The Grand Forks International (GFI) is an annual international invitational

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

tournament hosted at

James Donaldson Park James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

Grand Forks, British Columbia Grand Forks, population 4,112, is a city in the Boundary Country of the West Kootenay region of British Columbia, Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Granby and Kettle Rivers, a tributary of the Columbia River. The city is just nor ...

. The GFI is the largest invitational baseball tournament in Canada and is a large part of the culture in Grand Forks. The tournament is also notable for being run entirely by

volunteers Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...

History

The Grand Forks International was founded by Larry Seminoff, and the tournament led to the existence of the

World Baseball Challenge The World Baseball Challenge is an international baseball competition based in Prince George, British Columbia, Canada. The tournament was established in 2002 by Larry Seminoff, who is also the founder of the Grand Forks International. History ...

, initially starting in 2002, at James Donaldson Park. The 2015 prize purse is $54,000.

Past Winners

Prior winners of the tournament are:

Alumni

Notable Grand Forks International Alumni

Rules

Rule 1: The official rules of baseball, as published by

Baseball Canada Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding te ...

, shall govern the playing of baseball games during the tournament. Specifications as to facility, equipment, play-off format, etc. have been modified to meet the needs of the tournament. Teams may elect to use the

designated hitter rule The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. The position is authorized by Major League Baseball Rule 5.11. It was adopted by the American League in 1973 and later by th ...

. Rule 2: All games will be nine (9) innings.

Extra innings Extra innings is the extension of a baseball or softball game in order to break a tie. Ordinarily, a baseball game consists of nine regulation innings (in softball and high school baseball games there are typically seven innings; in Little Lea ...

to be played to determine winners. Rule 3: Toss of a coin at home plate will determine home team for all preliminary round games. Teams with better records, as determined by the tournament rules, will be the Home Teams for all Money Round games. Rule 4: Teams must be prepared to play ball when scheduled. Infield drills will be permitted only if time allows. Rule 5: The 20 second rule between pitches will be invoked. If the pitcher has not delivered the ball to the batter within 20 seconds after receiving the ball an automatic ball will be issued to the batter. If the batter is not set in the batter’s box within the 20 seconds and the pitcher is ready to throw an automatic strike will be issued. Rule 6: After the third out of each at bat the teams have 90 seconds to resume play. Rule 7: An Eight Run rule will apply to all tournament games except the semi-finals and final. If one team is ahead by eight or more runs after the trailing team has completed seven innings the game is over. Rule 8: Should circumstances arise where a game or games are postponed or cancelled, the Tournament Rules Committee (TRC) has the authority to act upon any alteration to the tournament format or schedule. Rule 9: There are no restrictions relative to roster size. However, teams will not be permitted to add to their roster any player who was on the roster of a team eliminated earlier from further competition. Rule 10: Should a protest arise, that protest must officially be brought to the attention of the home plate

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...

, who in turn will forward such protest to the Tournament Protest Committee Chairman or designate. This Committee will then rule on the identified protest and their decision will be final. Rule 11: In the event a contest is forfeited, the team receiving the forfeiture shall claim a 7-0 win. The forfeiting team, meanwhile, shall surrender all earnings, if any, to the tournament. Rule 12: The top two teams in each division will qualify for the tournament’s Money Round. Rule 13: Two wild card teams with the best record after the top two division teams are determined will complete the eight team Money Round. Rule 14: Tie Breaker Rule: the following Rule will determine division winners, division runner-up teams, wild card teams, and Money Round seeding. Tie Breaker Rule: # Runs allowed / innings played defensively. # Earned Run average. # Runs for / innings played offensively Rule 15: A playoff game of 5 innings will be held to determine the second wild card team in the event of all 3 divisions having 3 teams with identical 2 - 1 round robin records. Rule 16: This is a wood bat tournament. Composite bats are allowed. Rule 17: Any player who is ejected from the game is subject to further discipline at the discretion of the Tournament Committee.

References

{{International Baseball

External links