| Dates: | August 16–August 25 |
| Num Teams: | 16 |
| Champion Other: | Valley Sports American Little League Louisville, Kentucky |
| Second Other: | Sendai Higashi Little League Sendai, Miyagi, Japan |
The 2002 Little League World Series took place between August 16 and August 25 in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The Valley Sports American Little League of Pleasure Ridge Park, a suburb of Louisville, Kentucky, defeated Sendai Higashi Little League of Sendai, Japan, in the championship game of the 56th Little League World Series.
Notable players included 2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and 2013 NASCAR Nationwide Series champion Austin Dillon, a member of the Clemmons, North Carolina, Little League representing the Southeast region.[1]
See main article: article and 2002 Little League World Series qualification.
Between five and twelve teams take part in 16 regional qualification tournaments, which vary in format depending on region. In the United States, the qualification tournaments are in the same format as the Little League World Series itself: a round-robin tournament followed by an elimination round to determine the regional champion.
| Pool A | Pool B | Pool C | Pool D | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Worth, Texas Southwest Westside Little League | Manhattan, New York Mid-Atlantic Harlem Little League |  Valencia, VenezuelaLatin America Los Leones Little League | Sendai, Miyagi, Japan Asia Sendai Hagashi Little League | |
| Worcester, Massachusetts New England Jesse Burkett Little League | Louisville, Kentucky Great Lakes Valley Sports American Little League |  Regina, SaskatchewanCanada North Regina Little League | Willemstad, Curaçao Caribbean Pariba Little League | |
| Webb City, Missouri Midwest Webb City Little League | Aptos, California West Aptos Little League |  Hagåtña, GuamPacific Central Little League |  Monterrey, Nuevo León, MexicoMexico Country de Monterrey Little League | |
| Waipio, Hawaii Northwest Waipio Little League | Clemmons, North Carolina Southeast Southwest Forsyth Little League | Dhahran, Saudi Arabia Transatlantic Arabian-American Little League |  Moscow, RussiaEurope, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) Khovrino Little League |
The top two teams in each pool move on to their respective semifinals. The winners of each met on August 25 to play for the Little League world championship.
| Region | Record | |
|---|---|---|
| Southwest | 2–1 | |
| New England | 2–1 | |
| Northwest | 2–1 | |
| Midwest | 0–3 |
| Region | Record | |
|---|---|---|
| Great Lakes | 3–0 | |
| Mid-Atlantic | 2–1 | |
| West | 1–2 | |
| Southeast | 0–3 |
August 16
| New England | 2–3 | Northwest | |
| Midwest | 0–1 | Southwest |
August 17
| West | 1–4 | Great Lakes | |
| Mid-Atlantic | 9–3 | Southeast | |
| New England | 2–1 | Midwest |
August 18
| Southeast | 8–11 | West | |
| West | 10–4 | Southeast | |
| Northwest | 0–8 | Southwest | |
| Great Lakes | 2–0 | Mid-Atlantic |
August 19
| New England | 6–0 | Southwest | |
| Midwest | 1–2 | Northwest |
August 20
| West | 2–5 | Mid-Atlantic | |
| Southeast | 2–4 | Great Lakes |
| Region | Record | |
|---|---|---|
| Latin America | 2–1 | |
| Pacific | 2–1 | |
| Transatlantic | 2–1 | |
| Canada | 0–3 |
| Region | Record | |
|---|---|---|
| Asia | 3–0 | |
| Caribbean | 2–1 | |
| Mexico | 1–2 | |
| EMEA | 0–3 |
August 16
| Transatlantic | 3–2 | Canada |
August 17
| Pacific | 1–11 | Latin America | |
| Mexico | 1–10 | Caribbean | |
| EMEA | 0–7 | Asia |
August 18
| Transatlantic | 6–9 | Pacific | |
| Mexico | 4–3 | EMEA |
August 19
| EMEA | 0–13† (4 innings) | Caribbean | |
| Asia | 11–0† (4 innings) | Mexico | |
| Canada | 3–9 | Latin America |
August 20
| Asia | 5–0 | Caribbean | |
| Canada | 7–12 | Pacific | |
| Transatlantic | 6–5 | Latin America |
The Louisville Valley Sports American LL went undefeated on their road to the LLWS, winning all eleven of their matches.[2] [3] In total record was 17–0.
| Round | Opposition | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kentucky State Tournament | |||
| Group Stage | 7-1 | ||
| Group Stage | Morehead LL | 1-0 | |
| Group Stage | Owensboro Southern LL | 6-4 (14 inn) | |
| Semifinals | Richmond LL | 11-0 (4 inn) | |
| Championship | Owensboro Southern LL | 3-0 | |
| Great Lakes Regional | |||
| Group Stage | 5-0 | ||
| Group Stage | Bradley-Bourbonnais LL | 2-1 | |
| Group Stage | Merrill LL | 4-1 | |
| Group Stage | Grosse Pointe Farms-City LL | 3-1 | |
| Semifinals | Hamilton West Side American LL | 2-1 | |
| Great Lakes Region Championship | Brownsburg LL | 8-1 | |