Baseball-Like Archery Game, System and Method

Abstract

Provided in various example embodiments is a baseball-like archery game, system and method comprising various steps such as positioning archery targets in a plurality of positions on a field corresponding to defensive positions of baseball players in a baseball game, and having players on an offense team shoot arrows from the home plate area toward the archery targets, thereby accruing single, double, triple, or home-run base hit statuses depending on which target is hit, or, alternatively, striking-out when a predetermined number of shots miss an aimed-for target. A player may also be out when a player on a defense team successfully hits the same target hit by the offense player. While the players do not actually run the bases or go out in the field except to retrieve arrows, the scoring and other rules may largely mimic those of baseball.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of playing a baseball-like archery game, comprising the steps of:
 a) positioning archery targets in a plurality of positions on a field corresponding to defensive positions of baseball players in a baseball game;   b) providing two teams of shooters, initially assigning a first team as offense shooters and a second team as defense shooters, and assigning each archery target to a corresponding defense shooter;   c) a first offense shooter shooting an arrow at one of the archery targets from a position on the field corresponding to a batting position of a baseball player in a baseball game;
 a. if the first offense shooter hits one of the archery targets with the arrow, then:
 i. a defense shooter assigned to the archery target that the first offense shooter hit with the arrow, shoots an arrow at the archery target that the first offense shooter hit with the arrow, from a position on the field corresponding to a batting position of a baseball player in a baseball game;
 1. if the defense shooter hits the archery target that the first offense shooter hit with the arrow, then the first offense shooter accrues the status of being out; and 
 2. if the defense shooter misses the archery target that the first offense shooter hit with the arrow, then the first offense shooter accrues a preselected base hit status corresponding to the archery target that the first offense shooter hit with the arrow, the preselected base hit status selected from the group consisting of: single, double, triple, and home run; 
 
 
 b. if the first offense shooter misses all of the archery targets with the arrow, then the first offense shooter repeats step c); 
 c. if the first offense shooter repeats step c) a preselected number of times without hitting any of the archery targets, then the first offense shooter accrues the status of being out; 
   d) a second offense shooter shooting an arrow at one of the archery targets from a position on the field corresponding to a batting position of a baseball player in a baseball game;
 a. if the second offense shooter hits one of the archery targets with the arrow, then:
 i. a defense shooter assigned to the archery target that the second offense shooter hit with the arrow, shoots an arrow at the archery target that the second offense shooter hit with the arrow, from a position on the field corresponding to a batting position of a baseball player in a baseball game;
 1. if the defense shooter hits the archery target that the second offense shooter hit with the arrow, then the second offense shooter accrues the status of being out; and 
 2. if the defense shooter misses the archery target that the second offense shooter hit with the arrow, then the second offense shooter accrues a preselected base hit status corresponding to the archery target that the second offense shooter hit with the arrow, the preselected base hit status selected from the group consisting of: single, double, triple, and home run; and the preselected base hit status, if any, accrued by the first offense shooter who is not out advances based on the base hit status accrued by the second offense shooter; 
 
 
 b. if the second offense shooter misses all of the archery targets with the arrow, then the second offense shooter repeats step d); 
 c. if the second offense shooter repeats step d) a preselected number of times without hitting any of the archery targets, then the second offense shooter accrues the status of being out; 
   e) a third offense shooter shooting an arrow at one of the archery targets from a position on the field corresponding to a batting position of a baseball player in a baseball game;
 a. if the third offense shooter hits one of the archery targets with the arrow, then:
 i. a defense shooter assigned to the archery target that the third offense shooter hit with the arrow, shoots an arrow at the archery target that the third offense shooter hit with the arrow, from a position on the field corresponding to a batting position of a baseball player in a baseball game;
 1. if the defense shooter hits the archery target that the third offense shooter hit with the arrow, then the third offense shooter accrues the status of being out; and 
 2. if the defense shooter misses the archery target that the third offense shooter hit with the arrow, then the third offense shooter accrues a preselected base hit status corresponding to the archery target that the third offense shooter hit with the arrow, the preselected base hit status selected from the group consisting of: single, double, triple, and home run; and the preselected base hit status, if any, accrued by the first offense shooter who is not out advances based on the base hit status accrued by the third offense shooter, and the preselected base hit status, if any, accrued by the second offense shooter who is not out advances based on the base hit status accrued by the third offense shooter; 
 
 
 b. if the third offense shooter misses all of the archery targets with the arrow, then the third offense shooter repeats step e); 
 c. if the third offense shooter repeats step e) a preselected number of times without hitting any of the archery targets, then the third offense shooter accrues the status of being out; 
   f) awarding a point to the team of the offense shooters whenever an offense shooter attains a base hit status corresponding to home run;   g) upon a preselected number of offense shooters attaining the status of being out, switching the team of offense shooters to being defense shooters and the team of defense shooters to being offense shooters;   h) repeating steps c) through g) at least a predetermined number of times; and then   i) determining a winning team based on which team was awarded the highest number of points.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of positioning archery targets in a plurality of positions on a field corresponding to defensive positions of baseball players in a baseball game further comprises the steps of positioning a first archery target on the field in a position corresponding to approximately where a first baseman would play in a baseball game, and positioning a second archery target on the field in a position corresponding to approximately where a third baseman would play in a baseball game. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising the step of preselecting a base hit status of single to correspond to an offense shooter hitting the first or second archery targets with an arrow. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of positioning archery targets in a plurality of positions on a field corresponding to defensive positions of baseball players in a baseball game further comprises the steps of positioning a third archery target on the field in a position corresponding to approximately where a shortstop would play in a baseball game, and positioning a fourth archery target on the field in a position corresponding to approximately where a second baseman would play in a baseball game. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising the step of preselecting a base hit status of double to correspond to an offense shooter hitting the third or fourth archery targets with an arrow. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of positioning archery targets in a plurality of positions on a field corresponding to defensive positions of baseball players in a baseball game further comprises the steps of positioning a plurality of short outfield archery targets on the field in positions corresponding to approximately where outfielders would play in a baseball game, when playing proximal the batter. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising the step of preselecting a base hit status of triple to correspond to an offense shooter hitting one of the short outfield archery targets with an arrow. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of positioning archery targets in a plurality of positions on a field corresponding to defensive positions of baseball players in a baseball game further comprises the steps of positioning a plurality of long outfield archery targets on the field in positions corresponding to approximately where outfielders would play in a baseball game, when playing distal the batter. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising the step of preselecting a base hit status of home run to correspond to an offense shooter hitting one of the long outfield archery targets with an arrow. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each offense shooter accrues the status of being out after shooting an arrow two consecutive times without hitting any of the archery targets. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each offense shooter accrues the status of being out after shooting an arrow three consecutive times without hitting any of the archery targets. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each defense shooter shoots up to a predetermined number of times at the archery target hit by the corresponding offense shooter. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the predetermined number of times is equivalent to the number of times the corresponding offense shooter shot in order to hit the archery target. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of switching the team of offense shooters to being defense shooters and the team of defense shooters to being offense shooters occurs upon three offense shooters attaining the status of being out. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of repeating steps c) through g) at least a predetermined number of times comprises repeating steps c) through g) at least fourteen times. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of repeating steps c) through g) at least a predetermined number of times comprises repeating steps c) through g) at least eighteen times. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein step g) further comprises the step of removing arrows from the archery targets. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein step g) further comprises the step of tallying the number of points awarded to the teams. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of an umpire determining whether an arrow has hit an archery target. 
     
     
         19 . A method of playing a baseball-like archery game, comprising the steps of:
 positioning archery targets in a plurality of positions on a field corresponding to defensive positions of baseball players in a baseball game, and having players on an offense team shoot arrows from a home plate area toward the archery targets, thereby accruing single, double, triple, or home-run base hit statuses depending on which targets are hit, or, alternatively, striking-out when a predetermined number of shots miss an aimed-for target; and an offense player is out when a player on a defense team successfully hits a target hit by said offense player.   
     
     
         20 . A method of playing a baseball-like archery game, comprising:
 positioning archery targets in a plurality of positions on a field corresponding to defensive positions of baseball players in a baseball game;   a step for offense players scoring points by shooting arrows at and hitting the archery targets;   a step for offense players striking-out by shooting arrows at and missing the archery targets; and   a step for offense players becoming out by a defense player shooting an arrow at and hitting an archery target hit by an offense player.