Florida Hardball presents the 19th Annual Miami Open Tournament. The tournament is open to any and all teams in the region regardless of affiliation and takes place in Miami, Florida on Memorial Day weekend, May 28 – 30, 2016. The tournament features some of the best competition in Florida with teams coming from various leagues including the South Florida Baseball League, the Orlando – Central Florida Baseball League, the Federal League and the Liga Nica.
The winner-take-all tournament is highlighted by a championship trophy, championship tshirts and a spot in the record books.. The registration fee is $850 per team, regardless of player count. The deadline for team registration is Saturday, May 21, 2016. All interested teams and players are urged to contact the tournament director immediately. Individual players will be assigned to the League team – Miami Red Sox.
Tournament Schedule
| DAY | TIME | FIELD | VISITORS | HOME |
| Saturday | 9am | McArthur High – Hollywood | Orlando Bombers | Souh Florida Sting Rays |
| Saturday | 9am | Sunset Park – Plantation | Miami Red Sox | Orlando Madness |
| Saturday | 1:30pm | McArthur High – Hollywood | Souh Florida Sting Rays | Miami Red Sox |
| Saturday | 1:30pm | Sunset Park – Plantation | Orlando Madness | Orlando Bombers |
| Sunday | 9am | McArthur High – Hollywood | Souh Florida Sting Rays | Orlando Madness |
| Sunday | 9am | Flamingo Park – Miami Beach | Miami Red Sox | Orlando Bombers |
| Sunday | 130pm | Flamingo Park – Miami Beach | Miami Open Championship | |
Tournament Format
The tournament will be using an open division WOOD BAT format (18+). Teams will be seeded by the tournament director based on past experience, team history and other objective and subjective factors. 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 28 with the third game played on Sunday morning, May 29.
The top two teams with the most points after the three game qualification round will advance to the championship game Sunday afternoon.Tie games are permitted. Tie breaker rules will be used to determine playoff teams.
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. Most Runs Scored: In case of another tie, the team with the most runs scored will win the the tie breaker.
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):
Coral Gables High – Coral Gables (pending)
Below: Orlando Madness 2015 Miami Open Champions
