"Little League Baseball" and "Little League" are registered trademarks of Little League Baseball, Inc., Williamsport, PA 17701, and are used here for identification purposes only. If you're looking for the official Little League Baseball home page, click here. Links to web sites for many individual leagues and districts can be found in the links section of this site.
(June 2023) -- We have begun our coverage of the 2023 New York state tournament -- click for details. If you can provide results or pairings for New York district tournaments that are not listed on this site, please contact the Unpage.
|
Our coverage of the New York state tournament launched on June 13, 2021. Click to contact the webmaster with any comments or questions about this page.
New York's first Little League was formed in 1948, when officials at the Corning Youth Commission threw their support behind the organization first founded just 80 miles south via U.S. Highway 15 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Youth Commission chairman William Shearer and Corning Little League Commissioner Al Putnam spearheaded the league's birth, including construction of a new field on North Pine Street in the small Northern Tier community. On July 19, 1948, the group's plans came to fruition, when the Masons defeated Knights of Columbus, 3-1, in the first Little League Baseball game played in the Empire State. Little League Baseball had just 94 charters nationally at this time.
Just five weeks later, after receiving a special invitation from Little League Baseball founder and National Commissioner Carl Stotz, Corning was in Williamsport competing in the second annual National Little League Tournament. The Crystal City team's trip to Williamsport was short -- the team arrived on a Wednesday and departed Friday morning following a loss in their opening round game -- but it paved a path that a long procession of New York leagues has since followed.
Following Corning's initial foray into Little League Baseball competition, other leagues were quickly formed in all corners of New York. In the early years of the international tournament, New York leagues competed in a region alongside teams from Eastern Ontario, Quebec, and on occasion some neighboring New England states.
In 1957, Little League Baseball reorganized its tournament into the state-based system that is the precursor to today's tournament structure, and the first New York state tournament was held. Four section tournaments winnowed the state's 22 district champions down to four teams, and these four sectional winners converged on Ellenville for the first New York state tournament. Haverstraw Little League outlasted Levittown East Little League in extra innings in a semifinal round game, then used a seven-run first inning rally to top Mechanicville-Stillwater Little League, 11-2, in the championship game to win New York's first state tournament.
As Little League Baseball continued to grow, the number of districts in the state expanded steadily. Today, there are 35 districts in New York. Winners from these districts compete in eight sectional tournaments, and the winners of these sectionals then advance to the New York state tournament.
Today, New York's champion competes in the Metro Region tournament alongside champions from neighboring states. Previously, the New York champion advanced to the Mid-Atlantic Region tournament.
Twenty-one New York leagues have advanced to the Little League World Series, beginning with Corning in both 1948 and 1949, and continuing to the state's most recent qualifier, Massapequa Coast Little League in 2022. Three New York leagues have won the Little League World Series: Schenectady National Little League in 1954, Mid-Island Little League in 1964, and Maine-Endwell Little League in 2016.
Click to view a timeline showing the evolution of the New York Little League tournament structure.
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |