Tournament Formats

1. Each team will play 2 games on Saturday for seeding. Sunday will be single elimination playoffs and  Championship.  On Saturday the home team will be determined by coin toss  and on Sunday the team with the higher seed has the choice of home or away.

Grouping/Age Divisions

Diamond Classic Tournaments has the right any weekend to combine the listed age groups below if one age group is short the number of teams needed to compete in a tournament for that weekend.  

Official Rules & By-Laws: 

Diamond Classic Tournaments Rules

The Official playing rules of Diamon Classic Tournaments will follow the National Federation Rules, with the exceptions and variations contained in the document.

 

Rule 1.00  Participation

1.01

Players may play in an older age tournament

1.02

A player can play on only one tournament team in the same age bracket; however, a player can play on an additional team in an older age bracket if he also qualified with that team and the events are not at the same time.

Rule 2.00 Team and Individual Player Eligibility

2.01

Age Eligibility: A player’s age before May 1st of the season will dictate his age group for that season. A player can always play up in age divisions. For ages 14U-17U, graduation year can also be used.

2.02

A tournament director may manage or coach in any tournament in which he also serves as the tournament director or host. There shall be a separate tournament director and protest committee selected to handle all rule problems within the tournament.

2.03

The team’s manager is responsible for all aspects of the eligibility of the players on his team and that they meet the requirements as set forth in Rule 2.01.

2.04

A player who is in violation of the age eligibility shall be considered an illegal player.

2.05

If anytime during a tournament game, a player is discovered illegal due to an age violation or participating on more than one team in the same tournament, the team is subject to forfeit. The first team a player participates for is their official team.

2.06

In each age division, all participating players in Diamond Classic Tournament events shall have photocopies of their original birth certificates in the possession of their team manager. Electronic copies of ID documents are accepted. Failure to have a copy of a birth certificate upon demand will result in suspension for the remainder of the event until such document can be produced. Driver’s License is permitted.

2.07 

Diamond Classic Tournaments decides the Champion on incomplete Championships.

 

Rule 3.00 Ejection Rules

Ejection offenses include:

3.01

Physical attack on an umpire, tournament official, tournament staff, associate director, associate officer, and/or any player or fan prior, during, or immediately following a game played under the authority of Diamond Classic Tournaments.

3.02

Players, coaches, managers, or sponsors threatening an umpire, tournament official, tournament staff, associate director, or associate officer with physical harm.

3.03

Any player, coach, manager, sponsor, director or officer who engages in physical fighting.

3.04

Using unsportsmanlike conduct or abusive language, symbol tactics, or derogatory or unbecoming acts.

3.05

Destruction of property or abuse or failure to pay.

3.06

Receiving money directly or indirectly for playing on a team and/or based on athletic performance.

3.07

Competing under an assumed, false and/or altered name.

3.08

Use of any illegal equipment, substance, or falsification of any kind.

3.09

Tournament hosts have the authority to eject a player, fans or team anytime during a tournament of committing any of the above listed offenses.

3.10

A player or coach ejection carries removal from that game only.

3.11

A coach or manager who is ejected for the second time in a specific tournament is suspended for the rest of the event.

3.12

If a coach or parent is ejected from a game by an umpire and does not move at least 100 yards  away from the field that team will automatically forfeit the game after 10 minutes.

 

Rule 4.00 Official Playing Rules

4.01

The Official Playing Rules of Diamond Classic Tournaments will follow National Federation Rules with the exceptions being contained in this document.

4.02

TEAMS DEPARTING BEFORE THE END OF THE TOURNAMENT WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO COMPETE IN THE PLAYOFFS!!!!! If this happens we will take the second place team out of the next best team. The Tournament Director will rule in the fairest possible way.

4.03  

All Saturday games will be played with a 1 hour 45 min. time limit. No new inning can start after the time limit. Time will be kept by the Diamond Classic Tournaments Field Director and umpire if the umpire chooses. All games that are tied after 7 innings or the 1 hour 45 min. time limit will be recorded a tie. A tie is equal to a ½ win and ½ loss for each team.

4.04 Championship Round/Playoffs:  

1 hour 45 min. time limit (finish out the inning)  will be used in all playoff games except the Championship game. The Championship game will be 7 innings with mercy rule still in affect.  The home team in Championship Play will be the higher seed except when there is no seeding. When there is no seeding, the home team will be determined by a coin flip. This is the case even if the schedule says otherwise.

Tie Breaker:

If after 7 innings or 1 hour 45 min the two teams are still tied the following tie breaker rules will go into effect.  The last three hitters from the previous inning will load the bases with 1 out.

The base runners will be placed as follows:

-Last hitter from previous inning @ 1st Base

-Hitter before him in the lineup @ 2nd Base

-Hitter before that in the lineup @ 3rd Base

-Normal substitution rules apply to these runners.

-The hitting team will start the inning with one out.

-Play continues until one team is ahead at the end of an inning.

4.05 Forfeits: 

A team can start a game with 8 players.  The position in the lineup can be filled if the player arrives.  The player leaving the original lineup cannot return and his spot in the hitting lineup will be recorded as an out. Any intentional forfeit will result in the forfeiting team being eliminated from the tournament. The tournament committee will rule on all forfeits. No team should benefit from the result of a forfeit in an unfair manner. This rule could result in a dispute and the tournament committee reserves the right to look at and rule in the fairest possible way. The committee’s decision will be final! A forfeit score will be 7 for the winning team to 0 for the losing team. The tournament committee will decide when a forfeit is declared.

4.05 FALL TIME LIMITS: SUNLIGHT/DARKNESS

During the Fall Season, our time limits will be adjusted weekly based on the sunset in the area. They will vary during September/October months, but all teams will know prior.  The summer ranges from 1:45 to 2 hours.  The fall can range from 1:30 to 1:45 for all ages. Please ask time limit prior to your weekends first game. 

In the championship games if darkness is setting in and the game is tied Diamond Classic Tournaments reserves the right to instruct umpires to go to international tie break rules to finish the game and get a winner.

4.06 Awards:

If a Championship game ends in a tie due to weather, darkness, OR for any reason…  The higher seeded team will become the Champions.  

4.06 Taking Infield: 

No infield practice will be allowed during the tournaments.

4.07 Mercy Rules:

-All Ages: 12 runs after 3 innings, 10 runs after 4 innings, 8 runs after 5 innings.

4.08 Trips to the mound: The pitcher must be replaced on the 2nd trip to the mound in any inning and each subsequent visit that inning.

4.09 Hitting lineup: 

Can consist of 9, 10, or 11 players.  The lineup must stay with the same number of batters for the entire game.

The 10th and 11th hitter if used will be designated as an EH and XH on the lineup card.

The EH and XH is the same as any position on the field as far as substitutions are concerned.

The starting pitcher is allowed to DH for himself and bat in any slot in the order.

On Saturday if you bat everyone and a player is injured and cannot play, that player will just be skipped and not counted as an out.  If you drop below 9 either day that player is considered an out.  If on Sunday this happens, that player will be counted as an out.

A team can start a game with 8 players.  If at any point they drop to 7 players, the game will be a forfeit.

4.10 In case of rain:

All rain out games may not be made up depending on time constraints. In case of any scheduling changes it is the team’s responsibility, not the tournament committee, to make sure they are aware of the new schedule or any scheduling changes. This information will be posted on the tournament website when it becomes available or you will receive a text/email from the tournament director.  

Note: No special requests will be honored if rescheduling becomes necessary. All coaches should make sure the tournament committee has current contact info. If games are cancelled playoffs will be determined by the tie breaking procedures (listed below).

4.11 Stop in Play:

If a game is stopped, the game must start within 1 hour of the stop in play. If games are not resumed, they will become suspended or called official. Games called by umpires that cannot be resumed within 1 hour will be considered an official game, if 5 innings have been completed, or 4 1/2 innings if the home team is ahead. After 5 complete innings, a tie score will be recorded a tie. The tournament director can extend the 1 hour if there are extenuating circumstances, i.e. lightning detector, working on fields, etc. A suspended game will resume where the game was halted. In the event play is stopped for any reason before or during the Championship round, first place, second place, third place, etc. will be awarded based on Diamond Classic Tournaments Seeding and Tie Breaker Rules.

4.12 Protests:

Protests will be heard and ruled on by the tournament committee. The team protesting must make cash payment of $100 at the time of the protest. If the protest is ruled in the protesting team’s favor the $100 will be refunded. The ruling made by the committee will be final. Protests must be filed and ruled on before the next pitch if during game, or before umpires leave field if after a game.

4.13 Roster and Roster changes:

If a player is listed on more than one roster, the player listed will make a decision as to which roster he is legally on. This decision is up to the individual player. No player can appear in a tournament game for more than one team in the same age bracket.

4.14 Scoring:

We recommend that all teams (home and visitor) keep a score book. The actual score book of the game will be kept by tournament staff, in case of emergency where staff can’t keep book the home team will be the official scorer. To eliminate scoring disputes scorekeepers should check with the official scorer during and after the game.

4.15 Sportsmanship:

In the interest of maintaining a quality event, the tournament committee reserves the right to eject any person from the site for unruly or unsportsmanlike behavior. Any coach or player who is ejected for the second time during the tournament will be eliminated from participating for the remainder of the tournament.

4.16 Balk Rules: 

Balks called from the start.  No fake 3rd to 1st.

4.17 Stealing Home:  

Head first slides allowed.

4.18

Courtesy runner for pitcher or catcher any time.

4.19 Not covered in the Rules: In the event that any item is not covered in the rules, the tournament committee will make the fairest possible ruling and that ruling will be final!

5.21 Seeding and Tie Breaker Rules.

– Overall record (winning percentage)

– Total runs allowed.

– If still tied – Total runs scored.

– If still tied – Total runs allowed subtracting game with most runs allowed.

– If still tied – Total runs allowed minus two games with most runs allowed.

– If still tied – Runs scored inning by inning starting with first game until one team has more runs after a complete inning starting with seeding games.

– Second place teams will always be taken ahead of 3rd place teams for wild cards, 3rd place ahead of 4th place, etc.

Games will have 1 umpire on Saturday and 2 umpires for Sunday games.

– Awards are subject to change without notice.