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Land O Lakes (Western Division)
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The Land O Lakes Western Division is one of four divisions that comprise the Land O Lakes Baseball League which was comprised in 1922. The West consists of 12 teams: Oconomowoc, Lannon, Menomonee Falls, North Lake, Pewaukee, Hartland, Monches, Merton, Sussex, Brookfield Blue Sox, Brookfield Bulldogs and West Bend with the Brookfield Blue Sox being the newest (2007). Oconomowoc was the last team from the Western Division to win the Grand Championship (2007).
Regular Season
The Western Division adopted an 18-game schedule in 2007. In 2008 this format was tweaked slightly to require the top 6 teams from the prior year to play the other top 6 teams twice and fill in the rest of their games with the bottom 6 teams from the year before. Similarly, the bottom 6 teams from the prior year will play the other bottom 6 teams twice and fill in the rest of their games with the top 6 teams from the year before.
Games are played on Sunday afternoons with the the exception of a few Saturday games and a couple holiday games (4th of July and Memorial Day). The regular season typically begins the last Sunday in April or the first Sunday in May and runs until early August which is when the division playoffs begin. Divisional playoffs must be concluded by mid-August for the Grand Championship which usually runs until mid-September.
Playoff format
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Each division of the Land O Lakes is allowed to comprise their own playoff format to select their division champion. The LOL West has adopted a six team playoff system. The first round consists of the top two teams with a bye, the 6 seed at the 3 seed and the 5 seed at the 4 seed. The second round is the winners from the first round with the better seed at the 2 seed and the worse seed at the 1 seed. The winners of that game will then play with the worse seed at the better seed*. If the winner of this game is the 1 seed, they advance to the Grand Championship. If the winner is NOT the the 1 seed, then there will be a 1 game playoff between the winner at the 1 seed with the winner of this game advancing to the Grand Championship. The purpose of this format is to reward the top seed for finishing 1st by allowing them to lose a game in the playoffs.
*In 2008 one additional change was made. If the 1 seed wins their first game, they will play their second game on the road. If they lose that game, the final game will be played at the 1 seed's park. The purpose of this rule change was to allow another team to get an additional home playoff game.
However, if any team manages to go undefeated in the LOL West (18-0) there will be no playoffs and that team automatically advances to the Grand Championship.
Tie breakers
In the case of teams having the same record at the end of the season, the tie breakers are as follows...
1) Head-to-head record
2) Best record against playoff teams
3) Combined record of teams lost to
4) Least number of runs allowing in all regular season games
5) coin flip
Grand Championship format
The winners of the four divisional championships will compete in the Land O Lakes Grand Championship. This is a double elimination tournament. The initial 2 round of the Grand Championship are predetermined with each team having a home and away game. After the first two rounds, the remaining games are scheduled accordingly.
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Tri County Night League
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The Tri County Night League is a league with various teams from the Land O Lakes and Rock River league and is used to get some extra games in. It is comprised of roughly 15 teams.
Regular Season
The TCNL adopted an 10-game schedule in 2002. The majority of the games are played at night during the week on Tuesdays through Fridays with some Saturday afternoon games mixed in. The regular season typically begins in late April and goes until the end of July when the playoffs begin. The playoffs last 3 weeks.
Playoff format
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The Tri County playoffs adopted a six team, single elimination playoff format in 2007. The top two seeds receive a bye the first week with the 3 seed hosting the 6 seed and the 4 hosting the 5 seed. The second week consists of the worst remaining seed at the 1 seed and the other remaining team at the 2 seed. The winner of those two games will then play in the Championship.
Tie breakers
In the case of teams having the same record at the end of the season, the tie breakers are as follows...
1) Head-to-head record
2) Best record against teams above you
3) Playoff game 1
1 Note that a playoff game will only be played if it is needed to determine which team will get in the playoffs. Playoff games will NOT be played between teams that are already in the playoffs and just to determine seeding.
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