Williamsport usually belongs to August and the Little League Baseball World Series. Last weekend it belonged to softball. Little League ran its 2026 Girls With Game Experience on Saturday and Sunday, October 17 and 18, putting youth players on the same fields as college programs for two days of clinics and games, according to Little League's recap.
It was the first time the event ran two full days.
Penn State, Maryland, Virginia and Army Run the Day 1 Clinic
About 150 players ages 9 to 12 worked through a three-hour clinic on Saturday, rotating through hitting, fielding and throwing stations run by Army West Point, Maryland, Virginia and Penn State.
Maya Johnson, a pitcher for the AUSL's Oklahoma City Spark, led a confidence session where players wrote notes to their future selves. Then the college teams played: Maryland against Virginia, followed by Penn State against Army, with players meeting fans after each game.
Day 2: Pitching and Catching With Bucknell, Mansfield and Lock Haven
Sunday was for the battery. About 90 players went through a pitching and catching clinic led by Johnson and instructors from Bucknell, Mansfield and Lock Haven, covering agility, accuracy, mechanics and confidence. Bucknell and Mansfield closed the weekend with an exhibition game and autograph sessions for clinic participants.
Ashlea Miller, Little League's director of softball development, said the event is "about so much more than what happens on the field." Bucknell coach Angie Stackhouse called it a fantastic experience for her program.
Little League's Girls With Game Push Since 2019
The weekend is part of Little League's Girls With Game initiative, launched in 2019 to keep girls in softball and baseball. The recap headline counts six college programs, though the clinic and game lineup named more schools than that across the two days.
Little League hasn't posted 2027 dates yet. Families can reach its softball development staff through the Girls With Game page, and more youth softball lives on the BallerTube softball page.
