[bkbjones]

7-2-1h will be new.
It reads:
A strike is charged to the batter when:
h. in the umpire's judgment, a pitched ball is prevented from entering the strike zone by any actions of the batter.

According to the comments which accompany this, the defense has been improperly penalized by the current (old) rule because the pitch does not have the opportunity to become a strike.

There were many other changes considered by the NFHS Committee which either died for lack of action or were voted down.

Some included getting rid of the DP/FLEX, creating a 10th player who plays defense only and can never play offense, allowing baserunners to use helmets without face masks, a definition for incidental contact (for those glorious occasions when you have neither obstruction nor interference), and many others.

It remains to be seen how Mary et al will word the "point of emphasis" on bunts and slap hits. I'd almost bet a dollar that it will end up being similar to the language in the NCAA manual. I am personally surprised that definitions similar to or same as those in NCAA manual were not adopted for slap hits and bunts. IMHO this would make things easier for many umpires.

Rumor is that we will be cracking down on the fashion craze of rolling the top of the shorts down amongst others on the uniform POE.