The kids from Taylor are going to be representing Michigan as the Great Lakes Region Champs at the 2021 Little League World Series.

This is the first time since 2018 that a team from Michigan will be making the trip to Williamsport. The Taylor team is coming in as a top seed to win the tournament, and it's been a long time since a Michigan team did that. The only time a Michigan team won the Little League World Series was in 1959 when Hamtramck beat California 12-0.

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The Taylor team is getting love from all over the state, including the University of Michigan baseball team.

15 other teams will join Michigan in Williamsport with the double elimination tournament getting started today. Michigan will start their tournament off Friday against Florida at 3pm. You can watch that game on ESPN, and you can see the entire tournament schedule and bracket here.

What will be different at the 2021 LLWS?

The Little League World Series normally features international teams taking on teams from the US, but the pandemic has brought on many changes this year.

There will still be plenty of great baseball to watch during the LLWS, but there will be significantly fewer fans watching live. LLWS officials have made the decision to limit the number of fans in the stadiums during the tournament. Their official statement cites the pandemic as the reason for the change.

With updated guidance from the CDC, and in consultation with our Pandemic Response Advisory Commission and medical advisors, we feel it’s essential to revert our attendance policy to unfortunately limit the spectators in Williamsport to the family and friends of our 16 participating teams and our highest-level volunteers and supporters. We are disappointed that we must rollback our spectators joining us in Williamsport this year, but are eager to provide a safe, enjoyable experience for the 16 teams who will compete in the World Series this summer

Each of the teams will get about 250 tickets to distribute to their fans, so at least the kids will get somewhat of the experience of playing in front of their fans.

This is one of my favorite sporting events all year, and one of the most humbling. Anytime a 6 foot, 12 year old kid blasts a moonshot homerun, it reminds me of how good these kids really are.

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