2026 Battle of the Bags
RPAA Cornhole Tournament

===TOURNAMENT OVERVIEW===

LOGISTICS

●     Date: Sunday, October 18, 2026

●     Time: 1:00pm – 5:00pm

●     Location: Matthews Field

●     Team Entry Fee: $30

●     Participants: 32 total players (16 teams x 2 players per team)

●     Courts: 4 sets of boards

FORMAT

●     Multi-Phase Tournament: Group Stage followed by Knockout Rounds

●     Guaranteed Games: 3 matches minimum per team

●     Match Duration: 20-minute cap per game or first team to 21+ points

●     Estimated Event Time: Approximately 4 hours total

PHASE 1: GROUP STAGE

●     Setup: 16 teams are split evenly into 4 groups (Carlock Group, Houghton Group, Matthews Group, and Midland Group)

●     Format: Round-robin play where each team plays the other 3 teams in their group

●     Advancement: The top 2 teams from each group (8 teams total) advance to the Knockout Stage. Standings are ranked by win-loss record

●     Tiebreakers: Head-to-head match results, then point differential

INTERMISSION: KNOCKOUT ROUND SEEDING

A brief break following the Group Stage to calculate final pool standings, settle tiebreakers, and seed the knockout bracket. Winning teams must record final score and game time remaining.

PHASE 2: KNOCKOUT ROUNDS (SINGLE ELIMINATION)

●     Quarterfinals: 8 teams / 4 matches (played simultaneously across Courts 1–4).

●     Semifinals: 4 teams / 2 matches (played across Courts 1–2).

●     Finals: Championship Match on Court 1 to crown the tournament winner.

===GAMES RULES & SCORING===

BOARD SETUP & PITCHING

●     Distance: Boards placed facing each other, 27 feet apart from front edge to front edge.

●     Positions: Teammates stand at opposite boards, facing each other on the same side of the lane – each board will have opponents standing on either side of it

●     Pitching: Each team receives 4 bags of the same color. Players at the same board alternate pitching bags one at a time until all 8 bags (4 per team) are thrown.

●     Inning: An inning is completed when all four players have thrown four bags each

SCORING VALUES

●     In the Hole (3 Points): Any bag thrown into or knocked through the board's hole.

●     On the Board (1 Point): Any bag resting on the board surface at the end of the inning.

●     Off the Board (0 Points): Any bag on the ground or leaning against the ground. Bags touching the ground before bouncing onto the board are dead and removed immediately.

CANCELLATION SCORING & RUNNING TOTAL

Inning scores cancel each other out, and any net points earned in an inning are added to a team's running total score. Only the team with the higher score in an inning earns net points for that round.

●     Example 1: Team A scores 5 points, Team B scores 3 points

○     Team A adds 2 points to their running total (5 - 3 = 2).

●     Example 2: Team A scores 3 points, Team B scores 3 points

○     0 points added to either running total.

WINNING THE GAME

●     Standard Win: The first team to score at least 21+ points at the completion of an inning wins the match.

●     20-Minute Time Cap: If neither team reaches 21 points when the 20-minute timer expires, whichever team has the most points at the end of that final inning wins.