Provincial Baseball Championship

What an entertaining weekend of baseball in Glenboro and Baldur.  The final came down to the bottom of the 7th inning where Jackson Thiessen hit a walk off Grand Slam to win the game 16-12 for the Garden City Gophers!

1. DEADLINE DATES

TOURNAMENTS must be registered online at the MHSAA website at least one week prior to the tournament start date.

ONLINE ROSTER is due by MAY 19. All teams must enter their roster online regardless of whether or not they will be attending the Provincial Championships.

ZONE AND INTERZONE PLAYOFFS must be completed by MAY 25. Please inform the MHSAA as soon as your representative has been determined.

WILDCARD APPLICATIONS are due by MAY 24 at 1:00 pm sharp. Wildcards are open to zone semi-finalists and finalists only. Applications must include the 
following:
- Letter of intent to participate signed by the Principal.
- All Schools applying for a wildcard must pay a $25 non-refundable application fee. Schools selected to play in a wildcard game will additionally be invoiced for the wildcard game fee of $125. The school will then have 20 working days from the date of the invoice to pay the fee(s) or they will be subject to further sanctioning.
- All teams applying for a wildcard will have their season record taken from the MHSAA website. Teams applying must ensure their online record accurately reflects all games played (league, exhibition, & tournament). Additionally, any team that participates in an out of province tournament or exhibition game must email greg@mhsaa.ca with the date, opponent(s) and scores of those games by the deadline above. If your application does not include the letter of intent, and/or is late, the application will not be considered. Wildcard game date and location will be determined once the teams have been selected. Automatic wildcard spots may be awarded.

SEEDING INFORMATION will be taken from the MHSAA website. All teams will have until MAY 26 to ensure their season record accurately reflects all games played throughout the season. Additionally, any team that participates in an out of province tournament or exhibition game must email greg@mhsaa.ca with the date, opponent(s) and scores of those games by the deadline above. 

2. FORMAT & RULES
A) FORMAT: the  championship will be twelve (12) team round robin with four (4) pools of three (3). There will be a championship play-off with no consolation.

B) RULES: Baseball Canada (18U A category) rules will be in effect. Special playing rules approved by the MHSAA will take precedence over playing rules in the official rule book.

It is expected that all teams attend Opening Ceremonies and related functions. Non-attendance may result in fines, and/or further sanctions against the school.

Uniform Rule: Style and colour of uniform must be consistent throughout the team. Each team must have matching caps (no commercial advertising allowed on them) and shirts with clearly visible numbers on the shirts. (No commercial or ‘club’ shirts permitted.) Coaches must wear school team cap. Coaches should be advised that if the uniform rule is not adhered to, the team may not be allowed to compete and may be fined up to $200. The school may also be put on probation (probation being that if the school violates the infraction again, the school may be fined $200 and be suspended from all MHSAA activities). Advertising on uniforms must adhere to guidelines as outlined on pages 130-131 of the MHSAA Handbook.

Baseball:

Pitch Count is in effect for high school baseball.

All games will be 7 innings with 10-run rule after 5 innings.

The following procedure will be used to break any ties in the pool following the completion of pool play:

Two Teams Tied - Round-robin winner in game between tied teams shall advance.

Three Teams Tied for first- When three teams are tied for first place in a roundrobin draw the team with the best win-loss record in the game(s) played between or among the tied teams will place higher in the standings. Following this, if the three teams are still tied for first place, one team will be awarded first place based on the three teams tied formula (as shown below). 2nd place will be determined by continuing on through the formulas as listed until the tie is broken.

Three teams tied formula (use these in the order they are listed)
1) Runs Against
Defensive Outs (= Lowest Ratio Advances) (Games between tied teams only)
Example:
 Team A - 11 Team B - 1             in 15 defensive outs
 Team C - 9 Team A - 8               in 21 defensive outs
 Team B - 15 Team C - 13           in 21 defensive outs
                                                   Team A   Team B   Team C
 Runs against                                 10           24           23
 Number of defensive outs            36           36           42
 Ratio                                           0.278       .667        .548
In this example, Team A is declared first

2) Runs For
Offensive Outs (= Highest Ratio Advances) (Games between tied teams only) 

3) Runs Against
Defensive Outs (= Lowest Ratio Advances) (All games included)

4) Runs For
Offensive Outs (= Highest Ratio Advances) (All games included)

5) Three-way coin flip.

NOTE: When a multiple tie occurs and is only partially resolved, the remaining ties will be resolved by continuing on with the remaining tie breaking priorities until all 5 priorities have been exhausted. In continuing, the statistics of all the originally tied teams are still used until all priorities have been applied. Then and only then will the remaining tied teams return to priority number 1 and proceed though the order again.

3. AWARDS 
The winner will receive the championship banner, championship t-shirt, and 1st place medals (16 each). The finalists will receive the finalist banner, and 2nd place medals (16). The third-place team will receive a plaque and bronze medals (16). An all-star team along with a M.V.P. will be selected.

Schools with team rosters that exceed the allotted number of awards would be responsible for the cost of any additional awards required.

4. SUPERVISION
At all MHSAA Provincial Championships, interzone and wildcard games, participants must have a teacher from the school division in attendance as a supervisor, or they will not be allowed to compete. In individual sports where it may be unrealistic for one teacher to accompany one student, the zone may designate teacher supervisors for athletes. This must be a written request, signed by each principal involved, and approved by the MHSAA, well in advance. The designated teacher supervisor should have a copy of the letter, with them during the championship.

Teachers employed in the school division where they are coaching a team, may be the supervisor for that team. The responsibility rests with the school to ensure that supervisor(s) are fully acquainted with all MHSAA rules, regulations, and consequences. Violation of this rule may result in a fine up to a maximum of $200.

5. INCLEMENT WEATHER PROCEDURE
The MHSAA, in cases of severe weather disruptions, may have to make decisions as to the possible rescheduling of Provincial Championships. MHSAA decisions will be based on Environment Canada weather reports, the Manitoba Highway reports and weather conditions at the host site. Information on possible schedule changes will be posted on the host website between 6:30 and 7:00 am on the day of the Championship. Schools will also be emailed any changes. In case of inclement weather, schools should refrain from travelling to Provincial Championships until they receive notification from the MHSAA Assistant Executive Director with instructions and updated scheduling. Schools deciding to travel prior to receiving notification from MHSAA Assistant Executive Director do so at their own risk and will be responsible for their travel and hotel costs, should the event be postponed or changed.

Many schools travel to Provincial Championships on the day prior to the championship beginning. In cases where most schools are already at the host site, the convenor along with MHSAA assistant director will try to modify schedules to accommodate teams that will be arriving later due to weather conditions