The IHSAA is making some changes and recommendations to the sport of baseball for the 2027 athletic season and beyond. The top three items up for changes are 1. Summer participation 2. on-field communications and 3. base sizes.
The change that will probably have the biggest impact throughout the state with be the summer participation change. This is a change in the by-laws of the IHSAA, Rule 15-2.5. The current rule reads as follows:
15-2.5(a) During the summer a student may participate in athletic activities and in a conditioning program sponsored by a member school or a Non-School organization provided the student's participation is voluntary.
15-2.5 (b) The limitation on the number of student-athletes applies eually to students participating insummer team sport practices and contests as members of a non-school team, as outlined in rule 15-2.2(a).
The amendment to section 15-2.5 .......during summer rule for Team Sports, to clarify that the student-athlete participation limits in rule 15-2.2(a) also apply to participation in summer team sports practices and contests as members of non-school teams and to reassign existing subsections accordingly. (Rule 15-2.2 limits the amount of baseball players from any school to 5 participents during the school year. The amendment now makes that 5 player limitation year round. Example: a travel team can not exceed 5 players from any individual school.)
The second change for baseball consists the in-game communications between coaches and players. Last year was a test year for the coach-catcher-and pitcher communication systems. For the 2027 athletic year coaches will have the option to do the pitcher-catcher-coach communication system for the whole season including through the state tournament. So, if coaches/schools want to buy the communication system it will be used for the whole season, including post-season. Last year (in a trial year) the system could be used, but was banned from Sectionals - the State Finals. The coach-catcher system had already previously been approved. If a coach/school is interested the IHSBCA has a partnership with GoRout and have a working agreement with Coach Comm.
https://gorout.com/ https://www.coachcomm.com/baseball
The third change is one that is more of a recommendation then a change. The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) has made a mandate for all states to modify their bases for baseball. It states a double firstbase or an 18-inch first base option starting in 2027, aimed at reducing player collisions. The stance of the IHSAA is the recommendation of the 18 inch firstbase bag. The reasoning behind this is the fact that the state finals are played at Victory Field in Indianapolis (a Triple A ballpark of the Indians) which already uses the 18 inch bag. High Schools do not need to change all three bags at this time, the focus is only on first base as of now.
This is an interesting change from the NFHS because a lot of schools have moved to turf fields and it is still unknown at this time how schools can accomondate this change.
