High School Baseball Sacrifice Rules

A sacrifice fly is meant to drive a player home.

The rules of high school baseball are set by the National Federation of State High School Associations. As outlined in the "2009 NFHS Baseball Rules Book," many of the rules of baseball at the high school level are similar but not identical to those used at the college and pro level, including those regarding sacrifices.

Use

A sacrifice can be either a bunt or a fly ball. According to the rulebook, a sacrifice bunt can be used to advance a player from the base he is on, while a sacrifice fly can be used only to allow a runner to reach home and score a run.

Identification

There must be fewer than two outs for a swing to be recorded as a sacrifice. The batter must also either be called out before reaching first base or the defensive team must commit an error that prevents the player from being called out.

At-Bats

A batter who hits a sacrifice is recorded as not having a turn at bat. In other words, the sacrifice does not affect his batting average or any record of times at bat. The other times that an at-bat is not recorded is when a player is hit by a pitch, walked, substituted for before his second strike and his replacement does not strike out, or awarded first because of fielder obstruction.

Playing Record

Although a sacrifice does not affect a player's batting average and it is not counted as an at-bat, it is recorded on the player's record. The number of sacrifices is included with number of hits and their type--singles, doubles, triples and home runs--as well as runs batted in.

On-Base Percentage

Sacrifices are part of the formula for determining a player's on-base percentage. A player's total number of hits and walks are added to the number of times he was hit by a pitch, and the total is divided by his number of official at-bats, times he was hit by a pitch and sacrifice flies.

RBI

A player whose sacrifice allows a runner to score is credited with a run batted in.

References

• 2009 NFHS Baseball Rules Book