Tips & tricks for surviving 6-man tourney

[Jigokumimi]

I'm playing a tournament this weekend, 6-man teams. It's basically ASA with some modifications:
3 teams rotate (4 outfielders / 5 infielders / up to 6 in batting order)
"Defensive pitcher" must stay w/in 12 feet of rubber
half-hour games
pitch to your own hitters (3 pitches max)
unlimited courtesy runners
a team may score max 7 runs in one inning

Anybody ever play a tourney like this?
Any suggestions for surviving a half-dozen games under these rules? Other than using courtesy runners whenever it puts a faster runner on the bases.

 

[Nacirema85]

3 teams rotate (4 outfielders / 5 infielders / up to 6 in batting order)

I don't even... ... what?

Maybe I don't understand this.

 

[Sully]

It's kind of like 5X5X5 format, except in 5X5X5 you don't pitch to your own team. It's a LOT of running, especially if your team is hitting well. Sometimes you score and grab a bat and get right back in the batter's box. Best advice I can give you is to rotate people out, especially in the outfield.

 

[Jigokumimi]

It's kind of like 5X5X5 format, except in 5X5X5 you don't pitch to your own team.

Pretty much.
Every 3 outs, the "outfield" team moves to the infield, the infield team goes up to hit, and the hitting team takes the outfield.

 

[KyleMFBartlett]

That sounds like a blast!

 

[-Six-]

Ive wanted to try one of these formats.

 

[whogotz]

5x5x5 is the bomb!!!! a true test of endurance - i have run two tournaments in this format - first one a kid nearly passed out from exhaustion - i kept telling him to hydrate but he didnt listen.

you will have guys with 30 plus at bats on the day. 7 runs per inning is a good cap - exhausting to run the bases, then hit again right away every inning

 

[Warbucks79]

5x5x5 is the bomb!!!! a true test of endurance - i have run two tournaments in this format - first one a kid nearly passed out from exhaustion - i kept telling him to hydrate but he didnt listen.

you will have guys with 30 plus at bats on the day. 7 runs per inning is a good cap - exhausting to run the bases, then hit again right away every inning

How do you bracket one of these tourneys?

 

[arther itis]

which groups of 5 do the catcher and pitcher belong to?

catcher with infield group or outfield group?

 

[whogotz]

How do you bracket one of these tourneys?

first time i had 4 teams - so 1 team was able to take a break after hitting before going to play outfield.

second time - i had 3

both times we did two rounds of five or six innings - team that scored most combined runs won first place.

got to be that guys were so worn out - and had so much fun - they didn't care as much about winning a prize.

 

[tdavis13]

Another format that I have seen is Team 1- L, LC, 3B, SS, C... Team 2- R, RC, 2B, 1B, P.. Team 3- At Bat

 

[pontiacfb78]

I tried to explain this system to my dumb*** brother-in-law coach last year. It was impossible to get across to someone who cant think of more than 2 teams. I think i might try to set up a 1 day tourney with this format. The best part is that you only need 6 people. you need 5 in the field, with 1 sitting at all times, and everyone in the batting lineup. Infield team has to pitch and catch, with their choice of 3/4 of the remaining infield positions. Outfield gets the remaining infield position, and 4 in the OF. To set up a proper bracket you need to have a points system. 4 for an outright win, 3 for winning tie, 2 for second, and 1 for second place tie. None for a loss. three way tie gets 2 points per team. 6 points given out per game. I think I can make it work with 18 teams....But i dont think you can do an elimination bracket....It would just have to be a round robin with the most points wins.

 

[ball go far]

use pinch runners, swap out guys as much as possible, if you can carry 7 do so. having guys who can play both inf and of are good to have

 

[AreJay]

This sounds like it could be a lot of fun.

 

[Sully]

which groups of 5 do the catcher and pitcher belong to?

catcher with infield group or outfield group?

I think the ones we played the catcher was with the OF and the Pitcher was with the IF. A lot of fun, a LOT of running.

 

[Jigokumimi]

The rules don't say where TF the catcher is supposed to come from... but there will be two pitchers on the field: an "offensive pitcher," a member of the batting team serving it up from behind a screen; and a "defensive pitcher," a member of the infield team who must stay within 12 feet of the pitching rubber. That last part is weird, sounds like the "defensive pitcher" can't cover first on a ground ball to the right side. Gonna need to get clarification on the day, I reckon.

 

[ichiromoco]

Maybe this is a dumb question but in this format it seems that you rely on another team at all times to play defense.

So in a competitive tourney with a prize and idiots who would do anything to win how do you make sure that defensively teams play honest?

 

[Sully]

You don't. We played one of these and we were in the final 3 for first place. We hit first in the last inning and got to the last teams at bats. The team that hit 2nd was ahead in runs and were hoping we didn't tank plays to let the other team win. If it would have been us ahead, I don't think I could have dropped routine plays to win this kind of a tournament, but I know teams that would.

Most of these tournaments I've seen are meant to be fun and even though people are competing the format dictates it has to be played for fun because you are relying on other teams. What can even unbalance it more is if not every team plays all the teams. We played one where we never got to play the worst fielding team at the tournament in the round robin, so we scored less runs and the tie breakers dropped us to the lower bracket for the tournament part.

 

[csk415]

Here are the rules we used for field and batting order. pretty fun tournament. Wish we had more.

TEAM DESCRIPTIONS
1. The "Infield Team": a five (5) person team that plays pitcher, 1st base, 2nd base, 3rd base
& shortstop positions for three (3) "outs" in an inning.
2. The "Outfield team": a five (5) person team that plays catcher & the 4 outfield positions
for three (3) "outs" in an inning.
3. The "Batting Team": a five (5), or six (6) person (with an EH ‘extra hitter’) team that
bats until three (3) "outs" are recorded.

TEAM ROTATIONS
1. Once the "Batting Team" completes their turn at bat, they assume the "Outfield Team"
positions).
2. The "Infield Team" then takes their turn at bat, while the "Outfield Team" assumes the
“Infield Team” positions.
3. Bat-Outfield-Infield-Bat rotation.

COED TEAMS
1. You may play with 3 Males & 3 Females (player #6 becomes your EH).
2. Team must have two (2) female players on defense at all times.

 

[AreJay]

How long do the games last?

 

[whogotz]

Here are the rules we used for field and batting order. pretty fun tournament. Wish we had more.

TEAM DESCRIPTIONS
1. The "Infield Team": a five (5) person team that plays pitcher, 1st base, 2nd base, 3rd base
& shortstop positions for three (3) "outs" in an inning.
2. The "Outfield team": a five (5) person team that plays catcher & the 4 outfield positions
for three (3) "outs" in an inning.
3. The "Batting Team": a five (5), or six (6) person (with an EH ‘extra hitter’) team that
bats until three (3) "outs" are recorded.

TEAM ROTATIONS
1. Once the "Batting Team" completes their turn at bat, they assume the "Outfield Team"
positions).
2. The "Infield Team" then takes their turn at bat, while the "Outfield Team" assumes the
“Infield Team” positions.
3. Bat-Outfield-Infield-Bat rotation.

COED TEAMS
1. You may play with 3 Males & 3 Females (player #6 becomes your EH).
2. Team must have two (2) female players on defense at all times.

easiest way to do it in my opinion. i have done 5 inning games - guys are pretty much exhausted at that point anyway.

as for teams tanking it to let someone else win - who does that?!?!?! lucky for me the teams that have played my events have done it for the fun aspect first and the prizes second.

 

[zuke 37]

give over the line a try

overtheline.org out of southern califorina sad diago they play on the beach with 1500 teams

 

[Wheels33]

Sounds like a lot of fun. But seems like you need a lot of luck to win. Relying one other teams and having a good/bad spot in the 3 team rotation.

 

[Katzy63]

It's great when you have a horrible fielding team in the mix, play that to an advantage and try to exploit it when you have sticks to build your score... It all evens out in the long run.

 

[Jigokumimi]

It was a lot of fun, all right.
The biggest strategy issue I didn't think of was lineup: you might only hit two innings in a half-hour "game," and if you go three-and-out in one of those innings you're probably doomed.