Player's Guide to NFHS High School Baseball (Grades 9-12) 2027

From January 1, 2027, first base must be either a double first base or a larger 18-inch-square white base (Rule 1-2-9). With the larger single base, play it like a normal base.

The double base has a white half in fair territory and a colored half in foul territory, split by the foul line. As a batter-runner:

• Use the colored half on a play at first.
• Exception: if a fielder is drawn into foul territory to take the throw on a dropped third strike, use the white half.
• On a walk, or an extra-base hit to the outfield with no chance of a play at first, you may touch either half.
• Once you've reached first, always go back to the white half, including for leads, pickoff attempts and tagging up on a fly ball.

On a force play at first, it's interference if you touch only the white half and collide with the fielder. It's obstruction if the fielder touches only the colored half and collides with you.

A batted ball that hits or bounces over the white half is fair; over the colored half, it's foul.

Any bat that's either one piece of wood, or a non-wood bat that meets the BBCOR performance standard (Rule 1-3-2d).

For a non-wood bat in 2027:

• It must have a permanent certification mark (silkscreened or similar) on the barrel, in a contrasting color, in a rectangle at least one inch on each side, reading "USA Baseball BBCOR" or "BBCOR .50".
• A BBCOR label, sticker or decal is not accepted.
• It can't weigh more than 3 ounces less than its length in inches (a "drop" of -3), and the barrel diameter can be no more than 2 5/8 inches.

You also can't alter a bat, use devices or practices that change a non-wood bat's temperature, or use slippery tape on the handle.

Coming in 2028: from January 1, 2028, bats marked USA Baseball -4, -5 or -6 will also be legal alongside BBCOR bats.

Batting helmets must be worn by:

• the batter and the on-deck batter
• every runner, including a runner who has scored or been put out, while the ball is live
• any player or student in a coach's box
• non-adult bat and ball shaggers in live-ball territory

The helmet must meet the NOCSAE standard at the time of manufacture, carry a legible exterior warning label, have a non-glare (not mirror-like) surface, and be free of cracks and broken earpieces or pads.

Catchers must wear a helmet and mask combination that meets the NOCSAE standard, with dual ear flaps, and a chest protector that meets the NOCSAE standard. An eye shield is allowed only if it was attached to the mask by the manufacturer and is clear, with no tint.

Anyone warming up a pitcher, anywhere, must wear a head protector, a mask with a throat protector and a protective cup.

Defensive players, including the pitcher, may wear face and eye protection with a non-glare surface.

• Metal cleats are permitted under NFHS baseball rules.
• Eye black (grease or no-glare strips or stickers) is legal under new Rule 1-5-12 for 2027 only if it's one solid stroke with no words, numbers, logos or symbols, and it doesn't extend wider than the eye socket or below the cheekbone.
• Casts, splints and braces must be padded with at least half an inch of closed-cell, slow-recovery rubber (or a material of the same thickness and similar properties), with no exposed metal or other hard material.

Your coach is responsible for making sure every player is legally equipped and in a legal uniform before the game.

Not a camera or microphone. Rule 1-6-3 says no player may wear any audio (microphone) or video (camera) device during the game, so you can't record, transmit or livestream yourself.

The one exception is one-way coach communication (Rule 1-6-2). From 2027 a coach in the dugout may send pitch calls by a one-way electronic device to the pitcher and/or catcher while your team is on defense. The coach must stay in the dugout or bench area, and players can't send anything back. Other electronic communication with players on the field isn't allowed.

Medical devices aren't counted as wearable technology. Your state association may restrict electronic devices further.

You're never required to slide, but under the force-play slide rule you can't interfere with the fielder:

• If you slide, slide on the ground and in a direct line between the two bases, or slide away from the fielder.
• If you don't slide, run to the side of the base, away from the fielder, so you don't contact them or alter the play.

If you go in standing up and contact the fielder, get hit by the throw, or alter the play in any way, you're out and the batter-runner is out too. The only time you can safely go in standing up is if no fielder is anywhere near the base.

At home plate, you may slide through the plate in a straight line without breaking this rule.

Malicious contact is an ejection, whichever team does it.

• A runner who maliciously runs into a fielder is called out and ejected.
• A fielder who maliciously contacts a runner is ejected. The ball is dead when the contact happens, and the umpire places the runners where they would have been without it, which can include scoring runs.

Diving over a fielder is also prohibited.

Once per inning. Under Rule 3-4-6, each team on defense gets one player-to-player meeting per inning. A meeting is any gathering of two or more defensive players, such as the catcher going out to talk to the pitcher. The umpire will deny any further requests that half-inning.

These are not player meetings:

• talking with the pitcher after warm-up throws at the start of a half-inning, or after a relief pitcher's warm-ups
• a fielder handing the ball to the pitcher with a quick word after an out
• gathering while play is stopped for an offensive conference or an injury

A visit by a coach is a separate charged conference. If the coach comes out while the catcher is still at the mound, it counts only as a charged conference. If the coach comes out and changes pitchers, it's neither.

Only two: the windup or the set. Your pivot foot decides which one you're in:

From the windup you may only deliver the pitch or step backward off the plate with your pivot foot first.

A pitching position violation can be called whether or not runners are on base, so make sure the umpire can tell which position you're using.

It depends on your state. NFHS Rule 6-1-6 requires every state association to have a pitching restriction policy based on the number of pitches thrown, not innings, so pitchers get reasonable rest between appearances. The state sets the daily maximum and the rest days.

What's the same everywhere:

• Pitch counts, not innings, decide when you must come out and when you can pitch again.
• Your coach must follow your state's limits, and is expected to pull a pitcher who shows signs of fatigue even before the limit.
• The pitch count is tracked and enforced under your state's procedure, so make sure your coach knows your total from any earlier game that counts toward your rest.

Possible concussion: NFHS rules require any player who shows signs, symptoms or behaviors consistent with a concussion to be removed from the game immediately. You can't return until you've been evaluated and cleared by an appropriate health care professional. Umpires don't diagnose: they remove you and tell your coach. Tell your coach or athletic trainer if you feel dizzy, confused or have a headache after a hit.

Bleeding: a player who is bleeding must leave the game until the wound has been covered. Blood on your uniform must be cleaned off or the uniform changed before you return.

NFHS lightning guidelines say:

• Stop play as soon as thunder is heard or lightning is seen, and go to a safer place. The storm is close enough to strike your field.
• Safer places: a substantial building with plumbing and wiring (such as the school or a gym). The alternative is a fully enclosed metal car or school bus (not a convertible or soft top).
• Wait at least 30 minutes after the last thunder or lightning before play resumes. Any new thunder or lightning restarts the 30-minute count.
• Lightning apps and detectors don't replace the 30-minute wait.

Umpires can warn, restrict to the bench or eject players and coaches for unsporting conduct (Rules 3-3 and 10-2-3). Under NFHS rules:

• Arguing or showing dissent toward an umpire's decision leads to disciplinary action.
• Bench jockeying (taunting, or trying to distract, intimidate or embarrass opponents or umpires from the dugout) is prohibited.
• Props used to demean or embarrass the other team aren't allowed. A string of "K" signs outside the dugout counts as bench jockeying.
• Music in the dugout is allowed only between half-innings, and only if it isn't demeaning, unsporting or intimidating. It must stop when the half-inning begins.
• Leaving your position or the bench to fight or join a confrontation is an ejection.
• Tobacco and tobacco-like products are banned for players, coaches and umpires.