It's time that the Illinois High School Association enacts a pitch count rule for high school baseball.

Youth leagues already have the rules. Major League Baseball teams police themselves, trying to conserve their financial investments. Colleges do the same.

But somehow, high school baseball has slipped through the cracks.

The data is clear. Throwing too much and too often can be harmful to a pitcher's long-term arm health.

Yet coaches, like what happened last week for Genoa-Kingston, still feel like it is OK to have their pitcher throw 167 pitches in one outing.

To be clear, most coaches are responsible. Most follow the guidelines and common sense. But it's the outliers that can lead to tough consequences down the road for prospective pitchers.

The American Sports Medicine Institute, which has studied the issue extensively, has plenty of data showing pitch counts are both helpful and necessary.

The group believes a 17- or 18-year-old shouldn't throw more than 105 pitches in a game and should have at least four full days of rest before pitching from 76-105 pitches in a game again. Those guidelines are an attempt to decrease the chances of pitching with fatigue, which is when injury is most likely to occur.

ASMI also has done its best to clear up misconceptions, finding that there is not a strong connection between throwing curveballs and arm injuries. Throwing fastballs can be just as, if not more, dangerous. And pitchers from Latin America, where traditionally pitchers have thrown more pitches more often, do not have any less of a chance of requiring arm surgery than pitchers from other regions.

The issue here, and in other states, is that there needs to be a standard in place.

Risk factors, such as poor mechanics and fatigue, are crucial. But it's also important to note that pitchers on the highest level, with the most precisely honed mechanics in baseball, are strictly kept within reasonable pitch counts to protect their health.

There's no reason that high school baseball shouldn't be the same.

Vermont has a pitch count rule. Oregon has enacted a rule, set to go in place next season. Texas and many other states are discussing the same. It's time for Illinois to join that list.

The National Federation of State High School Associations has left pitching rules up to each state, saying "Each state association shall have a pitching restriction policy to afford pitchers a reasonable rest period between pitching appearances."

The IHSA's current rules only restrict a player from pitching more than nine innings in one day, unless it's one game that goes extra innings, in which case there is no restriction.

It's time for that to change. The long-term arm health of high school pitchers is too important to keep the rules the same.