The youth baseball tournament resumed in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. 

The Little League World Series is held each year in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. This year, visa complications impacted several participants competing in the tournament. 

Cardenales Little League from Barquimesto, Venezuela is representing Latin America in the series. 

This year, the team required a special exemption from President Trump’s travel ban. The team was slated for its opening game on Wednesday afternoon against Puerto Rico. 

Last month, another Venezuelan team was denied entry into the United States for the Senior Baseball World Series. Venezuela holds two Little League World Series titles. The last was won 25 years ago. 

Last year’s team from Venezuela made it two rounds in the elimination bracket to advance to the international final. The team lost to Taiwan 4 to 1, but beat Texas for third place. 

A notable U.S. upset happened this year before teams arrived in Williamsport.

Defending champion Lake Mary was one out away from returning to the series. South Carolina’s Irmo Little League will instead be representing the Southeast Region in Williamsport this year. 

In the regional final, Irmo trailed 4 to 0 in the bottom of the sixth. After an outstanding comeback, the team became the Southeast Region champions and were heading to Williamsport. 

Team manager Dave Bogan was brought to tears over the win.

“While we had confidence, we were the underdog. When this team was forming, there was a lot of local excitement about our potential and our possibilities. But with that excitement comes pressure and it was a sense of relief that we did it,” he said. 

Lake Mary previously defeated Irmo 14 to 0. Before heading to the regional final, Bogan told his players they needed to believe they were “going to shock the Little League baseball world.”

Irmo is the fourth South Carolina team to play in Williamsport, and only the second since 1950. 

Bogan said, “Our motto is nothing is given, everything is earned and they really work hard to earn everything through this process. They absolutely love to grind.”

Also in Williamsport during the series, Taiwan is aiming for another championship. It has had a team appear in the championship 17 times over the years. Its most recent title was in 1996. 

This year marks Taiwan’s fourth consecutive and 33rd overall appearance in tournament history. 

“A famous Taiwanese saying is you always want to do hard work for 10 years for one minute to shine,” said current manager Min-Nan Lai. 

The Little League World Series runs from Wednesday, August 13th to Sunday, August 24th.