Appearances by Pittsburgh Pirate President Frank Coonelly and former Chicago Cubs pitcher Steve Trout, highlighted the 73rd Little League World Series Luncheon Held in the dining hall of the Little League Baseball International Complex in South Williamsport. First Round pairings for the LLWS were drawn by Rusty Sechler, a member of the Newberry Little League team that was the East Region representative at the 1969 LLWS. He was joined by two present day Newberry players, Emerson Beagle and Braize Lambert.

The appearance by Coonelly and Trout was in conjunction with the third MLB-Little League Classic between Trout’s former team, the Chicago Cubs and Coonelly’s Pirates.
The First Round Pairings are as follows:

Game One (8/15 at 1 p.m.): Caribbean Region vs. Australia Region

• Game Two (8/15 at 3 p.m.): New England Region vs. Southeast Region
• Game Three (8/15 at 5 p.m.): Asia-Pacific Region vs. Latin America Region
• Game Four (8/15 at 7 p.m.): Midwest Region vs. Great Lakes Region
• Game Five (8/16 at 2 p.m.): Europe and Africa Region vs. Japan Region
• Game Six (8/16 at 4 p.m.): West Region vs. Southwest Region
• Game Seven (8/16 at 6 p.m.): Mexico Region vs. Canada Region
• Game Eight (8/16 at 8 p.m.): Northwest Region vs. Mid-Atlantic Region

Note: Home and away designation will be chosen by a coin flip on Tuesday, August 13.

The following is the list of the Team Hosts for the various teams participating in the 73rd Little League World Series:

• Asia-Pacific Region – Carol Zysset (19), Cherie’ Rogers (2)
• Australia Region – Pete Lupacchino (27), Josh Lupacchino (7)
• Canada Region – Denny Loner (21), Lynn Datres (19)
• Caribbean Region – Ron Frick (17), Mike Lundy (11)
• Europe and Africa Region – Terry Parker (2), Greg Likens (2)
• Great Lakes Region – John Eastlake (21), Jeff Tompkins (9)
• Japan Region – Frank Missigman (15), Walt Reed (1)
• Latin America Region – Joe Girio (22), Lee Miller (19)
• Mexico Region – Willy Weber (13), Gary Whiteman (4)
• Mid-Atlantic Region – Scott Metzger (11), Jamie Foster (2)
• Midwest Region – Gary Weaver (22), Doug Alexander (15)
• Northwest Region – Tom Rachael (21), Van Ransom (15)
• New England Region – Mick Cioffi (43), Denny Logan (17)
• Southeast Region – Chuck Snyder (21), Rick Smith (10)
• Southwest Region – Marlin Cromley (21), Stan Helt (15), Chuck DeLuca (5)
• West Region – Jim Kriner (17), Bruce Sechrist (16)
• Utility Hosts – Ed Weinhoffer (34), George Girio (32), Larry Missigman (28), Carol Weinhoffer (14), Mike Miller (5), Matt Burrows (1), Chris Rogers (1), Lou Cromley (1), William Pearson (1)

Information regarding the Lycoming County MLB Little League Classic Ticket Lottery was also announced prior to the Luncheon, giving fans in the local community the unique opportunity to attend the game on August 18. For more information, visit MLB.com/LLClassic.

This year’s LLBWS will also once again feature the Little League Baseball World Series Challenger Exhibition Game, as teams from Massachusetts District 12 Challenger Little League and Peterborough (Ontario) Challenger Baseball League will take the field. The 2019 Exhibition Game will take place on Saturday, Aug. 24 at 10:30 a.m. at Volunteer Stadium, and air live on Northeastern Pennsylvania’s and the Central Susquehanna Valley’s PBS Station, WVIA.

The 73rd Little League Baseball World Series begins Thursday, August 15 and continues through Sunday, August 25.