Flexibility sought to schedule softball, baseball

Arkansas Activities Association scheduling rules handcuff baseball and softball coaches like a fastball in on the hands, according to some in the profession.

Current rules allow teams to play 22 regular-season games and in two tournaments. A proposal drafted by Fayetteville baseball Coach Scott Gallagher would change the limit to a total of 30 games, not counting the postseason.

The change would give coaches greater flexibility in scheduling, which Gallagher said is important because teams often deal with bad weather.

“If you play one game in a tournament, or maybe you don’t play any before it gets rained out,” Gallagher said. “You’ve lost maybe two or three games. The only way you can get those back is try to get in another tournament, which is tough. If you can’t find another tournament, you are stuck.

“Under this scenario, you could go to three tournaments if you wanted to. You just can’t go more than 30 games.”

The proposal will be voted on during the AAA’s annual meeting of the governing body Aug. 3. It received a do-pass recommendation by the AAA executive board.

The proposal was drafted well before the coronavirus pandemic. but Gallagher said flexibility is a bigger deal with all the uncertainty covid-19 brings.

Rogers Heritage softball Coach Rodney Bowen, who’s spent much of his 21 years coaching in Oklahoma, called it a “no-brainer.” Farmington Coach Randy Osnes agreed.

“It’s a wise call,” Osnes said. “You’re handcuffed the way the rules read at this time. It just makes a lot more sense.”

Other states are in the same ballpark as far as the number of games allowed.

Rules in Oklahoma allow for 22 regular-season games and three tournaments, but Bowen said teams could get as many as five or six games in a tournament.

“Some teams could have close to 40 games before the playoffs,” said Bowen, who sat on the coaches’ advisory board in Oklahoma for several years.

Missouri schools have options ranging from 16 regular-season games and three tournaments to 20 and just one tournament. However, they also can gain five bonus games, but they must be coupled with regular-season games on days that school is not in session. Softball teams are not allowed the five bonus games.

Some baseball coaches, particularly at larger schools, would like to see the number of games pushed higher. Don Brodell, AAA associate executive director and rules interpreter for baseball, pointed out many tournaments are going to three-game guarantees, which make the 30 games reasonable.

“We felt like it was a pretty median-type number,” Brodell said. “You look at the 22 and two tournaments with three-game guarantees, that would put you at 28 and you could fill in with a couple more games.”

Prairie Grove baseball Coach Mitch Cameron, who previously coached at Heritage, can see both sides of the argument.

“I could see where some would tell you 30 is not enough, but in Class 4A it’s going to be hard to get to 30,” Cameron said. “Your 5As and 6As don’t have conference and regional tournaments. That’s two extra weeks to play.

“I don’t see any harm in providing the opportunity to play more games. I don’t see a downside. I just don’t think I could feasibly do it at Prairie Grove. The year we went to the finals we were 26-5. That’s 31 games.”

Rogers baseball Coach Matt Melson, whose team travels to the Dallas area early and to Arizona over spring break for tournaments, acknowledged he wouldn’t mind the number of games go higher, but he said the added flexibility is a great thing.

“I remember a few years ago Rogers Heritage went to Florida over spring break and only got one game in,” Melson said. “So being able to come back and schedule a couple of regular games would be good.

“I appreciate the work Scott’s done. I think 30 is a step in the right direction. Personally, I think 32 or 34 would be ideal.”