The Texas High School Baseball Coaches association are planning to propose a pitch count for high school baseball to the UIL’s medical advisory committee when they meet on Sunday in Austin.

The proposed rule will limit 18 and 19-year-olds to about 110 pitches per game, and will vary per age. Currently, Little League does a pitch count, with 17-18 year olds allowed to throw a maximum of 105 pitches per game.

On campus, the baseball team already has a pitch count during the regular season for its pitchers, making sure they do not over extend themselves.

“Most coaches do a good job of keeping an eye on their kids,” head baseball coach Scott McGarrh said. “I know we chart every pitch. When our kids get to about 75, we start talking to them. We look at mechanics and velocity, making sure that they haven’t gone down. When they’re about to 85, we have someone getting loose, and they’re capped at 90.”

Other coaches in the district also follow a pitch cap. Wakeland, the current district leaders, caps its pitchers at 100 pitches.

“I feel like every kid is different,” Wakeland baseball coach Barry Rose said in a Dallas Morning News article. “Some kids can handle 100 to 120 pitches, and some kids don’t need to go over 90, so it’s hard to just agree with one kind of strict pitch count. Our freshmen and JV kids, I don’t really ever want them throwing more than about 85 pitches in a game. Our varsity guys, early on in the season, we don’t let them throw over 100.”

Senior pitcher and Seton Hall commit Noah Thompson believes that pitch counts are unneeded.

“I don’t think that they should make a pitch count for high school baseball,” Thompson said. “At this age you should have a good idea about how far you can go in a game. Sometimes you need to exceed a comfortable pitch count in order to win an important game. If they did implement a pitch count it would obviously protect the pitcher’s arm more but I think the decision on how many pitches a pitcher throws is up to what the player and coach decide.”

Thompson’s father, Doug, would rather have coaches monitor players than the state association setting a limit.

“I trust that coaches and players communicate and get pitch counts right,” Doug said.  “There is no need for state athletic officials to establish pitch counts at the varsity level.”

However, even with most coaches doing what’s best for the player, McGarrh believes that a pitch count is needed, in order to protect players whose coaches are solely focused on winning.

“UIL probably needs to step in and do something about it,” McGarrh said. “There are some coaches who think it’s more important to win, and will throw a kid 130, 140, or 150 pitches, and that’s what not best for the kid. Our job is to get them to college. Hopefully UIL puts a lot of thought into what they consider.”