High school pitch count rules by state: limits and rest days under NFHS Rule 6-2-6

What NFHS Rule 6-2-6 requires

NFHS Rule 6-2-6 requires each state high school association to have a pitching restriction policy based on pitches thrown, with required rest, and leaves the numbers to the state. The National Federation of State High School Associations approved the change at its Baseball Rules Committee meeting of 5 to 7 June 2016, worked out with its Sports Medicine Advisory Committee. In its own words, "Each NFHS member state association will be required to develop its own pitching restriction policy" (NFHS, 12 July 2016).

The rule replaced limits counted in innings, which the NFHS said ignored how many pitches an inning took and let tired pitchers throw on consecutive days. By the 2017 season 44 states had a pitch count policy, and Vermont had used one for 20 years (NFHS, 6 April 2017). The NFHS itself publishes no maximum and no rest table, so the answer to "what is the high school pitch count" is always a state's answer.

Pitch count limits and rest days by state, 2026

The varsity daily maximum in the 34 states verified here is 100 to 125 pitches, and a full day's maximum costs 3 to 5 days of rest. Each row comes from the association's own current rule, read on 4 November 2026 and linked in the last column with its edition. Rest is written as pitches: days, so "31-50: 1" means 31 to 50 pitches requires one day of rest. "Not verified" means the association's own rule could not be opened, and no figure from another site was put in its place.

Four rows need a word of context. Hawaii's rule governs pre-season and HHSAA tournament games; for league play the rule says leagues "need to either adopt these pitch counts or develop their own pitch counts". Massachusetts was read from the MIAA's official 2026 worksheet, not its handbook text. Kentucky's regulation page is the one the KHSAA links as current, but it is dated 2016. Illinois's newest readable edition was the 2024-25 handbook; the 2025-26 pages did not load.

Several states start the season on a lower table. Alaska's early-season table, to 27 April, runs 1-25: 0, 26-45: 1, 46-65: 2, 66-85: 3, 86-100: 4. Idaho's first 30 days run 1-28: 0, 29-49: 1, 50-70: 2, 71-88: 3, and Montana's first five weeks 1-28: 0, 29-44: 1, 45-59: 2, 60-74: 3, 75-88: 4. New York changes its varsity table by month: 76-85 earns 4 nights in March, and 103-125 earns 4 nights in May and June.

Sub-varsity, grade and age limits

About half the verified states set a lower limit for JV and freshman pitchers, and three set it by grade or age instead of by team. A sophomore pitching in a varsity game is held to the sophomore limit in Alabama and Arizona, whatever team he is on.

Nebraska's sub-varsity table, like New York's tables, gives rest for even one pitch. In New Jersey, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Ohio and Wisconsin the varsity limit applies at every high school level.

What the state limits have in common

110 pitches is the most common varsity maximum, used by 15 of the 34 states verified, and 4 days is the most common longest rest, used by 17. The limits cluster more tightly than the rest tables do: every verified maximum lies between 100 and 125, but the pitches allowed with no rest at all run from none in New York and 20 in Maine to 40 in Georgia and New Mexico.

The longest rest is 3 days in 16 states, 4 days in 17 (New York counts 4 nights) and 5 days only in South Carolina, after 91 to 110 pitches. New York is the one state where no pitch is free: its tables start at 1-30 pitches for one night of rest.

Worked example: rest after 85 pitches

A varsity pitcher who throws 85 pitches on a Tuesday can pitch again on Friday in some states and not until Sunday in others. Rest days are calendar days after the game day, the way Georgia's own example puts it: 110 pitches on Tuesday means no pitching until Saturday.

One more pitch changes several rows. At 86 pitches Georgia, Colorado, Utah and Arkansas move up to 3 days and Saturday, and Texas moves up to 4 days and Sunday. That is the practical reason to count every pitch and announce each threshold to the coach: the band boundaries, not the maximum, decide most pitchers' next start.

To work it out for any state:

1. Find the pitcher's total for the day, adding every game that day if the state counts per day.
2. Find the band in the state's table that contains the total, using the right month or level.
3. Count that many calendar days after the game day; the next day is the first eligible one.
4. Check the state's extra rules below, such as a two-day cap, before naming the pitcher.

The pitch count rest calculator does this arithmetic for Little League, Pitch Smart and Baseball Canada; it does not hold the state high school tables, so use the row above for a high school game.

Finishing the batter can save a day

Most states let a pitcher finish the batter in progress at the limit, and two of them change the recorded count when that happens. Pennsylvania credits only the band's top figure: in its own example a pitcher who starts the last batter at 72 and ends at 77 is recorded at 75, two days of rest instead of three. Rhode Island records the count at the start of the at-bat if the pitcher is then removed, so 23 to 28 is recorded as 23 and needs no rest. Connecticut does the opposite below the maximum: extra pitches past a threshold count toward the next band, and only at 110 may the pitcher finish the batter. Little League's version of the rule, which sets the band by the first pitch to the last batter, is explained on the rest calculator.

Limits beyond the daily table

Seventeen of the verified states add a limit the daily table does not show: a cap across two or more days, a weekly cap, or a ban on a third straight day. These are where a pitcher who is "eligible by the chart" can still be ineligible.

Doubleheaders follow the "per day" wording in most states: Indiana adds all pitches in all contests in a calendar day, and New Jersey, North Dakota and Pennsylvania combine two games' pitches to set the rest.

Old numbers still online

Several associations still host superseded pitch count files, and a search can land on them before the current rule. Georgia's 2017 policy PDF, still on ghsa.net, gives varsity 1-35 pitches no rest and 36-60 one day; the 2026-27 constitution gives 1-40 and 41-60. New Mexico has two older files saying 120 pitches "in any one day"; the current bylaws say "in any three-day period". Idaho's 2026 file has been replaced by the 2027 rules, which were posted in June 2026.

The state-by-state tables that rank for this question were compiled when the rule was new in 2016 and 2017. A row copied from one of them may still be right, but the only way to know is the association's own current document, which is why every row above links one, and why fifteen rows say "not verified" rather than repeat a figure from elsewhere.

Keeping the count the rule depends on

Every state's rule assumes an exact running total, confirmed by both teams, and most make the home book or an official scorer the record. Mississippi, Idaho, Nebraska, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Arkansas all require the count to be entered online, in MaxPreps or a state system, by the next day; Maine and Alabama use GameChanger; Georgia and Utah use PitchKount.

On the field, the count is one tap per pitch. The pitch counter keeps a named counter for each pitcher, so the total can be read out at each pitching change and checked against the state's table at the 30, 45, 60 or 75 marks the rules turn on. The guide to keeping an official pitch count covers the circle-and-slash notation scorekeepers use on paper, what counts as a pitch, and how to settle a disputed count. Alabama, Oklahoma and Washington count every pitch to a batter, legal or illegal; Hawaii and Maine leave out balks and illegal pitches, and Hawaii and North Dakota leave out intentional walks.

What this guide does not cover

This guide covers varsity and sub-varsity baseball under the 50 state high school associations and the District of Columbia's, using the rule each posted for the 2026 season or, where that is gone, its newest edition, all read on 4 November 2026. It does not cover softball, private-school leagues outside the state association, middle school (except where a table above mentions it), summer, travel or American Legion baseball, or Little League, which the rest calculator covers.

State associations revise these rules between seasons, and the 2027 editions some have already posted may change before spring. Check the linked document on the day a pitcher's eligibility matters. Simple Online Counter is a free, browser-based set of counters; its pitch counter keeps one count per pitcher on the device, and it does not decide eligibility, which is always the state association's rule.