The 2008 Little League World Series begins Friday at Williamsport, Pa., with 16 teams, including eight from the United States, competing for the biggest prize in youth baseball.

Entered are:

United States Pool A

* Northwest -- Mill Creek Little League, Mill Creek, Wash.;

* Southwest -- South Lake Charles LL, Lake Charles, La.;

* Great Lakes -- Jeff/GRC American LL, Jeffersonville, Ind.;

* Mid-Atlantic -- Hagerstown Federal LL, Hagerstown, Md.

U.S. Pool B

* New England -- Shelton National LL, Shelton, Conn.;

* West -- Waipio LL, Waipio, Hawaii;

* Southeast -- Citrus Park LL, Tampa, Fla.;

* Midwest -- Canyon Lake LL, Rapid City, S.D.

International Pool C

* Caribbean -- Pabao LL, Willemstad, Curacao NA;

* Mexico -- Matamoros LL, Matamoras, Tamaulipas;

* Europe -- Emilla LL, Emilla, Italy;

* Asia-Pacific -- Southern Guam LL, Yona, Gaum.

International Pool D

* Middle East -- Arabian American LL, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia;

* Japan -- Edogawa Minami LL, Tokyo;

* Canada -- White Rock-South Surry LL, White Rock, British Columbia;

* Latin America -- Coquivacoa LL, Maracaibo, Venezuela.

Friday's games are:

* Midwest vs. Southeast, 11 a.m. PDT, Volunteer Stadium;

* Canada vs. Latin America, 1 p.m., Lamade Stadium;p

* New England vs. West, 3 p.m., Volunteer Stadium;

* Mid-Atlantic vs. Great Lakes, 5 p.m., Lamade Stadium.

Pool games will continue through Tuesday.

Bracket games are Aug. 20, 21, 22 and 23. The world championship game is Aug. 24 at 12:30 p.m. PDT. ESPN and ESPN-2 will televise all but two of the games through Aug. 22.

The two exceptions are the Midwest-New England contest Saturday and the Great Lakes-Southwest game Sunday; telecast times are at 12:30 p.m. PDT each day.

ABC will televise the U.S. title game at 12:30 p.m. Aug. 23 and the world championship clash at 12:30 p.m. Aug. 24. ESPN's last telecast will be of the U.S.-International runnerup contest at 9 a.m. Aug. 24.

NOTES -- Hawaii edged Henderson Paseo Verde Little League of Nevada 4-3 Sunday night at San Bernardino, Calif. ... The team from Waipio collected only four hits, but three were home runs. One was a two-run shot in the first inning by Kahiau Winchester, whose fourth-inning blast won the game ... For Henderson, James Anderson slugged a two-run homer and Griffin Kelly had a solo shot in the first inning ... Losing pitcher Michael Blasko struck out 14 for Pasaeo Verde, which was 5-1 in the regionals and 14-1 in the post-season ... Waipio is 12-2 in all tournament games, including 5-1 at San Bernardino, where 10,000 fans watched Sunday's showdown at Houghton Stadium.