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 (such as baseball with machine pitching, fast pitch softball, and slow pitch softball) may vary.

League	Ages	Distances		Ref.
		Bases	Pitching
Foal	4 and 3	50 feet (15.24 m)	38 feet (11.58 m)
Shetland	6 and under	50 feet (15.24 m)	38 feet (11.58 m)
Pinto	8 and under	60 feet (18.29 m)	40 feet (12.19 m)
Mustang	10 and under		46 feet (14.02 m)
Bronco	12 and under	70 feet (21.34 m)	50 feet (15.24 m)
Pony	14 and under	80 feet (24.38 m)	54 feet (16.46 m)
Colt	16 and under	90 feet (27.43 m)	60 feet 6 inches (18.44 m)
Palomino	19 and under
Thorobred	23 and under

Pony League World Series

Pony League World Series

Sport	Baseball
Founded	1952; 72 years ago (1952)
Most recent champion(s)	New Taipei City, Taiwan (2022)
Most titles	Taipei, Taiwan (5)
TV partner(s)	MLB.com
Sponsor(s)	Dick's Sporting Goods
Official website	plws.org

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, which has hosted a majority of the tournaments since the inaugural edition in 1952.

From 1964 through 1983, the tournament did not have a set location and sometimes took place in other states: California (1964–1965, 1978), Iowa (1979–1980), Illinois (1967, 1974–1975), Nebraska (1966), Texas (1977), and Washington (1983). In 1981, World Series Tournaments, Incorporated (WSTI) was put in charge of running the tournament, and every tournament since 1984 has been played in Washington County, although no team from Pennsylvania has won the tournament since 1955.

The first team from outside the United States to play in the tournament was Monterrey, Mexico, in 1959—Monterrey had won the Little League World Series in 1957 and 1958. In 1968, international slots were added to the tournament, with teams from Canada and Venezuela participating. The first participant from Puerto Rico was a team from Cataño in 1971. The first non-US champion was a team from Monterrey in 1972. A team from Japan was the first non-Americas participant, in 1986. The first non-Americas champion was a team from Seoul, South Korea, in 1988.

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. Most editions of the tournament have been contested with a field of eight teams, but field size has been as small as four and as large as 10:

Year(s)	Teams
1952–1960	8
1961–1967	4
1968–1974	8
1975–1978	6
1979–1980	8
1981–1982	5
1983–2008	8
2009–2019	10
2020	—
2021	8
2022-2023	10

The tournament is currently 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.

After the 2020 edition was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 edition was staged with only US-based teams (including a team from Puerto Rico).

Champions

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, Chinese Taipei	6–1	Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
1995	Bayamon, Puerto Rico	11–2	Hagerstown, Maryland
1996	Tainan, Chinese Taipei	4–0	Evansville, Indiana
1997	Danville, California	7–0	Hamilton, Ohio
1998	Taitung, Chinese Taipei	4–0	Washington, Pennsylvania
1999	Covina, California	9–1	Taitung, Chinese Taipei
2000	Taipei, Chinese Taipei	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, Chinese Taipei	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, Chinese Taipei
2009	Taitung, Chinese Taipei	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
2020	Not held
2021	Brownsville, Texas	11–10	Youngstown, Ohio
2022	New Taipei City, Chinese Taipei	4–1	Monterrey, Mexico
2023	Edogawa, Japan	8–2	Washington, Pennsylvania
Year	Winner	Score	Runner–Up	Ref.

Source:
Note: In cases of conflicting records, contemporary news reports have been given priority.

Controversy

In the 2023 Pony Asia-Pacific Zone Championships held in Fukushima, Japan, a controversial decision was made, where the Japanese officials unilaterally revoked Taiwan (Chinese Taipei)'s Pony League World Series qualification after losing to Taiwan in the championship game. The reason for disqualification was the alleged use of unapproved bats by the Taiwanese team. However, the PONY league pre-approved the bats prior to each game with stickers. There have also never been complaints from other teams prior to the championship game. In the end, despite Taiwan gathering supports from the majority of the teams, including Hong Kong (1 team) and Mainland China (3 teams) who protested against the decision to disqualify Taiwan, the complaint was overruled by Japan, Philippines and Australia, where the two decision-making officials were from Japan and Philippines.

The incident attracted widespread media attention in Taiwan due to the perceived lack of transparency and fairness. The Taoyuan City Government and Taiwan's Sports Administration immediately filed an official complaint to the PONY Baseball and Softball organization headquarters, and are waiting for a reply.

Championship totals

By U.S. state or non-U.S. country. Updated through the 2023 championship (71 playings, 142 total appearances).

State / Country	Wins	Losses	Appearances	Most recent championship
California	22	15	37	2017
Chinese Taipei	11	5	16	2022
Texas	5	6	11	2021
Puerto Rico	7	3	10	2007
Illinois	4	5	9	1993
Hawaii	3	3	6	2014
South Korea	3	1	4	1990
Pennsylvania	2	7	9	1955
Florida	2	3	5	1976
North Carolina	2	3	5	1968
Georgia	2	0	2	2004
Michigan	1	3	4	1961
Japan	2	2	4	2023
Mexico	1	2	3	1972
Indiana	1	1	2	1963
Massachusetts	1	1	2	1977
Virginia	1	1	2	2010
West Virginia	1	0	1	1953
Ohio	0	3	3	—
Alabama	0	2	2	—
South Carolina	0	2	2	—
Colorado	0	1	1	—
Maryland	0	1	1	—
Oklahoma	0	1	1	—

Gallery

• 
  PONY Headquarters with Flag Plaza in view in foreground
• 
  PONY Headquarters dedication plaque, located on building entrance
• 
  PONY Headquarters Main Hall / Museum

See also

• Amateur baseball in the United States
• Baseball awards#PONY Baseball