Pregame checklist
Where Tacoma, WIAA and NFHS disagree or are unclear›
Pregame checklist
Where Tacoma, WIAA and NFHS disagree or are unclear
Go through these with the opposing coach and the umpire before the first pitch. Checkmarks are saved on this device only.
Pitch count check
WIAA 80 per day (Tacoma lists 85, see pregame)›
Pitch count check
WIAA 80 per day (Tacoma lists 85, see pregame)
| Pitches in a day | Required rest |
|---|
During a dispute
How to raise it, and what can and can't be changed›
During a dispute
How to raise it, and what can and can't be changed
- Head coach only. Ask for time, then walk out calmly. Assistants who leave the coaching box to argue can be warned, restricted or ejected.
- Judgment calls are final. Ball/strike, safe/out, fair/foul and whether a runner interfered are judgment. You can't get those reversed (NFHS 10-1-4).
- Rule misapplication can be fixed. If the call conflicts with a rule, ask the plate umpire to correct it and name the rule. Do it before the next pitch, or before infielders leave fair territory on the last play of a half-inning.
- Ask the crew to confer. The calling umpire may ask a partner for help. The plate umpire has the final say on the field.
- Accept the ruling and play on. Write down the inning, outs, count, runners and time. Report it to your athletic director afterward. Protests go through WIAA Handbook Rule 29 and the league, never on the field.
Pitch-count disagreements are a school and league matter, not something umpires rule on. The home scorebook is the official count unless the schools or league designated something else.
Using this page: look things up from the dugout. The 2027 rule lists what a coach may hold in the coaching box (stopwatch, paper rule book, scorebook, scoring device). A phone open to a rules page may draw a warning there.
About the Tacoma rules
Tacoma Public Schools Middle School Baseball Rules and Guidelines (updated 9/22/2026) are under the Tacoma topic and in green notes on related rules. TPS says games are governed by WIAA and NFHS rules, and WIAA lets districts make rules stricter, not looser (WIAA 3.3.6). Where they conflict, use the pregame list to agree on one answer before the game.