Leading 3-2 with two outs in the seventh inning last Wednesday, State College pitcher Kevin Karstetter got McDowell’s Jackson Hower to ground into a fielder’s choice to end the game.

Instead of celebrating a berth in the first round of the PIAA class 6A baseball tournament, the Little Lions shook hands, collected their things, walked off the field at Slippery Rock University’s Critchfield Park and boarded the bus for the 2 1/2 hour trip back to State College.

Where they would watch as McDowell faced North Allegheny at UPMC Park in the first round (the Trojans lost 3-1 in 8 innings).

Yes, you read that right. State College won on the field, but McDowell advanced.

So what happened?

Well, State College starter David Shoemaker tossed 6 2/3 innings of 2-run ball on five hits with two walks and struck out six. All this on 106 pitches, or maybe it was 102. And therein lies the problem.

According to State College scorekeepers, Shoemaker began throwing to the second batter in the seventh inning with 97 pitches on the day. Three under the daily limit of 100 (pitchers may go over the 100 pitch limit if they reach the limit in the middle of an at-bat). Unfortunately for Shoemaker and the Little Lions, the McDowell scorekeeper had him at 101 pitches to start that batter, one over the limit.

The discrepancy, according to the Centre Daily Times, led to a meeting of coaches, umpires and the tournament director. Because the pitch count rule is relatively new to the PIAA (this being the second year of implementation) a call was made to PIAA officials. The final ruling was that as the home team, the McDowell book would be the “official” count and Shoemaker was an ineligible player once he threw to the second batter. State College would have to forfeit the game. There is currently no appeals process for violating the pitch count rule, so the Little Lions had to accept this decision with no recourse.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, the PIAA also said the teams must finish the game.

Talk about rubbing salt in the wound.

I understand the need for a pitch count rule. It makes sense from a developmental level and other youth leagues have been using one for quite some time. I’m not going to argue the necessity of such a rule.

However, there are some major issues with the way this situation played out that do need to be addressed, and quickly.

The most glaring, especially in this situation, is using one team’s scorekeeper as the official count. The home book has been the “official” book in baseball since time immemorial. But in the postseason, and with such a severe punishment, the PIAA has to have a neutral scorekeeper. There’s too much at stake and it’s too easy for those with any kind of rooting interest to get caught up in the excitement. Not to mention those unscrupulous souls who might fudge a pitch or two (Note: I am absolutely not saying that’s what happened in this case, only that the potential for such a scenario exists).

Think of it this way, how often do umpires and scorekeepers have to confer to make sure they have the current count correct? Now consider, according to the CDT story, both teams got together after the fifth inning and agreed their respective counts were correct. After just five batters (four in the sixth, one in the seventh) they were off again by four pitches. Four.

There has to be a check on that kind of discrepancy especially if …

The punishment for miscounting is forfeiture of the game with no chance for appeal. Automatic forfeit seems more than a bit extreme, especially for something that can be so easily mistaken. If the PIAA insists that exceeding the pitch count results in an ineligible player and forfeiture of the game, then an appeals process must be created. If video of the full game exists, why not use it to determine the true pitch count?

Player health and safety absoultely must come first, which is why the rule exists, but it shouldn’t come at the expense of the integrity of the on-field competition.

“I’m gutted for these kids,” State College coach Troy Allen told the CDT Thursday. “As a coach, there’s not really anything you can say to them that’s going to make sense for them, that’s going to ease the pain.”

You shouldn’t have to say anything to them coach.