SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (AP) — Little League runs World Series tournaments for baseball and softball, and girls are attracting more attention at both this year.
On the baseball side, Monica Arcuri from Australia became the 24th girl to play in baseball's Little League World Series and the 11th to get a hit in Williamsport. It's the sixth straight LLWS to include a female player.
Meanwhile, the Little League Softball World Series in Greenville, North Carolina, set attendance and viewership records. The game averaged 1.44 million viewers on ABC, making it the most-watched Little League softball game ever.
Patrick Wilson, who is in his first season as CEO for Little League International, emphasizes the importance of both programs.
When it comes to girl players, “whether she chooses to play softball or baseball, we want her to have those choices, and if she switches at a certain point, that’s OK too,” Wilson said. “We just want her to participate.”
Girls have been allowed to play Little League baseball since 1974, when the Little League Federal Charter was amended from being boys only. That also created Little League Softball.
The first girl to make it to the fields of Williamsport was Victoria Roche, who played for Brussels in 1984. Since then, a girl has been seen in the LLWS every few years.
And, in 2004 and 2014, there were two, the most famous of which was Mo’ne Davis, a pitcher from Philadelphia who led her team to a win and wound up on the cover of Sports Illustrated. She was named The Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year in 2014.
Australian manager Keith Land said Monica often outperformed boys on other teams. “Not to be disrespectful, but you’ve been out hit by a girl,” he said, after Monica’s line drive single to center field against Panama. Australia also had a girl on its team last year, Emma Gainesford.
Lester Gaunt managed the Pennsylvania team that won this year’s Softball World Series and believes that increased viewership also means increased participation. There are over 25,000 Little League softball teams and more than 300,000 participants in more than 25 countries.
“Numbers for West Suburban Little League should go up,” Gaunt said. “Hopefully some younger players that were on the fence about playing will give it a try.”
The Softball World Series winners will be honored at Sunday’s LLWS championship. Pennsylvania had an undefeated 5-0 record in the Softball World Series and beat Indiana 1-0 for the title.
Winning pitcher Reagan Bills was in tears and at a loss for words in her postgame interview on ESPN. “I’ve been watching since I was 5, and I didn’t think this was possible,” she said.
Growth in the Softball World Series isn’t just limited to those watching. The tournament is taking on a larger world stage. Both Brazil and Japan were first-timers to Greenville this season. On the international side, the Softball World Series boasts four regions.
In order to encourage female participation, Little League has launched both the Girls with Game Initiative and the Maria Pepe Little League Baseball Legacy Series. The Legacy Series was launched in 2024 as the first all-female baseball tournament in Williamsport.
The female presence in baseball-softball also is expanding beyond the Little League level. The Athletes Unlimited Softball League launched in June and provides women an opportunity to play professional softball in the United States. The Women's Professional Baseball League is holding tryouts this weekend in Washington — Davis is among the participants — with plans to launch next summer.
Australia is a country with a larger female presence than some. In 2024, Australia hosted its first all-female Little League Baseball national tournament. The girls who compete then get the opportunity to attend the Australia Women’s Showcase, which brings together the country’s best female baseball players.
“I think it’s a pretty worldwide trend,” Land said, “that women in sports in general are going through the roof.”
Alexandra Wenskoski is a student in the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State.
Australia's Monica Arcuri makes the catch at first base against Panama, during the first inning of a baseball game at the Little League World Series, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025, in South Williamsport, Pa. (AP Photo/Caleb Craig)
Australia's Monica Arcuri, right, and Braxton Black, left, run off the field during the fourth inning of a baseball game at the Little League World Series against Canada, Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025, in South Williamsport, Pa. (AP Photo/Caleb Craig)
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Hundreds in the NASCAR community gathered for a memorial service at Charlotte's Bojangles Coliseum on Friday for former driver Greg Biffle, his family and others who were killed in a plane crash last month.
Biffle was among seven killed along with his wife, Cristina, and children Ryder, 5, and Emma, 14, when the plane crashed as it returned to the airport in Statesville, North Carolina, according to authorities. Others on the plane were identified as Dennis Dutton, his son Jack, and Craig Wadsworth.
Driver/influencer Garrett Mitchell, known as “Cleetus McFarland” in his YouTube videos and a close friend of Biffle's, was among those who spoke at the service.
“We have all been saying, ‘Be like Biff,’ since we lost our hero,” said Mitchell, who befriended Biffle later in his life. “What does that mean? That means to take opportunities when you see them. Whether you are taking opportunity to pass somebody on the track or getting off your couch to chase a dream you have only been talking about for the past five years.
“It means showing up for your friends and family. It means using your heart to make the world a better place. It means being generous whenever you can and helping other humans when they're down. That is what it means to be like Biff,” Mitchell added.
Biffle, who was 55, was selected by NASCAR as one of its top 75 drivers in history, was a Hall of Fame nominee for the stock car series and drove for 18 years at the top of the sport.
He drew headlines last year for his tireless humanitarian efforts as a helicopter pilot supplying aid in the devastation left behind by Hurricane Helene.
Biffle's niece, Jordyn Biffle, told stories about Ryder's hero being his father, Emma's laughter and Cristina's loving nature.
She said the Biffle family “lived fully, loved deeply and gave freely.”
“Their lives remind us that what matters isn't how long we are here, but how we use the time we are given and how fiercely we love while we are here,” Biffle added. "And while this loss is devastating beyond words, their impact remains etched into all of us that were lucky enough to have known them, loved them and be changed by them."
In the parking lot outside of the coliseum, fans paused to peer inside three racecars Biffle drove during his career.
Inside, the pictures of the seven who lost their lives where shown on a videoboard above the makeshift platform in the center of the covered hockey rink. There were seven wreaths on the stage where Mitchell, Biffle and former drivers Jeff Burton and Phil Parsons addressed the crowd.
Dylan Zirkle, 28, of Archdale, North Carolina, worked one year for Biffle at Roush Racing as a pit support employee while he was in high school.
He said Biffle made a lasting impact on him, and felt he needed to attend.
“Greg was always a really good guy and I enjoyed being around him,” Zirkle said. "You could always talk to him at anytime and he was just a real person. You could talk to him about anything.”
Back home, Zirkle still has model racing trucks in his gameroom autographed by Biffle that he cherishes.
Zirkle said he didn't believe the news of the crash when he heard it.
“It still doesn't feel real,” Zircle said. “I was watching some of his YouTube videos the other night and it just doesn't seem real at all.”
Tanner Roberts and Jassamin Green made the four-hour trek from Wilmington, North Carolina, with their 7-year-old son Bentley after hearing about the memorial.
“He was a good racecar driver and I enjoyed him,” Roberts said. “And he was a good person. I grew up watching him and Dale Earnhardt. Them two were my favorites. They were good people and they loved to race.”
The Cessna C550 carrying the Biffle family and the others erupted in flames when it hit the ground shortly after it had departed Statesville Regional Airport, about an hour's drive north of Charlotte.
The plane crashed while trying to return and land, authorities said.
The crash a week before Christmas left the NASCAR community shaken and was another blow in a long offseason. Ten days later, on the 52nd wedding anniversary of Denny Hamlin’s parents, the house the future Hall of Famer built to repay them for their years of sacrifice burned down. His father, Dennis, was killed, and Mary Lou Hamlin was rushed to a hospital burn unit.
Sheriff's deputies are also investigating an alleged break-in and theft last week at Biffle's home in Mooresville that netted $30,000 in cash, some guns and memorabilia.
As part of the public tribute, Mitchell planned to do a burnout later Friday near Biffle’s marker along the North Carolina Auto Racing Walk of Fame in Mooresville.
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
Race cars used by the late Greg Biffle are displayed outside BoJangles Coliseum for a NASCAR Plane Crash Memorial memorial for Biffle, his family and others who died in a plane crash, in Charlotte, N.C., Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)
Garrett Mitchell speaks at the memorial service for former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle and his family in Charlotte, N.C., Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)
Jordyn Biffle, sister of Greg Biffle, speaks at the memorial service for Biffle and his family in Charlotte, N.C., Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)
ESPN's Marty Smith, right, hugs a person at the NASCAR Plane Crash Memorial memorial in Charlotte, N.C., Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)
Chaplain Billy Mauldin speaks during the NASCAR Plane Crash Memorial memorial in Charlotte, N.C., Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)
