2015 ODT Format and Schedule

The 2015 Opening Day Tournament is upon us and we have five teams locked in and ready to play. The games will start at 9 am and can be seen live via Periscope. The following will be the overall format to go along with the general rules:

• Round robin in the morning followed by a single elimination “playoffs” in the afternoon.

• 4 inning round robin games. 5 inning single elim games.

• RUN LIMIT: 5 runs per inning. If the bases are loaded with 4 runs in, any runs that score on the following play count. NO RUN LIMIT IN THE LAST INNING.

The official schedule:

9:00 - Dawgs vs Franchise

9:30 - Friends vs Hack Daniels

10:00 - Crush vs Friends

10:30 - Franchise vs Hack Daniels

11:00 - Crush vs Dawgs

11:30 - Hack Daniels vs Dawgs

12:00 - Friends vs Franchise

12:30 - Hack Daniels vs Crush

1:00 - Dawgs vs Friends

1:30 - Franchise vs Crush

2:00 - 5 seed vs 4 seed

2:30 - 3 seed vs 2 seed

3:00 - 1 seed vs 4/5 Winner

3:30 - Championship

And now, because information is boring, some team previews:

Caledonia Crush: These are the Washburn guys, and they can hit. Regis is a do-it-all type of guy but can’t use his pitching skills in slow pitch. Hammond played on the NWLA team as well. I personally don’t know much about Matt Heins, but he tied for the Washburn lead in RBI, so that’s something.

Freaky Franchise: Bush and Tomkins bring another OCWA player into the fold in Zach “Puig” Carpin. Puig is the youngest player in the OCWA but has been a clutch bat for a few years now. Tomkins and Bush are known quantities, the questions with this team just becomes a matter of pitching.

Hack Daniels: With Papa Bush not playing this weekend, Jon is going to have to find a sub. Some names have been floated around but nothing definite. He promises he’ll be there though. He brings a power bat and some good slow pitch skills. As for the rest of this team… we’ll just have to see who he picks.

Pavlov’s Dawgs: The chemistry on this squad is impeccable, as they’ve been playing together since 2012. Some pretty decent power and averages guys are featured in the lineup, and they could have an ace in the hole pitching-wise. They’ll be a team to watch on Saturday and have their toughest game at 9 am.

The Friends: Jon Suhre’s friends and Josh “Pete” Ciolek, who is a former OCWA champion without playing a single game. No one knows much about their skills, but Pete was at the 2009 ODT before having to leave prior to playing. They’re playing for the first time on Friday night and will have to use whatever they learn on Saturday.