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Tournament Summary

The Independence Holiday Classic is open to any and all teams in the region regardless of affiliation and takes place in Miami, Florida on July 4th weekend (July 5-7, 2013).  The tournament features some of the best competition in Florida with teams coming from various leagues including The Grapeland League, South Florida Baseball League, Fort Myers Hardball, the Orlando – Central Florida Baseball League, the Federal League, NABA and The Hialeah League.  The winner-take-all tournament is highlighted by a tournament trophy for the championship team and tournament medals and t-shirts for the players. The registration fee is $850 per team, regardless of player count. The deadline for team registration is Wednesday June 26, 2013.  All interested teams and players please contact the tournament director immediately.

Tournament Contact Number – (305) 439-2644 – Jay Habacht 

Teams tentatively scheduled to participate:

Miami A’s (2013 Miami Open Champions)
Miami Red Sox
Dade Diamondbacks
Central Florida (Orlando) Padres
Grapeland Pirates

Tournament Format

The tournament will be an open division wood bat format (18+). All teams are guaranteed a minimum of three games in the qualification round played against teams within their respective division.  Two games are played on Friday July 5, 2013 with the third game played on Saturday morning July 6, 2013.

The top team will automatically play in the finals on Sunday July 7, 2013.

The #2 and #3 teams will play in the semi-final round Saturday July 6, 2013 in the afternoon. The winner of this game will face the top seed in the finals on Sunday July 7, 2013.

Playoff Qualifiers: Teams qualify for the playoffs based on the following point system:

Points:    Win = 2 points, Tie = 1 point, Loss = 0 points.

Tie Breaker Rules: Tie breakers are applied in the following order:

1.  Head-to-head result

2.  Fewest Runs Allowed: If no head-to-head result, the team with the fewest runs allowed will win the second tie breaker.

3.  Net Runs: In case of another tie, an equation of net runs will be employed and the team with the greatest number of net runs wins the third tie breaker.  Net Runs = (Runs Scored – Runs Allowed).

4.  Coin Toss:  In case of a third tie, a best-of-three coin toss will determine the final tie breaker.

Playoffs:  The semi-final games are scheduled to play Saturday afternoon, July 6, 2013.  The winners advance to the Independence Holiday Classic Championship Sunday morning July 7, 2013.

 Tournament Rules

The Independence Holiday Classic is played under the rules set forth in the Tournament Rules Menu. 

Basic Tournament Rules

1.  In each team’s offensive line-up, a minimum 10 batters must be used.  You may add to this minimum at any time during the game but you may not shrink the line-up once expanded.

2.  Free defensive substitution.  As implied, no restrictions on defensive changes except for the pitcher re-entry rule.

3.  Pitcher re-entry rule:  In the case of a pitching change, once a pitcher is removed, he can only be re-entered as a pitcher after one complete inning  has been played.  This move can only be done once per game.

4.  No deliberate physical contact between base runners and defensive players, i.e. NO BARRELING INTO THE CATCHER, SECOND BASEMAN, etc.  Automatic ejection penalty.

5.  Qualification round games are subject to a 3 hour time limit = no inning shall start after 3 hours has elapsed.  Tie games are permitted – see tie breaker rules.  However, all playoff games will play without time limits.

6.  In case of rain, official game recorded only after 5 full innings completed.  Games started but not registering 5 complete innings will be suspended and completed later.  Offensive line-ups remain frozen and the suspended game must resume at the point of suspension (per scorebook).

7.  All team managers must call in game results – win or lose- to the Independence Holiday Classic office (305) 439-2644 within 10 minutes of game completion or suspension.  All results will be posted to this website page live throughout the tournament.

Tournament Locations

The Independence Holiday Classic will be played at:

Curtis Park

Coral Gables High School

Florida Memorial University