The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association is moving toward a possible switch from limiting pitchers based on innings to one that will use pitch counts in time for the 2017 high school baseball season.
During its October 5 Board of Directors meeting, the PIAA approved on a first reading basis, a recommendation by both its Baseball Steering Committee and Sports Medicine Advisory Committee.
Changes to PIAA procedures require passing three readings at Board of Control meetings.
The new baseball pitching restriction being proposed for the 2017 season would follow concepts similar to what are used by Little League Baseball and other organizations.
Pitchers who throw 76-100 pitches would be required to have three calendar days of rest before pitching again. Throwing 51-75 pitches would require two days of rest and throwing 26-50 would mean one day of rest.
Pitchers throwing 1-25 pitches are not required to have a day of rest, except that no pitcher can appear on the mound in more than two consecutive days.
There will also be a 200-pitch limit in any calendar week.
When a pitcher reaches the maximum pitch count permitted in a day during an at-bat, the pitcher will be allowed to continue to pitch to that batter or any substitute for that batter, or until a third out is recorded prior to the completion of that at-bat. If a pitcher throws more than 100 pitches in that scenario, it will be recorded as 100 pitches.
The format would require better recordkeeping in some programs.
According to the proposal, scorekeepers are requested to frequently confer with one another to confirm pitch counts (no less than once per inning). If a discrepancy occurs between the visiting and home pitch counts and cannot be resolved, the scorebook of the home team will be official.
A representative from each team must record pitch counts for their players in MaxPreps no later than the next regularly scheduled contest.
Maxpreps.com is used by many schools to record and make their statistics for various sports teams available online. It would become a PIAA requirement in baseball so that teams could track each other’s pitching use.
The PIAA also recommends using GameChanger scoring software. Gamechanger.com has a free app for Apple products and can be easily synced into MaxPreps to assist in the record-keeping process, according to the PIAA.
Locally, chairman Frank Majikes informed the District 2 committee about the developments during the October 19 meeting.
Majikes told the committee that the same guidelines will be used for varsity, junior varsity and junior high.
WEEK IN REVIEW
The fall sports season came to an end in District 2 with losses by three Lackawanna Football Conference teams in the PIAA quarterfinals Friday night.
District 2 champions North Pocono, Scranton Prep and Dunmore each led early before being overpowered by unbeaten teams.
District 1 champion Imhotep Charter defeated North Pocono, 38-7, in Class 4A at Northern Lehigh High School in Slatington. Imhotep is two wins from a second straight unbeaten, state championship season.
Middletown, from District 3, handled Scranton Prep, 40-13, in Class 3A at Bethlehem Liberty High School.
Ligonier Valley, from District 6, handed Dunmore its first defeat, 39-19, in Class 2A at Bald Eagle Area High School in Wingate.
Imhotep Charter, Middletown and Ligonier Valley are a combined 37-0 by a total of 1689-234.
Middletown and Ligonier Valley each posted the first state tournament win in school history. Middletown’s only previous appearance was in 1988, the first year of state play. Ligonier Valley was making its debut.
North Pocono was also playing its first-ever state tournament game.
Matt Craig recovered an onside kick on the opening kickoff and scored on a 44-yard pass from Donny Blaine three minutes into the game for a 7-0 Trojans lead.
Matt Gilmartin’s 12-yard run gave Scranton Prep a 6-0 advantage after one quarter.
Dunmore turned a 10-0 deficit into a 13-10 lead before Ligonier Valley, which got four touchdown passes and a touchdown run from West Virginia recruit Collin Smith, scored the next 29 points.
Dunmore finished 13-1, Scranton Prep 12-2 and North Pocono 10-4.
The end of the season in the LFC also brings an end to our high school football predictions. Our picks were 3-0 last week to improve our records to 20-5 (80.0 percent) in the playoffs and 115-26 (81.6) on the season.
COLLEGE CORNER
The Western New England women’s basketball team, with one Montrose graduate as head coach and another in the starting lineup, is off to a 2-2 start.
Nicole Chaszar is in her 12th season as head coach. Sophomore guard Meghan Gilhool has played all four games, starting three of them.
Chaszar is the all-time winningest coach in school history. Her teams have gone 170-127 with winning records in nine of 11 seasons.
Gilhool has played 97 minutes. She has eight points, eight rebounds, seven assists, five steals and a blocked shot. She is 3-for-14 (21.4 percent) from the floor and 2-for-4 (50.0) from the foul line.
After returning from knee surgery at the end of her senior year of high school, Gilhool appeared in 29 games as a college freshman, averaging 14.1 minutes, 2.6 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.
TOM ROBINSON writes a weekly local sports column for the Susquehanna County Transcript. He can be reached online at RobbyTR@aol.com or followed on Twitter at @tomjrobinson.
BIFFLE QUITS ROUSH
Greg Biffle and car owner Jack Roush in 2016
Greg Biffle has turned in his driving helmet at Roush Fenway Racing after 14 seasons behind the wheel of the No. 16 Ford.
“I'm thankful to Jack Roush for the opportunity to have driven his race cars for all these years,” said Biffle. “It’s very rare in this sport to have been able to stay with one team this many years, and to have been as successful as we have been.”
Biffle announced his departure after the last race of the season at Homestead, but at this time he is still a free agent, with no job on the horizon.
Whether he lands with a top notch organization, or a mediocre one, the Vancouver, Washington native shouldn't have too many financial worries, because his net worth is listed at over $50-million.
“We’ve had an incredible run and I am so appreciative for the opportunity to be a part of Roush Fenway,” he continued. “I'm extremely proud of everything we have been able to accomplish over the last 19 years – both on and off the track. I’ve enjoyed every minute. I’m excited about the next chapter of my life, and I look forward to exploring other opportunities - particularly in radio and television - both inside and outside of NASCAR.”
He won two Truck Series championships (1998 and 2000), before moving to the Xfinity Series in 2001 and winning Rookie of the Year. In 2002, he won the series championship. Roush moved him up to the Sprint Cup Series in 2003, where he has remained.
“I don't have the words to say what Greg has meant to this organization,” said team owner Jack Roush. “He is a true racer who has always exhibited a will to win and an intense passion for speed. For almost two decades Greg has given us an opportunity to run up front and compete for wins.
“Greg exemplifies what every owner hopes for in a driver and I’m extremely thankful for having him as part of our organization. I know that Greg and I will maintain a strong friendship and I look forward to leaning on him on occasion as we continue to work on improving our performance.”
Biffle is one of only 17 drivers to make 500 consecutive Sprint Cup starts, and has started 835 NASCAR races.
“As much as the trophies and championships, I will cherish the memories and the relationships forged during our run,” added Biffle. “We had some great teams, fast race cars and some really outstanding partners over the past two decades. I’ll always be thankful to everyone that gave us the opportunity to go out and accomplish the milestones that we have been able to.”
EARNHARDT TO START BACK DRIVING
Dale Earnhardt Jr. plans to be back in a race car soon. He said last week he will be practicing in a late model car in preparation for his return to full-time Cup racing at Daytona in February.
“We're going to go testing this off season,” he said. “Obviously I need to get in a race car. I'd love to get in a car and go run a little bit somewhere just to shake the rust off and get some confidence.
“I can do the basics before we ever go to Daytona. We'll go do that sometime this off season.
“We have to squeeze it in there somewhere because I'm getting married and have my honeymoon, and I have to certainly devote proper time to (fiancée) Amy (Reimann).
“But it'll be no problem. All signs point to us being in the car for Daytona.”
Earnhardt was sidelined by a concussion and missed the last 18 Cup races.
He will only be allowed to practice in late model cars at non-NASCAR sanctioned tracks, because NASCAR prohibits their drivers from practicing at NASCAR tracks in the cars they drive in a regular NASCAR series.
IS RACING TOO CALM
Allen Gregory of the Bristol Herald Courier said NASCAR needs to change their game plan to include some form of racing endeavors from the past.
“In the formative days of the sport, the allure of stock car racing included high speeds, daredevils and danger,” said Gregory. “Basically anything could happen on the dusty short tracks and new superspeedways.
“In rural areas such as Southwest Virginia, families would take long Sunday afternoon drives into the country just to listen to Barney Hall and the Motor Racing Network crew describe the beating, banging and wrecking.
“As NASCAR moved into the television age, drivers became the attraction. Much like modern country music, folks became transfixed on the looks and charisma of the stars instead of the actual product.”
Thanks to the work of mechanical masters and armies of engineers, the cars have evolved into indestructible tanks that rarely crash or even spin out.
A handful of mega team owners control the game at every level while drivers spend a large amount of their time as corporate spokesmen who rarely rock the boat with their comments or actions.
“After eight weeks of tedious strategy and team orders, drivers busted out in a big way over the final 65 laps at Phoenix,” continued Gregory. “There were hang-on-and-hope moments of side-by-side action, risky charges to the front and even a costly highlight-reel crash involving Chase contender Matt Kenseth to close the melodrama.
“Those sort of must-see moments are what NASCAR officials had in mind whey created the Chase.
Meanwhile, the “Throwback” episodes on NBCSN and the throwback weekends for the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway have been big hits with older fans who yearn for the days when paint schemes were unique, the racing was unpredictable and the drivers were cowboys who were not surrounded by media handlers.”
When Tony Stewart rode out of Homestead after the last race of 2016, the sport lost yet another maverick who appealed to both traditional and millennial fans.
If doesn’t take a genius to know that the absence of the iconic Dale Earnhardt Jr. has played a part in the lackluster television ratings during this year's Chase.
With many current drivers now either past or nearing the magical age of 40, NASCAR team owners and marketing experts must find a new crop of stars who are willing to compete like daredevils and then go off script and act like cowboys if the time is right.
When I started going to the NASCAR races in 1994, I could catch a driver who was just standing around, and get a quick interview. Not any more.
If you want any type of real driver interaction, you have to go through the team's P/R person. You have to explain what the purpose of the interview is for, how it will be used, and what type questions will be asked.
Nowadays, driver conversations are like their racing. It is all polished up and politically correct.
But in all fairness to today's drivers, they are more complex and more intelligent, than they are given credit for. They have to be that way in order to survive in the sport.
NASCAR racing is more like a business than a sport. First, a wannabe driver must present himself as a business person. If he can come across in a manner that will entice a multi-million-dollar sponsor, then he usually becomes a driver.
With the current business model that NASCAR has in place, a driver does not need the fierceness of a Curtis Turner, the daring of a Dale Earnhardt Sr, or the charisma of a Rusty Wallace.
All he needs is a facade that the public corporations gobble up. Driving skills are secondary.
NASCAR will continue to provide exciting racing moments, but it's no longer about the sport, it's about which team has the most success at finding big dollar sponsors.
