In a fitting Memorial Day contest, the Orlando Vipers squeezed in a run in the bottom of the ninth inning to edge the Aventura Braves 3-2 in a walk off finish in the championship thriller at the 2014 Miami Open. Orlando scored two lone runs in the early innings behind some timely hitting and great base running only to give up a two spot in the sixth to the Braves when the Braves strung together three consecutive hits. Solid defense and great pitching marked the late innings. Finally, in the bottom of the ninth, with two outs, an error in the outfield followed by a 10 foot dribbler led to the winning run as no one stayed home to cover the plate for the Braves.
On day two of the tournament, the Aventura Braves eliminated the Miami Red Sox 8-4 in the semi-finals to advance to the title game to meet the Orlando Vipers, who had clinched the top seed bye after the qualification round. The Braves play in the SFBL as the Davie Tigers.
Aventura Braves sporting their new Miami Open Champions Tshirts – 2014 Champs!
Tournament Summary
South Florida Baseball League presents the 17th Annual Miami Open Tournament. This contest, which is open to any and all teams in the region regardless of affiliation, takes place in Miami, Florida on Memorial Day weekend, May 24 – 26, 2014. The tournament features some of the best competition in Florida with teams coming from various leagues including the South Florida Baseball League, Fort Myers Hardball, the Orlando – Central Florida Baseball League, the Federal League and the Liga Nica. The winner-take-all tournament is highlighted by a tournament trophy for the championship team and tournament t-shirts for the players. The registration fee is $850 per team, regardless of player count. Player count is limited to 20 players per team. The deadline for team registration is Saturday, May 17, 2014. All interested teams and players are urged to contact the tournament director immediately.
Tournament Contact Number – 305.496.2962 – Mickey Filippucci
Tournament Table
Tournament Schedule
Tournament Format
The tournament will be an open division wood /BBCOR bat format. Players must be 18 years of age or older. 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 Saturday, May 24 with the third game played on Sunday morning, May 25.
Playoffs: The semi-final game between the third place team and the second place team is scheduled to play Sunday afternoon, May 25 at Flamingo Park, Miami Beach. The winner advances to to face the first place team and the greater glory in the Miami Open Championship at West Perrine Park Monday morning May 26, 2014.
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.
Tournament Rules
The Miami Open is played under the rules undertaken by the South Florida Baseball League. A copy of the SFBL Official Rules and Regulations will be provided to each participating team. To access the rules immediately, click on the underlined reference. Some imperative rules are as follows:
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 SFBL office 305.496.2962 within 10 minutes of game completion or suspension. All results will be posted to this website page live throughout the tournament.
Tournament Locations
The Miami Open will be played at (Links to Google Maps):