Perfect Game pitching rules
These are the Perfect Game limits as I read them out of Perfect Game Youth Tournament Rules §2 Youth Pitching Regulations (updated 2 June 2026), with 15U-18U limits from PG's Pitch Smart rule page, checked on 2026-09-05. I coach youth baseball and I bought the books, because every summary I could find online disagreed with at least one other summary. Where a figure comes from the rulebook itself, I say so. Where it does not, I say that too.
| Applies to | Limit | Game length |
|---|---|---|
| 7U-8U | 15 outs or 50 pitches a day, whichever comes first (you track the pitches) | 6 innings |
| 9U-10U | 18 outs or 75 pitches a day, whichever comes first (you track the pitches) | 6 innings |
| 11U-12U | 18 outs or 85 pitches a day, whichever comes first (you track the pitches) | 6 innings |
| 13U-14U | 21 outs or 95 pitches a day, whichever comes first (you track the pitches) | 7 innings |
| 15U-16U | 95 pitches a day | 7 innings |
| High-school-age divisions carry no outs limit — Perfect Game applies Pitch Smart pitch counts instead. Strictly enforced at Red events; strongly encouraged at others. | ||
| 17U-18U | 105 pitches a day | 7 innings |
| High-school-age divisions carry no outs limit — Perfect Game applies Pitch Smart pitch counts instead. Strictly enforced at Red events; strongly encouraged at others. | ||
| Outs thrown | Calendar days of rest |
|---|---|
| 0–9 | none |
| 10 or more | 2 |
| Outs thrown | Calendar days of rest |
|---|---|
| 0–30 | none |
| 31–45 | 1 |
| 46–60 | 2 |
| 61–75 | 3 |
| 76 or more | 4 |
| Outs thrown | Calendar days of rest |
|---|---|
| 0–30 | none |
| 31–45 | 1 |
| 46–60 | 2 |
| 61–80 | 3 |
| 81 or more | 4 |
The rules that catch people out
- Across a whole event: 100 pitches in an event of 4 days or fewer, 140 in a longer one. Even Innings does not total an event for you — keep this one yourself.
- 24 outs in any three days.
- Pitches thrown in exhibition games count toward every limit.
- Outs recorded in a game that ends in forfeit still count toward the limits.
- A pitcher may not pitch on 3 consecutive days — 2 days in a row is the most allowed.
- Once removed from the mound, a pitcher may not return to pitch in the same game.
- A pitcher who reaches the limit mid-batter may finish that batter.
Where these numbers come from
Source: Perfect Game Youth Tournament Rules §2 Youth Pitching Regulations (updated 2 June 2026), with 15U-18U limits from PG's Pitch Smart rule page, checked 2026-09-05.
Published at: https://www.perfectgame.org/Events/tournaments/Print/Rules.aspx?sid=86
Your league may be stricter
Local boards can and do add restrictions on top of the national rule — inning caps, tighter daily limits, time limits. What they cannot do is go the other way. If your league runs tighter than the table above, your league wins.
The event page governs
Perfect Game publishes a separate ruleset per event type and states that it may amend these rules for a particular tournament. The rules page for the event you entered is the one that counts — check it before the weekend, and treat the table above as the default it starts from rather than the final word.
Even Innings is a planning aid, not a compliance system. It cannot know what happened in a game, and it does not replace your rulebook or your league's own bylaws. Always confirm current-year specifics with your own league.