The defending Senior League World Series champion, West University Little League of Houston, Texas, has earned its way back to Mansfield Stadium.
The Texas East representatives won the U.S. Southwest championship for the fifth time in the last seven years Tuesday evening, defeating Texas West champion San Antonio North 8-1 in the regional title game at Seguin, Texas.
West University Little League finished the Southwest tournament with a 4-1 record, winning four straight after losing its first game to Lafayette, Louisiana.
The Houston team finished second in its Senior League World Series pool last year, then defeated host Bangor 7-0 in the semifinals and Willemstad, Curacao, 7-4, in the world championship game.
West University Little League also won the Senior League World Series during its first trip to Bangor in 2009 and made additional trips to Maine in 2010 and 2012.
Also qualifying Tuesday evening was Nogales, Arizona, which won the U.S. West championship with 10-1 victory over host Chino, California.
The Arizona team rebounded from a loss to Oakland, California, in its second game of the U.S. West tournament to finish with a 5-1 record, including a 2-1 survival of Manhattan Beach, California, in the semifinals.
Nogales is the first Arizona team to qualify for the Senior League World Series since the tournament was moved to Bangor in 2002. The U.S. West has been dominated by teams from California and Hawaii during the series’ first 13 years in the Queen City.
Nogales, Arizona, and Houston, Texas, will play the first game of this year’s Senior League World Series at 11 a.m. Sunday.
Four games of modified double-elimination play will be held Sunday through Wednesday, with the semifinals Thursday and the world championship game set for noon Saturday.
Houston, Texas, and Nogales, Arizona, join host Maine District 3 champion Old Town, Lazio, Italy (Europe-Africa), Saipan-Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (Asia Pacific) and Pariba Little League of Willemstad, Curacao (Latin America), as teams that have qualified for this year’s 10-team Senior League World Series field.
Three other U.S. regionals and the Canadian national championships should be completed by the end of play Wednesday, weather permitting.
Whalley-White Rock, British Columbia, will face Regina, Saskatchewan, for the Canadian championship at Coquitlam, British Columbia, while Upper Moreland, Pennsylvania, will play Franklinville, New Jersey, for the U.S. East crown at West Deptford, New Jersey.
The U.S. Central semifinals were set for Wednesday afternoon at Peru/Ogelsby, Illinois, with the host team as well as state champions from Illinois, Ohio and Wisconsin still alive. The U.S. Central final is slated for Wednesday night.
Four teams also remained alive for the U.S. Southeast title to be determined Wednesday evening in Safety Harbor, Florida. Dumfries, Virginia, already has qualified for the championship game, while a suspended game between North Carolina and South Carolina will be competed with the winner to face Georgia for the right to advance to the regional final.
