High school baseball games will require a double first base beginning with the 2027 season to reduce collision risks between runners and fielders.
The rule change was among 10 revisions approved by the NFHS Board of Directors following recommendations from the Baseball Rules Committee during its June meeting in Indianapolis.
The double first base must feature a white portion in fair territory and a contrasting colored section in foul territory, separated by the first base foul line with no gap between sections, according to the new Rule 1-2-9.
"Adding the double first base is symbolic to the evolution of the sport," said Elliot Hopkins, NFHS director of sports and liaison to the Baseball Rules Committee. "It will immediately address running lane violations, and it will further protect the players from the violent collisions that have occurred at first base."
Under the new rules, batter-runners must use the colored base on initial plays at first base, except when fielders move into foul territory for dropped third strikes. Once reaching first base, runners must return to the white portion for leads, pickoff attempts and tag-ups.
Interference will be called if batter-runners touch only the white portion during force plays and collide with fielders. Obstruction will be called if defensive players touch only the colored portion and collide with runners.
The committee also approved limiting defensive player-to-player meetings to one per half-inning, addressing concerns about game pace. Additional meetings will be denied by umpires under the new Rule 3-4-6.
"A player-to-player defensive meeting is a natural and essential part of the game, but having multiple meetings in a half-inning adds additional time that lengthens a contest," Hopkins said.
Other changes include allowing school names, nicknames, logos and player names on uniforms beginning in 2027, and prohibiting audio or video devices during games.
The rules also clarify that batted balls hitting the white portion of the double first base are fair balls, while those hitting the colored portion are foul balls.
Complete rule changes are available at www.nfhs.org under the sports section. TSSAA head coaches receive free access to new digital rules books and are briefed annually on rules changes through mandatory rules clinics.
Baseball ranks as the fourth-most popular boys sport nationally, with 471,701 participants in 16,146 high schools during the 2023-24 school year, according to the NFHS participation survey.
