Big names in JLWS history

Several current or past professional baseball players played for teams in the Junior League World Series before making it as stars in the big leagues. The newest include Hao-Yu Lee of the Detroit Tigers and Antwone Kelley of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Lee played in the 2017 Junior League World Series for Chinese Taipei and visited Comerica Park while he was here, predicting that he would someday “be on the field instead of the stands.” The Tigers promoted him from Triple A Toledo earlier this year and he’s been a part-time contributor at second and third base. At the time, he was the 19th player from Taiwan to make it to the major leagues.

Kelly played for Aruba in the 2018 JLWS. Just 22, Kelly has risen rapidly through the Pittsburgh minor league organization. The hard throwing pitcher got the Pirates’ attention in 2025, when he started 25 games for South Atlantic League Greensboro and Eastern League Altoona. Across those two leagues, he registered a 3-3 record over 107.1 innings, striking out 116.

Others who have played in the JLWS include Gary Sheffield, Eric Bedard, Brett Myers, brothers Jose and Javier Valentin, Erubiel Durazo, Chad Hermansen, Derek Bell, Delino DeShields, Shannon Withem, Adam Loewen and Chris Brock.

Sheffield and Bell were teammates on the Belmont Heights team from Tampa, Florida, that won the Junior League world championship in 1982. Sheffield has narrowly missed making the Baseball Hall of Fame and finished his MLB career with 509 home runs, nearly 2,700 hits, over 1,600 RBI and a .292 career batting average.

Other future stars to play in Taylor have included Chris Dingman and Steve Reinprecht, teammates in 1989 with Edmonton, Alberta, who went on to play in the National Hockey League. Matt Cassel (Northridge, California, 1995) was a quarterback in the National Football League. Mark “Bo” Pelini, a member of the 1981 champions from Boardman, Ohio, went on to play safety for Ohio State University’s football team and coached football at the University of Nebraska. Other football stars ranged from Andy Mignery (Hamilton, Ohio, 1994), former tight end at Michigan, to the legendary Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (Tyler, Texas, 2010).


Chinese Taipei dominates

The Asia-Pacific regional champions, Chinese Taipei, has turned out the dominant JLWS teams since 2010, winning twice as many titles overall than any of the other program. Chung-Shan Junior Little League’s title in 2025 made it four in a row for teams from Chinese Taipei and 10 of the last 11 titles (exempting the COVID postponements in 2020-21 and a 2019 championship run by Golden Hill Little League of Fullerton, California).


How things got started

In 1939, Little League was only available for players who were 12 years old and younger. By 1961, Little League was expanded to include 13-, 14- and 15-year-olds. This new division was called Senior League. In 1968, Little League again expanded to include 16-, 17- and 18-year-olds. This was called Big League.

In 1979, recognizing the significant adjustment experienced by 13-year-olds when faced with bigger field dimensions – plus the disadvantage they faced against older players – Little League created the Junior League division for 13-year-olds.

Two years later, the late Greg Bzura and a group of baseball enthusiasts from Taylor volunteered their community as the host site for the first Junior League World Series. At that time, the championship was called the “13-year-old World Series.” The event has been staged in Taylor ever since. Bzura, a retired banker and former councilman, continued as World Series director for four decades, eventually giving away to his son, Dan.


The first champion: Boardman, Ohio

In 1981, the first year of the Junior League World Series, only the four regional championship teams from the United States made the journey to Taylor. Boardman, Ohio, won the first world championship, beating teams from Richmond, Virginia; Gloucester County, New Jersey; and Bassett, California. Since Boardman’s world title, no other Central Region champion has won the World Series.


The Little League Miracle

In 1988, tragedy struck just 93 days prior to the series when the original press box and dugout building were destroyed by a fire. What occurred after that has been called a “Little League Miracle.”

Volunteers came forward with time, energy and talent. Thousands of dollars in donations came from local corporations, district administrators, World Series alumni umpires and Little Leaguers everywhere. The City of Taylor donated architectural, legal and guidance services. After 64 days of planning, raising money and installing sewers, there were just 29 days to rise from the ashes. With the players arriving for the eighth annual World Series, the backstop was installed and the next day, the series started on schedule.


Older players and expansion

In 1999, two major changes took place. For the first time, the Junior League expanded to include older players, 14-year-olds. The expansion led to the first-time participation in the World Series by a team from the Far East region, Guam, and would allow for more nations to compete in regional tournaments worldwide. That Far East region would eventually expand and be renamed the Asia-Pacific region.


Latin America, Europe thrive

Prior to 2001, only two Latin America nations – Mexico and Puerto Rico – were interested in competing for the Junior League title and, rather than hold a Latin America tournament, national champions from both countries were invited to Taylor.

In 2001, Latin America for the first time held a regional tournament in Freeport, Grand Bahamas, which attracted eight nations: Mexico, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Aruba, Panama, Curacao, Bahamas and The Virgin Islands. Venezuela defeated Mexico for the Latin American regional championship.

Worldwide growth continued in 2001. Fourteen teams competed for the European regional championship. Poland headed to Taylor as the European champ, defeating Germany in the title game. In the regional, there were two teams from Germany (an American military base and a native team) and individual teams from Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Italy, Lithuania, Russia, Belgium, The Netherlands, Romania, Saudi Arabia and Spain.

The 2001 World Series marked the first time a team from South America played in Taylor – and Maracaibo, Venezuela, made it to the finals. That year also marked the debut for teams from Poland and Spain.


Making history back-to-back

Aiea, Hawaii, also made history in 2001, becoming the first team to win back-to-back world championships in the Junior League. In 2001, Aiea defeated Venezuela, 6-5, in a thrilling, come-from-behind contest that was won in the bottom of the eighth inning. The year before, Aiea defeated Langley, British Columbia, Canada, in the finals, 2-1. Hawaiian teams have won the world title four times.


Facility upgrades

Just prior to the 2002 Series, the area surrounding World Series Field received elaborate beautification, including brick pavers, knee walls, wrought iron fencing with gated entries and extensive landscaping. The beautification continued in the summer of 2003. A Memorial Garden was planted, paying tribute to World Series volunteers who had passed away: Judy Bzura, Bob Sands, Richard Anderson, Ginger Anderson, Chuck McAllister and Toby Sullivan. Opening ceremonies included a moment of silence. Other great volunteers have been added to the garden since. Last year, World Series Field added a beautiful new electronic scoreboard in right-center field.


Umpires and volunteers

The umpires of the series meet challenging qualifications to be selected for the Junior League World Series. An umpire cannot participate until umpiring in state and regional championships. Umpires have come from 33 states, Aruba, Belgium, Canada, Curacao, Germany, Guam, Lithuania, Mexico, Netherlands, Panama, Poland, Puerto Rico, Romania, Spain, Turkey, Venezuela and the Virgin Islands.

Overall, a team of more than 200 volunteers takes on various roles to make the Junior League World Series a success. The World Series has been a family event, as Taylor residents and others in the area help chaperone players and serve as “aunts and uncles.”

For 19 years, local families housed visiting players. In the years since, they have stayed at the headquarters hotel. All the volunteers do an outstanding job. They have fun but are very serious about their responsibilities.


The host team makes a difference

To balance the USA and International brackets and bring even more excitement to the JLWS, Little League International created the “host team” format in 2018, handing the Michigan District 5 champion an automatic berth in the Series. It’s really taken hold, as Taylor North Little League won the USA Bracket title in back-to-back seasons. Having a local team in the tournament has created tremendous local interest and much larger than usual crowds.

In 2023, 10 of the 11 players that led Taylor North to the Little League World Series title in 2021 were on the JLWS roster: Chauncey Adkins, Noah Boren, Lucas Farner, Jacob Farkas, Max Laforest, Jaxon Shufeldt, Jackson Surma, Cameron Thorning, Gavin Ulin and Ethan VanBelle. In the USA title game, Laforest’s sacrifice fly ball scored Surma with the walk-off winner, 3-2, over Irma, South Carolina. The win gave Taylor its first berth in the JLWS final.

The following summer, a team made up of made up of Jaxon Shufeldt, Kole Boike, Lucas Doute, Chase Omodio, Lucas Brewer, Cruz Rodriquez, Richard Loruiaux, Griffin Krakow, Alex Miller, Brodii Hollobough, Tristan Spencer and Mino Koski made a similar run. Koski provided much of the pitching behind the team’s success and shortstop Lucas Doute consistently provided key hits batting .636 at the highest-level world series tournaments.