Australia and Spain to make 1st ever trips to World Series
Baseball’s popularity gaining traction overseas

Southern Mariners, from Melbourne, Australia. (Photo courtesy of Mark Campbell)

Fresh faces on the international front have earned their way to the Queen City in the last week. Southern Mariners, out of Melbourne, Australia, won the Asia-Pacific regional on July 16, and Catalunya L.L., out of Barcelona, Spain, won the Europe-Africa regional the same day.

The regional titles are the first ever in Senior League Baseball for the Australians and the Spaniards. The win for Catalunya snapped a seven-year streak of Italian teams winning the Europe-Africa title. Appropriately enough, Catalunya defeated defending Europe-Africa champ Lazio L.L., Lazio, Italy, 5-3 in the title game.

For the Australians, the Senior League Baseball title is further evidence of baseball’s growing popularity in the land down under. In 2013, there were enough leagues in Little League’s Majors division to warrant Little League International declaring the nation a region unto itself, on par with Canada, Japan, and Mexico.

Since Little League Baseball came to Australia in 2007, the organization’s presence has swelled to 477 chartered teams and more than 4,500 players between the ages of 11 and 12, according to the Southern Mariners website.

Baseball is also growing in Spain, as Catalunya’s regional title comes only three years after the introduction of Little League in the European country.

The Australians and Spaniards will both play in Bracket A, along with Canada, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Central champion. Puerto Rico will itself be another first-time visitor to Bangor, as it dethroned two-time defending Latin America champ Curacao on June 2.

The Australians have drawn a first-round bye and will begin World Series play at 10 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 1 against the winner of Spain and U.S. Central, who will open the series at 11 a.m. on July 31.