Maine’s high school baseball community is preparing for a series of safety enhancements that will take effect next season, featuring new base options and potential extra‑inning adjustments.
The proposals, which include the option of a double first base or a larger first base, were recommended by the National Federation of State High School Associations Rules Committee and cleared by the NFHS Rules Review Committee and its Board of Directors.
Current first‑base bags measure 15 inches square, but the new regulations permit either an 18‑inch square base or the use of two 15‑inch bases placed side by side.
The double first base has already found a home in Maine high school softball and was recently adopted at the Division I college level, giving coaches a familiar reference point.
Elliot Hopkins, director of sports and liaison to the NFHS Baseball Rules Committee, explained that both options are intended to reduce collisions at first base, a concern that has grown as player size and speed increase.
University of Maine head coach Nick Derba, who initially opposed the double first base concept, acknowledged that the rule has already helped prevent collisions on the field.
Traditionalist coaches such as Danny Kane of George Stevens Academy and Randy Harris of Lee Academy said they understand the safety rationale, even if they prefer to keep the game’s classic structure.
Skip Estes, a veteran softball coach at Brewer High School, pointed out that the double first base has already proven effective at averting injuries in his sport.
A separate rule change under discussion would place a runner on second base at the start of any extra inning when the score remains tied, a modification borrowed from Major League Baseball that could ease pitcher workloads.
Harris favors implementing the runner‑on‑second rule as early as the eighth inning, whereas Kane would wait until the tenth, reflecting a modest disagreement over timing.
Mike Bisson, executive director of the Maine Principals Association, noted that the MPA’s Baseball Committee must give its final approval before the extra‑inning provision can be adopted for the following spring.
In addition to the base and extra‑inning adjustments, the rulebook will now allow one‑way communication between coaches and pitchers or catchers for calling pitches, and it will limit the number of player‑to‑player meetings during an inning.