The NJSIAA disqualified Ridge on Saturday from the North 2, Group 4 sectional tournament, after Westfield submitted an official protest Friday alleging a pitch count violation involving a Ridge pitcher in Thursday’s quarterfinals. The NJSIAA upheld Westfield’s protest, rendering the pitcher ineligible and forcing Ridge to forfeit.
Westfield, the No. 8 seed, will advance to the sectional semifinals, despite losing 8-1 to Ridge, the No. 1 seed, on Thursday. The Blue Devils will travel to confront No. 5 seed Bayonne on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m.
The NJSIAA, in a statement provided to Hi’s Eye Sports, said, “During Thursday’s quarterfinal game of the NJSIAA Section 2, Group 4 baseball tournament, Ridge High School violated pitch count rules. As a result, its pitcher was declared ineligible and, per rule, Ridge was required to forfeit. Westfield High School will now advance to face Bayonne High School on Tuesday.”
The pitcher, Connor Byrne, hurled 69 pitches in Monday’s first round game against Piscataway, which Ridge won 11-1. Byrne then pitched 5.1 innings Thursday against Westfield.
The discrepancy concerned whether Byrne threw 81 or 82 pitches.
The umpire, said Sandy Mamary, Westfield’s athletic director, confirmed an 82-pitch tally on the field with Westfield and Ridge coaches during the sixth inning.
With Byrne’s 69-pitch outing Monday, he totaled 151 pitches within five days, tipping him over the limit. NJSIAA rules stipulate that a pitcher may not throw more than 150 pitches in a five-day span.
The game’s box score, on nj.com, initially showed Byrne had tossed 82 pitches, which would violate the state’s scholastic rules. But the box score, its stats submitted by Ridge in typical nj.com proceeding, now shows 81 pitches, which would have held Byrne to 150 and stopped him at the threshold.
According to NJSIAA rules, “Failure to remove a pitcher when he has reached the maximum number of pitches thrown is the basis for protest by the opposing coach. If the protest is upheld, the penalty will be forfeiture of the game. It is the coach’s responsibility to know the pitch count.”
The protest was indeed upheld, signaling an NJSIAA confirmation of the 82-pitch count.
“I submitted an official protest about the pitch-count violation,” Mamary told Hi’s Eye Sports Friday. “It appears as though their pitcher pitched one too many balls in the five-day rule.”
Under single-game pitch rules, a pitcher may finish his final batter even if it forces him over the pitch limit. But that rule doesn’t apply to the five-day limit.
“Once the 150-pitch limit in five calendar days is reached, the pitcher may not continue with the current batter,” NJSIAA rules state.
Ridge High School has not responded to requests for comment.
