HR Derby – September 5th at Pullman Park
Double-Elimination Playoff – For Top 6 teams in tournament.

Teams that entered the Steel City Classic will also receive (not available to other teams in tourney):
One dozen D1 baseballs
Commemorative T-shirts
Five Guaranteed Games
Commemorative BWP Bat

The Steel City Classic will also be providing Championship T-shirts for the winner of the tournament.

Tiebreakers:
Record
Head to Head
Runs Against
Runs For
Coin Flip

Also take the time to place a ticket order for PNC Park’s “Steel City Classic Night” on September 4th.  Teams can check into their hotel early, and then head to PNC Park to watch the Pirates play the Cardinals in the park voted #1 by Major League Baseball Players Association.  Tickets are only $13 (a $7 discount), and includes a free knit ski cap, and entry into a raffle for an autographed baseball.  Its also Dollar Dog Night at the park, with all Hot Dogs only a $1.  Print the Promotional Flyer and mail it in with your registration today!  Teams purchasing 10 or more tickets with their registration will be eligible for a discount on their tournament entry fee as well!

In order to confirm your place ASAP and allow us to list you on our site, please also mail the following information to: Register@NABASteelCityClassic.com

Team Name:
Name:
Phone:
Email:
Mailing Address:
Division:
Check One: a) Full Team b) Partial Team c) Individual Player

If you would like to enter the tournament as a free agent, every attempt will be made to get you placed on a team in your requested division.  To expedite that process we ask that you do the following:

1) Please complete and mail in the registration below with payment ($75):

Steel City Classic Registration

2) Please add a post to this site, and teams will be able to contact you on their own!  Include the following information:

Name:
Email:
Phone:
Age on December 31st, 2009:
City, State, Zip:
Position(s):
Previous Baseball Experience:

First Annual 2009  Steel City Classic

Hosted by the Pittsburgh NABA – Home of the Pittsburgh Blues

Tournament Information and Registration

DATES: Friday, September 4 – Monday, September 7, 2009

DIVISIONS: 18A, 18AA, 25A, 18 Rookie,  25 Rookie, 35 Rookie, 45 Rookie (Division will occur if 4 or more teams register by the final deposit date)

FORMAT: “Pool” Play consisting of 3 games, Semi-final playoff and Championship game

PLAYOFFS: Semi-Final games either Sunday or Monday morning.

CHAMPIONSHIPS: Monday, September 7, 2009

AWARDS Sponsored by BWP Bats: Champions:  Team Champion Award &  Individual Awards

Runner-up:  Championship Finalist award & Individual Awards

Pool Winner: Pool Champion award

ENTRY FEE: Team Fee: $750 (If deposit is received before 8/03/09)
$850 (If deposit is received after 8/03/09)
* Team fee is for 13 players.  Each additional player over 13 is $50.

*FINAL PAYMENT MUST BE RECEIVED BY AUGUST 19, 2009*

**NOTE:  No teams will be accepted after August 19, 2009

Entry fee includes a Steel City Classic t-shirt, team liability insurance, baseballs, fields, umpires, guaranteed 3 games, individual and team champion and runner-up awards, and  pool champion award.

DEPOSITS: All teams must submit a $500.00 (non-refundable) deposit to reserve a place in the tournament.  The balance of the team fee must be submitted by August 19, 2009.  All fees must be in money order or cashier check.   Any team making more than 50% or more of its final team payment at check-in will be subject to a $50.00 late payment fee.

ACCOMMODATIONS: TO BE DETERMINED – Centered in Cranberry, PA

INFORMATION: For further information pertaining to the Steel City Classic, visit our website at www.NABASteelCityClassic.com.  Information pertaining to tournament rules, tiebreaker rules, eligibility rules, schedule requests, refund policies, hotel – airline – car rental information, roster forms and schedules are posted there.

SEND FEES TO:

Pittsburgh NABA
Attn: Steel City Classic
524 Harmony Rd.
Pittsburgh, PA 15237

Ben the Blogger

Ben is serving as a Team Liaison, and along with Ben Sorosky will be the primary contact persons during your stay in the Steel City.  While Mr. Sorosky and the rest of our staff can provide all the concrete details you will need to ensure your stay is organized and well-planned, Mr. Gwin is best suited to provide the color to all things ‘burgh.

Although he was raised in New Jersey, Ben has been a resident of Pittsburgh since his college days, and is well respected in Pittsburgh NABA circles.  He operates and writes for the Pittsburgh NABA’s most popular blog (www.southoaklandducks.com), and is known for his candor and insightful looks into the world of NABA baseball.

Please feel free to post comments for Ben to reply to, and check back often to see what topic our resident blogger will be musing on next.  And of course, feel free to voice all your questions for everyone to see, and either Ben or one of our others on staff will be sure to reply.

Happy Blogging!

To Volunteer Today, please email us at: volunteer@nabasteelcityclassic.com

Steel City Tournament Officers:

Pittsburgh NABA League President  – Joe Graff – info@pittsburghnaba.com

Tournament Chair / Hospitality Director – Vinny Gala – vinny@nabasteelcityclassic.com

Director of Scheduling & Facilities – Dustin Iser – scheduling@nabasteelcityclassic.com

Marketing Director – Brian Strom – sponsors@nabasteelcityclassic.com

Team Liaison – Ben Gwin – ben@nabasteelcityclassic.com

Recruiting Director – Ben Sorosky – info@nabasteelcityclassic.com

Webmaster – Mike Martin – webmaster@nabasteelcityclassic

Strom, Gala, and Graff with tournament trophy.

2009

Tournament Entry and Eligibility Rules

• Age Requirement: This rule is what makes the NABA philosophy of operating fair, well-organized and enjoyable amateur baseball tournaments possible.  In tournaments with 25+, 35+, 40+, 45+, 50+, 55+ and 60+ divisions, players must have reached their 25^th, 35^th, 40^th, 45^th, 50^th, 55^th, and 60^th birthday respectively before the end of the calendar year to be eligible to play on a team within that division.  You must be a minimum age of 18 by the tournament play date to play in any NABA tournament.  Women are eligible to participate in any NABA tournament provided they meet the age requirement eligibility rules for their respective divisions.  A manager of a team may at any point during a game question the age of opposing team members.  We request that all managers have copies of their player’s contracts with them during games to afford proof of player eligibility.  Managers not having player contract copies with them when requested to offer them by an opposing manager may face possible protest and investigation of their roster.  It is required that all players have a valid picture ID in the event a player’s age or identity is questioned.  Any player unable to produce a valid ID will be ineligible to continue in the game and any subsequent game until a valid ID is produced. If it is found that the player or players in question is ineligible, then the offending team will not only forfeit the game of the filed protest, but all games played up to that point in the tournament, regardless of whether the ineligible player participated in the previous games.

• Concept: All NABA tournaments use the mix’n match concept.  All players must have NABA affiliation unless the tournament is indicated to be an “Open” NABA tournament.  Simple majority will determine division eligibility (if a roster has 8 – 18AA players and 7 – 18A players, that team must play in the 18AA division).

• Division Selection Requirements: All division determinations are subject to final approval and/or the decision of the Tournament Rules Committee.  While most teams have the ability to determine what division they will play in, an over ruling can and will be made by the National NABA Tournament Rules Committee if one or more of the following applies to the team:  1) You must move up a division if you won a World Championship Tournament in the NABA the proceeding year; 2) Previously played in the past 2 years any NABA tournament and made the playoffs in a respective division; 3) Previously played in the past 2 years in any NABA tournament Championship game in a respective division; 4) Previously played in the past 2 years any NABA tournament and had a record of .500 or better in a respective division; 5) Does not meet the ex-professional player requirement rules stated below; 6) Your team is represented with 4 or more players from a team that won the World Championship the prior year, and 7) If your team deposit is received after a division has completely filled you may be moved to another division.  Again, the National NABA Tournament Rules Committee reserves the sole right to align divisions and determine player and team participation and eligibility. If a team drops out of a division upon check-in the NABA will do everything we can to fill the void.  However, the NABA reserves the right to begin the tournament without a said team and issue a forfeit win to the opposing teams when necessary, and/or to delete a division and add it to another division. PLEASE NOTE: NABA may choose to combine two divisions for purposes of pool play only provided that every team meets the pro-rule for each division established by NABA.  After pool play is complete, NABA may take the records of each team in the combined division and re-seed each team into a higher and lower division based on each teams’ record for playoffs and championship games.  For example:  where a 6 team pool is needed, if 16 teams sign up for the 18A division, and 4 teams sign up for the 18AA division, obviously the NABA cannot create an 18AA division.  We may therefore, combine the 16 teams in 18A with the 4 teams in 18AA for purposes of pool play only.  After pool play is complete, each team will be re-seeded for the playoffs and championship games.  For purposes of this example, if NABA at the World Series has 8 teams’ in the playoffs for 18AA and 8 teams in the playoffs for 18A, the NABA would take the top 8 teams during the re-seeding to the 18AA playoffs and the next best 8 teams to the 18A playoffs.

• Ex-professional Player & College Player Requirements: Players who are under verifiable professional baseball contracts are ineligible to play in NABA tournaments except for the highest level of play of 18 Wood Bat Division.  A player must be out of any level of professional baseball (Major League, AAA, AA, A, Fall League, Instructional or Rookie Leagues) for 60 days prior to the start of a World or National Championship Tournament, to be eligible to participate in NABA World and National Championships with the exception of the Wood Bat Division.  Therefore, any player who received compensation for playing baseball from a baseball organization listed above within the last 60 days prior to the start of a World or National Tournament is ineligible to play in the tournament (except for the Wood Bat Division) unless given special permission to participate by the National NABA Tournament Rules Committee.  A participant in the NABA tournament is not considered an ex-professional ballplayer if: 1) The player has been out of a contract of any level of professional baseball for seven complete seasons, and/or 2) The player is 43 years old and has been out of professional baseball for three seasons.  Teams violating this rule will forfeit all games in which that player (or players) played even if the existence of a contract is discovered after the fact.  Final resolution in such a situation is at the sole discretion of the Tournament Rules Committee.  Players who played on a college team or college practice squad, including a club college team are eligible to play only in those divisions according to the NABA rules specified below.  Any player who played with a college team, practice squad or club team in NCAA Divisions I; II; III; NAIA and Junior/Community College must play in the divisions as outlined below.  The National NABA Tournament Rules Committee reserves the right to alter these requirements or make special considerations to these rules.  The following ex-professional player requirements must be adhered to:

• In the 18 Wood division anyone is allowed to play and it is considered an open division.
• In the 18AA division, a team may have up to (2) ex-pros on their roster with no more than (1) being a pitcher and an unlimited number of college players.
• In the 18A division, no team may have ex-pros on their roster, and may have up to (5) college players with no more than (2) being a pitcher.
• In the 18-Rookie division, no team may have any players who have ever played any level of professional or college baseball.
• In the 25 Aluminum division, a team may have up to (2) ex-pros on their roster with no more than (1) being a pitcher.
• In the 25 Wood division anyone is allowed to play and it is considered an open division.
• In the 35A division, a team may have up to (2) ex-pros on their roster with no more than (1) being a pitcher.
• In the 35 Aluminum division, a team may have up to (2) ex-pros on their roster with no more than (1) being a pitcher.
• In the 35 Wood division anyone is allowed to play and it is considered an open division.
• In the 40 Wood division anyone is allowed to play and it is considered and open division.
• In the 45 Aluminum division, a team may have up to (2) ex-pros on their roster with no more than (1) being a pitcher.
• In the 45 Wood division anyone is allowed to play and it is considered an open division.
• In the 55 and 60 and over divisions anyone is allowed to play and it is considered an open division.

The NABA reserves the right to refuse any player or team permission to participate in a tournament.  The NABA reserves the right to add, delete or merge divisions based on the number of teams entered at anytime before the tournament, and will give every effort to give teams advance notice, however NABA may not be able to do so.  If a team planned to enter a deleted division, that team may play in another division or receive a refund minus your deposit, or transfer the balance to another NABA National or World Championship Tournament, provided it is at least 5 days prior to check-in.  The NABA also reserves the right to make changes to the rules or make changes in prizes and/or giveaways (but with a substitute or equal or greater value), which would then be effective upon notice to the teams participating in the tournament.

2009 TOURNAMENT RULES

1.  Start Times: Game start times will be approximately 8:00 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. unless otherwise noted on your schedules.  Should a team fail to arrive or have a full team ready to play (8 or more under the 8 man start and finish rule) by the scheduled start time, a maximum 1 hour grace period will be allowed and the exact amount of time given that team will be deducted from the original starting time so that the game will be shortened by that amount of time.  (Example:  if the game starts 15 minutes late due to one team’s being late, no full inning will start after 2 hours and 45 minutes after play has begun.)  Assuming the game starts within the 1-hour grace period, the late team will forfeit one run for every 15 minutes to the other team and the game will start at 1-0, beginning with the first minute.  In other words, if the start time is 8:30, the score is 1-0 at 8:31; 2-0 at 8:46; 3-0 at 9:01; 4-0 at 9:16 and a forfeit at 9:31.  (However, the actual forfeit score “in the scorebook” for tiebreaker purposes will be 9-0.)  This rule will not apply if the late team is coming off a back-to-back game, and games that start late due to the previous game’s running over (and not due to a team’s lateness) will not be shortened. (E.g. if both teams arrive to a scheduled 3:30 p.m. game on time and have to wait until another game finishes and do not start until 4:00 p.m., that game will be allowed the full time under the 3 hour Time Limit rule, provided there is adequate light.)  START TIMES WILL BE ENFORCED; YOU HAVE NOW BEEN WARNED.

2.  Time Limit: 3-hour time limits for all pool play games. No new inning may start after the 3-hour mark.  If two teams are tied after 9 innings and have not played 3 hours, they may continue to play up to three hours, however no new inning may start after the 3-hour mark.  All games tied at the end of the three-hour mark will remain a tied game.  There is a 3 hour time limit for playoff games.  No time limits for Championship games with the exception of the 45, 55 and 60 and over championship games.

3.  Games Called Due to Darkness: With exception of Playoff games, any game that has gone at least (5) complete innings before being called because of darkness (on an unlighted field) will be deemed a “complete game” or “regulation game” for “pool play purposes” in accordance with the 2009 Official Baseball Rule (4.10(c)(1)).  The NABA will do its best to see to it that travel times between games are minimized so that games can begin on time and games scheduled at 3:30 p.m. on fields without lights can begin on time and “be completed with 9 innings of play”.  If a game during pool play has past (5) complete innings and the game is called due to darkness by an umpire before the bottom of the inning is complete, then the score of the game will revert back to the previous inning and the game will be ruled complete.  For Playoff games only, at the discretion of the umpires and the tournament director, games to be “called due to darkness” will either be moved to an available field with lights the same evening (after checking in with the Tournament Directors’ office) or continued until the next day at another field (to be determined by the Tournament Director) so that these games can go a full 3 hours or 9 innings of play; provided, however, the “continuation of the game” is in accordance with the 2009 Official Baseball Rule (4.12(d)).

4.  Games Called Due to Rain: With exception of Playoff games and Championship games, any game that has gone at least (5) complete innings before being called because of rain, will be deemed a “complete game” or “regulation game” for “pool play purposes” in accordance with the 2009 Official Baseball Rule (4.10(c)(1)).  NABA will do its best to ensure that all pool play games are given every consideration to complete as many innings as possible (to be determined by the tournament director) in case of rain.  If a game during pool play has past (5) complete innings and the game is called due to rain by an umpire before the bottom of the inning is compete, then the score of the game will revert back to the previous inning and the game will be ruled complete.  For playoff or championship games only, at the discretion of the umpires and the tournament director, games will be “suspended due to rain” and will be continued at the point where the game was suspended on an available field that is playable the same day or evening, or continued the next day at the same field or another field (as determined by the tournament director) so that these games can go a full 3 hours or 9 innings of play.

5.  Mercy Rule: There is a 10 run mercy rule after 7 innings, and a 15 run mercy rule after 5 innings in effect for all pool play and playoff games.  The mercy rule will not apply to Championship games.

6.  Protests: All protests must be filed at the field with the plate umpire and with a tournament official within 1 hour of the protested game’s completion. A, $150 cash, non-refundable fee (refundable only if you prevail) must be submitted to a league official at the Tournament Office within 1 hour of your team’s completion of the game in question (1 hour after your last game if you are scheduled to play another game immediately after the protested game).  Call the number provided at Check-in.  Remember, you cannot protest an umpire’s “judgment”, only a rule interpretation.  If a protest is lodged, all parties involved (Managers of both teams, and umpires) must be available the day of the protest no matter what time it is to discuss the protest.  The testimony as to the facts of the protest will not be considered, if a party involved in the protest cannot be contacted by a tournament official by 12 midnight of the day of the protest.

7.  Eligibility Protest: All protests with regard to age/identity or ex-pro/college rule must be protested on the field to the umpire and opposing team manager with the number of the specific player in question.  Eligibility protests must occur before the game begins.  If a protest happens during the game, the game must be stopped immediately with the specific player in question.  If a player’s age or identity is in question and protested, the opposing manager must provide that specific player’s proof of age and identity with a valid picture ID.  Any player unable to produce a valid picture ID will be ineligible to continue or play in the game. If a player’s identity or age makes them ineligible to play, the player will not be allowed to continue in the game.  The NABA rules committee will then determine if the game has been tainted and if a protest/consequence should stand in the game and tournament for the violating team.  All protests with regard to ex-pro or college player eligibility should follow rule #6 protest rule.  However the player or player’s in question must also show a valid picture ID at the time of protest.  If they are unable to produce a valid picture ID they will be ineligible to continue in the game.  Where possible, an NABA tournament official will assist in the process and if the official can rectify the situation on the field they will do so.   The NABA rules committee will then determine if the game has been tainted and if a protest/consequence should stand in the game and tournament for the violating team.

8.  Reporting Scores: Both teams must report all scores within 1 hour of completion of the game to the tournament score line.  It is the team manager’s responsibility to verify their teams score with the official tournament headquarters records.  No discrepancies will be altered after seeding for playoffs.

9.  Tiebreakers: See the official NABA Tournament tiebreaker rules attached.

10. Additional Rules: If a team registered for the tournament decides not to come, and does not communicate with tournament officials until after the schedule has been completed, the following rule will apply:  The schedule will be played as written and each team scheduled to play the said team which did not show up for the tournament will receive a forfeit win of 9-0.  No pro-rated refund of a team fee will be given as a result of a forfeit win.  If a team decide to stop playing a championship game and leave for any reason the following rule will apply:  The championship game will be called a forfeit loss for the team who decides to leave or stop playing the game, and the championship will go to the remaining team. No warming up in the infield or around the dugouts.  Use the ONLY the outfield area to warm-up.  Do not warm-up in front of the dugouts.  No SOFT-TOSS or hitting baseballs into the fences.  No alcohol on the baseball fields or in the dugouts at all.  No smoking on the baseball fields or dugouts at all.  No tobacco on the baseball fields or dugouts at all. Use only the restrooms provided.  If you are caught not using the restrooms, both the player and the team will forfeit their game and be ejected from the facility and will not be allowed to play at that facility the rest of the tournament.  All other rules of baseball (set forth in the 2009 Official Baseball Rules published by the National Baseball Congress), amended by the rules set forth in the NABA Manager’s Rulebook and Guidelines, except as amended above, apply.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE NUMBER OF GUARANTEED POOL GAMES WILL BE THREE (3) FOR ALL THE DIVISIONS (AS PUBLISHED ON PROMOTIONAL FLYERS) AND THERE WILL BE ONE OR TWO ROUNDS OF PLAYOFFS FOLLOWED BY CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES FOR EACH SEPARATE DIVISION UNLESS ALTERED BY EVENTS OR HAPPENSTANCE BEYOND THE CONTROL OF THE NABA INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, INCLEMENT WEATHER, WAR, RIOTS, CIVIL DISORDER, FIELDS BEING OUT OF ORDER, OR ACTS OF GOD.

The Steel City Classic reserves the right to refuse any player or team permission to participate in a tournament.  The Steel City Classic reserves the right to add, delete, merge or create divisions or divisional formats based on the number of teams entered at anytime before the tournament, and will give every effort to give teams advance notice, however the Steel City Classic may not be able to do so.  If a team planned to enter a deleted division, that team may play in another division or receive a refund minus your deposit, or transfer the balance to a future Steel City Classic, provided it is at least 5 days prior to check-in.  The Steel City Classic also reserves the right to make changes to the rules or make changes in prizes and/or giveaways (but with a substitute of equal or greater value), which would then be effective upon notice to the teams participating in the tournament.

2009 PLAYOFF and TIEBREAKER RULES

The following Playoff and Tie-Breaker Rules only apply when determining eligibility/qualifying for playoff games.  Tiebreaker rules have always been difficult.  This is especially true in the case where there are several teams with the same or tied record worthy to go on to the playoffs; yet, due to a limits on fields and time to complete the tournament, not every team with tied records can be assured a playoff spot.  The only way to “guarantee” a playoff spot is to remain undefeated.

It is our sincere belief that the following set of tiebreakers is the fairest, because the focus is on win-loss percentages first, head-to-head competition second, and the “best defensive teams in a given situation”, with least runs allowed, next.

There are also four key principles to which we consistently adhered:

1) As a general rule, a tiebreaker between teams with the same win-loss percentage should be determined on a “head-to-head” since it is the best determinant of which of the teams in question is the better team;

2) Based on fairness, where teams with the same win-loss percentage are vying for the final playoff spot (usually the runner-up spot or a “wild-card”), and those 2 teams have not played one another, then the best defensive team in a given situation with average least runs allowed will be used.

3) If head-to-head did occur, but that game ended in a tie, and the least runs allowed for each team is the same, the team with the highest average winning margin in pool play is the pool winner;

4) If a forfeit occurs in pool play, the forfeit win will count towards the tiebreaker for win-loss percentage, and the head-to-head determinants.  However, forfeit wins will not count towards the tiebreaker for average least runs allowed, nor highest average winning margin in pool play.  If a team forfeits a game during pool play, the NABA reserves the right to exclude the team forfeiting the game from the playoffs.  NABA reserves these rights in order to protect teams against forfeiting teams gaining an unfair advantage in playoff games.

DETERMINATION OF POOL WINNERS and RUNNER-UPS

A Pool Winner is the team with the best win-loss percentage within a pool.  However, if more than one team in a pool has the same win-loss percentage, then you must revert to the tie-breaker(s) below.  All examples assume a three game pool schedule.

Determining the Pool Winner/Runner Up

There are two basic scenarios:  A) A tiebreaker involving two teams with the same win-loss percentage; and B) A tiebreaker involving three (or more) teams with the same win-loss percentage.

A) Pool Winner:  Two teams with the same win-loss percentage:

In the event two (2) teams in the same pool finish with the same win-loss percentage, the order of tiebreakers is as follows:

1)             Head-to-Head.  (The team that beat the other is the Pool Winner.)

2)             Average Least Runs Allowed.  (If head-to-head did occur, but that game ended in a tie, then the team with the fewest runs allowed in pool play is the Pool Winner.)  Average Least Runs Allowed is the total runs allowed divided by the number of games played. For the purposes of the remaining examples, this will be referred to as “Least Runs Allowed” (and we will assume the same number of games played by the teams involved in the tie-breaker examples).

3)             Highest Average Winning Margin in pool play.  (If head-to-head did occur, but that game ended in a tie, and, the Least Runs Allowed for each team was the same, then the team with the Highest Average Winning Margin in pool play is the Pool Winner.)  (For situations where two teams in the same pool with the same win-loss percentage did not play each other, see (C)(1) below.)  Average Winning Margin is the following:  The difference between the total runs scored and total runs allowed, divided by the number of games played.  For example, in pool play A, with a 2-1 record scored 30 runs and allowed 20 runs in its 3 games, its Average Winning Margin is 3.3.  ((30-20)/3=10/3=3.3)

4)             Coin Flip.  (All coin flips must take place in the presence of a Tournament Protest Committee Member.)

The foregoing will be referred to as the “Two Team Tie-breaker” and/or “Tie-breaker A”.  The team that is not the Pool Winner is the Runner-up.

B) Pool Winner and Runner-up:  Three teams with the same win-loss percentage:

In the event three (3) teams in the same pool finish with the same win-loss percentage, the order of tiebreakers is as follows:

1)             If one team beats the other 2 teams, it is the Pool Winner.  You then proceed to the “Two Team Tie-breaker” to determine the Runner-up as to the remaining two teams starting with head-to-head.

2)             If all 3 teams involved in the tie-breaker beat one another, then the team with the most runs allowed among the three involved during all pool play games is eliminated. The two remaining teams revert to the tiebreaker rule for “two teams with the same win-loss percentage”.

The tiebreaker is as follows:

a)             Head-to-head play between the two teams involved will determine the pool winner.

b)             The non-pool winner with the least or second fewest runs allowed is the runner-up.

Example: Teams A, B and C are in the same pool and have 2-1 records (examples made up):

Team A beats Team C 6-2

Team B beats Team A 7-4

Team C beats Team B 6-5

Each team, thus, has beaten one of the other two teams and the runs allowed comparison is as follows:

Team Runs Allowed

(As between the 3)

A (2-1)                                                                    9

B (2-1)                                                                     10

C (2-1)                                                                     11

And, thus, Team C is eliminated because it allowed the most runs as between the three teams; and, since Team B beat Team A, Team B is the Pool Winner    (reverting back to the “Two Team Tie-breaker” in (A)(1).  Team A is the Runner-up.

3)  If three (3) teams have the same win-loss percentage and only two of the teams have played against each other, then the team with the most runs allowed among the three involved during all pool play is eliminated first.  The two remaining teams revert to the tiebreaker rule for “two teams with the same win-loss percentage”.  This rule applies not only for determination of pool winner and runner-up, but also for seeding purposes in pools for playoffs.

Good Luck!

In the event two teams with the same win-loss percentage played each other twice and split (one win each), then the team with the highest average winning margin in their two games is the winner.  If this does not resolve the tiebreaker, the “Tie-greater A” beginning with (A)(2) will determine the winner.

It is possible in an odd pool, a team (Team A) with a 1-1-1 record same win-loss percentage as a 2-2 team (Team B); in such a case the Average Runs Allowed comes into play:  Team A allows 21 runs and Team B allows 24, Team B has a lower Average Runs Allowed (24/4 is 6 which is less than 21/3, or 7).

2009

Refund Policy and Special Requests Policy

Adverse Weather

The Steel City Classic baseball tournament may be played in adverse weather conditions.  The Pittsburgh NABA reserves the right to change the format of the tournament to lesser time limits, fewer innings, or reduce the playoff format in whatever means possible to complete the tournament.  Participating coaches, managers and players accept these conditions when entering the tournament.

Refund Policy for Adverse Weather

There will be a $100.00 administration fee charged for complete rain out of the tournament; if one (1) game is played = 50% of entry fee will be refunded; if 2 or more games are played = no refund.

Refund Policy Prior to Tournament

No refund will be given if the tournament bracket or schedule has been posted. If the schedule has not been posted and you call 15 business days before the tournament start date a full refund will be given minus the deposit.  If the schedule has not been posted and you call 8 to 14 business days before the tournament start date, 50 percent of your fee will be returned minus the deposit; if the schedule has not been posted and you call 7 or fewer business days before the tournament start date, no refund will be given.

Deleted Divisions Refund and Transfer of Balances

The Pittsburgh NABA reserves the right to add, delete, merge or create divisions or divisional formats based on the number of teams entered at anytime before the tournament, and will give every effort to give teams advance notice, however the Pittsburgh NABA may not be able to do so.  If a team planned to enter a deleted division, that team may play in another division or receive a refund minus your deposit, or transfer the balance to future Steel City Classics, provided it is at least 5 days prior to check-in.

Special Start Requests

Before entering the Steel City Classic, make sure your team has no other conflicts on listed tournament dates. The Steel City Classic can not accommodate any special game time requests! Teams need to be prepared to play at *8:00am* on the FIRST DAY of the tournament.