2010 Florida Cup Baseball Tournament

Tournament News Flash: On day two of the tournament, in second round morning action, the Miami Red Sox blew a 5-2 lead to fall to the Jacksonville Vikings by a score of 6-5.  Meanwhile, the Coral Gables A's got by the Fort Lauderdale Rays 7-5.  In the afternoon third round games, with first place on the line, the Jacksonville Vikings jumped all over the Coral Gables A's 16-9 to finish undefeated after the  qualifying rounds.  Also, the Fort Lauderdale Rays used two 2-run home runs to beat up the Miami Red Sox 12-2 to earn a spot in the semifinals.  Garret Rogers broke it out with 4 RBI and a two-run shot to lead the Rays.  Monday's semifinal game will match up the Coral Gables Athletics and the Fort Lauderdale Rays.  Jacksonville Vikings earned the semifinal bye and will face the winner of the semi-final game in the finals.

In day one of the tournament, the Coral Gables Athletics hung on to win their opening game, 3-2 over the Miami Red Sox after scoring the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth.  Veteran Ron Farnum led the A's on the mound, holding down the Red Sox and getting a key game ending pick-off at second base with two men on and two out in the top of the ninth.  Journeyman John Emmons pitched brilliantly for the Miami Red Sox holding the A's to two earned  runs.  The Jacksonville Vikings ran over the Fort Lauderdale Rays by a score of 9-0 in the other first round game.

Tournament Standings

American Division:

Tournament Schedule

American Division:

Coral Gables Athletics

Jacksonville Vikings

Miami Red Sox

Playoffs - Semifinal Game

2010 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 305.496.2962 within 10 minutes of game completion or suspension.  All results will be posted to this website page live throughout the tournament.

The Florida Hardball is proud to announce the 10th Annual Florida Cup.  For this year's tournament, the Florida Hardball is excited to bring back the Florida Cup to Sunny South Florida.  The Florida Cup is played in South Florida on Labor Day Weekend (September 4-6, 2010) and features some of the best tournament teams in the state. 

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. 

Players must be of the minimum age of eighteen.  The winner-take-all tournament is highlighted by a tournament trophy for the championship team and a permanent reservation in the record books.  Registration fee is $850 per team, regardless of player count.  Team registration deadline is Friday, August 20, 2010.  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 Florida Cup will be played at (Links to Yahoo Maps):

South Broward Senior High School - Hollywood

Braddock Senior High School - Miami

Coral Gables Senior High School - Coral Gables

Tournament Team Seedings

Tournament Format

All teams play a three game qualification round.  Teams advance to the playoffs in order of finish, where the top team earns a bye into the championship game, with the second and third place teams squaring off in the semi-final game.  The winner of the semi-final games advances to the championship game to take on the top team.  The first two tournament games are played on Saturday, September 4 with the third qualification round game is played on Sunday morning, September 5.  The semi-final game plays Sunday afternoon and the championship game is held on Monday morning, September 6, 2010.

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

Link to Tournament Page

Base Hits as of 7/25/10