2008 Tournament of Champions

Schedules & Game Scores

Contacts

TOC Host – Scott Brohaugh – NBLL (scottbrohaugh@verizon.net)
TOC Scheduler – Geoff Nestor – NBLL (geoffn@networkhomeloans.com)
TOC UIC – Chris Vandenberg – WWLL (chris.vandenberg@microsoft.com)
TOC Information Coordinator – Cathy Lehmann – WLL (wlbbcoach@hotmail.com)

Fields

Both teams are responsible for setting up the fields, clean up of litter after the game, raking in holes, & putting away the fields (When no game follows).

Preparation depends on game location per the following instructions.

·         At Carol Edwards Center (CEC) Woodinville City fields.

o    Mount break-away bases.

o    Chalk (2) batter boxes – 4” from left & right side edge of home plate, from mid home plate extend 3’ toward pitcher mound, right & left rectangle 3’ wide x 6’ long.

o    Chalk base lines through 1^st & 3^rd base to the outfield grass.

o    There will be no chalk on any grass.

o    Chalk (2) coach boxes – from back outside corner of 1^st & 3^rd base, 6’ from the foul line, extend 3 sided rectangle toward home plate, at 1^st & 3^rd base 4’ wide x 8’ long.

o    1^st base running lane – from back outside corner of 1^st base, 3’ from foul line, parallel to foul line extend line toward home plate to 30’.

o    There will be no home run marking of any kind on the outfield grass.

·         At Northshore Athletic Fields (NAF).

o    Refresh break-away bases.

o    Use template to refresh chalk batter boxes.

o    Refresh chalk base lines through 1^st & 3^rd bases to the outfield grass.

o    There will be no chalk on any grass.

o    Chalk (2) coach boxes – from back outside corner of 1^st & 3^rd base, 6’ from the foul line, extend 3 sided rectangle toward home plate, at 1^st & 3^rd base 4’ wide x 8’ long.

o    1^st base running lane – from back outside corner of 1^st base, 3’ from foul line, parallel to foul line extend line toward home plate to 30’.

o    Do not chalk team logo.

Rain Line Information

Tournament Format

Round Robin Pool Play followed by a single elimination Championship Round.

Teams are seeded into 6 MJ & 7 MN pools for Round Robin Pool Play. Teams in a four team pool are guaranteed at least three games; teams in a five team pool are guaranteed at least four games. The two teams with the best win-loss records in each pool advance to the “Sweet Sixteen” Championship Round. At MJ the next 2 teams in the 5 team pools & the next 2 teams in the 4 team pools also advance to the “Sweet Sixteen” as Wildcards. At MN the next 2 teams also advance to the “Sweet Sixteen” as Wildcards.

The participating leagues & number of teams are as follows:

There are a total of 27 MJ & 28 MN teams. The rest of this document addresses the details of the tournament format, tie-breaker algorithm as recommended by Little League, & the tournament schedule.

Tournament Schedule

Home team is the second team listed in Pool Play round. Home team in Championship round will be decided by a coin toss.

Pool Play – Thursday 5/29 through Saturday 6/7.

Championship Series:

Sweet Sixteen – Sunday 6/8.

Quarter-finals – Tuesday 6/10 (Winners move on).

Semi-finals – Thursday 6/12 (Winners & losers move on).

Finals – Friday 6/13 (2 games per MJ & MN for 1^st/2^nd place & 3^rd/4^th place).

MJ Pool

·         6 pools (A, B, C, D, E, F).

·         3 pools will have 5 teams & 3 pools will have 4 teams each.

·         Each league shall rank (Seed) its teams with #1 being the highest ranked (Best team).

·         Each pool will be equal in weight in terms of seeding. This means that if you add up the rankings of each team in each pool (Sum of seeds), all of the pools should be close to equivalent.

·         There will be 48 games played in the MJ Pool Play round.

·         Two teams from each of pool will advance to Championship round. The next 2 teams in the 5 team pools & the next 2 teams in the 4 team pools advance as Wildcards.

·         Championship round will consist of sixteen teams playing a single-elimination tournament with a championship game & a consolation game.

MN Pool

·         7 pools (A, B, C, D, E, F, G).

·         Seven pools will have four teams each.

·         Each league shall rank (Seed) its teams with #1 being the highest ranked (Best team).

·         Each pool will be equal in weight in terms of seeding. This means that if you add up the rankings of each team in each pool, the pools should be close to equivalent.

·         There will be 36 games played in the MN Pool Play round.

·         Two teams from each of pool will advance to Championship round. The next 2 teams out of the 7 pools advance as Wildcards.

·         Championship round will consist of sixteen teams playing a single-elimination tournament with a championship game & a consolation game.

Tie Games

Ties will be allowed in pool play. Ties are counted as .5 win & .5 loss in pool play. Games have been scheduled to allow extra time to finish a game. Week night games may continue beyond two hours as long as no other games are scheduled for your field, you have light & it is safe to play. The umpire on the field will make that determination.

Rescheduling Games due to Rain, School Activities, etc.

During pool play, a scheduled game that is rained out and that cannot be made up will be scored as a tie. No runs allowed or innings defended will be charged to either team and it will be accepted as a games rest. During the Championship round, rain outs that cannot be made up will be decided by a coin flip. Do everything possible, keeping safety as your number one priority, to avoid a rain out in the Championship round (i.e. move to a school field, do your best to get four innings in, etc.).

Due to the number of games to play & the limited field availability, your ability to reschedule a game for any reason will be very limited. For the TOC, the minimum number of players necessary to start a game is 9. So, if you can field 9 players, your team can play the game.

Dugouts

Home teams will occupy the 3^rd base dugout. In pool play, the home team is the second team listed on the schedule. In the Championship round, the home team will be decided by a coin flip.

It is the responsibility of both teams to clean the dugouts, & make sure the spectator area is cleared of trash, after their game.

Tie-Breaker Algorithm

At the end of pool play, if two or more teams have the same win-loss record, the tie will be broken as follows:

1.     Head-to-Head Record among tied teams.

2.     Lowest Run Differential.

3.     Coin Flip.

The Tie-breaker is applied as follows:

1.     If two teams are tied:

a.     Head-to-head record.

b.    Lowest overall run differential.

c.     Lowest run differential of the head-to-head game.

d.    Coin flip.

2.     If three teams are tied (Note: After one team has broken the tie, the two remaining teams start at step 1):

a.     Head-to-head record.

b.    Lowest overall run differential.

c.     Coin flip.

i)      Each team is assigned a coin.

ii)     Odd flip out is eliminated.

Information regarding “Lowest Run Differential” obtained from the Little League website:

If there are two or more teams, & no clear victor can be determined through head-to-head competition, then the total number of defensive runs given up in all games, divided by the number of innings played on defense, is computed for each team involved in the tie. The team with the lowest "run differential" will advance. If teams are still tied, the number of defensive runs given up, divided by defensive innings played will be re-computed using just the teams involved in the tie.

NOTE: If a team only plays part of a half-inning on defense before the game is ended, that partial inning will count as a full half-inning for the purpose of computing run differential.

Awards, Ceremonies & Decorations

Northshore Athletic Fields (NAF) should be decorated for the Championship games as time & budget allows. There will be award ceremonies after each Consolation & Championship game.

·         Trophies will be awarded to players for 1^st & 2^nd place for both MJ & MN.

·         Medals will be awarded to players for 3^rd & 4^th place for both MJ & MN.

·         Pins will be given to every player that participates in the tournament.

·         The total cost of awards & trophies will be split between all leagues participating in the TOC.

Game Score & Pitching Reports

2.     Game reports must include game number, date, field, team names, score & innings defended for both teams. Pitching reports will list pitchers in the order in which they pitch. The report must include pitcher jersey number, pitcher age, pitch count & pitcher last name. Catchers will be listed in the order in which they catch. Last names of pitchers & catchers will not be posted to the web site for child safety reasons.

a)     Format for the game results & pitching reports will be emailed to all managers prior to the start of the tournament.

3.     Visiting & home team managers must agree on ALL OF THE ABOVE BEFORE LEAVING THE FIELD.

4.     During pool play & championship play the WINNING team manager is responsible for e-mailing complete game reports for both teams to the TOC information coordinator (Cathy Lehmann – wlbbcoach@hotmail.com) by 11:00PM the night of the game. Failure to do so and the winning team will forfeit 6-0 with 6 innings defended to the loosing team. Missing game reports will be submitted to the TOC information coordinator as soon as possible.

5.     Game results & pitching reports will be posted to the tournament web page nightly, allowing managers to check who pitched & their next available pitching date by clicking on the game link. For any unreported games that resulted in forfeit the scorebooks will be presented by each team to the opposing manager to confirm the forfeit pitch counts plus eligible pitchers at the start of the following game, or will result in a forfeit.

6.     Every manager is responsible for checking the TOC website to ensure their game information is correct. Game report discrepancies need to be discussed with the home team. If necessary the home team will send a game report clearly indicating REVISED with an explanation to the TOC information coordinator. Pool play & Championship play summary discrepancies need to be reported immediately to the TOC information coordinator.

7.     Pitching violations:

a)     Exceeding the maximum pitch count in a game or not adhering to the days rest or games requirement is a pitching violation & is charged to the responsible Manager. TOC committee standard punishment for Manager rule violations shall apply:

i)      First offense, manager receives a warning.

ii)     Second offense, manager is suspended for 1 game.

iii)    Third offense, manager is suspended for remainder of the TOC.

b)    Pitcher to catcher is a pitching violation.

c)     Will result in forfeiture of the game in which the violation occurred if the violation is not discovered until after the game has completed. A game forfeiture is reported as a 6-0 loss with six innings defended.

d)    If discovered during the game, the game will revert back to the point at which the violation occurred (Inning, score, field position, etc.), & play will resume with an eligible pitcher. Pitches pitched by pitchers from the non-offending team while an illegal pitcher was being used, will not count against their pitches pitched for that game.

Tournament Rules

The tournament will be played under regular season rules. Umpires will officiate games based on the 2008 Little League (LL) Baseball (BB) official regulations & official playing rules (green book). In addition, the rules below will be enforced:

Common Rules for MJ & MN

1.     All teams will have a manager & no more than 2 official coaches on the game field which includes dugouts. At least 1 coach or adult volunteer must be assigned the dugout at all times. Base coaches can be a combination of players & adults. Players who are base coaches must wear a helmet at all times.

2.     Both teams are responsible for setting up the fields, clean up after the game & putting away the fields (When no game follows).

3.     Both teams are responsible for providing game balls.

4.     For championship round games, the home team will be determined by a coin toss prior to the start of each game. The coin toss will be conducted by the home plate umpire.

5.     No batting practice on game fields before games using any type of ball.

6.     The continuous batting rule 4.04 & free substitution will be used in the tournament. All players must meet the minimum play requirement, which is 6 defensive outs & 1 at bat. The 6 defensive outs do not have to be consecutive.