2009 Florida Cup Champions......the Naples Red Sox!!  Congratulations to our new champions!

Day Three Newsflash:  In the 2009 Florida Cup championship game, held at the magnificent City of Palms Park in Fort Myers, the Naples Red Sox beat the Fort Myers Hitmen 6-4 in a thriller that came down to the last out.  In a game which featured three bombs and a comeback, the Naples Red Sox came from behind 4-0 and then held off the Fort Myers Red Sox, getting a game ending double play with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning.  In fact, the Hitmen left the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth inning as well to add to their agony.  But make no mistake, the Naples Red Sox were every bit the tournament champions, displaying great offense, defense and pitching.  Team manager, Robert Ramirez, guided his Red Sox club past some very tough teams, including three past tournament champions.  To say that the Naples club earned the title is an understatement.  On the other side, the Fort Myers Hitmen had been the only undefeated team in this year's tourney, only to come up short in the title bout.  More details to follow.

Day Two Newsflash:   In the round three action, the Fort Myers Hitmen remained undefeated to secure the top spot in the semi-finals, winning 10-9 over the Cape Coral AquaSox, while the Naples Red Sox survived a do-or-die battle with the Orlando All Stars, 6-4, and won the National Division top seed.   The Coral Gables A's won handily, 9-3, over the Fort Myers Red Sox to take a place in the final four and, finally, the Lee County Black Sox rode their three points from day one into the final playoff spot, despite losing to the Jacksonville Vikings, 9-7.

Semi-finals update:  The Fort Myers Hitmen defeated the Lee County Black Sox 4-3 in game one of the semi-finals to advance to Monday's championship game.  Joining them will be the Naples Red Sox, who doubled up the Coral Gables Athletics 10-5 in game two of the semi-finals.  Monday championship game is set for 1000am at the Boston Red Sox developmental training center in Fort Myers (Stadium game).  Congratulations to the Hitmen and the Naples Red Sox for advancing to the finals!

Tournament Flash Report Day One:  The first day of the tournament is in the books, complete with surprise team performances and individual performances!  Former champions and top seed Jacksonville Vikings lost both games of their doubleheader while the Fort Myers Hitmen finally beat the Coral Gables Athletics, as they won two games on opening day.  One surprising individual performance came from Jade McCrystal of the Cape Coral AquaSox, who pitched a doubleheader going 1-1 on the day.

In the first day of action, the Lee County Black Sox looked good taking out the Orlando All Stars 7-4 while the Naples Red Sox upset Jacksonville 3-1.  In other first round action, the Coral Gables A's came back from a 2-1 deficit in the sixth inning to roll past the Cape Coral AquaSox 10-2 and the Fort Myers Hitmen dominated the Fort Myers Red Sox 8-3.

Second round results had the Fort Myers Hitmen beating the Coral Gables A's 4-2, ending and 0-for-ever streak in tournament play, the Cape Coral AquaSox ambushed the Fort Myers Red Sox 3-1 and the Lee County Black Sox battled the Naples Red Sox to a 4-4 tie.  Finally, in a battle between two former champions, the Orlando All Stars knocked out the Jacksonville Vikings 7-0.

Third round action starts 900am Sunday with six teams still in the running for four playoff spots.  One key matchup to watch is the game between the Orlando All Stars and the Naples Red Sox.

The Florida Hardball is proud to announce the 9th Annual Florida Cup.  For this year's tournament, the Florida Hardball is excited to host the tournament in Fort Myers.  The Florida Cup is usually played in South Florida on Labor Day Weekend (September 5 - 7, 2009) and features some of the best tournament teams in the state.  This year, though, the Florida Hardball has been able to lock down use of the Boston Red Sox Spring Training Facility and will play all of the tournament games in the facility. 

Previous winners of the Florida Cup include the Jacksonville Vikings, Orlando All-Stars, South Florida Mets, South Florida Sun Devils 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.  This year's Florida Cup features teams from five leagues around the state. 

Players must be of the minimum age of eighteen.  The winner-take-all tournament is highlighted by a tournament trophy for the championship team.  Registration fee is $850 per team, regardless of player count.  Team registration deadline is Friday, August 28, 2009.  Individual Player registration fee is $60.

The league office is asking that all interested teams and players contact the League Office at 305.663.2521 as soon as possible.

Tournament Location

The 2009 Florida Cup will be played at the Boston Red Sox 5 Plex in Fort Myers, Florida.

Field Address:

4301 Edison Avenue

Fort Myers, Fl 33916

Link to Map & Directions

Teams Seedings

The tournament seedings, as determined by the tournament director, take into a number of considerations, including past tournament performance and league play.  This year's Florida Cup seedings are as follows:

Tournament Format

Depending on final team registrations, the eight to twelve 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 5 with the third preliminary round game played on Sunday morning, September 6. 

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 Brackets

Tournament Standings

American Division:

National Division:

Tournament Schedule

American Division:

Jacksonville Vikings

Orlando All Stars

Lee County Black Sox

Naples Red Sox

National Division:

Coral Gables A's

Fort Myers Hitmen

Fort Myers Red Sox

Cape Coral AquaSox

Playoffs - Semifinals

2009 Florida Cup Championship Game

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.  Tie games permitted for elimination round games only.  No ties are permitted for playoff games.

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 violation.

8.  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 8/11/09