Teams from across the globe began battling for the Junior Softball World Series title beginning July 31 at Everest Park.

Meet the 10 contestants:

Host team

Kirkland, Wash. — As the host district, the winner of Washington’s District 9 is given an automatic bid to the World Series without having to go through the state or regional tournaments. Kirkland Little League won the district title for the fourth time in the last five years, and will represent Kirkland and District 9 against the rest of the world.

USA East

West Haven, Conn. — Warwick North Little League, from Warwick, Rhode Island, defeated New Jersey in the East Regional championship game to win a spot in the World Series. Warwick, a city of around 82,000 residents is near Providence, the state’s largest city.

USA Southeast

Salisbury, North Carolina — USA Southeast is represented by Rowan Little League, which was the host team for the region. Rowan, which wore bright red uniforms through it’s regional competition, beat Florida in the region championship game on July 24. Salisbury is a historic town, and was the site where former President Andrew Jackson studied law.

USA Southwest

Los Alamos, New Mexico — The team from La Grange, a small town an hour southeast of Austin, Tex., beat a team from Louisiana in the USA Southwest regional on July 26 to claim one of six United States berths in the World Series. La Grange boasts less than 5,000 residents, and is relatively hot: the monthly record high for La Grange is over 100 degrees except for November, December and January.

USA Central

South Holland, Illinois — Poland Community Little League’s team needed a come-from-behind victory to reach the World Series, beating Michigan in the USA Central championship game. Poland, Ohio is the smallest town town to have qualified for the international tournament with just over 2,500 residents. The town has a history of good softball: Poland Seminary High School won the Division II state championship in 2011.

USA West

Tucson, Ariz. — Olivehurst-Linda Little League took an all-California championship game to win the West Region’s nod for the World Series on July 21. Olivehurst-Linda came through the lower bracket and beat a Southern California team twice to win the title. A city based largely on agriculture, Olivehurst was first settled during the Great Depression and has around 11,000 residents. Linda and Olivehurst are just north of Sacramento.

Asia-Pacific

Singapore — Teams from three countries entered in the Asia-Pacific regional, with the Philippines team winning the region title on June 13. Makati City is the largest city to send a representative to the Jr. Softball World Series at over 500,000 residents and is part of a metroplex with nearly 13 million residents. The Philippines won handily in every game in the regional, including a 32-0 win over Indonesia and an 11-0 win over Singapore in the final.

Canada

Victoria, Canada — Hampton Little League won a best-of-five series in against Medicine Hat Little League on Saturday, July 23, and won the right to represent Canada. Hampton, which hails from Victoria, British Columbia, beat the team from Medicine Hat 23-0 in the final. Victoria is the legislative center of British Columbia, the westernmost Canadian Province, and is known for the waterfront and botanical gardens.

Europe-Africa

Prague, Czech Republic — Except for the first game of the tournament, the host team — Northwest Czech Republic Little League — skated through the Europe-Africa regional tournament before beating the Netherlands 4-2 in the region title game on July 8. Four teams competed in the regional tournament, two from the Czech Republic, one from Italy and one from the Netherlands.

Latin America

Camo, Puerto Rico — Softbol Femenil Mexicali Little League edged a team from Puerto Rico 7-6 on July 23 for the right to represent Latin America in the World Series. Mexicali is the capital city of Baja, Calif. and straddles the Mexican-American border.