Since 1947, the Little League World Series has been one of the most beloved summer traditions in America. The opportunity to see the best 12U baseball teams from around the world compete for a championship presents baseball in its truest form.
The children provide an appreciation for the sport that can sometimes be lost in professional settings. Every moment is exciting. Every hit is enormous. Every run is exhilarating. Every strikeout is monumental. That emotion has captivated audiences for decades, making big moments all the more compelling.
Whether it is a walk-off home run, a huge defensive play, or a group of kids achieving their ultimate goal, the Little League World Series has created some incredible moments over the years. Here are our picks for the five most iconic moments in LLWS history.
Most iconic Little League World Series moments
5) 1971 – Legendary Lloyd McClendon
The highest possible OPS a player can have is 5.000. That mark would mean that a player hit a home run every single time they came up to the plate. Such a feat is impossible, right? RIGHT?!
Nope. Lloyd McClendon put on a ‘Legendary’ performance at the 1971 Little League World Series, going 5-for-5 with, you guessed it, five home runs. His team would wind up losing in the championship game to Chinese Taipei.
How did Taipei do it? Simple. They didn’t let McClendon bat. They walked him every time he came to the plate after he hit a home run against them in the first inning. McClendon’s team would not score another run for the rest of the game.
4) 2014 – Mo’ne Davis dominates
Mo’ne Davis’s legend is well-known. She wasn’t the first girl to compete in the Little League World Series, but she was arguably the most dominant, corralling a complete game shutout win during her team’s first game of the tournament. To this day, that remains the only time a female player has earned a win on the mound at the Little League World Series, and it was a shutout.
Davis did not do as well in her next pitching performance, but her mark on the tournament had already been left. Despite her team failing to reach the U.S. Championship, many fans still know her name and were excited to see her return to Williamsport in 2021 as an analyst.
3) 2023 – Louis Lappe’s walk-off home run
What’s better than leading the LLWS tournament in both home runs and RBIs? How about winning the tournament with a walk-off home run?
Lappe did absolutely everything for his California squad during the 2023 tournament, especially in the role of hero. It couldn’t have been more dramatic. California was leading Curacao in the championship game, 5-1 after four innings. In the fifth, Curacao hit a grand slam to tie the game. Lo and behold, Lappe led off the sixth inning.
Fans leaned forward in their seats. Everyone was dead quiet when the announcer uttered a jinx for the ages, noting that Curacao had not surrendered a home run for the entirety of the Little League World Series. On cue, Lappe sent everyone home with a moonshot to left field.
2) 2007 – Dalton Carriker’s walk-off winner
The Japan-U.S. rivalry is well-known in Little League Baseball. Since 1998, the U.S. and Japan have combined for more than 20 titles. The rest of the world has just three.
In 2007, that rivalry came to a head as Georgia looked for their second consecutive LLWS title, and second consecutive championship game win over Japan. Despite strong pitching performances from both sides, Georgia’s Dalton Carriker was able to take an eighth-inning pitch deep to walk off the game and the tournament.
1) 1993 – Sean Burroughs throws back-to-back no-hitters
Although Burroughs’ and his California team’s loss in the 1992 championship was eventually flipped on its head once it was known that the team from the Philippines that won had violated age and residency rules, Burroughs returned for the 1993 Little League World Series looking to avenge the defeat. He was on a mission, and no one was going to stop him.
Burroughs would go on to throw no-hitters in both his team’s pool play opener against Ohio on August 23 and in the U.S. Championship game on August 26. He did not pitch in the LLWS title game, but his team came through nonetheless. Burroughs would go on to play in the majors between 2002 and 2012.
When does the 2025 Little League World Series begin?
This year’s tournament begins Wednesday, August 13 and runs until Sunday, August 24. Games can be viewed on ESPN, ESPN2, and ABC, or streamed with ESPN+.
Stream the 2025 Little League World Series with an ESPN+ subscription
