The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) pushed back a vote on proposed pitch-count limit recommendations at its October meeting.
The vote has been rescheduled for Dec. 12 after the board holds a series of annual meetings that are not open to the public.
‘’I am not surprised the board postponed its vote,’’ Mount Vernon Township High School baseball coach Tim Holloway told Southeast Illinois News. ''There is quite a bit of discussion of pros and cons between coaches throughout the state. I think that coaches throughout the state will continue to voice their opinion.’’
The IHSA conducts the meetings to keep principals up to date on rules and proposed changes. Principals at IHSA member schools are required to attend the meetings each year.
‘’Although I believe in protecting pitchers' arms, I do not believe the majority of the problem is with the high school coaches,’’ Holloway said.
''Our players rarely reach 100 pitches and almost always have more rest than the proposal requires. The pitch-count numbers won't affect us much. I have rarely seen any high school pitcher being "overused" in our area during the high school season in my 12 years as head baseball coach at Mount Vernon. ‘’
During the summer, Holloway said he coaches youth travel teams, and he is disturbed by what is going on at the youth level.
‘’ It is common to see kids pitch a lot of innings on back-to-back days at tournaments," Holloway said. "At times, we see young kids pitching in both games of double headers. Research shows that many of these injuries do not happen overnight. After years of overuse with kids who have weak bodies, undeveloped growth plates, etc., these injuries can show up later in a player's career.
"There are also no regulations on high school travel or select ball," Holloway said. "Some players are playing a ton of summer league and fall league games and throwing a lot of "stress pitches" off a mound in a game with no regulations.’’
In August, the IHSA baseball advisory committee made a series of recommendations to the board, which had ben scheduled to vote Oct. 12. To become a rule, the board has to pass the recommendation by a simple majority.
In attendance at the August meeting was Dr. Preston Wolin, director and founder of the Center for Athletic Medicine in Chicago, who helped draft some of the proposed rule changes along with area coaches.
‘’This meeting was not only extremely gratifying, but really historic for the players, parents, coaches and administrators,’’ Wolin said.
Wolin said Illinois has gone above and beyond any other state in the nation when it comes to pitch counts.
‘’The proposed rules also provide a weekly cap on the number of pitches thrown,'' Wolin said. ''The reason this is important is that while many of the models used by other states protect the pitcher, there is a potential for overuse by throwing the pitcher on multiple consecutive days even at the allowable number of pitches.''
If passed, the recommendations will become effective as of the 2017 season.
‘’I think these recommendations are going to make the game safer and more enjoyable,’’ Wolin said. ‘’The cooperation of the baseball coaches in coming up with these limits was outstanding. Everyone in that room was committed to the safety of our young pitchers. That dedication is being translated into our pitch-count limits in the State of Illinois.’’
At least one high school coach does not have a problem with the recommendations and said he wishes the committee would go a little further.
"The biggest issue is not guys being abused during the high school season,’’ Glenbard North coach Rich Smelko said. "One of the biggest issues are guys being abused pitching on summer travel ball teams. Pitchers are going to one-day showcases where they have not thrown for a lengthy period of time."
For that reason, young pitchers may try too hard, Smelko said.
''They are throwing their hardest to light up the radar gun and pop some eyes of some college coaches and scouts," Smelko said. "You combine (that with) guys throwing in the summer, and that could lead to some potential for problems in the future.’’
Holloway, however, probably summed it up best.
‘Protecting our players' health is always a good thing, but in my opinion, IHSA baseball is not the problem,’’ Holloway said.
Here is a schedule of the meetings. http://ihsa.org/documents/forms/2016-17/16-17TMPRM%20Final.pdf.
Here is the pitch-count limit proposal: www.ihsa.org/documents/ba/2016-17/Pitch%20Count%20Proposal.pdf.
Holloway said he is against the pitch-count limit proposals.
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