Tournament News Flash Day 3 - PLAYOFFS:  Coral Gables Athletics - 2008 Miami Open Champions.  In classic fashion, the Coral Gables Athletics beat the Fort Myers Hitmen in the bottom of the ninth on a walk off RBI single by Matt Stubbs.  Jason Privett, the tournament MVP, went the distance for the second time in the tournament to earn the championship win.  The Fort Myers Hitmen played the A's to a see-saw contest and were denied the game winner by A's third baseman, Luis Cabral, who snuffed out a sure two-out two-run rocket line drive double in the top of the ninth with a leaping snare. 

Earlier in the morning, in the semi-finals, the Coral Gables A's survived a major comeback by the Miami Nationals, squeezing out a 7-6 win.  In the other semi-final contest, the Fort Myers Hitmen unloaded on the talented Orlando CFAS All Stars team 11-1 to earn their spot in the final.

Congratulations go out to Miguel Garcia and the Coral Gables Athletics ---- 2008 Miami Open Champions!!!!

Tournament News Flash Day 2:  The Number One Seed in the tournament, the Coral Gables Athletics, advanced to the semifinals, finishing the qualifying round undefeated 3-0 after taking two games today - a come from behind 6-5 win over the Fort Myers Hitmen and a 12-0 shutout no-hitter against the Southeast Stingrays behind Willie Miznani. 

Despite the loss to the Coral Gables Athletics, the Fort Myers Hitmen also advanced to the semifinals with a 2-1 record.  In other American Division action, the Miami AquaSox pounded the Southeast Stingrays 12-2. 

In the National Division, the Orlando All Stars came back in the bottom of the last inning to tie the Miami Nationals 7-7, while the Miami Nationals came back from down 4 runs in the last inning to beat the Miami Red Sox 6-5.  Earlier, the Miami Red Sox had recorded a no hit 16-0 win over the Southern NABA Elite team, pitched by Jade McCrystal and Justin Reardon.

The Miami Open semifinals feature the Miami Nationals versus Coral Gables Athletics at 9am Miami Beach Flamingo Park, while the Fort Myers Hitmen take on the Orlando CFAS All Stars at 9am St. Thomas University.  The 2008 Miami Open Championship game is scheduled for 1:30pm at Miami Beach Flamingo Park.

Tournament News Flash Day 1:  The Orlando CFAS All Stars and the Fort Myers Hitmen took the early lead in this weekend's 2008 Miami Open.  Each winning two games and beating the rain.  Orlando beat the Miami Red Sox 6-1 and the Southern NABA Elite 20-5, while the Fort Myers Hitmen beat up on Southeast Stingrays 18-2 and the Miami AquaSox in a shutout 8-0.

Two other undefeated teams, the Coral Gables Athletics and the Miami Nationals, suffered afternoon rainouts after early morning vitories.  In a thriller, the Miami Nationals beat the Southern NABA Elite by the slim margin of 2-1.  Meanwhile, the Coral Gables Athletics beat the Miami AquaSox 5-1.  See below for full game results and standings. 

Due to the two afternoon rainout games, the remaining round-robin and semifinal games have been shortened to 7 inning / 2 hour 20 minute time limit games.  The start time for both make-up games is 12:30pm.  Semifinal games will now start at 3pm.  SEE BELOW FOR REVISED SCHEDULE!!   Team managers are asked to contact the league office at 305.663.2521 for further clarification.

Florida Hardball Inc. is proud to present the 11th Annual Miami Open.  Played in Miami, Florida, this tournament is played every year on Memorial Day Weekend (May 24-26, 2008) 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 Friday, May 18, 2008.

News Flash:  The South Florida Mets, top seed in the tournament, had to reluctantly pull out of the tournament due to a family emergency.  However, the Miami AquaSox, an all star team from the South Florida Baseball League, has stepped in to even out the tournament field.  The net result of this was the elevation of all teams up one rank in the seedings and a complete overhaul of the schedule, including field locations and opponents.

Tournament Seedings

The tournament seedings have been established by the tournament director and were based on past tournament performances as well as current records and other objective and subjective factors.  The eight teams competing in this year's Miami Open represent five different baseball leagues in the state of Florida.  The Southeast Stingrays represent the Federal League in Fort Lauderdale; the Orlando Central Florida Stars hail out of the Central Florida Amateur Sports league; the Fort Myers Hitmen come from the Fort Myers Hardball league; the Southern NABL Elite teams represents the NABA league in Palm Beach, and the remaining four teams, the Coral Gables Athletics, Miami Nationals, the Miami Red Sox and the Miami AquaSox, come from the South Florida Baseball League. 

Tournament Brackets

Tournament Standings

American Division:

National Division:

Tournament Schedule

American Division:

American - Coral Gables Athletics

American - Fort Myers Hitmen

American - Southeast Stingrays

American - Miami AquaSox

National Division:

National - Orlando CFAS All Stars

National - Miami Nationals

National - Southern NABA Elite

National - Miami Red Sox

Playoffs - Semifinals

2008 Miami Open Championship Game

Tournament Location

The 2008 Miami Open will be played in Miami and Miami Beach, Florida..  The tournament venues are listed below:

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

St. Thomas University - Miami - 16400 NW 32nd Ave., Miami, FL  33054

Coral Gables High - Coral Gables - 450 Bird Road, Miami, FL  33146

Braddock High - Miami - 3601 SW 147 Avenue, Miami, FL  33185

Tournament Format

After the tournament field has been seeded by the tournament director the teams were 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, May 24, 2008 with the third preliminary round game played on Sunday morning, May 25, 2008. 

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 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.  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

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