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Nine-inning high school baseball games

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Smallpotatoes, May 31, 2009.

  1. crimsonace

    crimsonace Well-Known Member

    The big reason why doubleheaders are used here is so teams can't win the league title by just scheduling creatively and throwing their No. 1 pitcher in every game. With doubleheaders, you have to have at least 2 effective pitchers to win.

    A few other leagues play 7 on one field one day, then travel to the opposing site the next day for 7 more (and it's a DH if the first game is rained out).
     
  2. zeke12

    zeke12 Guest

    My neck of the woods:

    7-inning doubleheaders, occasionally one nine-inning game, like today, when visitors were hitting town on the way back from a tournament.

    At least three wood bat tournaments around, wildly popular with teams and fans -- and sportswriters -- alike. Speeds up an already speedy game. Want.
     
  3. buckweaver

    buckweaver Active Member

    No, they're not. I play in a 28+ adult baseball league with wood bats (which is hella fun, let me tell you.) Almost all of our guys bought theirs for about $40-50. (Check <a href="http://www.google.com/products?q=louisville+slugger+33-inch+bat&hl=en&lnk=pruser&price1=30&price2=45">a Google search</a>.)

    Of course, there's a chance of them breaking (we had two break today), but it seems to be somewhat unusual: has to be a real jam shot and a good fastball pitcher (which we don't have many of in this league -- everybody's about 70-80 mph, tops.)

    Not even close to the prices I remember guys paying in high school for metal bats -- regularly $200 or more. That's just insane.
     
  4. Keystone

    Keystone Member

    With a rain-delay, the seven-inning district final in PA that I covered on Friday lasted well over three hours. Because of PIAA pitching rules, both teams threw their No. 4 pitchers and the save was awarded to the winning team's regular catcher, who moved to the mound after throwing one other inning all spring.

    It's very feast or famine come Legion time because many teams don't have deep enough pitching staffs to play the required nine-inning games during the postseason.
     
  5. bigpern23

    bigpern23 Well-Known Member

    Yeah, but if you're a high school footing the bill for bats, are you going to purchase five metals at $200 apiece and have em last you a few years, or go with $50 wooden bats that might break in their first plate appearance?
     
  6. buckweaver

    buckweaver Active Member

    Oh, I understand that, bigpern. That said, how many high schools are really supplying bats to their teams? Every team I ever played on or covered, most people bought their own (or shared each other's.)
     
  7. CollegeJournalist

    CollegeJournalist Active Member

    First off, what schools fit the bill nowadays for baseball bats? I played four years for a program that provided nothing but uniforms and caps and offered spikes at a reduced rate (same pair for the whole team). We fundraised our asses off to have what we had, and we were one of the biggest programs in the state, definitely one of the more fortunate when it came to money available to the program, facilities, etc.

    Second, you're not going to find many top-level baseball players hitting with $200 sticks these days. The most popular bats are the Easton Stealths, a composite bat that runs upwards of $400 when it comes out and is available for $250-300 a year after.

    Third, if the program was supplying bats, you'd be lucky to get two years out of them. The maximum roster size for a varsity team in our area was 19 in the regular season, 21 in the postseason. You divide three or four bats among 19-21 kids, it isn't lasting two years. Not with the weather that many of these states play in early in the season, not with six days of practice, games and BP each week from February to May. Add in summer ball, fall leagues and fall workouts, and you'd be lucky to clear a single year with any of those bats.

    Fourth, I spent five years hitting BP -- live and in the cage -- with wood bats. I spent $35 on an ash Mizuno -2 and hit with it for three years and played in several summer wood bat tournaments. I got two out of the Louisville Slugger ash I paid $40 for to replace it before I stopped playing. And for the average HS player, the difference in ash and maple is minimal, other than the fact that maple is even harder to break (but much more expensive). You can still buy good Rawlings, Lou Slugger and Mizuno ash bats for less than $50.

    The idea that wood bats are too expensive to be a viable option is one of the biggest myths out there, to the point that I wonder about anyone who actually makes that argument. It's even more ridiculous at the college level, where companies like TPX (Slugger) and Easton provide schools with thousands of dollars in bats alone each year. Perhaps when some pitcher takes a 180 MPH line drive off the forehead and doesn't get up, people will wake up and actually do the research in the wood v. metal debate.
     
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