2012 QUALIFIERS

LONE STAR SHOOTOUT SERIES:
The Lone Star Shootout State Championship Series are high-quality tournaments to be held throughout Texas during the 2012 softball season. Each tournament will have at least 4 divisions -- Men's Class B, Men's Class C and Men's Class D, Men's E.  Other divisions (such as Co-ed and Women) will be added for selected qualifiers. The top 5 finishers at each tournament will qualify for the Lone Star Shootout State Championship Finals. In addition, any team that participates in any three qualifiers, regardless of record, will automatically be invited to the State Championship Finals.

SHOOTOUT STATE FINALS DIRECT BERTHS: The top 5 finishers in each division at each qualifier will receive direct berths to the  Lone Star Shootout State Championship Finals.  If one of those qualifiers is unable to accept for any reason (already have berth, decline berth, misses deadline, disqualification, etc.) the berth would be offered to the next highest finisher from that tournament until all slots are filled.

SHOOTOUT STATE FINALS INVITATIONAL BERTHS: A team which competes in any three Lone Star Shootout Qualifiers, regardless of finish, will receive an automatic invitation to the Lone Star Shootout State Finals.

SHOOTOUT POINT SYSTEM: 1st Place = 10; 2nd Place = 8; 3rd Place = 6; 4th Place = 4; 5th Place = 2; All Others = 1.  In addition, Bonus Points will be awarded for participation in multiple events (2 Bonus Points for 2nd tournament,  3 Bonus Points for 3rd tournament, etc.). For example, a team participating in four tournaments would be guaranteed 13 points, even if they went 0-2 in all 4 tournaments -- 4 participation points (1, 1, 1, 1) and 9 Bonus Points (0, 2, 3, 4). This system rewards teams who participate in multiple Lone Star Shootout events.

SUPER QUALIFIERS: Five tournaments will offer ADDITIONAL POINTS because of their added magnitude: the 26th Annual Budweiser Softball Festival on May 5-6 in Bryan-College Station, the Conference USSSA Space City N.I.T. on June 1-3 at Big League Dreams in League City, and the Lone Star Shootout USSSA N.I.T.'S on May 19-20 at Big League Dreams in Mansfield. Points awarded for these five tournaments will be: 1st = 20; 2nd = 18; 3rd = 16; 4th = 14; 5th & 6th = 12; 7th & 8th = 10; 9th thru 12th = 8; 13th thru 16th = 6; 17th thru 24th = 4; All Others = 2. (Bonus Points are added to these totals at the normal scale). State Finals are also awarded Super Qualifier Points.

SEEDING FOR FINALS: The Point System will help determine some seeding and priority order for any possible byes at the State Championship Finals. For example, seeding for the top 4, 8, 16, 32, etc. positions (depending on number of teams entered) will be set according to the Point System Standings.

STATE CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS: In an effort to accommodate more teams, there will be several separate State Championship Finals this year. The North Texas State Finals for ALL divisions will be held July 7-8 at Big League Dreams in Mansfield. The Southwest State Finals for ALL divisions will be held June 30-31 at Time Warner Park in San Antonio. The South Texas State Finals will be held over two weekends at Big League Dreams in League City -- Men's D and Co-ed on June 30-31, and all the rest (Men's B, Men's C, Men's E and Women) on July 7-8.

NEW! EXPANDED "BATTLE FOR THE RINGS": The Top 2 Finishers in each division at the North Texas State Finals, Southwest State Finals, South Texas State Finals, and Budweiser Softball Festival will each get direct berths to the Lone Star Shootout "Battle For The Rings" which will be held July 28-29 at Big League Dreams in Mansfield. In addition, the next 8 teams in Men's C, Women and Co-ed, plus the next 16 for Men's D and Men's E, with the highest Lone Star Shootout Point Totals will receive At-Large Berths to the "Battle For The Rings." Men's B will be 4 teams by invitation only. Should any team decline a berth, it will be offered to the next highest Point Total until all slots are filled.

SANDBAGGER CLAUSE: The Series Administrator reserves the right to re-classify teams, if necessary, for purposes of competitive balance in the Lone Star Shootout Series. For example, if a USSSA-registered D team from Alaska comes to a Shootout qualifier and goes undefeated and wins every game by 10 runs, LSSO reserves the right to move that team up to C for the purposes of the Shootout Series only. That would not affect their classification in USSSA. Only a team's home State Director can change their USSSA classification.

For immediate information, send questions to: info@lonestarsoftball.com

lonestarsoftball.com - (979) 575-5669
E-mail: info@lonestarsoftball.com - Internet: www.lonestarsoftball.com
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