Schaum over the limit
Munster learns the hard way after a crushing forfeit loss to Andrean
Monday was a glorious day for Munster baseball until it crashed and burned like a falling meteorite.
Munster experienced the thrill of a 4-1 victory over Andrean, buoyed by a brilliant pitching performance from senior Bryce Schaum, for about 30 minutes.
It was the Mustangs’ first victory against Andrean in a long time.
Or so Munster coach Bob Shinkan thought.
The agony of defeat began to set in when Andrean coach Dave Pishkur walked over and told Shinkan that Schaum had thrown 132 pitches, which is 12 over the limit set by the Indiana High School Athletic Association. Shinkan seemed startled by Pishkur’s comment and indicated that wasn’t true.
Shinkan figured out quickly that Pishkur was right.
In Game Changer, an application that teams use to count pitches, Munster had posted Schaum’s pitch count of 132 not long after the game ended. Someone affiliated with the team had entered the number.
Why Shinkan didn’t know Schaum was over the limit isn’t clear because he didn’t return a text seeking comment.
There is zero tolerance for violating the IHSAA rule, and for good reason.
There are too many stories of kids blowing out their elbows at the age of
15, 16 or 17. On Thursday, the IHSAA officially notified both schools that the Mustangs had forfeited the game. Munster had self-reported the violation.
IHSAA Assistant Commissioner Robert Faulkens, who is in charge of baseball, was exasperated by the violation. He sent an email blast to coaches and athletic directors reminding them of the protocol for pitch counts after Munster’s violation was revealed.
“This is mind-boggling,” Faulkens said. “It has happened six times this year. The disconcerting part is people have to self-report. There are times when a coach knows (that a pitcher went over the count), but he won’t call them out.”
For the most part, the protocol in place works. Teams use Game Changer. That requires one person to
record every pitch in an app that keeps a running total. Teams are required to keep their own pitch counts.
Here is where the disconnect comes in, however.
Faulkens said teams should trade pitch counts with the designated official scorer periodically during the game. That’s a way to be aware of counts for both teams.
Pishkur said he hadn’t heard of a rule that said the home school has to have an official scorer. Andrean doesn’t have one. Many schools don’t.
And no teams I know of trade counts during games. It’s impractical.
And umpires don’t want to be involved in sorting out pitch counts. It’s not easy to keep pitch counts if you are multitasking.
Furthermore, the IHSAA bylaws don’t offer much in terms of how teams are supposed to stay compliant. There’s vague language about teams recording their pitch counts with a mobile app.
That’s it.
Basically, the message is “figure it out.”
That generally works. But it could be better.
That starts with putting in place a rule that exists in Kentucky, where an
official pitch counter is required for every game. That is different from the official scorer. That should be someone from the home bench who could record pitches. That person would be in communication with the other bench (it could be done via text) about pitch counts. They proactively could let the other team know whether its pitcher is approaching the limit. The rule should be stated clearly in the bylaws.
That wouldn’t be perfect, but it would be better than the informal protocol in
place now.
Baseball is in a strange situation when teams have to self-monitor. There is no other rule in the game that is self-policed. That’s why it requires umpires.
There was no malicious intent by Munster. It wouldn’t have posted its pitch count after the game if it was trying to hide something.
Pishkur said the meeting with Shinkan was heavy when the teams played again Tuesday.
“He was emotional about it,” Pishkur said. “He took
full responsibility.”
The whole episode was unfortunate.
“No team wants to win like that,” Pishkur said.
I’ll wager Munster never loses like that under Shinkan again. The price it paid to learn that lesson was painful and unforgettable.
But no pitch count violation can devalue Schaum’s performance. He struck out 14. He looked like he could’ve pitched forever and Andrean still wouldn’t have figured out how to hit him.