Baseball fans can get a look at this year’s Rising Sun Shiners and Switzerland County Pacers as the two teams will compete in a scrimmage at 5 p.m. Friday, March 24th at Rising Sun.
There are special guidelines for the scrimmage which is scheduled for four innings. Each team will send ten batters to the plate in each half inning regardless of the number of outs that have been made. This allows for each defensive player plus a designated hitter to bat each inning.
The scoreboard will only be used to show balls and strikes and no team score shall be kept.
During each inning the team at bat should attempt to create as much offense as possible and the defensive team shall attempt to retire all ten hitters. No pitcher may pitch to more than fifteen batters during the entire scrimmage.
By mutual agreement of the two head coaches, the fourth inning could be a situation inning whereby:
1. Every batter would start with a count of 1 ball and 1 strike. This would minimize the number of pitches for a pitcher and maximize the importance of throwing strikes.
2. There would be two runners placed on base by the offensive coach to work on baserunning situations; bunting situations; etc. If someone scores or makes an out on the bases, the coach could replace the base runner so that each hitter in this inning would be batting with two runners on base. The coaches should confide in each other what they are attempting to accomplish.
Rising Sun will open its 2017 regular season on Saturday, April 1st when they host Batesville in a doubleheader at 11 a.m. followed by a home game against Lawrenceburg at 5 p.m. on Monday, April 3rd.
The big change for this season is a new pitch count.
The Shiners will test that new rule during the first week as they will play six games in seven days including a road trip to Trinity Lutheran in Seymour on Thursday before returning home to play sectional foe Oldenburg Academy at 5:30 Friday. The Shiners will compete in a junior varsity tournament at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 8th at Switzerland County.
No pitcher may throw more than 120 pitches in a varsity level game/calendar day or 90 pitches in a sub-varsity level game/calendar day. Anyone who throws at least 36 pitches in a varsity contest or 26 in a sub-varsity contest must receive one day of required rest. Additionally, any pitcher who throws more than 60 pitches over two days will be required one day of rest. Previously pitching requirements were limited to innings pitched.
Pitching Limits and days rest required include:
Varsity
Pitches days rest
1-35 0
36-60 1 day
61-80 2 days
81-100 3 days
101-120+ 4 days
Sub-Varsity Pitch Count
1-25 0 days
26-35 1 day
36-60 2 days
61-80 3 days
81-90+ 4 days
If a pitcher reaches the maximum number of pitches in a pitch count level (see table below), during an at-bat, the pitcher may complete the at-bat without moving to the next pitch count level. Any replacement pitcher will have a maximum of 16 warm-up throws.