After being sidelined for two years due to COVID-19, Little League International announced this week the return of all seven of its World Series events and their associated regional tournaments this summer.
That includes the Senior League Baseball East Regional tournament, scheduled to be held at Bangor’s Mansfield Stadium beginning July 18 and continuing through July 25.
“We are as ready as we can be at this point,” Maine District 3 Little League administrator and tournament director Mike Brooker said. “We’re certainly excited to be able to host a high-level tournament.”
This will mark the second time Bangor has hosted the East Regional, having been awarded the right to host the event for the first time in 2019. Wilmington, Delaware, went undefeated in five games to advance to that year’s Senior League World Series.
The 2020 and 2021 Senior League World Series and regional tournaments were canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Bangor and Mansfield Stadium previously had hosted the Senior League World Series for 15 years from 2002 to 2016 before it was moved to its current location in Easley, South Carolina.
Little League president and CEO Stephen D. Keener said at the time that Easley had the edge over Bangor to keep a World Series because of the South Carolina city’s “more central location, with easier transportation options for all participants, families and fans.”
Keener also cited available dormitory housing for players at nearby Clemson University.
The 2019 Senior League East Regional had a field of 10 teams with champions from New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland and a host team from Maine.
Brooker said he is not yet sure of the size of this year’s regional tournament field given that participation numbers for the teenage divisions of Little League baseball and softball nationally have declined in recent years.
Little League’s Big League baseball and softball divisions for players ages 17 and 18 were dissolved after the 2016 season.
“We don’t have a firm idea yet of participation from across the region,” Brooker said of this year’s Senior League East Regional.
The Senior League Baseball World Series is scheduled for July 30 through Aug. 6, while the signature Little League Baseball World Series is set for Aug. 17-28 at Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
All Little League World Series and regional tournaments were canceled in 2020, with only the Little League Baseball and Softball tournaments (ages 11-12) returning in 2021 with limited fields that included only U.S.-based teams.
“We know how difficult these past two years have been, and continue to be, on our local leagues, players and families but we are thrilled to welcome back fans and international teams at all seven divisions of our baseball and softball tournaments this summer,” Keener said in a statement.
