Tournament of Champions Week Rules

PARTICIPANTS AND FORMAT

• The Board of Directors has the right to alter any or all of the following ToC guidelines in order to, in its opinion, fairly handle unique situations.
• Teams cited for parent abuse (see: CODE OF CONDUCT; 16.8 shall not qualify for the Tournament of Champions Round. An appeal may be made.
• Any team which forfeits a ToC game (during the championship week competition) will be charged the appropriate forfeiture fee and will bring their entire program’s participation placed under review.
• For the A, B, C and D Divisions, a maximum of 8 teams shall qualify for the championship round.
• For the A B, C and D Divisions, the championship round will have the eight qualified teams playing in a modified double-elimination format. All games would be at a neutral site (underlined team would function as home team for game purposes). All games aside of Game 1-6 would see the loser eliminated.
  
  Tuesday

  (1) Seed 1 vs. Seed 8 (2) Seed 4 vs. Seed 5
  (3) Seed 2 vs. Seed 7
  (4) Seed 3 vs. Seed 6
  
  Wednesday

  (5) Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 (Highest seed hosts)
  (6) Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4 (Highest seed hosts) (7) Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 (Highest seed hosts) (8) Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4 (Highest seed hosts)
  Thursday

  (9) Loser Game 5 vs. Winner Game 8 (Highest seed hosts)
  (10) Loser Game 6 vs. Winner Game 7 (Highest seed hosts)
  
  Saturday

  (11) Highest-seeded 2-0 team (Winner 5/6) vs. Lowest-seeded 2-1 team (Winner 9/10)
  (12) Lowest-seeded 2-0 team (Winner 5/6) vs. Highest-seeded 2-1 team (Winner 9/10)A
  
  Sunday

  (13) Winner Game 11 vs. Winner Game 12 (Host team would be the team with the better ToC record; if both have same TOC record, the higher-seeded team hosts)
  

  Note: A and B Division games would be at different sites on Tuesday and Wednesday but at one site on Thursday.
• If the semifinal or final game(s) cannot be played on the originally scheduled Saturday and/or Sunday (due to weather or other-related reasons), there will be no extension of the pitching week beyond the originally scheduled dates. Therefore, any games played after the originally scheduled game on Saturday/Sunday will be treated as played on that Saturday/Sunday.
• In the A, B and C Divisions, the maximum number of innings a player can pitch is 9 innings. In the D Division, the maximum number of innings a player can pitch is 7 innings. All normal rest rules apply to all pitchers.

SEEDING FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND
Seeding for divisions as follows:

Teams shall accrue points over the course of the entire season schedule, from rounds 1-2. For each victory (a tie will receive half of the allotted point{s} for the game) and achievement teams will be awarded a certain point total. These will be based upon achievement and level of play. See chart below for point breakdowns.

At the end of 2 rounds of play (including Trophy Weekends), point totals shall be tallied and the top 8 teams will advance to the Tournament of Champions.

Ties in points (within the top 8, or between teams tied for seed 8 or lower) will be broken by:

1. Upper Division points in Round 2 (including points won in Trophy Weekend).
2. Upper Division Trophies won
3. Head to head during the season, with fewest runs allowed the determining factor if teams split.
4. Coin toss.

AUTHORIZED AWARDS

Only trophies and awards officially authorized by the Bay State Tournament of Champions shall be given out after the championship games. The following trophies will be awarded for display in their clubhouse, town hall, or wherever the team(s) deem appropriate and must be returned before the start of the following season; the Don Soule Cup (A Division Champion), the Don McGowan Cup (B Division Champion), the Tom Wright Cup (C Division Champion) and the D Division Championship trophy.