17 August 2025
Brisbane North's Little League World Series runs comes to an end | Recap, Highlights, Results, Roster
Above: Hamano dealing vs Czechia. Credit: AP Photo/Jared Freed
A group of 10-12 year olds from Brisbane have just finished an adventure of a lifetime. Brisbane North were at famous Little League World Series.
In this story you will find recaps, back ground information and roster details.
Brisbane North won Australia’s national Little League Championships in June and now battle it out with the likes of Japan, Latin-America, Canada, the Caribbean and four other teams in the international half of the bracket.
Brisbane North won Australia’s first game since 2017 at the Little League World Series before falling to Canada.
Here is what you need to know:
SCHEDULE, RESULTS & HOW TO WATCH
Games are broadcast on ESPN. In Australia, you will be able to watch on Disney+ and ESPN proper. A GameChanger Link to scoring can be found here.
It’s a double-elimination tournament, meaning you have to lose twice to be knocked out of the event.
The schedule is as follows:
– Aug 14: Panama 7 def Australia 2
– Aug 17: Australia 5 def Czechia 3
– Aug 18: Canada 12 def Australia 0
Grab all your up-to-date information from www.littleleague.org/world-series/2025/jlbws/.
RECAPS & HIGHLIGHTS
ELIMINATION GAME: CANADA 12 def AUSTRALIA 0 – Eight run fifth inning leads Canada to win over Australia
Australia’s journey at the Little League World Series has come to an end.
Canada piled on eight runs in the fifth inning to put the game beyond doubt in a 12-0 win.
Braxton Black had Australia’s only hit.
Xander Reid, Preston Reid and Harper Lokeni all pitched for Australia.
Canada advances to the next round.
GAME 2: AUSTRALIA 5 def CZECHIA 3 – Issei Hamano strikes out 14 as Australia survives and advances at Little League World Series
Issei Hamano stole the headlines overnight.
Above: Hamano dealing vs Czechia. Credit: AP Photo/Jared Freed
The Brisbane North pitcher struck out 14 in his 4.2 innings, allowing no hits, two unearned runs and two walks. He also went 1-for-2 with a run at the plate.
Australia put pressure on Czechia early. They took advantage of some errors in the field and scored three in the first. Monica Arcuri and Harper Lokeni worked bases loaded walks in the second to help push the Aussie advantage to 5-1.
Czechia tacked on run each in the sixth and seventh but Averey Griffin and Person Reid helped Australia close the door.
Hamano and Ryder Smith each had a hit for Australia. Lokeni and Arcuri produced RBI.
Australia advance in the elimination bracket. They face Canada next at 11:00AM on Sunday locally, or 1:00AM Australia time on Monday morning.
GAME 1: PANAMA 7 DEF AUSTRALIA 2 – Braxton Black turns in gem on the mound, Monica Arcuri records a hit, but errors prove costly in Brisbane North’s first Little League World Series game
Panama took advantage of Australian errors, using a five-run fourth inning to race to a 7-2 win at Williamsport.
Braxton Black (below) turned in an almighty effort on the mound for the Aussies. He threw 4.0 innings with six strikeouts, allowing just four hits, two walks and one earned run.
Above: Australia’s Braxton Black pitches against Panama during the first inning of a baseball game at the Little League World Series, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025, in South Williamsport, Pa. (AP Photo/Caleb Craig)
Unfortunately, Brisbane North conceded six unearned runs of six errors.
Anthoni Castillo hit a two-run homer in the first inning to give Panama a 2-0 lead in the first.
Australia responded right away. Monica Arcuri, one of the only girls in the tournament had a hit that helped score Porter Cox.
The score remained 2-1 until the fourth inning. Panama took advantage of four errors, a walk, and a hit-by pitch to score five unearned runs.
Xander Reid had an RBI late to cut the lead to 7-2.
Issei Hamano was excellent in relief. He threw 2.0 innings, allowing just one hit, one walk, no runs and had five strikeouts.
Australia had four hits as a team. Xander Reid, Porter Cox, Averey Griffin and Monica Arcuri each had a base knock.
Australia will rest up and next play the morning of August 17.
ABOUT THE LITTLE LEAGUE WORLD SERIES
Little League is the world’s largest organised youth sports program. This tournament is for the U13 age group.
And boy, is it something else.
All games are broadcast on ESPN. Brisbane North are about to become one of Australia’s most watched sporting teams.
Let’s compare to enhance this point.
Round 12 of the National Rugby League season (NRL) had an average viewership or 571,000 people per game. State of Origin had 3.755 million people tune in. The average NRL attendance this season is 20,922.
The average Little League World Series game viewership totals 917,000. The 2024-25 Championship game saw 5,496,000 viewers on ESPN. In 2024, 372,600 fans piled in the ballpark at Williamsport over 11 days – an average of of over 30,000 fans per day.
Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN averages 1,719,000 viewer per game with the likes of Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani taking centre stage. The pointy end of the Little League tournament exceeds that figure by four million.
Above: last year’s Australian representatives (Hills) in the annual Little League parade.
Yes, we understand that comparing the US sports market to the Australian sports market is unfair.
But there’s still something cool about saying those “kids from the Northern Brisbane suberbs” could theoretically play in front of more people than Queensland did in an Origin contest.
MLB Broadcaster Dan Ravech explains this phenomenon well to Baseball America.
“A Major League Baseball game during the regular season, you’re getting fans of those teams,” Ravech said. “With the Little League World Series you’re getting fans of baseball, fans of nostalgia, fans of memories.”
“You’re getting fans who once played baseball and really enjoy watching kids smile. They like watching kids perform. They like watching kids make mistakes. They like the goofiness. They like the reactions. There’s a part of seeing 11- and 12-year-old boys and girls do things that bring you back to a time in your life that maybe you remember more fondly.”
Major League Baseball even schedules a regular season game on the same field these players from Brisbane North.
They’re in for a wild experience that includes playing in front of millions on TV, over 20,000 in the stadium, attending an MLB baseball game, and partaking in a parade in front of 40,000 people.
Buckle up.
HOW THEY QUALIFIED
Age Group: 10-12
Brisbane North are made up of players from the Narangba Demons, Redcliffe Padres and Pine Rivers Rapids.
They qualified for the Australian National Little League Championships by winning the Queensland State Titles. They were the only team at Queensland tournament to go undefeated, allowing just 13 runs in 5 games.
They continued their fine form in Sydney.
Brisbane North advanced to the semi-finals of the national tournament by going 4-1 in the group stage.
Brisbane’s pitching dazzled in the semi-final and gold medal games. How good were they exactly? They didn’t allow a run.
Issei Hamano tossed a complete game shutout in the semi-finals against Manly.
Braxton Black followed suit by tossing a comple game shutout vs Ryde in the final to punch a ticket to Williamsport.
MEET THE BRISBANE NORTH VIKINGS
Brisbane North have spent the last two months preparing themselves to face the best club baseball teams in the world.
They have been training three times a week in the lead-up to the event.
But, a few players are doing things a little bit differently in the lead-up.
Braxton Black played in the 12U San Diego NCS World Series and in the Cal Ripken World Series.
Issei Hamano played in the SOCAL Summer Nationals and the NCS World Series in the United States.Monica Arcuri, Australia’s second female ever to play in a Little Leauge World Series, has been training with Kobe Koryo in Japan and is playing in the Japanese Girls team in the Nankyu Baseball World Championships.
Xander Reid has been galavanting around the world, playing for Team Australia at the U12 World Cup.
Brisbane North are led by Keith Land. It’s the second Little Leauge team Land has guided to a World Series. He helped Brisbane North play in Williampsort in 2022.The team will leave for Brisbane on August 7 and return home on August 7.
