A South Carolina high school baseball team may not be able to compete for a state championship after violating a pitch count rule.
Summerville High School (SC) defeated Ashley Ridge High 6-4 in the South Carolina Class 5-A Lower State championship game earlier this week. Summerville, who is led by MLB Draft prospect P.J. Morlando, may violated the league's pitch count rule.
According to the Charleston Post and Courier, Summerville starting pitcher Thayer Tavormina threw two pitches in Wednesday's loss to Ashley Ridge, then tossed 83 more pitches in Thursday's deciding game.
The SCHSL pitch count rule states that "if a pitcher throws on consecutive days, he has a maximum of 75 pitches on the 2nd day regardless of whether he threw one pitch or 30 pitches on the first day." After throwing 83 pitches on Thursday, Tavormina would be in violation of that particular rule.
According to Charleston WCIV-TV sport director Scott Eisberg, Ashley Ridge told the umpires that Tavormina had exceeded his pitch count limit since he pitched in back-to-back games.
Per Baseball America, an SCHSL official stated that the situation was still being reviewed, and no decision has yet to be made regarding the rule. If Summerville is forced to forfeit, Ashley Ridge will advance to the state championship series this coming weekend.
Rules like limiting a pitch count over consecutive days have been installed at different levels of baseball to prevent injury. But, as CBS Sports' Matt Snyder pointed out in a recent column, pitcher injuries are still a problem at the game's highest level.
