the Sectionals for Section 5.

 

[DaytonRickster]

The 2026 Pennsylvania State Little League Tournament is starting on Monday, July 27. It's being held at Township Little League's complex, in Pttston, PA. The event will conclude on either August 1 or August 2, weather permitting.

The 8 teams that won their respective Sectionals, and will compete for the State Title, are:

Section 1: Meadville Area/French Creek Valley American (District 1)
Section 2: West Point (Greensburg) (District 4 South)
Section 3: Milton (District 3)
Section 4: Hollidaysburg Area Summer Baseball (District 11)
Section 5: Back Mountain (Dallas) (District 31)
Section 6: Blue Mountain (Cressona/Orwigsburg) (District 24)
Section 7: East Side (West Chester) (District 28)
Section 8: Newtown-Edgmont (Newtown Square) (District 19)

There will be 4 games held on the opening day (7/27):

G1: Hollidaysburg vs. East Side
G2: Milton vs. Blue Mountain
G3: Meadville vs. Newtown-Edgmont
G4: West Point vs. Back Mountain

Please use this thread for any and all discussion of the tournament. And best of luck to the aforementioned teams, as they seek to advance to the Mid-Atlantic Region tournament.

So does the winner of the state tourney participate in a mid-Atlantic tourney for opportunity to play in the LLWS?

 

[LB99]

Interesting tidbit. Not all areas of PA participate in the Little League sanctioned tournaments and bylaws. Some areas, many in SEPA for instance, participate in the Cal Ripken league.

 

[Erial_Lion]

So does the winner of the state tourney participate in a mid-Atlantic tourney for opportunity to play in the LLWS?

Yes

 

[Tom McAndrew]

Interesting tidbit. Not all areas of PA participate in the Little League sanctioned tournaments and bylaws. Some areas, many in SEPA for instance, participate in the Cal Ripken league.

This is nothing new. There are youth baseball organizations that are not affiliated with Little League. They can affiliate, and compete in the state or national tournaments of PONY, Cal Ripken, etc. To a large extent, Cal Ripken has replaced the younger age groups of American Legion youth baseball.

in the area you specified (SE PA), it’s not uncommon to have Little League organizations just a few miles from organizations affiliated with the other groups listed above. And it’s not unusual for kids to move between organizations, or even play in the regular season for teams from 2 organizations. However, when it gets to all-stars, which are the teams that compete in the competitions to get to the national championship, a kid has to select one organization (they can’t appear in the PONY World Series and the Little League World Series).

 

[Chumboshifko1]

2 weeks of Great Baseball coming up.. Pennsylvania LLT &PLWS.

 

[Tom McAndrew]

Results from the 1st day of the tournament:

G1: East Side - 2, Hollidaysburg - 1
G2: Blue Mountain - 5, Milton - 4
G3: Newtown-Edgmont - 10, Meadville - 2
G4: Back Mountain - 5, West Point - 4

As such, East Side, Blue Mountain, Newtown-Edgmont, and Back Mountain advance to the Winner's Bracket, while Hollidaysburg, Milton, Meadville, and West Point drop into the Elimination Bracket.

Schedule for Day 2:

Elimination Bracket
G5: Hollidaysburg vs. Milton
G6: Meadville vs. West Point

Winner's Bracket
G7: East Side vs. Blue Mountain
G8: Newtown-Edgmont vs. Back Mountain

 

[LionsAndBears]

Interesting tidbit. Not all areas of PA participate in the Little League sanctioned tournaments and bylaws. Some areas, many in SEPA for instance, participate in the Cal Ripken league.

You'll never see a Berks team participate for this reason. Our leagues are not associated with LL which is a shame because we've had some really good programs historically, like Boyertown.

 

[LB99]

This is nothing new. There are youth baseball organizations that are not affiliated with Little League. They can affiliate, and compete in the state or national tournaments of PONY, Cal Ripken, etc. To a large extent, Cal Ripken has replaced the younger age groups of American Legion youth baseball.

in the area you specified (SE PA), it’s not uncommon to have Little League organizations just a few miles from organizations affiliated with the other groups listed above. And it’s not unusual for kids to move between organizations, or even play in the regular season for teams from 2 organizations. However, when it gets to all-stars, which are the teams that compete in the competitions to get to the national championship, a kid has to select one organization (they can’t appear in the PONY World Series and the Little League World Series).

So, correct me if I am wrong. Ripken and LL are somewhat “competing” leagues, in that they both have age limits up to 12 yrs old. They have their own separate playoffs, etc with the crown jewel of LL tournaments being in Williamsport and the crown jewel of Cal Ripken being in various locations depending on the age group. It was in Aberdeen, MD back when my boys played. Babe Ruth baseball is a parter with Ripken and includes ages 13-19. PONY baseball was an extension of LL and started at age 13, but now looks like it starts a much younger age group and runs up through late teens/early 20’s? When I played PONY back in the day (early 90’s), it cut off at 14? Now it doesn’t?

 

[Tom McAndrew]

Results from Day 2 of the tournament:

Elimination Bracket
G5: Hollidaysburg vs. Milton -- postponed to 7/29
G6: Meadville vs. West Point -- postponed to 7/29

Schedule for Day 3 (reworked due to the weather on 7/28)

Elimination Bracket
G5: Hollidaysburg vs. Milton
G6: Meadville vs. West Point

Winner's Bracket
G7: East Side vs. Blue Mountain
G8: Newtown-Edgmont vs. Back Mountain

 

[Tom McAndrew]

So, correct me if I am wrong. Ripken and LL are somewhat “competing” leagues, in that they both have age limits up to 12 yrs old. They have their own separate playoffs, etc with the crown jewel of LL tournaments being in Williamsport and the crown jewel of Cal Ripken being in various locations depending on the age group. It was in Aberdeen, MD back when my boys played. Babe Ruth baseball is a parter with Ripken and includes ages 13-19. PONY baseball was an extension of LL and started at age 13, but now looks like it starts a much younger age group and runs up through late teens/early 20’s? When I played PONY back in the day (early 90’s), it cut off at 14? Now it doesn’t?

It's been a few years since I was involved, but I think I have this correct.

Babe Ruth League has been around since 1951. It started in New Jersey. It was originally called Little Bigger League, as it offered baseball for youth after they aged out of Little League (i.e., it was a competition for 13-15 year-olds). The widow of Babe Ruth gave the league permission to rename it after her late husband. In the 1980s, the league expanded with a Bambino division, which basically was a direct competition with Little League, as it served players aged 4 through 12. This continued to expand, and Babe Ruth did compete with Little League programs for kids, and did have a national tournament. In 1999, the Bambino Division was renamed Cal Ripken Baseball. So Cal Ripken Baseball is just the younger age grouping for Babe Ruth League.

PONY baseball also started in 1951, though it started in Pennsylvania. I believe that, like Babe Ruth League, it was started for the 13-15 age group, but I'm not certain of that. By the time I got involved, it was competing in pretty much all youth age groups. PONY divides their divisions into 2-year brackets. So "Pony" is their 13-14 year-old kids, and Bronco is their 11-12 year-old kids, etc.

Little League has also expanded over time, to now include older groupings, as well as more robust competitions (state and national) of different age groups. Plus, they added softball. Babe Ruth League has pretty much mimicked them, in terms of what they've added. PONY extends a little older than the two other groups (LL ends at 17; Babe Ruth ends at 19 (I think)), as they have competitions into the 20s, and also unlike the other two groups, they did not expand to include softball.

Speaking in general terms

- Little League was the more organized of the organizations
- Little League and Babe Ruth (now Cal Ripken) were pretty competitive talent wise in the 12 and under groupings
- PONY I have the least amount of knowledge of, but the few kids (or their parents) I knew that went from LL to PONY (in the 12 and under groupings) were generally seeking a less competitive environment

Within 4 miles of my house, there are 3 LL complexes, two Babe Ruth complexes, and a PONY complex. I was only involved in LL, but I coached kids that moved between all 3 organizations, so I have some degree of experience with each of them.

I hope the above helps.

 

[Chumboshifko1]

It's been a few years since I was involved, but I think I have this correct.

Babe Ruth League has been around since 1951. It started in New Jersey. It was originally called Little Bigger League, as it offered baseball for youth after they aged out of Little League (i.e., it was a competition for 13-15 year-olds). The widow of Babe Ruth gave the league permission to rename it after her late husband. In the 1980s, the league expanded with a Bambino division, which basically was a direct competition with Little League, as it served players aged 4 through 12. This continued to expand, and Babe Ruth did compete with Little League programs for kids, and did have a national tournament. In 1999, the Bambino Division was renamed Cal Ripken Baseball. So Cal Ripken Baseball is just the younger age grouping for Babe Ruth League.

PONY baseball also started in 1951, though it started in Pennsylvania. I believe that, like Babe Ruth League, it was started for the 13-15 age group, but I'm not certain of that. By the time I got involved, it was competing in pretty much all youth age groups. PONY divides their divisions into 2-year brackets. So "Pony" is their 13-14 year-old kids, and Bronco is their 11-12 year-old kids, etc.

Little League has also expanded over time, to now include older groupings, as well as more robust competitions (state and national) of different age groups. Plus, they added softball. Babe Ruth League has pretty much mimicked them, in terms of what they've added. PONY extends a little older than the two other groups (LL ends at 17; Babe Ruth ends at 19 (I think)), as they have competitions into the 20s, and also unlike the other two groups, they did not expand to include softball.

Speaking in general terms

- Little League was the more organized of the organizations
- Little League and Babe Ruth (now Cal Ripken) were pretty competitive talent wise in the 12 and under groupings
- PONY I have the least amount of knowledge of, but the few kids (or their parents) I knew that went from LL to PONY (in the 12 and under groupings) were generally seeking a less competitive environment

Within 4 miles of my house, there is a LL complex, a Babe Ruth complex, and a PONY complex. I was only involved in LL, but I coached kids that moved between all 3 organizations, so I have some degree of experience with each of them.

I hope the above helps.

When I started playing ball there was minor league, little league, pony league, legion ball and finally the Daily News League.

 

[Tom McAndrew]

Results from Day 3 of the tournament:

Elimination Bracket
G5: Hollidaysburg - 9, Milton - 5
G6: West Point - 5, Meadville/French Creek Valley American - 3

As a result, Milton and Meadville are eliminated from the tournament.

Winner's Bracket
G7: Blue Mountain - 6, East Side - 4
G8: Newtown-Edgmont vs. Back Mountain (postponed to 7/30 due to rain)


Schedule for Day 4 (I think, as noted below)

Elimination Bracket
G9: Hollidaysburg vs. loser of G8 (see above; not sure if this will be bumped back a day, or if the loser will play two games in one day)
G10: West Point vs. East Side

Winner's Bracket
G8: Newtown-Edgmont vs. Back Mountain
G11: Blue Mountain vs. winner of G8 (see above; not sure if this will be bumped back a day, or if the winner will play two games in one day)