While Bronco-Hermon and Brewer will play Thursday for the right to represent host Maine District 3 in the 2016 Senior League World Series, the rest of the 10-team tournament field is beginning to take shape.
The first three qualifiers for this year’s SLWS, which takes place from July 31 through Aug. 6 at Mansfield Stadium in Bangor, will be first-time participants since the Little League Baseball world championship tournament for 15- and 16-year-olds moved to the Queen City in 2002.
Puerto Rico, Australia and Spain all have punched their tickets for Bangor after winning the first three regional qualifying tournaments to be completed.
The Roberto Clemente Little League of Carolina, Puerto Rico, went 6-0 to win the 10-team Latin America regional at Guayama, Puerto Rico. The champs defeated Panama, Aruba, Venezuela and Saint Maarten to advance to the semifinals where they defeated host Guayama, Puerto Rico, 5-1 before knocking off Oranjestad, Curacao, 3-0 in the championship game.
Australia, making its first appearance in the Asia-Pacific Senior League regional at Makati City, Philippines, outscored its opposition 82-3 while going undefeated in five games. The Aussies had just one tight contest, a 2-1 victory over Guam but went on to defeat the same team 10-0 in the championship game. Australia also defeated the Philippines, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and Indonesia en route to its SLWS berth.
The Catalunya Little League of Barcelona, Spain, bested seven other contenders to win the Europe-Africa regional in Novara, Italy. Spain avenged its only loss in the tournament by defeating Lazio, Italy, 5-3 in the championship game to finish with a 4-1 record. The winners also defeated Great Britain, France and Austria while losing to Lazio, Italy, 14-9 in their second game of the tournament.
Undefeated Bronco-Hermon and once-beaten Brewer will play in the championship round of the double-elimination Maine District 3 tournament at Mansfield Stadium beginning at 5 p.m. Thursday, with an if-necessary game set for 7:30 p.m.
Five U.S. regionals and the Canadian championships get under way this week. U.S. West play began Tuesday, Canada on Wednesday, the U.S East starts Thursday and the U.S. Southeast, Southwest and Central tournaments begin Saturday.
All U.S. regionals are scheduled to be concluded July 27, followed by the Canadian championships on July 28.
U.S. Southwest representative West University Little League of Houston, Texas, is the two-time defending Senior League World Series champion.
