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The National Federation of State High School Associations has announced a rule change to permit one-way electronic communication between a coach in the dugout and an on-field catcher.
The rule change going into effect in 2024 will bring PitchCom’s debut in high school baseball after the device debuted in MLB in 2022 and has achieved widespread usage across the league for players to electronically share pitch call requests — replacing the traditional hand signals from catchers to combat sign-stealing.
“The PitchCom System is the gold standard for baseball and softball. There is a reason why the MLB and 3 out of 4 College WS teams used PitchCom. We are leasing systems to top high school programs. Contact us today!” PitchCom tweeted after the NFHS’s rule change.
The American Baseball Coaches Association, which has over 15,000 members, also tweeted for high school coaches to contact PitchCom.
PitchCom was invented by John Hankins and Craig Filicetti. In addition to combatting sign stealing, MLB adopted the device to support an increased pace of play. In MLB’s first season with a pitch clock this year, the league has seen significantly shorter games and a bump in fan attendance.
The NFHS’s new rule is for one-way communication from coaches in the dugout to send pitch calls to catchers, making it more limited than PitchCom’s MLB usage, where pitchers and catchers can wear devices to submit pitch calls.
MLB’s rule changes have also brought new revenue opportunities for the league since it is considering selling sponsorship for its pitch clock.
