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The following article was originally published in NOW Newspapers under the "State of Play" feature, a series of bi-weekly feature columns penned by WSN General Manager Travis Wilson.
 

The WIAA has sometimes been criticized for making change at a snail's pace, but when it comes to game rules, especially those that deal with player safety, the Association has been at the forefront of making high school athletics safer for students. Much of that work is in conjunction with the state's outstanding coaches associations as well as medical doctors that advise the WIAA on a number of topics.

The Association has been proactive on several items recently, including acclimatization and concussion awareness and rules, as well as limits in contact for football.

Thus, it should come as no surprise that the Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association announced last month that the WIAA has indicated a change is coming in how to limit the injury exposure for pitchers at the high school level.

Currently, the WIAA is similar to most state associations in utilizing an innings-based limitation. Players that pitch a total of seven innings over any three-day period are required to take two calendar days of rest before pitching again in a game, unless there is an extra-inning contest, whereby the pitcher can throw up to 10 innings over that same three-day time frame.

However, research and recommendations from Major League Baseball, USA Baseball, and other groups indicates an innings-based system is lacking. As any coach, and common sense, can tell you, one player's inning is not always the same as another player's inning. The ace that can go out and consistently limit himself to 10-15 pitches per inning is receiving much less arm strain than a hurler that struggles with command and can see pitch counts rise to 20, 30, or even 40 pitches in an inning.

Therefore, the WIAA has indicated to the WBCA that it is not a matter of if a pitch count rule will happen, but a matter of when. If the groups did not work together to find an acceptable proposal, one would be forced on them by medical personnel, the national federation, or both.

And quite frankly, it makes sense. Pitch counts are used by professional baseball coaches to determine the well-being of their pitchers, and pitch count limits are used by Little League and other youth baseball organizations as well. 

There is currently no cap on the number of pitches a player can throw in a game at the high school level, and I have frequently heard of 100, 120, even 150 pitches from one player. Coaches that consistently allow their players to reach or exceed those levels are not looking out for the best interests of their athletes.

With professional recommendations and templates for a pitch count system in mind, the WBCA set out earlier this year to proactively put together a proposal for consideration by the WIAA. I won't go into all details of the plan (check the WBCA website here for full information), but it is a much more common sense approach to pitcher limits than the current system. A maximum of 110 pitches would be allowed per day (though a player could finish an inning in which they meet that number), and certain pitch thresholds would require a minimum number of days of rest before the player could pitch in a game again.

Each team would be required to keep a pitch count for players from sides, which would then be uploaded to a WIAA collection program. There are some who question how coaches are to be expected to handle this additional record-keeping. Most are already doing it, for one. Also, if it is done for seven- and eight-year-olds by volunteers, why can paid coaches at the high school level not do the same? Or more likely, assign an assistant or official pitch recorder to handle the responsibility.

There are times when rules are needed to protect well-meaning coaches from themselves, and this is one of them. The coaches in the state should embrace this opportunity to limit potential injury to student-athletes and get out in front of the issue by supporting the WBCA's Pitch Count proposal.