Rio Mesa bows out of baseball playoffs after pitching violation
· Yahoo Sports
Rio Mesa High’s first trip to the CIF-Southern Section baseball semifinals in 19 years is over before the first pitch.
Visit newsbetting.bond for more information.
The Spartans were forced to withdraw from the postseason on Saturday, May 23, after realizing they had violated CIF rules regarding pitching limits in Friday’s Division 4 quarterfinal win.
When senior Daniel Puebla pitched all eight innings of the Spartans’ 2-1 win over visiting Saugus on Friday, Rio Mesa went over the allotted maximum number of outs a pitcher can pitch in a calendar week.
Puebla had previously pitched the first three innings of the 4-2, second-round win at Claremont on Tuesday, meaning he had recorded a total of 33 outs in the week.
“This was brought to our attention after the game and we had to call CIF and self report the violation resulting in a forfeit,” Rio Mesa coach Jake Regalado wrote in a letter “to the Rio Mesa community.”
CIF Bylaw 1500 limit pitchers to 30 outs in a calendar week.
Regalado owned up to the mistake in his letter.
“I want to be the first to clear the air on this situation, and to anyone that knows me, truly knows I will never put a kid’s health at risk to win a baseball game,” Regalado said. “I’m human, I made a mistake and I will own that mistake.
“In our program we teach these kids more than just baseball. We teach them about life and how to go about it with integrity and accountability. Our mistake was brought upon us last night and we called CIF to admit our fault.”
Puebla was safely within the limits outlined by CIF Bylaw 1501, which outlines pitchers’ pitch count and rest limits.
He had two days’ rest after throwing 47 pitches Tuesday. His 103 pitches Friday were within the maximum of 110 pitches in a single game.
But the extra inning Friday was enough break Bylaw 1500 and force a forfeit.
“In the heat of the game and in the middle of the on-field battle with Saugus, it just never crossed my mind that we were violating anything,” Regalado said. “I was keeping track of our pitcher’s pitch count that day and making sure we stayed under that. We went into extra innings and the outs rule never crossed my mind.
“I absolutely had no idea and I may never forgive myself for taking this away from our players.”
The forfeit ends an incredible run for Rio Mesa, which had won 15 of 16 games since March 26.
The Spartans were down to their final strike on Friday, when Rob Rodriguez’s two-out, two-run triple to centerfield beat Saugus, 2-1.
Rather than Rio Mesa traveling to Glendora, Saugus instead will host Glendora in Tuesday’s CIF-SS semifinals.
“Don’t let my mistake take anything away from what my players have done on the baseball field,” wrote Regalado. “They competed their hearts out all year long and especially as of late. Going 15-1 down the stretch of the season and into the playoffs. These boys are champions!”
Joe Curley covers baseball for The Star. He can be reached at [email protected]. For more coverage, follow @vcspreps on Twitter/X, Instagram/Threads, Facebook, Bluesky and TikTok.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Rio Mesa bows out of baseball playoffs after pitching violation