The Great Lakes Tournament

I find this tournament to be interesting, because it is the one area where Kentucky teams are classified as being in the Midwest. Normally they are in the South. (I think Kentucky Wesleyan is also in a Midwestern conference for D-II basketball, but that's the only other exception I know about).

The Great Lakes Region was formed in 2001. Here are your winners:

2009: Logan Co./Russellville (Kentucky)
2008: Jeffersonville/GRC (Indiana)
2007: Hamilton West Side (Ohio)
2006: Lemont (Illinois)
2005: Owensboro Southern (Kentucky)
2004: Owensboro Southern (Kentucky)
2003: Tallmadge (Ohio)
2002: Louisville Valley (Kentucky)
2001: Brownsburg (Indiana)

Louisville Valley, of course, won the whole Little League World Series in 2002. Given that it is by far the smallest state in the region in terms of population, Kentucky has done surprisingly well. I wonder if being the warmest state helps.