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Nine-inning high school baseball games

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by Smallpotatoes, Jun 17, 2006.

  1. Smallpotatoes

    Smallpotatoes Well-Known Member

    Does anybody here work in a state where at least some high school baseball games are nine innings?
    In Massachusetts (which uses The Sporting News rules, not NFHS rules), some leagues play nine innings and the Division 1 games in the state tournament are nine innings, while all others are seven.
    Some baseball coaches around here feel nine innings is "real baseball" I don't understand why a team should play under different rules in the postseason than it played all year.
    I also doubt most high school teams have enough pitching for nine-inning games, but maybe that's a coaching issue. Maybe if you're a good enough coach, you can develop enough pitchers to get through nine-inning games, or can you?
     
  2. shotglass

    shotglass Guest

    Same here, although our Legion regional is nine innings, too.

    Never fails, it becomes a battle of pitching attrition, and the final is something like 16-11.
     
  3. BYH

    BYH Active Member

    I would kill myself if I had to cover nine inning HS games regularly. Seriously. Suck down some liquid drain-o and corn nuts and check out.
     
  4. WSKY

    WSKY Member

    Because of the 10-run mercy rule, games where I live would never make it to eight, let alone nine. Legion games are supposed to be nine, but they rarely make it.
     
  5. Football_Bat

    Football_Bat Well-Known Member

    I covered Legion games back in the day (circa 1999) and there would be some games 9 innings and some (usually in DH's) would be 7. Legion region and state tournament games were all 9 innings.

    Of course, Legion ball is a laugh here deep in the hearta'. Anyone who can play is doing so in a Dallas select league and well out of our purview. The only Legion ball here locally is north of the Red in God's Country.

    ALL high school games (in Texas) are 7 innings, even in the state finals. Of course there is a mercy rule.
     
  6. shotglass

    shotglass Guest

    Pennsylvania's one of the final bastions of Legion ball, and I think the one reason it can keep getting some of the good players is its All-Star series. The East-West Game is still a pretty big thing, a two-day deal which draws scouts from every ML organization. And even in the early rounds, you're going to have 6-10 scouts there.

    But face it; you want to play a full summer of baseball, you want 60-80 games, it's going to be travel ball. Some of the better Legion programs are trying to battle back with plenty of weekend tournaments in different areas, giving the kids a little bit of travel (that's what they really like, I think).

    Given my schedule, I can't imagine being able to do all the traveling necessary to get a son around to all those tournaments, though.
     
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