The 2025 Little League World Series is underway, with some of the best young players around the country competing in Williamsport — all with the hopes of eventually making it to the major leagues one day.

And a few of them will make it … as evidenced by all the Little League alumni in Major League Baseball today.

This year’s MLB Little League Classic between the the Seattle Mariners and New York Mets will feature a number of MLB players who have played little league baseball in one way or another, either with local teams in their home countries or with Little League specifically. In fact, Seattle manager Dan Wilson played in the 1981 Little League Baseball World Series with Barrington (Illinois) Little League.

As the Mariners and Mets face off at historic Bowman Field in Williamsport on Aug. 17 — which you can watch on ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball” broadcast at 7 p.m. ET — let’s take a look at “then” and “now” photos of notable players on each team that played little league.

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Mets first baseman Pete Alonso played for Tampa Bay Little League in Tampa Bay, Florida.

J.P. Crawford, SS, Seattle Mariners

Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford played for Lakewood Little League in Lakewood, California.

Edwin Diaz, RP, New York Mets

Mets reliever Edwin Diaz played for Miguel Luzunaris Little League in Humacao, Puerto Rico.

George Kirby, SP, Seattle Mariners

Mariners starting pitcher George Kirby played for Rye Little League in Rye, New York.

Francisco Lindor, SS, New York Mets

Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor played little league baseball in Caguas, Puerto Rico.

Jeff McNeil, 2B, New York Mets

Mets second baseman Jeff McNeil played for Goleta Valley South Little League in Santa Barbara, California.

Cal Raleigh, C, Seattle Mariners

Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh played for Great Smokies Little League in Sylva, North Carolina.

Julio Rodriguez, CF, Seattle Mariners

Mariners center fielder Julio Rodriguez played little league baseball in Loma de Cabrera, Dominican Republic.

Kodai Senga, SP, New York Mets

Mets starting pitcher Kodai Senga played little league baseball in Gamagōri, Japan.

Juan Soto, RF, New York Mets

Mets right fielder Juan Soto played for Banco Central Little League in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Bryan Woo, SP, Seattle Mariners

Mariners starting pitcher Bryan Woo played for Alameda Little League in Alameda, California.

All childhood photos courtesy of the New York Mets and Seattle Mariners.

The private equity firm set up by Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, is to take a stake in OakNorth, the British-based lender which has set its sights on a rapid expansion in the US.

Sky News has learnt that Affinity Partners, which has amassed billions of dollars in assets under management, has signed a deal to acquire an 8% stake in OakNorth.

The deal is expected to be concluded in the coming weeks, industry sources said on Friday.

Mr Kushner established Affinity Partners in 2021 after leaving his role as an adviser to President Trump during his first term in the White House.

He is married to Ivanka, the president’s daughter.

Affinity manages money for a range of investors including the sovereign wealth funds of Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Insiders said that Affinity Partners was buying the OakNorth stake from an unidentified existing investor in the digital bank.

The valuation at which the transaction was taking place was unclear, although OakNorth was valued at $2.8bn in its most recent funding round in 2019.

OakNorth, which was founded by Rishi Khosla, is targeting substantial loan growth in the US in the coming years.

Earlier this year, it agreed to buy Community Unity Bank (CUB), which is based in Birmingham, Michigan, in an all-share deal.

The transaction is awaiting regulatory approval.

OakNorth began lending in the US in 2023 and has since made roughly $1.3bn of loans.

The bank is chaired by the former City watchdog chair Lord Turner, and is among a group of digital-only British banks which are expected to explore stock market listings in the next few years.

Monzo, Revolut and Starling Bank are all likely to float by the end of 2028, although London is far from certain to be the destination for all of them.

Similarly, OakNorth’s ambition to grow its US presence means it is likely to be advised by bankers that New York is a more logical listing venue for the business.

Launched in 2015, the bank is among a group of lenders founded after the 2008 financial crisis.

Its UK clients include F1 Arcade and Ultimate Performance, both of which have themselves expanded into the US market.

Its existing backers include the giant Japanese investor SoftBank, GIC, the Singaporean state fund, and Toscafund, the London-based asset management firm.

Since its launch, OakNorth has lent around £12.5bn and boasts an industry-leading loan default ratio.

Last year, it paid out just over £30m to shareholders in its maiden dividend payment.

OakNorth has been growing rapidly, saying this year that it had recorded pre-tax profits of £214.8m in 2024, up from £187.3m the previous year.

It made more than £2.1bn of new loans last year.

On Friday, a spokesperson for OakNorth declined to comment.

Ukraine says there will be no let-up in its punishing long-range drone attacks on Russia until Moscow agrees to peace.

The warning comes ahead of Vladimir Putin meeting Donald Trump in Alaska.

Ukraine war latest: Trump prepares for summit with Putin

It was made in a rare interview with one of the key commanders of Ukraine’s drone forces.

We met in an undisclosed location in woods outside Kyiv. Brigadier General Yuriy Shchygol is a wanted man.

There is a quiet, understated but steely resolve about this man hunted by Russia. His eyes are piercing and he speaks with precision and determination.

His drone units have done billions of dollars of damage to Russia’s economy and their range and potency is increasing exponentially.

“Operations”, he said euphemistically, “will develop if Russia refuses a just peace and stays on Ukrainian territory”.

“Initially, we had a few drones a month, capable of striking targets 100 to 250 kilometres away. Today, we have drones capable of flying 3,000 to 4,000 kilometres, and that’s not the limit, it’s constrained only by fuel supply, which can be increased”.

His teams had just carried off one of their most complicated and most devastating strikes yet. A massive fire was raging in an oil refinery in Volgograd, or Stalingrad as it was once called.

“If the refinery is completely destroyed, it will be one of the largest operations conducted,” Brigadier General Shchygol said. “There have been other major targets too, in Saratov and Akhtubinsk. Those refineries are now either non-operational or functioning at only 5% of capacity.”

Oil is potentially Vladimir Putin’s Achilles heel. So much of his economy and war effort is dependent on it. Donald Trump could cripple Russia tomorrow if he sanctioned it but so has appeared reluctant to do so, a source of constant frustration for the Ukrainians.

Military activity on both sides has increased as diplomacy has picked up pace.

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In another long-range attack, Ukraine says it hit the port of Olya in Russia’s Astrakhan region, striking a ship loaded with drone parts and ammunition sent from Iran.

But on the ground, Russian forces have made a surprise advance of more than 15km into Ukrainian territory.

Ukraine says the intrusion can be contained, but it adds to fears about its ability to hold back the Russians along the 1000-mile frontline.

Read more from Sky News:
Why was Putin invited to Alaska?
Russia sends heavyweights to summit
What to expect from pivotal meeting

Russia launches almost nightly drone attacks on Ukraine’s cities, killing civilians and striking residential targets.

General Yuriy says Ukraine picks targets that hurt Russia’s war effort, and it is constantly honing its capability.

“Each operation”, he says, “uses multiple types of drones simultaneously, some fly higher, others lower. That is our technical edge.”

How satisfying, I asked, was it to watch so much enemy infrastructure go up in smoke? He answered with detached professionalism.

“It does not bring me pleasure, war can never be a source of enjoyment. Each of us has tasks we could fulfil in peacetime. But this is war; it doesn’t bring satisfaction. However, it benefits the state and harms our enemy.”

Whatever happens in Alaska, General Yuriy and his teams will continue pioneering drone warfare, hitting Vladimir Putin’s economy where it hurts most.