Wood Bat Tournaments- Wood Bat Only
Metal Bat Tournaments- Any Metal Bat that is currently legal for NHSF play

Both Teams equally supply (quality) baseball. Each team is responsible for retreiving foul ball on their side of the field.

The top 2 seeds from each pool will advance to the Championship playoffs

Tournament Playing Rules
• Coaches: Be sure you are aware of all rules and rule changes. BEST Directors reserves the right to amend these rules at any time for specific tournament play. National High School Federation Baseball Rules will be enforced with the following exceptions.
IMPORTANT RULES and INFORMATION
1. TEAMS DEPARTING BEFORE THE END OF THE TOURNAMENT WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO COMPETE IN ANY FUTURE BEST Tournaments!!!!!
If this happens we will take the next place team out of the pool or the next best team. The Tournament Director will rule in the fairest possible way.
2. Pool Play: All Pool Play games will be played with NO new inning after 1 hour 45 minutes, a strict (2) two hour (drop dead) time limit if the home team is batting and the two hour limit is reached. If trailing, the home team will get to complete the bottom half of the inning.   No inning can start after 1 hour and 45 minutes. Time will be kept by the umpires. For each pool games the home team will be determined by a coin flip before the game. All pool games that are tied after 7 innings or the 2 hour time limit will be recorded a tie. A tie is equal to a ½ win and ½ loss for each team.
Any forfiet due to an empty team slot in the pool is treated as a 1-0 win.
3. Championship Round/Playoffs: 1:45 hour time limit will be used in all games except Championship games. In the Semi-finals and Championship game there is no tie-breaker.  This rule is subject to change. The home team in Championship Play will be the higher seed. This is the case even if the schedule says otherwise.
Tie Breaker: If after 7 innings or 2 hours the two teams are still tied the following tie breaker rules will go into effect except for the Championship Games. The last three hitters from the previous inning will load the bases. 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. Forfeits: All games must be started with at least 9 players. A game can be finished with 8 players. Once a team establishes it has 8 players it must finish the game with 8 players. The player leaving the original lineup can not 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 runs scored for the winning team (1 run for each inning) to 0 for the losing team. Note: Any team not on the field and prepared to start the game, at game time, will give cause for immediate forfeit.
5. Taking Infield: No infield will be allowed during the tournaments.
6. Mercy Rules: 12 after 4, 10 after 5, 8 after 6.
7. Trips to the mound: The pitcher must be replaced on the 2nd trip to the mound in any inning.
8. Hitting lineup: Can consist of 9, 10, or 11 batters. The lineup must stay with the same number of batters for the entire game. The 10th or 11th hitter if used will be designated as an EH or XH on the lineup card. The EH and XH is the same as any position on the field as far as substitutions are concerned.
9. In case of rain: All rain out games may not be made up depending on time constraints. In case of 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 at the site when it becomes available.
Note: No special requests will be honored if rescheduling becomes necessary. All coaches should make sure they have the tournament phone numbers to call for information.

If a game is rained out before starting play, the game shall be treated as a tie with a 0 to 0 score with each team getting .5 win and .5 loss
(All efforts will be made to reschedule to game, however this may be impossible)

If games are cancelled Pool winners and championship qualification will be determined by the tie breaking procedures (listed below).
10. 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 can not 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 in pool play. The tournament director can extend the 1 hour if there are extenuating circumstances, i.e. lightning, 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 BEST Seeding and Tie Breaker Rules.
11. 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.
12. Roster and Roster changes: Teams may change their rosters up until they start their first game. After that time there will be no 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.
13. Scoring: We recommend that all teams (home and visitor) keep a scorebook. The home team will be the official scorer. To eliminate scoring disputes scorekeepers should check with the official scorer during and after the game.
14. 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.
15. Bat Specifications: If tournament is a wood bat tournament. Any wood bat is allowed. Also, any composite bats are allowed as long as there is no metal. If tournament is a metal bat tournament, any metal bat that meets current NHSF rules is allowed.
16. Not covered in the Rules: In the event any item is not covered in the rules, the tournament committee will make the fairest possible ruling and that ruling will be final!
17. Seeding and Tie Breaker Rules.
1. Pool play overall record (winning percentage)
2. If two teams are tied - Head to Head winner
3. If three teams are tied – If one team has defeated both other teams, that team advances. If not go to #4.
4. Total runs allowed in pool play.
5. If still tied – Total runs scored in pool play
6. If still tied – Total runs allowed subtracting game with most runs allowed in pool play
7. If still tied – Total runs allowed minus two games with most runs allowed in pool play
8. If still tied – Runs scored inning by inning starting with first game until one team has more runs after a complete inning starting with pool games
9. Second place teams will always be taken ahead of 3rd place teams for wild cards, 3rd place ahead of 4th place, etc.
National High School Federation Baseball Rules apply in all other cases