News Flash:

Monday 090307:

Championship - 10am Flamingo Park - South Beach:  The Jacksonville Vikings jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, playing both small ball and long ball, then coasted to win the 2007 Florida Cup over the Long Island Drive.  Looking sapped from the 96 degree sun, the Drive scored a couple of runs in the middle of the game but could not muster enough to challenge Jacksonville.  It would be Long Island's first loss of the tournament. 

The Vikings looked every bit a 25 year old ball club should look like, combining great pitching, defense, speed and offense.  The Vikings earned this Championship in grand fashion. 

Congratulations to the Jacksonville Vikings, our 2007 Florida Cup champion!

Sunday 090207:

Semifinals:  The Long Island Drive coasted to an early 9-2 lead and beat the Fort Myers Hitmen 14-5 in Game One of the Semifinals at Broward Community College to make it to the championship game. 

At Flamingo Park - South Beach, the Jacksonville Vikings knocked out the South Florida Mets 9-4 in 10 innings in Game Two of the Semifinals.  Down 4-0, the South Florida Mets stormed back to tie the game by scoring 4 runs in the bottom of the ninth, only to watch Jacksonville score 5 runs in the top of the 10th inning to put the game away.  The Mets had the bases loaded three times with no outs during the game, including the ninth inning, but failed to score each time.  ouch.

The 2007 Florida Cup Championship is scheduled for 10am Labor Day - Monday September 3 at Flamingo Park - South Beach.  The contest features the Jacksonville Vikings and the Long Island Drive.

Sunday 090207:

Round One Action:  The Long Island Drive took out the Jacksonville Vikings 9-6 to earn the top seed in the American Division, while the South Florida Mets beat the Fort Myers Hitmen 11-5 to take the top seed in the National Division.  Jacksonville advances to semifinals against the South Florida Mets at Flamingo Park - South Beach.  The Fort Myers Hitmen advance to the semifinals against the Long Island Drive at Broward Community College in Davie.  The Southcom Mariners also went 2-1 to match the Fort Myers Hitmen and South Florida Mets 2-1 record but did not advance due to tie breaker rules. 

In other Round One action, the Be On Sports team pounded the Miami Red Sox 14-6 and the SouthCom Mariners take a win 1-0 over the Miami AquaSox.  

Saturday 090107:

Round One Action:  Jacksonville Vikings, Fort Myers Hitmen and the Long Island Drive jump out to impressive 2-0 starts, while the Southcom Mariners upset the perenial power South Florida Mets 7-3 on Day One of the tournament.  Jacksonville has yet to give up a run, blowing out the Be On Sports 16-0 and Miami Red Sox 15-0.   Long Island beat the Red Sox 14-6 and Be On Sports 7-1 to share the first place in the National Division. 

The Fort Myers Hitmen were impressive as well, taking out the Miami AquaSox 20-2 and the Southcom Mariners 17-3.  They now own first place in the American Division.  Key match-ups for the final elimination round are Jacksonville vs Long Island for first place in the American Division, while three teams are in the playoff hunt in the National Division, with Hitmen taking on the South Florida Mets and the Miami AquaSox doing battle against the Southcom team.  The Hitmen will knock the South Florida Mets out of the tournament with a win, but a loss, combined with a SouthCom win would send the division into a three-way tie for first.  In this scenario, the tie breaker rules will determine which teams advance to the semi-finals................stay tuned!

Florida Hardball Inc. is proud to present the 7th Annual Florida Cup.  Played in South Florida, this tournament is played every year on Labor Day Weekend (September 1-3, 2007) and features some of the best tournament teams in the state.  Previous winners include the Orlando All Stars, South Florida Mets and Suncoast Suns.  The tournament, which is open to any and all teams in the region regardless of affiliation, is in Open Division format - no age brackets.  However, players must be of the minimum age of eighteen.  The winner-take-all tournament is highlighted by a $500 Cash Prize and a tournament trophy for the championship team. The registration fee is $850 per team, regardless of player count.  The deadline for team registration is August 15, 2007.

Tournament Location

The 2007 Florida Cup will be played in Miami, Miami Beach, and Fort Lauderdale, Florida..  The tournament venues are Barry University and Florida Memorial College in Miami, Flamingo Park in Miami Beach and Broward Community College in Davie, Florida (south of Ft. Lauderdale).

Flamingo Park - Miami Beach - 1435 Michigan Avenue, Miami Beach, FL  33139

Barry University - 11300 NE 2nd Avenue, Miami Shores, FL  33161

Florida Memorial College - 15800 NW 42 Avenue, Miami, FL  33054

Broward Community College - 3501 Davie Road, Davie, FL  33314

Tournament Seedings

The tournament seedings have been established by the tournament director and are based on past tournament performances as well as current records and other objective and subjective factors.

Tournament Brackets

Tournament Standings

American Division:

National Division:

Tournamen6t Schedule

American Division:

South Florida Mets

Fort Myers Hitmen

Miami AquaSox

Southcom Mariners

National Division:

Long Island Drive

Jacksonville Vikings

Be On Sports

Miami Red Sox

Playoffs - Semifinals

2007 Florida Cup Championship Game

Tournament Format

The eight teams are seeded by the tournament director and then divided into two brackets - American and National.  All teams are guaranteed a minimum of three games played in round robin format against teams within their respective division.  Two games are played on Saturday, September 1 with the third preliminary round game played on Sunday morning, September 2. 

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

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

The team with the greatest number of points wins its division. However, in case of a tie, use the tie-breaker rules detailed below.  The first and second place teams in each bracket after the 3-game elimination round will advance to the semifinals.   The first place team from the American League will play the second place team from the National League and vice-versa in the Semifinals.

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 Florida Cup 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.  3 hour time limit = no inning shall start after 3 hours has elapsed for elimination round games.  No time limit for playoff games.

6.  Tie games permitted for tournament (elimination round) games.  No ties are permitted for playoff games - play must continue, with no time limit, until there is a winner.

7.  Mercy rule is in effect for all tournament games except the championship game.  The Mercy Rule awards a victory to the team leading by 15 runs after five innings and 10 runs after seven innings.

6.  In case of rain, official game only after 5 full innings completed.  Games started but not registering 5 complete innings will be suspended and completed as soon as possible thereafter.  Offensive line-ups remain frozen and the suspended game must pick up where it left off.

7.  No forfeits tolerated by teams that have clinched playoffs after first two games.  Automatic disqualification for rule violation.

7.  All team managers must call in game results - win or lose- to the SFBL office 305.663.2521 within 10 minutes of game completion or suspension.  All results will be posted to this website page live throughout the tournament.

Link to Tournament Page

Base Hits as of 7/31/06