Members of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association Board of Directors met in Chapel Hill on Thursday, approving a pitch count for high school baseball and options for football coaches during skill development periods, among other things.

The maximum number of pitches allowed in a single day is 105. In addition, there are mandatory rest days required based on the number of pitches a pitcher throws in a game.

If a pitcher throws 76 or more pitches in a day, four calendar days of rest are required before pitching again. If a pitcher throws 61 to 75 pitches, the pitcher must rest three calendar days. For 46-60 pitches, a pitcher must rest two calendar days. One calendar day of rest is required for 31 to 45 pitches and less than 31 pitches does not require rest.

A pitcher who appears in two consecutive days, regardless of the number of pitches thrown, must have a mandatory day of rest. There will be an exception for the state championships where a maximum of 120 pitches will be allowed in a best-of-three series with one game on Friday and two games on Saturday. The normal pitch count rules will be used in the playoffs for the first round through the regional series. The best-of-three regional series will be scheduled for Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

The pitch count rules apply only to pitches during an at-bat. If a pitcher reaches the 105-pitch threshold, he will be allowed to finish the at-bat before he has to leave the mound.

Coaches will be responsible for tracking the number of pitches on an accountability form. The form will be signed by competing coaches and entered into MaxPreps.

The same scale will be used for varsity and junior varsity teams.

Football coaches will have skill development options

Football coaches will also see major changes, with skill development rules coming into play for next spring.

Currently, skill development guidelines allow an unlimited number of athletes to participate in skill development during a 10-day window in May. The schools will have the option to continue using this skill development or return to a limited number of athletes throughout the offseason.

Effective Jan. 3, schools will have an option to have a maximum of 21 athletes a day participate in the skill development sessions outside of the football dead periods. Schools must notify the NCHSAA of which skill development calendar they will follow. If schools do not select one, they will be assigned a 10-day window.

Basketball seeding changing due to Hurricane Matthew

The NCHSAA voted to seed the basketball state playoffs based on 20-game records instead of 22-game records due to the effects of Hurricane Matthew and the football season being extended by one week.

Many schools did not have their full basketball teams because athletes were still playing football.

Basketball teams are allowed to play 24 games, but two non-conference games are typically dropped for teams who play 24 games when it comes time to seed the playoffs. This year, four games will be dropped.

Conference games can’t be dropped.

Changes coming for transfers

The NCHSAA voted to make a few changes to the transfer policies.

The most notable change to the transfer rules state that an athlete who transfers to a school where his coach has relocated within the last year will be deemed ineligible for 365 days.

This rule goes into place for the 2017-2018 school year and is effective across school districts. No changes for children of coaches.

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Staff Report