100 or 105? Confusion over pitch-count rule forces WPIAL baseball team to forfeit

By: Chris Harlan
Wednesday, April 24, 2019 | 1:01 PM

When the PIAA increased the baseball pitch count from 100 to 105 last summer, that change affected only the playoffs.

That discrepancy between regular-season and postseason rules has caused confusion and already cost one WPIAL team a win. Laurel notified Neshannock on Wednesday that it would forfeit their game from last week after Laurel’s pitcher threw more than 100 pitches.

Laurel had won 5-4.

“There was confusion over the maximum pitch limit: 100 or 105,” WPIAL executive director Tim O’Malley said. “Apparently, the kid had already gotten to 100 pitches and was going back out to pitch. The coach from Neshannock called the coach from Laurel on it. … They confided with the umpire and he said, ‘Yeah, it’s 105,’ so he continued to pitch.”

The PIAA changed the postseason pitch count last July. North Allegheny athletic director Bob Bozzuto, chairman of the WPIAL baseball steering committee, said all athletic directors were notified before this season about the rule, so there should not have been confusion.

Why the double standard?

“At that time of the year, they are more in condition to be able to throw the extra five,” said Bozzuto, a member of the PIAA baseball committee. “We actually talked about 110 pitches as well, but we voted for 105. We gave them another hitter.”

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

Tags: Laurel, Neshannock