Eight teams advance to 2014 World Series
(Photo by Eldon Lindsay)

Eight teams advance to 2014 World Series

Eight American Legion Baseball teams have won their respective division's regional tournament and advanced to the 2014 American Legion World Series (ALWS) in Shelby, N.C., Aug. 14-19. They are:

Northeast Region – Cromwell, Conn., Post 105

Mid-Atlantic Region – Brooklawn, N.J., Post 72

Southeast Region – Jacksonville, Fla., Post 88

Mid-South Region – Columbia, Tenn., Post 19

Great Lakes Region – Midland, Mich., Beryhill Post 165

Central Plains Region – Omaha, Neb., Post 1 (Westside)

Northwest Region – Waipahu, Hawaii

Western Region – Chico, Calif.

Fans at the 2014 ALWS will see familiar faces as Brooklawn Post 72 is making its fourth consecutive Series appearance, looking to take home a back-to-back championship title. Hawaii will make its third appearance in four years, and after a three-year hiatus Midland Berryhill Post 165, the 2009 ALWS championship winners, is back.

ESPN3.com will live stream all games leading up to the ALWS championship game on Aug. 19, which will be televised live by ESPNU. To accommodate the championship game TV coverage, the ALWS tournament schedule is changing from a double elimination format to pool play.

With the pool play format, each team is guaranteed to play up to three games. There will be two pools (A and B) of four teams each; the teams will play each other in their respective pools Aug. 14-17. The semifinals will be Aug. 18 in which the winner of Pool A will play the runner-up of Pool B and the winner of Pool B will play the runner-up of Pool A. The two overall winners will play in the ALWS championship game.

View the World Series tournament bracket here.

And download the new Legion Baseball app to follow coverage of the World Series from any smartphone or electronic tablet. The free app is available now through iTunes and the Google Play Store. The app will keep baseball fans connected with game schedules, pairings, scores, video highlights, photos and more.