Little League World Series Betting Odds And Preview

Gambling on the Little League World Series can be a twisting, wild roller coaster ride. It’s a bunch of 12-year-olds in Williamsport, PA, with the best youth baseball equipment known to man.

Most kids can swing the bat, but when it comes to fielding the ball and making a clean throw, you may have a better chance at placing $10 on a roulette wheel and choosing the correct number than making Little League World Series picks.

Simpletons may ask, ‘Why do it’? The answer: When sports are on ESPN and ESPN2 at noon or 3:00 Eastern, there are definitely worse things to do with money. This article includes the Little League World Series betting odds and my analysis of them.

My name is Noah Bieniek, and I’m the host of the Sports Gambling Podcast Network’s The College Baseball Experience. Luckily, I have a track record of betting on amateur baseball at the college and LLWS levels.

In 2021, Taylor North Little League from Taylor, Michigan, won the LLWS. I reside just 40 minutes from Taylor and was very plugged into that team. Honolulu Little League won the LLWS in 2022, which was my pick to win in this article a year ago.

El Segundo Little League won the LLWS in 2023. They were my pick to win the U.S. Bracket. Lastly, listeners/readers and I were up almost 45 units on college baseball this season alone.

Little League World Series Betting Odds And Preview

Little League World Series Participants

Here are the 20 teams attending Williamsport this year. Listed are their betting odds via BetOnline to win their respective brackets at the Little League World Series. Little Leagues in bold are returnees from 2023.

United States

+185 Southeast: Lake Mary Little League; Lake Mary, Florida

+200 West: Central East Maui Little League; Wailuku, Hawai’i

+375 Mid-Atlantic: Council Rock Newton Little League; Newton, Pennsylvania

+550 Southwest: Boerne Little League; Boerne, Texas

+800 Metro: South Shore Little League; Staten Island, New York

+1200 Mountain: Paseo Verde Little League; Henderson, Nevada

Northwest: South Hill Little League; Puyallup, Washington

Great Lakes: Hinsdale Little League; Hinsdale, Illinois

+1600 Midwest: Sioux Falls Little League; Sioux Falls, South Dakota

+1800 New England: Salem Little League; Salem, New Hampshire

International

+250 Asia-Pacific: Kuei-Shan Little League; Taoyuan City, Taiwan (Chinese Taipei)

Latin America: Cardenales Little League; Barquisimeto, Venezuela

Japan: Johaku Little League; Tokyo, Japan

+500 Caribbean: Aruba Center Little League; Santa Cruz, Aruba

+900 Cuba: Santa Clara Little League; Santa Clara, Cuba

+1000 Canada: Whalley Little League; Surrey, British Columbia

+1200 Australia: Hills Little League; Sydney, New South Wales

Europe-Africa: South Czech Republic Little League; Brno, Czech Republic

Mexico: Matamoros Little League; Matamoros, Mexico

+1600 Puerto Rico: Radames Lopez Little League; Guayama, Puerto Rico

How To Watch and Bet on The 2024 Little League World Series

The games will be played at Howard J. Lamade Stadium and Little League Volunteer Stadium from August 14th to August 25th. The games will be televised on ESPN, ESPN2, and ABC and will be streamed for free on the ESPN app, Hulu, and FuboTV.

You can find Little League World Series betting odds on BetOnline, Bovada, and BetUS. Rumors are that they will offer game-by-game odds again this year. Here is the first round schedule (Eastern Time) and game lines from BetOnline.

Wednesday, Aug. 14

Aruba (-140) vs. Mexico (+120), 1 p.m., ESPN

New England (+1500) vs. West (-3000), 3 p.m., ESPN

Asia-Pacific (-340) vs. Canada (+265), 5 p.m., ESPN

Southeast (-800) vs. Midwest (+550), 7 p.m., ESPN

Thursday, Aug. 17

Japan (-450) vs. Puerto Rico (+350), 1 p.m., ESPN

Metro (-115) vs. Mountain (-115), 3 p.m., ESPN

Cuba (-425) vs. Europe-Africa (+325), 5 p.m., ESPN

Southwest (-160) vs. Mid-Atlantic (+130), 7 p.m., ESPN2

Little League World Series Betting Preview

*Disclaimer: It’s extremely hard to find film and player stats for international teams. 

Every year there is always a team in the United States bracket that sticks out like men among boys. The U.S. has won five straight LLWS (2020 International teams didn’t attend). Each team has a dude, but not many have multiple kids who may have had their growth spurts early. After watching a lot of the teams play in the United States Regionals two teams stick out to me more than the rest.

On the International side, I typically lean towards the Williamsport experience since I can’t find game highlights for these teams. The Little League World Series experience is amazing for both the players getting used to playing in front of massive cameras in super nice stadiums and the coaches understanding proper tournament and game strategy.

Australia and the Czech Republic both feature repeat champions. However, Europe and Australia always get outclassed by the more traditional baseball countries. Although they were one of the most underwhelming Chinese Taipei teams we’ve seen in Williamsport last year (by the way, I correctly predicted that they wouldn’t be as stout—that was a bold take at the time), perhaps the second time around the block will work out great for that bunch.

Little League World Series Bets To Entertain

+550 Southwest To Win The United States Bracket

I am not sure why the Boerne boys are +550, but consider that great value! In 15 of the last 21 Little League World Series tournaments, the Southwest representative has either won the Championship or finished as the runner-up in either the Finals or the United States bracket. This region consistently features some of the best talent in this tournament every year. Therefore, a +14 run differential in 4 regional games should stand out.

After one look at this team, you’ll see that up and down the order, these pre-teens all have good size and can really stick it. One time through the batting lineup and it’s clear that this group is well coached at the plate.

Boerne’s pure hitting depth is impressive, but on the mound, it’s unprecedented. By my eye test, four pitchers had plus fastballs and usable offspeed pitches. Some teams are lucky to have two of those types of arms.

More About The Southwest Team

Julian Hurst is the superstar and soon-to-be household name from this year’s LLWS. Hurst bats lead-off and is the Ace of the Southwest team. At the plate in Regionals, Hurst had a .444 batting average with a 1.583 OPS and 1 home run. On the mound, he has been even better. Hurst allowed 1 earned run in 9.1 innings (0.64 ERA) with 18 strikeouts and only 1 walk.

Hurst was one of five pitchers with a sub-2.60 ERA in the Southwest Regional. Caden Guffey, Cooper Hastings, and Doc Mogford are the other important names to know. Guffey (0.58 ERA) punched out 8 with 4 free passes in 7 innings.

Boerne’s team batting average was .310, and their OPS was .817 in the Southwest Regional. Kole Newson (who also pitched to a 2.57 ERA) batted .400 with a 1.055 OPS. Nine of Southwest’s 12 batters had an average over .285, which speaks to this roster’s impressive depth.

If there was one Achilles heel for this team, it would be its defense. A few errors in the Regional left me a little worried, but I still believe Boerne will have the best hitting and pitching team in this year’s field.

-105 UNITED STATES Wins The Little League World Series

Southeast (Lake Mary Little League; Lake Mary, Florida) is the other team that excels past my eye test. At +185, I am not willing to pay the price only because a few of Lake Mary’s best players are a little on the thicker side, and the team LOVES to be aggressive on the base paths. They ran themselves out of innings more times than I can count during the Southeast Regional.

With this prop, I can pit the Boerne and Lake Mary teams, as well as the entire United States, against the field of International teams. As I previously stated, the U.S. has won five straight LLWS (the 2020 International teams didn’t attend).

The Southeast region has access to a talent bed that many other regions can’t compare to. However, the high-end talent doesn’t necessarily translate to the tune of the Southwest. In fact, a team from the Southeast has not won the U.S. Bracket since 2012 and the Championship since 2007. Lake Mary will be looking to buck that trend this year.

More About The Southeast Team

Lake Mary finished second in the 2023 Southeast Regional tournament. They returned with a vengeance in 2024 and dominated the competition by a 35-8 margin.

DJ Mieses is a big boy that many viewers will fall in love with this year. Mieses blasted 2 home runs and 3 doubles while racking up 8 RBI to the tune of a whopping .889 batting average and 2.798 OPS in the Southeast Regional.

Along with Mieses, four other hitters had batting averages over .400, and five hitters had an OPS that eclipsed .900. Landon Bono is a name that ESPN will push, and for good reason. Bono (.500/.636/1.000) will be ready to shine on National television as well. Teraj Alexander (.667/.778/.833) is another big boy that could impress in Williamsport.

On the mound, Lake Mary looks great as well. The three-headed monster of JJ Feliciano (0.78 ERA, 13 K, 3 BB, 7.2 IP), Jacob Bibaud (0.82 ERA, 8 K, 3 BB, 7.1 IP), and Luis Calo (3.27 ERA, 6 K, 2 BB, 3.2 IP) is a set of arms that I would only slate behind Boerne’s prior to the LLWS tournament.

Tips To Make Good Little League World Series Picks

When betting on amateur baseball, I live by three guidelines. First, the Aces win. A good pitcher has the opportunity to fully dictate an entire game and completely shut down the opposing offense. No-hitters and 10-strikeout games occur more often because the skill level between a great pitcher and the back half of a lineup can be drastic sometimes. Therefore, offensive rallies are hard to start.

Second, especially for the LLWS, bet on teams that can consistently put the bat on the ball. By not striking out, the offenses are putting a lot of pressure on the young ballplayers to make a defensive play in the biggest stadium with the largest crowd they have ever played in front of in their lives.

Third is that fundamentals win amateur baseball games. The teams that limit walks and errors are the teams that will advance the furthest.

Notable Little League World Series Pitchers

Lastly, here are a few U.S. Aces (and their stats in Regionals) that you should always be aware of when they are available to pitch:

Evan Tavares, West (2-0, 0.00 ERA, 27 K, 0 BB, 11.1 IP)

Ryan Henry, Midwest (2-0, 0.00 ERA, 17 K, 3 BB, 10 IP)

Julian Hurst, Southwest (1-0, 0.64 ERA, 18 K, 1 BB, 9.1 IP)

Saverio Longo, Mid-Atlantic (2-0, 0.00 ERA, 15 K, 5 BB, 7 IP)

JJ Feliciano, Southeast (1-0, 0.78 ERA, 13 K, 3 BB, 7.2 IP)

Griffin Sommer, Midwest (1-0, 1.20 ERA, 13 K, 1 BB, 10 IP)

Gunnar Gaudin, Mountain (1-1, 0.60 ERA, 12 K, 2 BB, 10 IP)

Colton Johnson, New England (1-1, 1.00 ERA, 12 K, 1 BB, 12 IP)

Jacob Bibaud, Southeast (2-0, 0.82 ERA, 8 K, 3 BB, 7.1 IP)

Caden Guffey, Southwest (1-0, 0.86 ERA, 8 K, 4 BB, 7 IP)