Beginning today, new regulations meant to protect the health of young pitchers will go into effect across Iowa.
Players in grade 8-12 can throw 1-25 pitches in a game without the requirement of a day’s rest, but, should a pitcher throw 26-40 pitches he must sit one day. Should an individual throw 41-65 pitches, the mandatory rest period is two days, and that number grows to three days if a pitcher tosses 66-90 pitches.
Ninety pitches is the absolute minimum for an eighth grader or freshman, but players in grades 10-12 are allowed to throw 91-110 pitches, although a mandatory four-day rest period is then required. Weekly pitch totals — a week being defined as Sunday-Saturday — cannot exceed 180 pitches for grades 10-12 and 150 for grades 8-9.
Pitch count forms have been provided or made available and are to be used at all games. One adult (not a player) on each team is to track pitches thrown, which are to be confirmed after each inning. A coach from each school will verify and sign both pitch count charts after each game, with all varsity pitch counts required to be reported on quikstats.com within 24 hours of the completion of each varsity game.
“It was already tough to find enough arms to get you through the season, and now I think you are going to see teams dropping weekend games as fast as they can,” said Perry head coach Mike Long. “I think we might be OK, maybe not, but the small schools are going to really feel this (new rule).”
Perry has already dropped their own Saturday tourney and will not find a replacement for their annual trip to the Nodaway Valley tourney, which the hosts also chose to cancel. The Bluejays will play in the Atlantic tourney.
“No one is against protecting kids or being on the side of safety,” Long added. “But even some of the big schools are going to find it hard to find enough arms. With freshman and junior varsity games eating up innings, I think your 1A and 2A schools are really going to effected by this, and it is probably going to mean less baseball (being played).”
