Little League World Series 2014 play begins in earnest on Friday as teams of 12- and 13-year old kids from around the world compete in the 68th series at Williamsport, Pa.

Young players on 16 teams from places like Perth and Seoul to Chicago and Las Vegas will grace the diamond through Aug. 24. Brackets are divided between eight world teams and eight U.S. squads. Each team goes through its bracket with one U.S. team and one from the world group playing in the finals.

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The format calls for double-elimination games leading to a special bracket where loser goes home. That means each team plays a minimum of three games before departing.

The tournament began Thursday with opening round games continuing through Friday. Saturday begins the rounds of double-elimination games. The two winners in the international brackets and two U.S. winners square off in elimination matches on Aug. 23 with the U.S. and international teams playing a best two-out-of-three series beginning on Saturday, Aug. 23.

ESPN and ABC TV networks are broadcasting many of the games through the next 10 days. ABC will broadcast the final.

Some 9,000 kids have participated in the series since its inception. Eighteen of those have been girls. This year, 13-year-old Mo'ne Davis, a pitcher for the first Philadelphia squad ever to make it to Williamsport, the Taney Dragons, is getting a lot of buzz because, as Hawk Harrelson, Chicago White Sox announcer, might say, she good.

Davis tossed a complete game shutout and struck out six to win last Sunday's regional finals and punch her team's ticket to Williamsport. She is the fourth American girl to compete in the World Series.

Another team sparking a great deal of interest this weekend is the Jackie Robinson West all-stars team from Chicago. All players are African-Americans. The team's only other appearance at Wiliamsport was in 1983. They started off the tournament Thursday with a 12-2 victory over Lynwood, Wash.

And now,without further ado, the schedule for coming games:

Schedule

Thursday, Aug. 14 (Opening Round)

Game 1: South Korea 10, Czech Republic 3

Game 2: Illinois 12, Washington 2

Game 3: Puerto Rico 16, Australia 3

Game 4: Nevada 12, South Dakota 2

Friday, Aug. 15 (Opening Round)

Game 5: Mexico 4, Canada 3

Game 6: Pennsylvania vs. Tennessee, 3 p.m. ET (ESPN)

Game 7: Venezuela vs. Japan, 5 p.m. ET (ESPN2)

Game 8: Texas vs. Rhode Island, 8 p.m. ET (ESPN)

Saturday, Aug. 16 (Double Elimination)

Game 9: Czech Republic vs. Australia, noon ET (ESPN)

Game 10: Washington vs. South Dakota, 2 p.m. ET (ABC)

Game 11: Canada vs. Int. Loser of Game 7, 5 p.m. ET (ESPN2)

Game 12: U.S. Loser of Game 6 vs. U.S. Loser of Game 8, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN)

Sunday, Aug. 17 (Double Elimination)

Game 13: South Korea vs. Puerto Rico, noon ET (ESPN2)

Game 14: Illinois vs. Nevada, 2 p.m. ET (ABC)

Game 15: Mexico vs. Int. Winner of Game 7, 5 p.m. ET (ESPN)

Game 16: U.S. Winner of Game 6 vs. U.S. Winner of Game 8, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN2)

Monday, Aug. 18 (Double Elimination)

Consolation Game A - Int. Loser of Game 9 vs. U.S. Loser of Game 10, 11 a.m. ET (ESPN2)

Game 17: Int. Winner of Game 9 vs. Int. Loser of Game 15, 1 p.m. ET (ESPN)

Game 18: U.S. Loser of Game 16 vs. U.S. Winner of Game 10, 3 p.m. ET (ESPN)

Game 19: Int. Loser of Game 13 vs. Int. Winner of Game 11, 6 p.m. ET (ESPN2)

Game 20: U.S. Loser of Game 14 vs. U.S. Winner of Game 12, 8 p.m. ET (ESPN2)

Tuesday, Aug. 19 (All Elimination Games)

Consolation Game B - Int. Loser of Game 11 vs. U.S. Loser of Game 12, noon ET (ESPN)

Game 21: Int. Winner of Game 17 vs. Int. Winner of Game 19, 3 p.m. ET (ESPN)

Game 22: U.S. Winner of Game 18 vs. U.S. Winner of Game 20, 7:30 p.m. ET (ESPN)

Wednesday, Aug. 20 (Double Elimination)

Game 23: Int. Winner of Game 13 vs. Int. Winner of Game 15, 3 p.m. ET (ESPN)

Game 24: U.S. Winner of Game 14 vs. U.S. Winner of Game 16, 7:30 p.m. ET (ESPN)

Thursday, Aug. 21 (Double Elimination) 

Game 25: Int. Winner of Game 21 vs. Int. Loser of Game 23, 3 p.m ET (ESPN)

Game 26: U.S. Winner of Game 22 vs. U.S. Loser of Game 24, 7:30 p.m. ET (ESPN)

Saturday, Aug. 23 (Championship Games)

Game 27: Int. Winner of Game 23 vs. Int. Winner of Game 25, 12:30 p.m. ET (ABC)

Game 28: U.S. Winner of Game 24 vs. U.S. Winner of Game 26, 3:30 p.m. ET (ABC)

Sunday, Aug. 24 (World Series Championship)

Game 29: Int. Loser of Game 27 vs. U.S. Loser of Game 28, 10 a.m. ET (ESPN)

Game 30: Int. Winner of Game 27 vs. U.S. Winner of Game 28, 3 p.m. ET (ABC)

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