South Korea, Gold Coast (Australia), Puerto Rico A, Kawaguchi (Japan) and Matamoros (Mexico) are all in. (Associated Press Photo)

While Little League Baseball teams across the United States are still competing in state tournaments, international teams have already punched their tickets to the Little League World Series.

Five to be exact: South Korea (South Seoul LL) representing the Asia-Pacific region, Gold Coast (Queensland) representing the Australia region, Puerto Rico A (Radames Lopez LL, Guayama) representing the Caribbean region, Kawaguchi (Kawaguchi LL, Kawaguchi) representing the Japan region, and Mexico (Matamoros LL, Matamoros, Tamaulipas) representing the Mexico region.

In the Asia-Pacific, South Korea kicked things off on June 30 in Pool A against Guam, where they would dominate for a 7-1 victory. The next day, the South Koreans would face off against Indonesia, and would expode for an 18-3 victory. The game against CNMI would be no different, where South Korea would walk away with an easy 16-0 shutout win. While the United States was celebrating America’s birthday on July 4, South Korea would then face off against their next opponent, China. South Korea would continue their dominance, this time securing another shutout in a 10-0 win. The South Koreans would then take on Hong Kong in the regional semifinals, and once again, it was an easy victory — this time an 11-0 win In the next round, South Korea would then square off against Chinese Taipei in the Asia-Pacific regional championship. Taipei would make it a little more competitive, but South Korea’s incredible talent once again secured the win, 6-1. When the smoke cleared, South Korea were the Asia-Pacific Champions and earned a berth into the Little League World Series in undefeated fashion with a clean 6-0 record. South Korea outscored their opponents, 68-5.

Over in Australia, the Gold Coast Cougars kicked off play all the way back on June 6 against Manly, where it would be an easy 10-0 win for Gold Coast. On June 7, Gold Coast would the take on the Adelaide Rays in the next round — the Cougars would again get an easy win, 14-2. Gameplay would resume on the next day, and that’s where Gold Coast would suffer their first defeat. They would lose to Eastern Athletics in a 7-6 thriller. In the next round in the quarterfinals, Gold Coast would then rebound with a 5-1 win to put them in the semifinals against Illawarra. The Cougars would have a barn burner with Illawarra, but would eventually pull out a 8-6 victory to put them in the championship game. There, they would face off against the Adelaide Seahawks, and it wasn’t even a contest — Gold Coast would blow away Adelaide, 11-0, to punch their tickets to the Little League World Series. They would finish the Australia regional tournament with a 6-1 overall record.

Down in Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico, the Caribbean regional would be won by a home-country team, Puerto Rico A — one of two teams that represented the American territory. On the first day of the tournament on July 14, Puerto Rico would be faced with a two-game schedule — handling it with flying colors. The first game of the day would be against USVI, where they would get an easy 11-1 win. Then in the next game, they would face off against the other home-nation team: Puerto Rico B. The A-team would clobber Puerto Rico B for a 10-0 win, and starting out the tournament with a 2-0 record after the first day. After two late-afternoon games, Puerto Rico A would have to be up early the next morning for a 10:00 AM game against the Dominican Republic. However, it didn’t seem to effect Puerto Rico A at all — they would end up winning the game in shutout fashion, 4-0. The next opponent for Puerto Rico A would be Curacao, where they would advance to the next round after a 4-1 win. In their next contest, Puerto Rico A would be threatened by Bahamas, but PRA would eventually pull out the 7-4 win. In Game 20 of the tournament, it would be Puerto Rico A facing off against Aruba. PRA would grab another easy win, 7-1, to stay undefeated. Puero Rico A would then enter the semifinals as a No. 1 seed, and would face off against No. 4 Bahamas — who they had previously beaten, 7-4. This time, it would be another three-run win, and also in shutout fashion, 3-0. The championship game would take place the next day against Curacao, where PRA would not disappoint with their No. 1 ranking and took home the title after a 5-2 win. Puerto Rico A now heads to the Little League World Series after an impressive undefeated 8-0 record in the Caribbean tournament.

Over in Japan, Kawaguchi took the Japanese tournament, and also did it in undefeated fashion. Kawaguchi’s first game took place on Saturday, July 21 against Anjo. A pitcher’s duel would take place, but Kawaguchi would squeak out a 2-1 victory to open the tourney. Later on in the day, Kawaguchi would take on Seya and would get a much easier win, 7-2. The next day, Kawaguchi would square off against Sendai Hirose and would earn a decisive 13-2 victory. In the championship game against Nagasaki Minami, Kawaguchi put it on and blasted their opposition away with a 23-2 win. Kawaguchi now heads to Williamsport.

Back in early July, the Mexico region held their tournament. There, Matamoros LL would take the throne to represent Mexico in the Little League World Series. Matamoros would first square off against Conno Hermosillo and take the win, 5-1. The next opponent that would come to play would be Riberena, and Matamoros would dominate the game winning, 11-0. Afterwards, they would then blow out Fenix, 16-2. Later on in the day, Matamoros would have to play another game, this time against Linda Vista. That would also be another easy victory for Matamoros, winning in shutout fashion, 7-0. The next day, Matamoros would take on Cura Trilla. Matamoros would stay undefeated after a 6-3 victory. The undefeated streak was almost put to an end when Quintana Roo gave Matamoros a scare, but Matamoros would eventually pull out a 5-4 win. Matamoros would then go into the semifinals as the No. 1 Seed B, where they would take on No. 2 Seed A Seguro Social. Another shutout would be in the favor of Matamoros, 4-0. Then on July 13 in the championship game, Matamoros faced off against Trevino Kelly. Matamoros would punch their ticket to the LLWS after securing a 5-3 victory.

All of the United States division tournaments begin next month — the first being the Southwest tournament on August 2. If Keystone wins the state championship, they would play in the Mid-Atlantic tournament being held from August 5-11 in Bristol, CN. The Canada regional tournament will also begin next month on August 2. Outside of North America, the only tournaments left to happen — and are currently in progress — are the Europe-Africa and Latin America regional tournaments.

The first round of the Little League World Series begins August 16.