Pitch Count Violation May Determine South Carolina State Baseball Title

Image credit: (Photo by Eakin Howard/Getty Images)

A violation of a pitch count rule might keep Summerville (S.C.) High from playing for a state title.

Summerville beat Summerville’s Ashley Ridge High 6-4 in the deciding game of the South Carolina Class 5-A Lower State championship. The team, which is led by draft prospect P.J. Morlando, would earn them a spot in the state title game. But their celebration was quickly muted.

Who will actually head to the state championship is yet to be determined, as it appears that Summerville violated pitch count rules in the game.

As both the Charleston Post and Courier and Charleston WCIV-TV sports director Scott Eisberg noted, Summerville starting pitcher Thayer Tavormina threw two pitches in Wednesday’s loss to Ashley Ridge, which forced a deciding game three of the series. As Summerville’s starting pitcher in the deciding game, Tavormina threw 83 more pitches on Thursday. 

The SCHSL pitch count rules state that “If a pitcher throws on consecutive days, he has a maximum of 75 pitches on the 2nd day regardless of whether he threw one pitch or 30 pitches on the first day.”

The SCHSL Athletic Directors Handbook’s Rules and Regulations state that “if this rule is violated, the pitcher is considered an ineligible player and the game will be forfeited and the school fined.”

According to Eisberg, when the game ended Ashley Ridge informed the umpires that Tavormina had exceeded the pitch count limits. Both coaches declined to comment to Eisberg until a ruling from the SCHSL is handed down.

An SCHSL official told Baseball America on Friday morning that the ruling is being reviewed, and as of yet no decision has been made.