East Lyme’s Dylan Feeney rears back to throw a pitch during the Class L championship game in June. Photo: John Vanacore.
RICHMOND, Va. >> The National Federation of State High School Associations has told its members to adopt a rule regulating the number of pitches a high school pitcher can throw in a game.
The federation did not proscribe a specific number. NFHS director of sports and student services Elliot Hopkins said Tuesday it simply wants local associations legislate a pitch count by next season. The rule will go into effect in the spring of 2017.
Every state plus the District of Columbia is a federation member, Hopkins said, with governance over the largest, typically public association. Each state except Michigan has its own sports medicine advisory committee that will likely be involved in settling on a specific number.
The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Association, which is an NFHS member, passed its own rule limiting pitch counts in February. Like the NFHS, the CIAC’s pitch count regulation will take affect in 2017.
The CIAC had yet to determine its criteria.
When it does, CIAC baseball tournament director Fred Balsamo said the counts would be proportional to days of rest. For example, if a pitcher throws X number of pitches or fewer, he would need one day rest. If he pitches over that number, but less than another number, the pitcher would need two days rest. That sliding scale would continue up to a number of pitches that would require a five day rest.
GameTimeCT contributed to this report.
The post Baseball: NFHS mandates pitch counts nationwide for 2017 appeared first on GameTime CT.