Attention, attention...UNLESS YOUR LEAGUE HAS A LOCAL MODIFICATION, NFHS DOES NOT HAVE AN "EXTRA HITTER" RULE!!!

[SeeingEyeDog]

Please, brothers...please. Again, without a local mod...and if you have that local mod well...your league is doing it wrong. Without a local mod, teams may NOT use an "extra hitter". NFHS has a designated hitter (DH) rule. How is the extra hitter rule different? The extra hitter allows for unrestricted defensive substitutions. The DH rule does not.

Please...if a coach hands you a lineup with an EH (presuming no local mod), please tell them, "Coach, there is no extra hitter rule in NFHS baseball. You may either list that player as a DH or you can list them as a substitute." And do NOT accept the lineup and go forward with the plate meeting until that is corrected. It doesn't matter if it was allowed yesterday, last week, last year, etc. Right here, right now...we are playing NFHS rules and there is no EH in NFHS rules.

And then monitor that coach and his substitutions closely. Do not allow him to operate his DH as an EH either!

~Dawg

[Jimurray]

7 hours ago, SeeingEyeDog said:

Please, brothers...please. Again, without a local mod...and if you have that local mod well...your league is doing it wrong. Without a local mod, teams may NOT use an "extra hitter". NFHS has a designated hitter (DH) rule. How is the extra hitter rule different? The extra hitter allows for unrestricted defensive substitutions. The DH rule does not.

Please...if a coach hands you a lineup with an EH (presuming no local mod), please tell them, "Coach, there is no extra hitter rule in NFHS baseball. You may either list that player as a DH or you can list them as a substitute." And do NOT accept the lineup and go forward with the plate meeting until that is corrected. It doesn't matter if it was allowed yesterday, last week, last year, etc. Right here, right now...we are playing NFHS rules and there is no EH in NFHS rules.

And then monitor that coach and his substitutions closely. Do not allow him to operate his DH as an EH either!

~Dawg

JV or V?

[SeeingEyeDog]

On 4/22/2026 at 7:57 AM, Jimurray said:

JV or V?

JV game and...I get it...NFHS is all about inclusionary practices, policies and procedures and getting more student athletes involved with their school teams and in the game. And I fully support that. I know many non-scholastic youth leagues feature an EH. It's a good rule.

As with many things that we discuss as umpires in the NFHS game, if the NFHS wants this in their game, write it into the rulebook...please. Failing that, we have to enforce what is written.

~Dawg

[jimurrayalterego]

3 minutes ago, SeeingEyeDog said:

Failing that, we have to enforce what is written.

~Dawg

So you don't allow time limits?

[834k3r]

FWIW, for sub-varsity games here, we have a few rule mods:

• CBO or unlimited subs
• No new inning after 2 hours (2:15 drop dead)
• 15-run rule in effect after 4 innings (3 1/2 if home team is ahead)

[Velho]

27 minutes ago, 834k3r said:

No new inning after 2 hours (2:15 drop dead)

Curious: 'drop dead' as full stop and not finish the inning?

[SeeingEyeDog]

3 hours ago, jimurrayalterego said:

So you don't allow time limits?

Sure I do. And so do you. And so does every other umpire. You know why? Because at the plate meeting we ask, "We're under NFHS rules. What local modifications do we need to be aware of to adjudicate this game?" And the coaches will tell us, "Yeah, no new inning (insert hours and minutes here)..." As I stated in my OP (presuming no local mods)...

I have no problem if we step to the plate meeting and the coaches say, "Yeah, we're allowed to use an EH..."

They didn't say that. Not sure why this is unclear...

~Dawg

[SeeingEyeDog]

2 hours ago, Velho said:

Curious: 'drop dead' as full stop and not finish the inning?

Yup...and you know the fun part of drop dead? The score reverts to the score of the last completed inning. So, when you have a lead change followed by a drop dead? It's always good times...

Of course, none of this is the umpires' purview. I don't even tell them that the score reverts back. If they ask I simply state, "You'll have to check with your league leadership or commissioner for the final score of the game..."

The irritating coaches who are on the wrong side of a lead change in an inning where we hit the drop dead will try and turn it into a negotiation..."No! There's two minutes left! No! This is a great game here! I cannot believe you are just walking off the field!" Yup, just good vibes all around...nevermind we again mentioned the drop dead rule at the plate meeting and we alerted you at 30 minutes and 5 minutes remaining...

~Dawg

[Velho]

23 minutes ago, SeeingEyeDog said:

Yup...and you know the fun part of drop dead? The score reverts to the score of the last completed inning. So, when you have a lead change followed by a drop dead? It's always good times...

Once during my son's travel ball days we had a tournament that was 'drop dead' as in 'it stops right now and that's the final' - no reversion. That was "good times" (at least it was for his team since they scored the go ahead run in the top of an inning about 10 seconds before time expired).

Of course it was dumb luck. No one (especially us fans and the coaches as far as I could tell) had any idea that was the rules of the day. 🤣 

[jimurrayalterego]

5 hours ago, SeeingEyeDog said:

 Because at the plate meeting we ask, "We're under NFHS rules. What local modifications do we need to be aware of to adjudicate this game?" 

I normally wouldn't ask that in the school districts I call. We know V is straight forward NFHS. JV can be anything the coaches agreed to, open subs, batting all, whatever. We don't get lineups from a lot of JV and they tell us what they agreed to. When we get a lineup we know they are straight forward NFHS. 

[834k3r]

22 hours ago, Velho said:

Curious: 'drop dead' as full stop and not finish the inning?

Correct. I make sure to mention it at the plate meeting, but it's also a well-known rule around these parts, so it's never been contentious (in my experience).

That said, however, I did work a game last night were the VT was milking the clock (late and slow pitching change), so my partner and I agreed to let it play out. Ended up being a non-issue.

[SeeingEyeDog]

17 hours ago, jimurrayalterego said:

I normally wouldn't ask that in the school districts I call. We know V is straight forward NFHS. JV can be anything the coaches agreed to, open subs, batting all, whatever. We don't get lineups from a lot of JV and they tell us what they agreed to. When we get a lineup we know they are straight forward NFHS. 

I work 8 public school counties in my state and they all allow and do different things despite having a state athletic association. (There are even variances between conferences within the same county.) I also cover 3 private school conferences in my state who do all sorts of amazing things with their rules.

We have to ask that question at EVERY plate meeting in order that we have clarity on our rules for that game that night.

~Dawg