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Saturday, October 29, 2011

Odds and Ends

CIF 100th Anniversary

In honor of its 100th anniversary in 2013, the Southern Section will pick its 100 greatest high school athletes and plans to announce it at a red-carpet event that's still being planned.

That's going to be one tough job limiting it to 100 greatest athletes. The City Section recently inducted its first class into a new Hall of Fame, and that was a grueling process.

Dave Demarest, inducted into the Southern Section Hall of Fame.

Demarest coached baseball for 34 years at La Quinta, winning 753 games, 22 league titles and three Southern Section titles.

Baseball Proposal Defeated

A proposal to create a double-elimination post-season baseball tournament in the Southern Section beginning in 2013 was rejected on Thursday by a vote of 46-26 at the Southern Section Council meeting.

Coaches have wanted to replace the single-elimination playoffs with a double-elimination tournament for Divisions 1 through 4. The San Diego Section has had a double-elimination tournament.

Concerns about travel costs and adding up to seven additional games for teams in the playoffs won out.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

HS Baseball Rule Changes

Rules changes approved by the National Federation of State High School Baseball Rules Committee will place more responsibility on coaches for rules-compliant player equipment, effective with the 2012 high school baseball season. At its June 5-7 meeting in Indianapolis, the committee also took steps to define a new tamper-evident protocol for non-wood bats. All changes were subsequently approved by the NFHS Board of Directors.

Prior to the start of each game, each head coach must now verify to the umpire in-chief that all participants are legally equipped and equipment is in accordance with NFHS rules. Such rules include “compliant bats that are unaltered from the manufacturer’s original design and production and helmets that are free of cracks and damage.”

Another rule was added to address unsportsmanlike conduct toward umpires after a game has ended and after the umpires have departed the game site. It calls for state associations to determine appropriate action when dealing with these situations.

In addition, umpires no longer will be required to perform pregame equipment checks, as that responsibility will fall to coaches beginning next year. Coaches can still ask umpires at the pregame conference to confirm that equipment is compliant.

“The committee is placing a great importance on increased coach responsibility,” said Elliot Hopkins, NFHS assistant director and liaison to the Baseball Rules Committee. “It is one of our top priorities.”

Prior to the June 2012 meeting of the Baseball Rules Committee, the NFHS will work with appropriate parties to research and develop a baseball bat tamper-evident protocol for non-wood bats and present the recommendations to the committee for its consideration. The goal for implementation is for non-wood bats manufactured after January 1, 2015.

“Bat tampering is illegal and a major problem in high schools,” Hopkins said. “Everyone is looking for a competitive edge. With this note, we want to make sure that the state associations, coaches, teams and the public are aware that we are committed to minimizing any risk for players with bat tampering.”

In addition, a minor change to Rule 1-3-5 states that “No artificial or intentional means shall be used to control the temperature of the bat,” based on scientific research that altering the bat damages the bat and poses an unnecessary risk of injury.

Changes to Rules 1-5-8 and 3-1-6 deal with players’ equipment on the field. State associations may now authorize exceptions to NFHS rules to provide “reasonable accommodations to individual participants with disabilities and/or special needs and unique and extenuating circumstances,” so long as they do not fundamentally interfere with the sport. Players and coaches must also clean or remove “any” (formerly “excessive”) amount of blood from a uniform or piece of equipment before being allowed back into the game.