Marc Narducci: On pitch counts and protecting young arms

Anybody who feels that NJSIAA pitching rules are too stringent merely had to do stand behind the backstop Wednesday when Penns Grove lefthander Don Haines threw 189 pitches in a 15-8 win over Woodstown.

After four innings Haines had thrown 119 pitches and that seemed more than enough for the second week of the season on a chilly afternoon.

Yet he was allowed to pitch a complete game. It's useless to get into name-calling or attacking somebody's character. Let's just put it simply - Penns Grove coach Jim Halter made a mistake leaving him in.

That doesn't make Halter a bad person. It just means he made a bad decision.

"I have coached Don since he was 10 years old, and he never complains," Halter said. "I was warming up a pitcher but Don said he was good."

It's a credit to Haines that he wanted to stay in and even more amazing that the Rowan recruit still touched 86 miles on the radar gun during a 25-pitch seventh inning.

The point is that an athlete is a competitor and rarely will tell a coach he has had enough.

So, it shouldn't be left in the hands of the coaches or the players.

The current pitching rules are from the national federation. NJSIAA assistant director Larry White, who is in charge of baseball, says the NJSIAA has modified the rules to make them stricter, but he acknowledges there are still flaws.

First, it has always been our contention that the pitching rules are not strict enough. Any rule that would allow a pitcher to throw as many as 20 innings in a span of five days doesn't seem to be in the best interest of somebody trying to preserve his arm.

According to the rules, a pitcher can throw as many as 10 innings in one game, but if he throws more than five innings, he can't appear for three calendar days. So if he pitched 10 innings on a Monday and sat out the three days, he could go as many as 10 on a Friday.

If a pitcher throws five innings, he must sit out two calendar days.

Also a pitcher can't throw more than 10 innings during any four calendar-day period. That means he could throw three on a Monday, three on a Tuesday, three on a Wednesday and one on a Thursday.

Can you say rotator cuff damage?

The NJSIAA needs to come up with a rule that limits the number of pitches. Of course this is easier said than done.

"The inning things isn't probably a real good way to go as opposed to a pitch count, but the problem with the pitch count is, who is going to do it officially," White said.

That is the big question.

What if one team has one pitch count total and another has a different number?

One coach, who asked not to be quoted, suggested that both teams could give the pitch counts each inning to the umpire to make sure they are near the same limit.

Each team would have to use somebody responsible, such as a varsity assistant coach, a player not in the game, or a diligent team manager to keep the pitch counts.

Here is one other suggestion that could save arms, but would never be popular with coaches. The way the playoffs are set up, a pitcher can usually throw on a Monday, a Friday and then the following Tuesday.

The NJSIAA should have the playoff games closer together, forcing teams to have more depth in their staffs.

Have them go on a Monday, Wednesday, and Friday just like in basketball.

No matter how rules are revised, there are ways to get around them and maximize the innings of a pitcher. A pitch count would be a better way of dealing with an issue in which others can no longer look the other way if the welfare of the youngsters is truly the No. 1 priority.