High school baseball coaches adjusted to new pitch-count rule

When the lead grows in a baseball game, it’s typically good for the team piling on the runs.
The bats aren’t gripped as tight.
An aura of comfortability comes as the nine position players retake the field.
The decisions made by coaches don’t weigh as heavily as a tightly contested game.
That wasn’t the case for Canon-McMillan baseball coach Tim Bruzdewicz as his players grabbed their bats in the sixth inning of a WPIAL quarterfinal game against Penn Trafford.
With an eight-run lead entering the sixth inning, the Big Macs added another run that ultimately forced Bruzdewicz with a decision he didn’t encounter earlier in the year. It was also a decision he never had to make in years prior.
In a win-or-go-home format, Bruzdewicz signaled to his runner on first base for a delayed steal to help score the game-winning, mercy rule run on third.
The execution of tempting Penn Trafford to focus on the runner at first base rather than the one on third was as flawless as the design.
Bruzdewicz’s decision, not unanimously thought of as sportsmanlike from the Warriors’ dugout, was to keep C-M pitcher Nick Drake from exceeding a pitch-limit plateau instituted by the PIAA this year to limit how many pitches can be thrown by pitchers per outing.
“It was a tough call,” Bruzdewicz said. “I hated it. I hated doing that. I’m an old-school coach, but my job is to put ourselves in the best position to win, not only for that game but upcoming games. Even though I hated to have to make that decision, I stand by it.”
The pitch-count limits were part of a change made by the National Federation of State High School Associations Baseball Rules committee last June. High school pitchers in Pennsylvania, no matter the classification, couldn’t exceed 100 pitches – unless to finish an at-bat – in a game and were required a certain amount of days of rest. Pitchers couldn’t throw more than 200 pitches in a week or were permitted to pitch more than two consecutive days.
“I thought it played out really well,” said Peters Township baseball coach Joe Maize. “It didn’t really have an impact on us because we have always been conscious of pitch counts. The rule was put in place to protect the arms of these kids.”
Canon-McMillan, which alternated starts between aces Zach Rohaley and Cam Weston, and Peters Township, who had others to lean on during senior Eric Riotto’s days off on the mound had less to worry about.
Smaller schools, however, had to get creative.
“Some people say they didn’t think about it and I’m not so sure if they’re telling the truth,” Jefferson-Morgan coach John Curtis said. “In Class-A baseball, you don’t have that many good pitchers, so this rule has affected us more so than the bigger schools. They might actually have a thing called a bullpen.”
Aside from Rockets’ ace Gage Clark, Curtis was forced to look for underclassman assistance from sophomores Jake Broadwater and Devin Stoneking to help formulate a rotation en route to capturing Jefferson-Morgan’s first section title in quite some time.
“I don’t think anybody got overthrown this year as far as innings,” Curtis said. “The rule did come into effect and that’s exactly what it was for. I was fine with it. I’m still fine with it. We just are going to have to develop more pitchers.”
While the PIAA also implemented a rule for intentional walks that is now being used in Major League Baseball, where no pitches are thrown for it to be issued, the rule changes also created a different strategy when pitchers are ahead in counts and looking to remain in a game as long as possible by minimizing pitches thrown.
“We still went with the mindset that the batter should be hitting your pitch on a 0-2 count, but before it was about making sure that pitch was out of the strike zone,” Maize said.
The pitch-count limitation has also created – as witnessed in C-M’s quarterfinal playoff game before losing to North Allegheny in the semis with an opportunity to reach the WPIAL championship – a progression of competition, both within individual teams and for opponents to keep the score close.
“We would never do that in a competitive section game unless it’s absolutely warranted,” Bruzdewicz said. “If you can’t stop teams, then that’s on you. Kids playing at this age have to be competitive. I can understand why the Penn Trafford coaches were upset. It’s making a change for how you do things. There are so many different things going through your head and it’s a constant battle. It still eats at me.”