Which is more important in assessing the wear and tear on a pitcher: the number of innings pitched or the number of pitches thrown?

That's the issue at the heart of the forfeiture that cost South Hagerstown a chance at the Class 2A state baseball title last weekend. The Rebels had beaten Marriotts Ridge in a state semifinal game last Wednesday, but were forced to vacate that win because one of their pitchers, Brandon Knight, worked 15 innings over a seven-day period, one inning more than is permitted under National Federation of High School Associations rules, which also prohibit a pitcher from throwing more than 10 innings in three days.

The South Hagerstown administration told The Sun that the coaching staff lost track of Knight's innings in the midst of all the rainouts in recent weeks, and while it is a rule violation, it's an understandable one. The thing to wonder, however, is whether the number of innings that a pitcher works is as important as his pitch count.

Under NFHSA rules, a pitcher who comes in to throw one pitch in an inning to get one batter out is treated the same as one who throws 40 pitches in an inning, namely, they both technically have worked an inning. Sorry, but from this perspective, that makes no sense. The objective of the rule is clearly to keep kids from wearing their arms out too soon, and while that's an admirable goal, it's probably better accomplished by requiring coaches to keep pitch counts and applying limits to the 10- and 14-day thresholds.