Pitch limits for all high school baseball games in the state beginning next spring received final approval from the Maine Principals’ Association this week.
The policy, developed by the Maine Principals’ Association’s baseball committee in consultation with the organization’s sports medicine committee, was enacted during the Maine Principals’ Association’s annual fall conference in Portland, according to Maine Principals’ Association Executive Director Dick Durost.
The move fulfills a mandate issued by the National Federation of State High School Associations last summer for all state associations under its jurisdiction, including Maine, to establish pitch limits before the start of the 2017 season.
Maine’s new pitch-count restrictions are in line with USA Baseball’s Pitch Smart recommendations and replace the former practice of limiting availability based on the number of innings pitched.
The Pitch Smart guidelines were developed by a panel that included famed orthopedist Dr. James Andrews, Major League Baseball medical director Dr. Gary Green and team physicians for the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies and San Diego Padres.
They were used earlier this year by American Legion Baseball to establish pitch limits for its Senior and Junior Legion divisions.
The Maine Principals’ Association baseball committee also drew input from pitch-count standards already implemented by other states including Vermont, New York, Georgia and Alabama, and from coaches around the state through the Maine Baseball Coaches Association.
The approved limits for Maine high school varsity pitchers would require no calendar days of rest for one to 20 pitches thrown in a day, one day of rest for 21 to 39 pitches, two days of rest for 40 to 65 pitches, three days of rest for 66 to 95 pitches and four days of rest for 96 or more pitches with a maximum of 110 pitches in a day.
Should a pitcher reach the 110-pitch limit in the middle of an at-bat, he may finish pitching to that batter before being replaced.
Those daily pitch limits also apply to doubleheaders, according to Maine Principals’ Association Assistant Executive Director Mike Burnham, so that a pitcher may work in both games so long as the total pitches thrown that day do not exceed 110.
Pitch limits also were set for sub-varsity levels, with no calendar days of rest required for one to 15 pitches in a day, one day of rest for 16 to 35 pitches, two days of rest for 36 to 55 pitches, three days of rest for 56 to 74 pitches and four days of rest for 75 or more pitches with a maximum of 90 pitches in a day.
The new policy also recommends middle-school pitch limits, and while the Maine Principals’ Association doesn’t govern middle-school sports, any middle school that follows NFHS rules must employ a baseball pitch count beginning next year.
Those middle-level recommendations would require no calendar days of rest for one to 15 pitches in a day, one day of rest for 16 to 30 pitches, two days of rest for 31 to 50 pitches, three days of rest for 51 to 70 pitches and four days of rest for 71 or more pitches with a maximum of 85 pitches in a day.
The policy also recommends that a player not be switched between pitcher and catcher in the same day because such a change may not be necessarily resting the arm.
Each team will be responsible for tracking pitches during regular-season games and cross-checking with the opposing team. During postseason play, teams will report their pitch counts to the Maine Principals’ Association after each game until the regional finals and state championship games, when official scorers employed by the Maine Principals’ Association will keep track of pitch counts.
