The Little League World Series is scheduled Aug. 18-25 in South Williamsport, Pa. It’s always a watchable event regardless of which team one is rooting for.
For a select few, it’s also a launch pad to Major League Baseball as well as the collegiate ranks.
University of San Diego junior catcher Arial Armas appeared in the 2015 LLWS for California District 42 champion Sweetwater Valley Little League. Just recently he was accorded honors with the 2024 American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings Gold Glove award as the best defensive catcher in the nation among NCAA Division I schools.
Armas, who was involved in the climactic rundown between third base and home plate in the West regional championship game against Hawaii to send Sweetwater Valley to Pennsylvania, posted a national-leading 0.998 fielding percentage in 55 games for the Toreros while throwing out 15 would-be base-stealers.
He earned honors as the 2024 West Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year.
Armas is not alone.
Former Park View Little League 2016 World Series standout Ali Camarillo was a member of this year’s Texas A&M squad that battled Tennessee in the Collegiate World Series.
A junior transfer (from Cal State Northridge), Camarillo helped the Aggies advance to college baseball’s elite stage with a .288 hitting average to go with seven home runs, 50 runs scored and 36 RBI from his shortstop position. He started all 68 games in 2024 for Texas A&M, recording 72 hits — 21 for extra bases.
As a senior at Otay Ranch High School, Camarillo batted 0.530 and stole 25 bases.
No. 1 Tennessee defeated Texas A&M two games to one in the teams’ best-of-three series.
Looking ahead
The road to the 2024 Little League World Series has begun for local 12U San Diego County all-star teams, so it’s possible lightning could strike again someday in the future for a homegrown player.
More than 50 former Little Leaguers have made it as far as the MLB level. It’s rarefied strata considering the estimated 16 million baseball players in this country, mostly between the ages of 6-12.
A total of 20 teams will compete in South Williamsport — 10 regional champions from the United States and 10 international teams. The U.S. and international teams play in separate brackets leading up to the Little League World Series championship game.
There is also a third-place consolation game.
Domestic teams generally qualify through district, sectional, divisional and regional tournaments.
San Diego County teams wrapped up district all-star play this past weekend to determine which teams will advance on the long road to Pennsylvania — and other points throughout the country in other age divisions.
Sweetwater Valley will represent California District 42/South County in the age division while National City’s Las Palmas will represent California District 66, which serves parts of South County, East County and southeastern San Diego.
Lakeside National from California District 41 is East County’s hopeful in the 12U Little League Division.
Besides the iconic Little League division, there are five other age divisions: 10U, 11U, intermediate (11-13), junior (12-14) and senior (13-16).
However, only the 12U division advances to the Little League World Series.
The 10U and 11U divisions conclude with regional state championships.
Local 10U district champions include Valley de Oro (District 66), Fletcher Hills (District 41) and Sweetwater Valley (District 42).
Local 11U district champions include Lemon Grove (District 66), Alpine American (District 41) and Sweetwater Valley (District 42).
Regional tournaments on the road to the Little League World Series include Great Lakes, Metro, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Mountain, New England, Northwest, Southeast, Southwest and West.
The West region comprises Arizona, Northern California, Southern California and Hawaii.
International divisions include Asia-Pacific and Middle East, Australia, Canada, Caribbean, Europe and Africa, Japan, Latin America and Mexico. Cuba, Panama and Puerto Rico receive two bids on a rotating basis with the remaining team forced to play through a regional qualifier.
The Junior Division, Intermediate Division and Senior Division all feature regional tournaments and a national championship event.
The Junior League Baseball World Series is slated Aug. 4-11 in Taylor, Mich. There are six United States regionals (Central, East, Michigan, Southeast, Southwest and West) and six international regionals (Asia-Pacific, Australia, Canada, Europe-Africa, Latin America and Mexico).
The Intermediate 50/70 Baseball World Series is scheduled July 28 to Aug. 4 in Livermore. There are six U.S. regionals, including a California regional, and six international regionals, including a Puerto Rico regional.
The Senior League Baseball World Series is scheduled July 27 to Aug. 3 in Easley, S.C. There are six U.S. regionals, including host South Carolina, and six international regionals.
Little League International also fields three national softball tournaments.
Locals only
California District 42 boundaries encompass nine leagues: Chula Vista American, Chula Vista National, Eastlake, Imperial Beach, Luckie Waller (San Diego), Park View (Chula Vista), South Bay (Chula Vista), Southwest (San Diego) and Sweetwater Valley (Bonita).
California District 66 boundaries include 10 leagues: Encanto (San Diego), Las Palmas (National City), Lemon Grove, National City American, San Diego American, Skyline (San Diego), Southeastern (San Diego), Spring Valley, Twin Hills (San Diego/Paradise Hills) and Valley de Oro (Spring Valley).
California District 41 boundaries include 14 local leagues: Alpine American, El Cajon National, El Cajon Western, Fletcher Hills (El Cajon), Jamul, Julian, Lakeside American, Lakeside National, Mountain Empire (Campo), Rancho de Oro, Rios Canyon (El Cajon), Santee National, Singing Hills (El Cajon) and West Hills (Santee).
Overall, there are 15 Little League districts in San Diego County.
California District 33 also dips into parts of East County. Boundaries include Allied Gardens, Chollas Lake, Kearny Mesa, La Mesa, Lake Murray, Mid-City, Mission Trails, Murphy Canyon, North Park, Patriot, Rolando, San Carlos, Serra Mesa, Sunshine and Tierrasanta.
Beyond the district level, teams compete in the California Section 7 championship tournament. The Section 7 tournament features champions from District 41, District 42, District 66 and District 22 (Imperial Valley).
California District 22 includes Brawley, Calexico, Calipatria, El Centro, Heber, Holtville, Imperial, Sunbeam (El Centro) and Westmorland.
District 66 will host the Section 7 10U tournament at its Sweetwater Lane Sports Complex in Spring Valley starting Saturday, July 13, at 4 p.m.
Valley de Oro will represent District 66 while Fletcher Hills will represent District 41. Sweetwater Valley is the D42 champion.
Sweetwater Valley (District 42), Lemon Grove (District 66) and Alpine American (District 41) are entered in the 11U section tournament hosted by Alpine Little League.
District 41 is hosting the 12U Section 7 tournament at Lakeside National, also starting Saturday.
Lakeside National (District 41), Las Palmas (District 66), Sweetwater Valley (District 42) and Brawley (District 22) are the four district representatives.
Previously, District 66 hosted the Section 7 Senior League tournament. The combined team from Lemon Grove and Spring Valley won the championship title over District 42 champion Eastlake to advance to the Southern California state tournament hosted by District 72 Norco Little League.
Santee National (District 41) defeated Park View (District 42) to win the Intermediate Division section title and, in the process, advance to the Southern California state tournament.
Route 66
District 66 is fielding the same number of leagues (10) this year but will reduce that number by two to eight next year, according to district administrator Rolland Slade.
“Next year we will be combining Las Palmas and National City American into one league in National City,” he said. “Additionally, we will be combining Encanto and Skyline Little League into one league. That will give us eight leagues total, though I think we will be stronger.”
Slade said registration was slightly less than last year
For 2024, the district had 1,386 registrations compared to 1,518, for 2023 and 1,510 for 2022. All numbers were significantly higher than 949 for 2021 while coming off the COVID-19 pandemic.
But the hope is for higher numbers next year.
“Our registration numbers were down slightly,” Slade noted. “Over the district that’s one team per league. I expect that to grow this next year with introduction of the central registration system of players under the age of 7. That system will be featured during the national telecast of the Little League World Series.”
There is exciting news for the district on other fronts.
“We are excited that we were able to add girls softball,” Slade said. “The 8-9-10 girls from Lemon Grove and Little League (10-12) girls from Las Palmas advanced to their respective California state tournaments.
“We hope to continue to grow this aspect of our program using the marketing that will come out for our ‘Girls with Game’ celebration. Little League is celebrating 50 years of girls playing Little League. I hope that we can make ties with San Diego State University and take our girls out to see them play.”
The 2024 Lady Aztecs won the Mountain West championship title with a three-game sweep and advanced two rounds deep into the NCAA regionals.
Sweetwater Valley makes it a clean sweep of D42 titles
California District 42 Little League held its annual triple-header of division finals last Saturday at the Sweetwater Valley Little League complex. The home team came out on top in all three divisional championship games:
10U Division: Sweetwater Valley 7, Park View 4
11U Division: Sweetwater Valley 6, Park View 5
12U Division: Sweetwater Valley 3, Chula Vista American 1
Sweetwater Valley completed the sweep on a dramatic game-saving catch by Dominic Meza for the final out of the game as he slammed into the outfield fence to negate a potential game-tying home run by snagging the ball as it was going over the fence. Meza slammed into the fence as he made the catch but held onto the ball to show the umpire before collapsing to the ground out of pain.
It was the catch of the year for Sweetwater Vallley, which advances to play District 22 champion Brawley in the opening round of Saturday’s California Section 7 tournament at Lakeside National Little League.
SVLL’s Parker Crawford made a diving catch in the outfield earlier in the game.
Luv Ya Blue
California District 42 Little League honored longtime supporter Dave Shepherd during Sunday’s district championship game triple-header at the Sweetwater Valley Little League complex for his exemplary service to youth. Shepherd, whose home league is Chula Vista American Little League, announced his retirement after 24 years serving as a coach, manager, board member and umpire.
Shepherd was congratulated by district staff, players and coaches upon the announcement, which he made on his Facebook page.
To all my Little League friends:
After careful consideration over the past year and a half, I am announcing that my journey with Little League will soon be coming to an end.
I started 24 years ago when I signed up my son to play T-Ball and in my wildest dreams, I never imagined what a thrill and exciting road lay ahead of me. I served as a coach, manager, board member, and of course, as an umpire.
It has been my honor to have met and worked with so many dedicated and talented volunteers. Little League Baseball in California District 42 is blessed with players and coaches that have a passion for the game which has resulted in a level of play that produced many championships–all the way to Williamsport–and I feel lucky and fortunate to have played a small role in this success.
You may be wondering why?? I will concede that my job, my family, and other obligations have placed increased pressure on my time, which has led me to decide that now is the best time for me to step away from Little League.
I do plan on participating in this year’s District and Sectional tournaments, time permitting.
I thank you all and wish you the best in the years to come.
Much love,
Dave
PHOTO GALLERY BY JON BIGORNIA
12U Little League Division championship game:
Sweetwater Valley vs. Chula Vista American
