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(February 2025) -- We have added historical coverage of Tennessee state tournaments to the Unpage site! Click on the left side of this page to explore past state tournaments and district champions.
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Our coverage of the Tennesee state tournament launched on February 17, 2025. Click to contact the webmaster with any comments or questions about this site.
Tennessee's first Little League was formed in 1949 in the small Western Tennessee community of Milan. The U.S. military had constructed Wolf Creek Ordinance Plant -- later part of the Milan arsenal -- just outside of Milan in 1941 to supply ammunition for allied nations during World War II, and soon after the war, U.S. Rubber Company converted one of the lines at the facility and began to manufacture footware in Milan. U.S. Rubber owned the Keds shoe brand, and in an effort to boost the brand, had signed on in 1948 as the first national sponsor of Little League Baseball. (The 1948 Little League World Series was called the 'Keds National Little League tournament'.)
With U.S. Rubber invested in both Little League Baseball and in the community where its new facility was located, it was natural that Milan soon chartered a league. Milan's civic leaders were strong supporters of the community's new venture: Milan's league officials during that inaugural season included several prominent members of the community, with Moore Blankenship (President of the Milan Banking Company) serving as the league's first president, and Henry Robbins (general supervisor of U.S. Rubber's plant in Milan) acting as the league's commissioner.
Milan's league began play on June 9, 1949, with all four of its teams seeing action as part of a pair of three inning exhibitions. The Exchange Club defeated U.S. Rubber Company's Men's Management Club team, 2-1, in the opening contest, and the Milan Lions Club defeated the Shrine Club, 4-2, in the second game. The Exchange Club went on to win the league's championship in that inaugural season, which was capped by Milan hosting the Region 8 tournament that advanced Lafayette (Indiana) Little League to the National Little League tournament. At the conclusion of the season, Major League Baseball player Dick Sisler handed out awards at the league's closing ceremonies.
The next year, eight Tennessee leagues were chartered, including two in Knoxville and six in Western Tennessee, and in subsequent years, more communities chartered their own programs.
During those initial years, Tennessee leagues competed alongside leagues from neighboring states in sectional or region tournament competition. In 1953, though, Tennessee's first state tournament was held. Four district winners descended upon TKM Park in Columbia, and Nashville National Little League blanked American Legion Little League from South Knoxville, 2-0, to become the state's inaugural champion.
District boundaries shifted regularly during the 1950s as Little League Baseball grew swiftly across the country. In 1957, though, the precursor to Little League Baseball's current district structure was established, and Tennessee was organized into four districts that encompassed Western Tennessee, Eastern Tennessee, and a pair of geographic areas in Middle Tennessee. The number of leagues and districts in Tennessee has expanded since that early era, and today, there are eight districts in the Volunteer state. All district champions advance to the state tournament, and the Tennessee state champion advances to the Southeast Region tournament, which is held each August in Warner Robins, Georgia. The Southeast Region champion advances to the Little League World Series.
Eleven Tennessee leagues have participated in the Little League World Series. Among these eleven, Nolensville Little League became the just the fourth U.S. league to participate in the Little League World Series in three consecutive years when it won the Southeast Region championship in 2021, 2022, and 2023. The other three teams to accomplish this did so in the late 1940s and early 1950s and had at least one appearance after playing minimal or no qualifying games prior to their time in Williamsport.
Goodlettsville Baseball Little League earned Tennessee's best-ever international tournament finish when it won the United States championship in 2012.
| Tennessee Little League World Series Qualifiers | |
| Year | League |
| 1970 | Nashville Optimist National Little League |
| 1974 | Jackson American Little League |
| 1985 | Morristown American Little League |
| 1987 | Morristown American Little League |
| 2012 | Goodlettsville Baseball Little League |
| 2013 | South Nashville Little League |
| 2014 | South Nashville Little League |
| 2016 | Goodlettsville Baseball Little League |
| 2021 | Nolensville Little League |
| 2022 | Nolensville Little League |
| 2023 | Nolensville National Little League |
Click to view a timeline showing the evolution of the Tennessee Little League tournament structure.
 Great Lakes Region |
Mountain Region |
Southeast Region |
| Metro Region |
New England Region |
Southwest Region |
| Mid-Atlantic Region |
Northwest Region |
West Region |
| Midwest Region |
| Australian Region |
Cuba NEW FOR 2025! |
France NEW FOR 2025! |
| Canadian Region |
Czechia NEW FOR 2025! |
Japanese Region |
| Alabama |
Illinois |
New York |
| Alaska |
Indiana |
North Carolina |
| Arizona |
Iowa |
Ontario |
| British Columbia |
Kansas |
Oregon |
| California (Northern) |
Maine |
Pennsylvania |
| California (Southern) |
Maryland |
Rhode Island |
| Colorado |
Massachusetts |
Tennessee NEW FOR 2025! |
| Connecticut |
Michigan |
Texas (East and West) |
| Delaware |
Minnesota |
Vermont |
| District of Columbia |
Montana |
Virginia |
| Florida |
Nevada |
Washington |
| Georgia |
New Hampshire |
Wisconsin |
| Hawaii |
New Jersey |
Wyoming |
| Idaho |
New Mexico |
| Central Region |
Southern Region |
Western Region |
| Eastern Region |
| Region 1 |
Region 4 |
Region 7 |
| Region 2 |
Region 5 |
Region 8 |
| Region 3 |
Region 6 |
Links to tournament coverage