Scrimmage rule alters teams’ preseason plans
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But a new rule in place this year has limited the number of scrimmages teams may have, resulting in changes to preseason schedules for many schools.
Among the many changes to the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association’s calendar for the school year was a rule setting a limit to the number of preseason scrimmages in all sports. Teams now have the option of playing in just four scrimmages, two full-day ‘play days,’ or a combination of one ‘play day’ and two one-on-one scrimmages.
The results of the new rule were made evident Monday in Tullahoma, when the Pioneer baseball team traveled for what amounted to a five-hour marathon of scrimmage play against the Wildcats.
‘In years past, we probably would’ve had a lot shorter night,’ said WCHS head coach J.W. Holt. ‘But with the new rule, you’ve only got four days to work with, so we have to get in as many innings as we can every time we go out.
‘That’s the way teams are having to work around the new rule; rather than just play a single game or doubleheader against somebody, they’re having to stretch it out to make it as long a day as possible, just because we have so few days we can go out and scrimmage.’
The Lady Pioneer softball team schedules preseason play days rather than scrimmages, and will take part in their two allotted dates this year to get in their preseason work. But according to coach David Upton, the new rule has been met with bad reviews from every coach he has spoken to.
‘I don’t know if there’s a coach out there that likes the new rule, but they’ve shoved it down our throats and told us to take it and like it,’ he said. ‘That’s the situation the TSSAA has put us into, and it’s screwed teams up big-time.
‘For us, what we try to do is go to play days, which work out really well for us. If they had taken those away it would’ve messed us up big time, but there was so much fussing about it they kept the play days in, which allows us to get more games under our belts in less time. It makes the days longer, but for a lot of schools, it has really cut down the games they got in before the season starts.’
The softball team will be traveling to Lebanon for four scrimmages this Saturday, and will host its own play day on March 8. The Pioneer baseball team is scheduled to travel to Shelbyville for a scrimmage Saturday morning, and will take on Franklin County at home next Thursday for their final preseason game.