PONY Baseball and Softball
PONY Baseball and Softball is a non-profit organization with headquarters in Washington, Pennsylvania. Started in 1951, PONY organizes youth baseball and softball leagues and tournaments, as over 500,000 players annually play PONY in over 4,000 leagues throughout the United States and over 40 countries world-wide. The televised Pony League World Series held annually in August at Washington's Lew Hays Pony Field attracts teenage teams from around the world. Membership is open to children and young adults from age 4 to 23 and the leagues are organized in two-year age brackets with "and-under" programs. Hundreds of PONY players have gone on to Major League Baseball careers, including Hall of Fame inductees Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr.
Origin of name
Children at the Washington, Pennsylvania, YMCA named the organization PONY, which stood for "Protect Our Neighborhood Youth." This later became "Protect Our Nation's Youth."Levels of play
Distances shown are for baseball with players pitching; distances for other offerings may vary.Pony League World Series champions
The Pony League World Series is the flagship tournament of PONY Baseball and Softball. After the creation of the organization in 1951, there were already 505 teams across 106 leagues the following year. This prompted PONY to create the Pony League World Series in Washington County, Pennsylvania. The finals did not have a set location and took place in various states, including California, Nebraska, Texas, Illinois, Iowa, and Washington. In 1981, World Series Tournaments, Incorporated was put in charge of running the tournament and fixed the location to Washington County, Pennsylvania.The first international team to appear in 1968, when both Venezuela and British Columbia, Canada, made appearances. The first non-Americas team to appear was Japan in 1986. The tournament is now sponsored by Dick's Sporting Goods and the games are streamed on MLB.com, the official site of Major League Baseball. The recent finals can also be found on YouTube.
The format of the tournament has differed; for most years it has been double-elimination, while at least the first tournament was single-elimination, and the finals were a best of three at least twice during the 1970s.
| Year | Winner | Score | Runner–Up | Ref. |
| 1952 |  San Antonio, Texas | 2–1 |  Brockton, Massachusetts | |
| 1953 |  Fairmont, West Virginia | 7–6 |  North Charleston, South Carolina | |
| 1954 |  Monongahela, Pennsylvania | 8–2 |  Chicago, Illinois | |
| 1955 | Washington, Pennsylvania | 4–0 |  Youngstown, Ohio | |
| 1956 | Joliet, Illinois | 9–1 |  Hamtramck, Michigan | |
| 1957 | Lufkin, Texas | 5–2 | Maywood, Illinois | |
| 1958 |  Miami, Florida | 3–2 | Hamtramck, Michigan | |
| 1959 |  Long Beach, California | 8–0 | Greene County, Pennsylvania | |
| 1960 | Oak Park - River Forest, Illinois | 5–4 | West Covina, California | - |
| 1961 | Hamtramck, Michigan | 2–1 | San Antonio, Texas | - |
| 1962 | Houston, Texas | 4–1 |  Greensboro, North Carolina | - |
| 1963 |  Evansville, Indiana | 3–1 | Canoga Park, California | - |
| 1964 | Campbell-Moreland, California | 8–2 |  Gadsden, Alabama | - |
| 1965 | Long Beach, California | 8–0 | Joliet, Illinois | - |
| 1966 | Greensboro, North Carolina | 6–0 | Gadsden, Alabama | - |
| 1967 | Chula Vista, California | 2–0 |  Tulsa, Oklahoma | - |
| 1968 | Greensboro, North Carolina | 4–1 | Covina, California | - |
| 1969 |  Honolulu, Hawaii | 8–5 | Arcadia, California | - |
| 1970 | Buena Park, California | 1–0 | Cayce/West Columbia/Lexington, South Carolina | - |
| 1971 | Orange, California | 6–5 |  Denver, Colorado | |
| 1972 |  Monterrey, Mexico | 2–0, 2–3, 3–1 | Honolulu, Hawaii | |
| 1973 | Santa Clara, California | 4–3 | Fort Worth, Texas | |
| 1974 | West Covina, California | 11–2 | Charlotte, North Carolina | |
| 1975 | Covina, California | 7–3, 4–3 | Wilmette, Illinois | |
| 1976 | Tampa, Florida | 14–0 | Monongahela, Pennsylvania | - |
| 1977 | New Bedford, Massachusetts | 5–4 | Lake Worth, Florida | - |
| 1978 | Campbell-Moreland, California | 2–0 | Joliet, Illinois | - |
| 1979 | Campbell-Moreland, California | 10–3 | Houston, Texas | - |
| 1980 | Maui, Hawaii | 3–2 | Greensboro, North Carolina | - |
| 1981 | West Covina, California | 16–10 | Miami, Florida | |
| 1982 | West Covina, California | 5–4 | Washington, Pennsylvania | - |
| 1983 | Santa Susana, California | 8–4 | Houston, Texas | - |
| 1984 |  Caguas, Puerto Rico | 3–0 | Miami, Florida | - |
| 1985 |  Marietta, Georgia | 7–0 | Washington, Pennsylvania | - |
| 1986 | Valencia, Santa Clarita, California | 3–2 |  Edogawa, Japan | - |
| 1987 | Caguas, Puerto Rico | 9–4 | Houston, Texas | - |
| 1988 |  Seoul, South Korea | 15–0 | La Mesa, California | - |
| 1989 | Seoul, South Korea | 10–0 | Encino, California | - |
| 1990 | Seoul, South Korea | 4–2 | Lakewood, California | - |
| 1991 | San Juan, Puerto Rico | 8–2 | Fountain Valley, California | - |
| 1992 | Bourbonnais, Illinois | 4–3 | Pasadena, Texas | - |
| 1993 | Joliet, Illinois | 4–2 | Bayamon, Puerto Rico | - |
| 1994 |  Taitung, Taiwan | 6–1 | Chambersburg, Pennsylvania | |
| 1995 | Bayamon, Puerto Rico | 11–2 |  Hagerstown, Maryland | - |
| 1996 | Tainan, Taiwan | 4–0 | Evansville, Indiana | - |
| 1997 | Danville, California | 7–0 | Hamilton, Ohio | - |
| 1998 | Taitung, Taiwan | 4–0 | Washington, Pennsylvania | - |
| 1999 | Covina, California | 9–1 | Taitung, Taiwan | - |
| 2000 | Taipei, Taiwan | 8–3 | West Covina, California | - |
| 2001 | Ponce, Puerto Rico | 10–4 |  Richmond, Virginia | - |
| 2002 | Norwalk, California | 10–0 | Levittown, Puerto Rico | - |
| 2003 | Lakewood, California | 4–3 | Humacao, Puerto Rico | - |
| 2004 | Marietta, Georgia | 3–1 | Mililani, Hawaii | - |
| 2005 | Taichung, Taiwan | 2–1 | San Diego, California | - |
| 2006 | Caguas, Puerto Rico | 4–2 | Simi Valley, California | - |
| 2007 | Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico | 8–3 | Long Beach, California | - |
| 2008 | Long Beach, California | 3–2 | Taichung, Taiwan | - |
| 2009 | Taitung, Taiwan | 12–1 | Riverside/Victoria, California | - |
| 2010 | Midlothian, Virginia | 3–1 | West Tokyo, Japan | - |
| 2011 | Laredo, Texas | 10–9 | Taipei County, Chinese Taipei | - |
| 2012 | Long Beach, California | 9–7 | Taoyuan County, Chinese Taipei | - |
| 2013 | Okinawa, Japan | 5–4 | Los Mochis, Mexico | - |
| 2014 | Hilo, Hawaii | 5–3 | Taoyuan County, Chinese Taipei | |
| 2015 | Taoyuan County, Chinese Taipei | 12–1 | San Bernardino, California | |
| 2016 | Taipei County, Chinese Taipei | 12–2 | Maui, Hawaii | |
| 2017 | Covina, California | 3–1 | Seoul, South Korea | |
| 2018 | Taipei County, Chinese Taipei | 3–1 | Long Beach, California | |
| 2019 | Taipei City, Chinese Taipei | 9–1 | Bay County, Michigan | |
| Year | Winner | Score | Runner–Up | Ref. |
Source:
Championship totals
By US state or non-US country. Updated through the 2019 championship.| State / Country | Wins | Losses | Appearances | Most recent championship |
| California | 22 | 15 | 37 | 2017 |
| Taiwan | 10 | 5 | 15 | 2019 |
| Puerto Rico | 7 | 3 | 10 | 2007 |
| Texas | 4 | 6 | 10 | 2011 |
| Illinois | 4 | 5 | 9 | 1993 |
| Hawaii | 3 | 3 | 6 | 2014 |
| South Korea | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1990 |
| Pennsylvania | 2 | 6 | 8 | 1955 |
| Florida | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1976 |
| North Carolina | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1968 |
 Georgia | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2004 |
| Michigan | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1961 |
| Japan | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2013 |
| Indiana | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1963 |
| Massachusetts | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1977 |
| Mexico | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1972 |
| Virginia | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2010 |
| West Virginia | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1953 |
| Alabama | 0 | 2 | 2 | — |
| Ohio | 0 | 2 | 2 | — |
| South Carolina | 0 | 2 | 2 | — |
| Colorado | 0 | 1 | 1 | — |
| Maryland | 0 | 1 | 1 | — |
| Oklahoma | 0 | 1 | 1 | — |