Instead of an outs cap, there will be a limit on pitches thrown by individual pitchers. ScoringLive photo illustration

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Instead of an outs cap, there will be a limit on pitches thrown by individual pitchers. ScoringLive photo illustration

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For the second time in the 59-year history of the state baseball tournament, sponsored by the Wally Yonamine Foundation, there will be a new pitching rule enforced.

It's not completely new to the teams. Teams had the whole season to get adjusted.

When the National Federation of State High School Associations mandated last summer that state associations come up with their own policies, most went along with the national governing body recommended, including Hawaii. Instead of an outs cap, there will be a limit on pitches thrown by individual pitchers.

The previous pitch rule came in the 1961 tournament, the third. This rule put a cap on the number of outs (45) a pitcher could make in the duration of, at first, the three-day tournament, and in 1986, the four-day tournament, which expanded from eight to 12 teams. The rule later expanded to 39 outs over the first three days and 48 in four days. Ironically, when Hawaii changed from nine-inning regulation games to seven innings in 1990, the out limits did not change.

What led to the first pitching limit rule was due to a remarkable feat by Baldwin's Glenn Oura.

All he did was pitch 21 of his team's 24 innings in going 3-0 in the inaugural tournament in 1959. Proving it was no fluke, he accounted for 29 1/3 of a his team's 30 innings pitched in the 1960 tournament. He went 3-0 and Baldwin captured its second title.

Appropriately, Oura threw the first of 16 no-hitters in tournament history in 1960, beating Kau, 3-0, in the semifinals.

There have been other great pitching feats over the years. In 1972, Punahou's Glenn Goya tossed the only perfect game in tournament history, beating Saint Louis, 5-0, in the title game at Honolulu Stadium.

In the 2015 semifinals, Campbell's Ian Kahaloa pitched a 10-inning complete-game win to beat Kamehameha, 2-1, en route to the Sabers' state championship. Kahaloa struck out 15 and walked none, though he hit two batters. He threw 141 pitches.

In Oura's last state title game, he pitched 11 1/3 innings, allowing 11 hits, issuing seven walks and striking out seven. There was no report on the number of pitches he threw that day.