Nine-inning high school baseball games

In Massachusetts, the state tournament games for the largest schools are nine innings. Some leagues play nine during the regular season, but most play seven.
It doesn't seem right to me that a school should have to play nine after playing seven all year. I also can't imagine that many high schools, even most of the larger ones, have deep enough pitching staffs for nine innings (though I guess it's probably a coach's job to develop pitchers rather than to complain about not having enough pitching).
I imagine the reasons the big schools play nine in the tournament and some leagues play nine in the season is because many coaches think it's "real baseball." Also, in the Northeast, with the short seasons, it gives kids more playing time.
Still, if even the most old-school high school football coach wouldn't argue for 15-minute quarters, why should high schools play nine innings in baseball?

 

Each league sets its own length of innings and the MIAA sets its own length for the postseason. The two are mutually exclusive of each other.

Its possible for some teams that have played nine wood all season to go to seven metal for the postseason and others from seven metal to nine wood.

There's a certain league that would argue for 12-minute quarters all the time instead of the 10-minute stuff.

 

What is...hell on Earth?

 

Well some leagues play wood or bat of choice, some of the wood leagues go 9, some stay 7.
Come postseason when the MIAA takes over, Division 1 teams (largest schools) play 9 while D2 and D3 play 7. Some D2 schools play in wood bat, 9-inning leagues.

All MIAA tournament games are bat of choice, except for when teams from the Bay State Conference play each other. The ADs of the BSC insist on their teams playing with wood when going head-to-head.

 

I must say this is random and also pretty interesting. I'm in Oregon, so they just go 7 metal all the time...

 

At my last place, I would have been OK with covering nine innings. There were two future MLB draft picks in the two-county, 11-team area (both the first in a long while) and about 15-20 kids that have or will play some form of college baseball. The baseball was clean, smart and often over in two hours with scores like 3-2 or 4-1. Want to play two more? I'll stick around.
Now? This area is far behind that one. The younger kids are a lot better than the older ones, which bodes well for the future. But still - I've seen 3.5 hour games that went seven this year. F that.

 

9-inning games seem to be unique to the northeast.

Just about every Midwestern state goes 7 innings and uses metal. Wood is usually used in a lot of summer travel leagues.

What we've seen a lot of around here are schools playing doubleheaders for league games -- usually on Friday afternoons/nights (finishing under the lights). Two 7-inning games each Friday, which can lead to a 5-6 hour evening depending on how good (or bad) the baseball is. Usually, the teams throw their lesser pitchers during mid-week non-league games, and those can go on forever.

 

I've seen in West Texas where a few teams on opposite ends of a district will play district doubleheaders at a neutral halfway point to cut down on travel.

All games here are seven innings. A few wood-bat tournaments have sprung up and seem popular for the novelty more than anything else.

 

Here in S.C., they use metal bats and go seven (except when the mercy rule kicks in).

 

Further reason why the MIAA defines jackassery.

 

That's interesting. Does someone sponsor the tournament and provide wood bats? Seems like it would be kind of expensive to get wood bats for just a tournament or two.

 

No idea in particular. My guess is the hosts get sponsors, a bat company (Louisville, Mizuno, etc.) cuts them a deal in return for promotion and exclusive use, and schools that enter the tournament pitch in a few hundred. Wood bats are crazy expensive as you well know. That's why these tournaments are so few and far between.