Pitching limitations in high school baseball

Because I umpire, lots of times, I get people asking me about pitching limitations for high school pitchers. To be honest, I don't really concern myself with that too much. My job is fair/foul, safe/out, ball/strike. But it is in the rule book. I just got an email from the association that lays it out pretty well, so if this interests you, here ya go...

In summary, the pitching limitation rule is nine innings on any given day, followed with two calendar days rest. If a pitcher pitches more than four innings, up to a maximum of nine innings, on any two consecutive calendar days, he will follow with two calendar days rest. The maximum number of innings a pitcher may pitch in a week is 16.

NOTE: As part of the pitching limitation rule, one pitch constitutes an inning having been pitched.

EXAMPLES: a) A pitcher pitches nine innings on Monday. How many days rest are required? Two calendar days rest, meaning Tuesday and Wednesday; he may next pitch on Thursday.

b) A pitcher pitches four innings Monday. How many innings can he pitch on Tuesday? He may pitch the maximum of five innings on Tuesday followed by two calendar days rest, meaning Wednesday and Thursday. He may next pitch on Friday.

c) A pitcher pitches three innings Tuesday, two innings Wednesday. He must now follow with two calendar days rest (Thursday and Friday). He can next pitch on Saturday.

d) A pitcher pitches nine innings on Saturday. He must now follow with two calendar days rest (Sunday and Monday). He can next pitch on Tuesday.

e) A pitcher pitches seven innings on Tuesday. When can he pitch again? He can pitch on Wednesday for the maximum of two innings. He must then follow with two calendar days rest, meaning Thursday and Friday. He may next pitch on Saturday.

f) A pitcher pitches two innings Thursday and five innings on Friday. He will now follow with two calendar days of rest (Saturday and Sunday). He can next pitch on Monday. Remember, pitching in any combination of innings greater than four innings up to the maximum of nine innings on any two consecutive days will result in two calendar days rest; OR pitching the maximum of nine innings in any one day requires two calendar days rest.

g) A pitcher pitches two innings Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Legal: He has pitched 12 of his allowable 16 innings for that week.

h) A pitcher pitches one inning Tuesday and eight innings Wednesday. Legal and he will follow with two calendar days of rest, meaning Thursday and Friday. He can next pitch on Saturday.

i) A pitcher pitches eight innings on Monday; does not pitch on Tuesday, however, does pitch on Wednesday. How many can he pitch on Wednesday? He can pitch the maximum of eight innings on Wednesday because those eight innings, added to the eight innings he pitched Monday, give him his maximum of 16 innings for the week. Had he only pitched seven innings on Monday, he could have pitched the maximum nine innings on Wednesday and reached his maximum 16 for the week.

j) A pitcher pitches six innings Wednesday; does not pitch Thursday, but does pitch on Friday. How many innings can he pitch on Friday? He can pitch a maximum of nine innings, which would give him a total of 15 innings for the week.

k) A game begins Tuesday, July 25, at 10:45 p.m. and is completed at 12:35 a.m. the following morning. The starting pitcher pitches; (a) 7 innings; (b) 9 innings. Under the IHSAA pitching rule, the game would be considered played July 25th, even though the game did not end until early the following morning. In (a) the pitcher would be able to pitch 2 innings on Wednesday, those 2 innings combined with the 7 innings pitched on Tuesday make 9 innings pitched on two consecutive days. The pitcher would now have to take two consecutive calendar days off, Thursday and Friday. He may pitch again on Saturday. In (b), the pitcher would have to take two consecutive calendar days off, meaning Wednesday and Thursday. He could pitch Friday. This is all providing he does not exceed 16 innings in a week and stays within the prescribed guidelines (Sunday through Saturday).

l) A pitcher pitches 7 innings on Friday and 2 innings on Saturday, the pitcher must follow with two calendar days of rest, meaning Sunday and Monday. He may next pitch on Tuesday. The confusion with a few coaches was that Saturday ended the week by reference, and with that in mind they thought this individual could pitch again on Monday. The rule is for the safety of the individual and when two calendar days of rest are required, the pitcher is unable to pitch again until day three when category B of the pitching rule applies.